Time After Time by Tamara Ireland Stone Read Free Book Online Page B

meeting Anna in town. Drive the car as much as you want. I’ll just tell you if I need it, okay?” I step onto the porch and pull the door closed behind me.

Anna and I spend the rest of the afternoon wandering around downtown Evanston shopping for clothes. Anna’s dad gave her money to buy some new running shoes, so we start there. Then we start looking for clothes for me. Plaid Bermuda shorts appear to be in style, but I can’t seem to bring myself to even try them on. Instead, I grab another pair of jeans.
    Anna picks out a button-down shirt and holds it up to me for size.
    “What do you think?”
    I don’t even look at it. I just grab her by the shoulders and pull her into me, and she looks down and laughs when she sees the shirt she picked out smashed in between our chests. “It’s perfect,” I say, and I kiss her, right in the middle of the Gap.
    An hour and four stores later, I have a new pair of Chuck Taylors and enough mid-90s fashion to get me through the next few months.
    We head over to the deli and order huge subs to eat in the park. We hang out for a long time, talking about everything but the upcoming school year. I ask her about concerts she wants to see, and quiz her about the places she wants me to take her next. She asks me questions about San Francisco, and I tell her how I’ve spent most of my summer skateboarding around the city, climbing on an indoor rock wall, and missing her. I realize how pathetic I sound, but Anna must not hear it that way, because she scoots in closer and hooks her arms around the back of my neck.
    She kisses me. When she pulls away, I look straight into her eyes. “What was that for?”
    She shrugs. “I just love you.”
    “Good. I just love you too.”
    She kisses me again. Then she stands up, brushes the dirt off her shorts, and offers her hand to help me up. “Time to get you some music.”
    Justin is busy ringing up a customer, but he waves when he sees us come in. Anna waves back, and then leads me down one of the narrow aisles. I twist my head as we walk by the wooden bins, trying to get a better glimpse of the CDs.
    We’re near the back of the store looking through the Hot Summer Sounds kiosk when Justin comes up behind us. “You’re back. How was the world?”
    Anna flips around. “I don’t know about the world, but Mexico was really, really good,” she says, throwing her arms around him. When Justin hugs her, he closes his eyes. But it must click that I’m standing here watching, because they suddenly spring open and lock on mine. I smile at him as his arms fall to his sides. He takes a big step back.
    “Well, I’m glad you’re home,” he says to her.
    “Me too.”
    He lifts his chin in my direction. “What’s up?” He raises his hand in the air and I start to give him a fist bump, but then I realize that his palm is open. I correct quickly, giving him a high five instead. “So, you’re back.” The inflection in his voice makes it more of a question than a statement.
    “Yeah. For now.”
    Anna shoots me a sideways glance and changes the subject. “What’s this?” she asks, pointing up to the ceiling.
    “Latest from Blind Melon.” He gives a disappointed shake of his head. “Nowhere near as good as the last one. I think they’re done.” When Justin turns his back, Anna gives me a questioning look and I return it with a shrug. I’ve never heard of them, so I can only assume he’s right.
    “You two catch up, I’m going to go look around.” I’m happy to leave them alone. This place is far too fascinating to spend another second talking when I could be thumbing through the bins.
    Hand drawn signs hang from the ceiling and identify each section—R&B, Jazz, Rock. I wander around the record store, picking up CDs and turning them over to read the track lists, adding to my mental list of concerts I want to check out. I’m heading to the Ska section when I spot the poster rack in the far corner.
    This proves to be even more