Who We Could Be - Chelsea M. Cameron Page 0,5

thought she was being sneaky, but Tessa was about as sneaky as a punch to the face.

“What can I do for you?” I said, putting on my best librarian voice.

“I was just coming over to see if you needed any coffee. I was running over to get some and thought I’d be a good best friend and ask.”

I slumped against the shelf.

“Yes, I definitely need coffee. So bad.”

Tessa pointed at me with finger guns. “You got it. Be right back.”

I finished shelving the books, checked on the teens, and went to the break room in the back and propped the door open so Tessa could come in. Technically speaking, coffee wasn’t allowed in the library, so we always consumed it in the break room.

Lindsey, the head librarian, was on her computer in her attached office and looked up to give me a smile. I was really lucky to get to work for her, and she always stepped up when a patron was being a problem and wanted to Speak to a Manager. She also didn’t put up with nonsense from anyone. She’d come in like a tornado, whipping this small-town library into shape.

“Knock knock,” Tessa said, before poking her head through the door and presenting me with a sweating, plastic cup and a bag with what I supposed were pastries in it.

“My hero!” I said, pretending to swoon.

“You can’t swoon until I’ve put my stuff down so I can catch you,” she said, setting everything on the counter. There was a rapping sound and we both turned to find Lindsey watching us through the glass window in her office.

“No swooning,” she said.

“Yes, ma’am,” I said, saluting her before picking up my coffee and sucking some through the straw. “Ahhh, sweet elixir of life. How many shots are in this?” I checked the side but there were only two. I narrowed my eyes at Tessa.

“Hey, don’t growl at me, you know that you can’t have that much caffeine in the afternoon because then you’re up all night and who are you calling to talk to sleep? Me.” She pointed to herself. “So this is for your own good, as well as mine.”

I scowled and sipped my drink.

“You’re sassy today, what’s up?” Tessa hopped up on the counter and dug through the paper bag, unearthing a cherry Danish that she proceeded to devour.

“Not enough caffeine,” I said, holding up the drink.

Pastry finished, she licked her fingers and looked at me, frosting and cherry goo glistening on her lips. I reached behind me for a napkin from the container on the table in the middle of the room, handing it to her.

She wiped her face and tossed the napkin in the trash on the other side of the room.

“Anything else bothering you?” she asked, leaning forward. I took a step back and leaned against a chair.

“Not really. Just everything.” I waved one hand vaguely.

“Okay,” she said, hopping off the counter. “Well, I should probably get back to work, that took me more than fifteen minutes. Come over after you get off if you want.”

“TJ’s coming over,” I said, and Tessa made a face for a split second before hiding it. I knew she didn’t like him, but she was going to have to get over it. I’d picked him and she was my best friend. I was not choosing between the two of them, now or ever.

“Sounds good,” she said in her false cheery voice. “Bye.” She was gone before I could thank her for the coffee.

WORK FINALLY ENDED and I went home to freshen up before TJ picked me up in his truck.

“Hey,” I said, climbing up. He smelled like cigarettes, even though he swore he’d quit.

“Hey,” he said, giving me a quick kiss and then gunning it up the street. There wasn’t a whole lot to do around town, so we had to drive a little bit of a distance to get to TJ’s favorite sport’s bar. It wasn’t my choice of date venue, but he was always happier there, so I didn’t mind compromising.

The crappy radio blared country music as I tried to talk to him. He was in one of his moods, so I gave up after a little while. I kept stealing looks at him. There was one thing about TJ: he was handsome as hell. Clear blue eyes, cheeks that were always just a little bit ruddy, and a dimple in his chin. By all objective standards, he was hot.

We made it to the bar at last