Own the Eights Gets Married - Krista Sandor Page 0,55

his dad they wanted to be apart before the wedding.

But the one thing she knew for sure was the stalemate between them was real.

Neither had budged. Neither had reached out. Neither had waved the white flag.

The obstinate eight. The inflexible ten.

So much for being more than just a number.

“I…” she began when hushed giggles came from the children’s area.

“We don’t have another story time today, do we?” Becca asked.

Georgie checked her watch. “No, Talya should have finished up the last one over an hour ago.”

“Want me to check it out?” Becca asked, glancing past the shelves of books. “It could be some kids horsing around.”

Georgie shook her head. “I’ll go. You watch the register.”

Georgie wove her way toward the children’s area. A bright and cheery space, when they’d designed it, she’d made sure to have cozy reading nooks built. These were great. Customers loved them, but so did teens, often with raging hormones, who, from time to time, she caught, reenacting the naughty scenes from the books in the romance section. She passed the now empty children’s story time area, then froze.

“Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, but bears it out even to the edge of doom.”

Shakespeare. She’d know the line from Sonnet 116 anywhere. The lines Jordan had recited to her when they’d made love in the car before they entered Dante’s ninth ring of boot camp hell.

She came around a table, stacked with the English bard’s hardbacks and plays, and found Simon and Talya with their heads bent over a book.

“Edge of doom sounds super epic,” Simon said, playfully bumping Talya with his shoulder.

“Well, this is Shakespeare’s sonnet on his definition of what love is and what it isn’t—and he’s not messing around. You’re right. It is pretty epic,” Talya replied.

“Very epic,” the teen agreed.

Talya blushed. “And there really isn’t anything as epic as listening to someone recite it.”

“Really?” Simon asked, meeting the girl’s gaze.

“Oh, yes,” she replied.

Simon played with the corner of the book. “Do you think I’m going to do all right in the recitation part of the Shakespeare Shuffle? It’s important to my grandmother.”

“Why is it so important?” Talya asked.

“She used to be an English teacher, and she’s big on poetry,” Simon answered.

Now, Talya gave Simon a playful shoulder bump. “You’ve been practicing and practicing with Mr. Marks, and you just sounded totally epic.”

“I like practicing with you more,” Simon said, his cheeks growing pink.

Talya bit her lip and twisted the sleeve of her hoodie. “I like helping you practice.”

Georgie watched the sweet pair as young love blossomed before her eyes.

She and Jordan had helped Simon choose that sonnet for the competition back when they were experts on love—or, so they thought. She sighed, and it must have been one hell of a sound because it had the teens on red alert.

“Miss Jensen!” Talya said, bolting to her feet. “I didn’t see you there. I finished up with the story time cleanup and…”

Simon sprang up next to her. “And…I finished up early with Mr. Marks at the gym and came here because…”

“Because at school today, I offered to help Simon with his sonnet practice,” Talya finished.

With their cheeks rivaling the color of a beet, they looked as if they’d gotten caught making out behind the bleachers instead of the very tame act of reciting Shakespeare in a bookstore.

Georgie chuckled. “Nobody ever needs to apologize for reciting Shakespeare here. I’m glad you’re getting some extra practice in before the Shakespeare Shuffle.”

Simon shared a relieved glance with Talya. “Yeah, Mr. Marks has been preoccupied lately. He says he’s busy with the gym.”

Busy with the gym, just like she was busy with the bookshop.

“It’s totally epic that you’re getting married on the same day as the Shakespeare Shuffle. I picked out a dress and everything,” Talya said with a dreamy expression.

“Me too!” Simon blurted.

“You found a dress that works?” Talya teased, glancing up at the boy through her lashes.

“Um…no, like pants and a shirt and a real tie that doesn’t clip-on.”

Georgie forced a grin. “I’m sure you’ll both look great.”

No longer the skin and bone lightweight, Simon shifted his strong frame from foot to foot.

“I was thinking since we’re both going to be at the Shakespeare Shuffle and then we’re going to Mr. Marks and Miss Jensen’s wedding, it would make sense for us to go together.”

“That would be epic,” Talya answered, back to twisting her sleeve.

“Epic!” the boy answered wide-eyed.

“Totally epic,” Talya replied as Simon’s phone pinged.

The teens stared at each other.

“Simon, your cell