Libby the Librarian: A Rom Com Novella by Alice Bex Read Free Book Online Page B

laughing, I couldn’t stop. That got him going, and pretty soon we were both reduced to tears, and my side hurt.
    “Stop!” I said. I was sitting on the floor now, rocking back and forth. Adam stopped dancing around and sat down beside me.
    He wiped his eyes.
    “I’m going to miss you,” he said.
    “I’m only going to be gone a week. We go for weeks , sometimes, without seeing each other.”
    Not very often, though.
    “I know. But even when I don’t see you, I know you’re right here and I can see you whenever I want to.”
    That ’s true. He does get to see me whenever he wants, wherever he wants, why ever he wants. Maybe, that isn’t the healthiest thing in the world. Things are fine when he has a girlfriend. I don’t expect him to be constantly available to me. But if I had a boyfriend, things would have to change.
    Adam took off my old swimsuit and put his clothes back on. He flopped on my couch and turned on the TV.
    “I have to finish packing,” I said. Hint. Hint.
    “I know. I thought I’d keep you company. I’m not bothering you, am I?”
    He was bothering me. But not the way he meant. I loved seeing him stretched out on my couch like he belonged there. That’s the thing about Adam. Being with him is even better than being alone. I like being alone. I need to be alone, sometimes. The fact that he can replace being alone, that being with him is even better than being alone; that scares me a little. My head said, “send him home,” but my heart was doing the talking.
    “Sure. You can stay.”
    He stayed all night. That wasn’t the plan. At least it wasn’t my plan.
    While I finished packing, Adam watched some stupid movie with a lot of yelling and explosions and finished off a six pack of the beer he keeps in my refrigerator.  I hate beer.
    “You counting on me driving you home?” I asked. It wouldn’t be the first time.
    By the time I’d finished packing, Adam had fallen asleep on the couch. At least he looked asleep. I prodded him in the side with my foot.
    “Wake up!”
    He opened one eye.
    “I’ll drive you home.”
    “What about my car?”
    “What about your car?”
    “You’re leaving early in the morning, right?”
    I was.
    “So who’s going to come get me to pick up my car, if I leave it here?”
    “You have other friends.”
    He d oes have other friends, but when it comes to asking for favors I’m usually the one who gets picked on.
    “I’ll just stay. I can sleep on the couch. I’ll even take you to the airport in the morning.”
    That was tempting. Then I wouldn’t have to pay for parking.
    “And pick me up?”
    “Sure.”
    “You don’t even know when I’m coming back.”
    “Doesn’t matter. I’ll make it work.”
    “It would be a lot simpler if you’d just make retrieving your car in the morning work.”
    “How complicated is it just to let me sleep on your couch?”
    When he put it that way, driving him all the way across town at midnight did seem silly.
    I got him a blanket.
    “I could just sleep in your bed ,” said Adam. He was still stretched out on my couch, looking adorably rumpled. 
    “ You could, but I’m not sleeping on the couch,” I said.
    “I wasn’t suggesting that you sleep on the couch.”
    “What were you suggesting?”
    “We could both sleep in your bed.”
    “Isn’t that crossing some sort of line?”
    “Maybe. Or you could just think of it as aversion therapy.”
    I’d been hoping he’d decided to let this aversion therapy obsession drop.
    “It’s my bed. I think I’m the one entitled to decide who sleeps in it.”
    He was slightly drunk. That probably accounts for what he did next, because I’m pretty sure he never would have had the nerve to do it stone-cold sober. He got up off the couch.
    “Come on,” he said and dragged me after him into the bedroom.
    “I left the living room light on.”
    “If I let you go turn it off, you’re not coming back, are you?” Adam asked.
    Probably. Definitely. Not.
    “Your