Paige Torn by Erynn Mangum Read Free Book Online

“No, I’m not engaged. I’m single, I’m just not really a ‘Sunday school’ type of guy,” he says, using his fingers to make air quotes.
    I hate when people do that.
    When I was a little kid, I had a teacher who used air quotes every time she said the word “friends.” For the longest time, I thought she was half deaf and couldn’t really hear the word friends and decided to make up her own sign language for it.
    Once I figured out that meant air quotes, I wasn’t sure if my teacher was trying to say she had no true friends or she was just lonely.
    â€œWhy not?” I ask Tyler.
    He grins at me, blue eyes sparkling. “I like you, Paige. You don’t beat around the bush.” Then he shrugs. “Too regimented. I like studying God’s Word when I don’t have to sit in a folding chair for an hour.”
    â€œYou go to church, though,” I point out.
    â€œI sit in a pew there. And we stand to sing.” Tyler shrugs again. “It’s just not for me. And trust me. I’ve tried a lot of Sunday school classes.”
    He isn’t missing out on too much. Not while Pastor Dan is on sabbatical.
    â€œWhat are you doing now?” he asks me, squinting in the sunlight.
    â€œGoing to the grocery store. Then I’m going home for a few minutes.” And working on the wreath before Layla calls to tell me she is done having lunch with her parents and Peter.
    â€œI can show you all the invitations I’ve been collecting that I really like,” she said all bubbly when I left a few minutes ago.
    I am excited for Layla’s parents. And it is really kind of her to throw this party for them. And I don’t even mind helping with the party. I just wish someone else was helping who knows more about what to do. It is sort of like handing a person who’s only watched monkeys swing through the trees a Tarzan rope and telling them to hang ten.
    Or whatever you say to Tarzan before he leaps through the trees. I’m not really a Tarzan buff.
    No pun intended.
    I blink and rub my head. I need some sleep. Or some caffeine.
    Tyler is still there and now he’s grinning at me. “Hey, I’ve got a better idea. Let’s go get lunch.”
    â€œLet’s?”
    â€œYeah, let’s. You and me.”
    I shake my head. “I’d like to, really, but I have to go to the grocery store. If I don’t go today, then I have to eat Sonic for the whole next week, and I’m already into March’s eating-out budget.” Not to mention the awful, greasy feeling my face had after I’d eaten Sonic three days in a row.
    â€œOh, okay. Some other time then.”
    â€œYes, I’d like that.” I don’t want to be mean. I just have to go to the store before Layla calls me, because there is no telling how long I will be at her apartment this afternoon. I look at Tyler, feeling bad. “I’m sorry.”
    â€œWhy are you apologizing?” He shrugs. “You’ve got plans. It just means I’ll have to plan further ahead or find a better day next time.”
    I nod. Planning ahead is always a good thing.
    â€œPaige! Paige, wait up!” Rick comes running across the parking lot. He stops in front of us, breathing hard. “Whew! I haven’t run like that in …” He heaves his breath, locking his hands behind his head. “Dude, I can’t even remember.”
    â€œYou can’t remember why you ran over here like that?” I ask.
    â€œNo, I can’t remember how long it’s been since I ran like that. Look, Paige, I wanted to ask you. There’s a girl who came into youth group this morning who is really going through a rough patch. Her parents just got divorced and she just moved here with her mom. Usually I would give this over to Natalie, but …” He shrugs, looking at me.
    I nod. “Dilated?”
    â€œStill. I moved a cot into my office here.”
    I