It was a steamy kiss. He’d felt surprisingly self-conscious and had stalled himself for a day worrying he was going to get that worst sex scene award, so in a panic he’d rifled through the romance section of the bookstore and done some homework. He’d emerged hours later full of sober reflection, then had read some more.
He was pretty sure he was writing a romance novel, surprisingly enough. A young adult romance novel. He wasn’t sure what Elizabeth would think of that, but she didn’t matter. Only Jacob did.
Would Jacob like it if Rasul wrote a romance novel? Rasul knew he liked them. He’d seen some in the living room in Jacob’s apartment. Obviously he’d read those immediately.
Anyway, it was a romance novel now, and Jacob would love it. Rasul was confident in that most times, especially when he sat inside the veil and blasted music through his headphones to set a mood. Today, the day he was supposed to meet Jacob for a date, the song was Styx’s “Come Sail Away.” He had it on repeat and at full blast, and he bobbed and swayed to the beat as he wrote, singing along with and banging his head to the chorus.
It got really cheesy, because the song influenced the plot, and Adam and Milo were sailing through a technicolor trail that in Rasul’s head looked like the sky in The NeverEnding Story. He didn’t care. It was a great scene.
Adam and Milo looked a lot like him and Jacob, but absolutely nobody would ever know that.
Rasul was whirring along and belting quite definitely off-key when the door to his bedroom cracked open. Looking uncertain, Jacob stuck his head in.
Heart skipping a beat, Rasul tugged down his headphones and grinned. “Hey.”
Jacob’s cheeks stained with a blush. “You said to just come in. I heard you singing.” He frowned at the headphones. “That’s loud.”
“Keeps me in the zone.” Rasul hit Pause on the keyboard. “You ready to go?”
“I can read in the living room if you want to write some more.”
“I won’t get another word out of myself if I know you’re in the other room and I could be off having fun.” He closed the laptop. “Let’s go.”
He tugged the bedsheets haphazardly back into place and brushed hands over himself, realizing he probably should have changed. He’d originally intended to organize the date and make it wonderful, but book brain had taken over, so when Jacob said he’d plan something, he’d gone with it. If there had been details about the outing, though, he’d missed them. He glanced at Jacob, who had on a coat and therefore gave no silent hints.
“What you’re wearing is fine,” Jacob said. “I thought we’d take a walk around the lighthouse.”
“There’s a lighthouse?” Rasul started to take the scrunchie out of his hair, then paused when he saw the look on Jacob’s face. “What?”
Jacob immediately averted his gaze. “Nothing.”
“That didn’t look like nothing. Do I look weird?” He stepped past Jacob to get to the bathroom, examining himself in the mirror. “Am I too messy? Should I shower?”
“No.” Jacob sighed, folding his arms over his chest. “I like your hair pulled back like that, that’s all I was thinking.” His arms sagged a little as he added, “And when you wear your glasses.”
Rasul tilted his head and looked at himself again. He indeed had his hair up and was wearing glasses. “I thought I looked like a sleazy hipster.”
“You don’t.”
“Well, I’ll leave them both, then.”
Jacob had his car out front, and when they climbed in, Rasul spied a picnic basket in the back seat. An actual picnic basket.
“It’s probably too cold for a picnic,” Jacob said as they pulled away from the curb. He glanced at Rasul’s head. “I should have had you bring a hat.”
“Don’t have one.”
“Well, we’ll have to swing by Walmart and pick one up. It gets cold by the bay.”
Rasul clutched at his heart. “Wait a minute. We’re stopping at a corporate store?”
“There’s no helping it. Engleton’s only has driving caps, which don’t seem like they’d suit you. There will be some handmade winter gear at the holiday bazaar in a few weeks, but that doesn’t do us any good today.”
“What’s the holiday bazaar?”
“Kind of like a farmer’s market, but without fruit or vegetables. Area crafters sell goods on Saturdays in the community center. The Main Street businesses offer good sales at the same time and hold events. People come from quite a ways a way to participate in it as well as shop Main Street. The library also hosts a used book sale the Saturday after Thanksgiving.”
“Isn’t that competition for you?”
Jacob shook his head. “I’d never survive without the library. In fact, I donate pretty heavily to the sale.”
“Why do you say you wouldn’t survive without the library?”
“Because people who read do it a lot, and sadly most don’t have that much money. Libraries nurture readers, teach them to read more broadly and give them ideas. I’m for the next book in the series, when you can’t stand to wait, or to pick up your own copy for your shelf. Also, my books are given as gifts. In my store and at the library I have a wish list depository and keep up the database, so if someone’s grandmother wants to buy them a book, they know exactly what to get.”
Rasul whistled low. “That’s brilliant.”
“Gus thought of it. He’s good with ideas like that. I keep stock at his place too, and if anyone buys a book with me, they get a free drink coupon punch on their card.”
“Main Street takes care of its own.”
Jacob nodded. “We try.”
Rasul enjoyed, just a little, watching Jacob actively dislike the discount store. Their trip to the winter hats and gloves took them past the book section, which was mostly a sad rack of a narrow selection of best sellers.
Jacob curled up his nose at it. “Look at this. Half of these books have been out for years, but they don’t have yours, and you’re in town. I’m sure the buyer doesn’t even know, or care. Also their idea of diversity is laughable. And yet this book”—he picked up a copy of the number-one best seller, according to their rack—“is priced so low they’re not making any money on it. Its whole purpose is to keep people out of my store and bring them here so that they buy televisions and toasters too. But even those only make them a fraction of what the old appliance store made before it had to close. They only get away with this because they trade in inhuman volume.”
Never mind, this wasn’t fun anymore. Rasul tugged gently at Jacob’s arm. “Come on. Let’s buy this hat and gloves and go see the lighthouse. As soon as the bazaar opens, I’ll go buy hats, scarves, and gloves from every vendor.”
It took Jacob a bit to calm down, but once they pulled off the highway and started to trek up the hill, he relaxed and went into story mode. “The lighthouse hasn’t been used in years, but it’s a historical site, so we keep it up. When the copper trade was in full swing, Copper Point was a busy port. The lighthouse isn’t needed anymore with the lights barges have, but it looks nice on the clifftop.”