Hooked

Chapter 1

Grace

I stood behind the circulation desk and sorted the books on the trolleys, moving Anatomy of Crustaceans to the third floor cart and Historical Events of 1810 Minneapolis to the fourth floor one. Kelly had a habit of just tossing books wherever, leaving me to sort them. Not that I minded.

There were a lot for this early in the semester. It was my third at Ridder U, and I'd managed to catch up over the summer so I would be a senior and graduate with the rest of the people my age. The summer sessions had been tough, but they were totally worth it.

At first, I thought it had been a mistake coming back to Minnesota. Everyone I knew was grown and gone. Or had moved on with their life. I'd visited my hometown two hours north as soon as I'd gotten back. Nothing had changed, but everything had.

The evidence of that was even more prominent here at Ridder. I'd seen him on campus two days after classes started in January. He was so different and still the same boy. His dark brown hair was shorter than it used to be, and he had a thin beard barely covering his sharp jaw. I wasn't sure how if he'd gotten taller or if he'd just grown out of the baby fat, but he had to be at least six feet now. And he looked happy. His smile was infectious, and I felt it across the quad. The guys and women around him must have felt it too, based on their own grin.

I spent the rest of the semester avoiding him on campus even though I watch every single hockey game. He played so well. I just wasn't ready to face him, to see if he even remembered my name.

A large tome dropped on the cart, narrowly missing my hands. I glanced up at Kelly, who blew a bubble with her gum. Sweet wintergreen scent filled the air. The first thing I learned about her was her hatred of bad breath when she shoved a mint in my hand.

"There's a system." I picked up the title. History of Guam, that belonged on the fourth-floor cart. It was already full and ready for re-shelving.

"Yeah, you have a system for everything." Kelly smirked and flipped her blond hair over her shoulder with a perfectly manicured nail. Kelly's color of choice, Ridder U blue and gold. Football season was underway, and her boyfriend Hickney played center. Go Beavers. "I'll man the desk. You can do your thing."

I lifted my eyebrows. Kelly and I had only worked together a week, and she already knew what I preferred. Re-shelving books was one of my favorite things to do at the library. There was something calming about putting things back where they belonged. "Thanks, Kelly. Are you working tomorrow?"

"No, Jim is on. Why?" She busied herself separating the pens from the pencils into different holders. Kelly hated the pencil lead on the ballpoints. The pens would smear the lead before writing and sometimes not work at all.

"Just wondering," I said as my heart sunk. Jim was not my favorite person. He thought the library was just something to do, and he thought the stacks were just another place to make out. This was just a job for him. It wasn't for me. Libraries were my safe place.

I used the strength in my legs to power the heavy cart toward the elevator, and my mood lifted. A few students dodged out of my way as the wheels squeaked despite the gray carpeting. The fourth level was always quiet and a great place to just lose myself for a while. Nobody would look for me.

Nobody ever did.

The elevator doors opened, and I shoved the trolley into the empty car. Just as they started to close, I saw him. Nolan's dark hair and warm brown eyes stared back at me through the narrowing gap. I wanted to duck my head, avoid his gaze, but I couldn't stop staring at him. I still saw the boy I knew, but this was a man I didn't.