Sam--short for Samantha, if you please--has been living in Crawley, Maine for about a year in her grandfather's lighthouse. A promising advertiser, she works from home and the local coffee shop, where she gets her daily hot chocolate fix. For her, l...
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I blinked. Read together? That sounded--
"Alright." I shrugged, "Get close, we've both got to be able to see the pages. Do you want to read it silently, or me read it out loud?"
"I am not fast reading, I like to hear you read, please." He mumbled, as he scooched closer, a slight blush covering his cheeks.
"Hey, that's okay, I don't mind," I assured him, "I read to my little sister over video calls all the time, I don't mind it."
As I began to read where I left off, Andrei settled into the couch, his eyes fixed on the page. Just like before, he would stop me after a phrase or section he didn't understand and asked me to explain it. Synonyms and sometimes pictures helped the best when trying to explain what the words and phrases meant, and Andrei was a quick learner.
After we'd been sitting for a little bit, my arm started to get tired and my voice a little scratchy. After a bout of coughing didn't stop soon enough, Andrei got up to fetch me a glass of water.
After I'd downed the glass, he went back to the kitchen and returned with a filled glass and a sloshing plastic pitcher.
I chuckled a bit, shaking my head. He really wanted me to keep reading, didn't he.
As we resettled, I froze as he scooted even closer so the sides of our hips met and rested his arm over the back of the couch behind my head. Still processing the new setup, I didn't register his next question until he said my name.
"Sam?"
"Huh? Yeah? What is it?"
"You need more water? Your throat hurting?"
He began to lean from the left towards the glass on the coffee table, invading even more into my space.
"No, no, I'm good. I'll grab it myself when I'm thirsty, thank you though."
He paused then relaxed back against the couch.
"Okay. Please read next part, I want to see what she chooses."
I grinned to myself,
Book boys, gotta love 'em.
I was about two thirds of the way done when I started reading with Andrei, and we finished the book after the sun went down.
I put the book down and stretched one hand to the ceiling and kept one locked behind my neck. Tiny pops crunched and I relaxed back into the couch, Andrei's hand casually resting on my right shoulder from his arm's perch on the lip of the couch.
Grandpa's old cuckoo bird rang out seven o'clock, and I started from my seat.
I hadn't fed the cat!
"Oh my gosh, Frankie!" I tried to shuffle past Andrei's long legs, outstretched on the coffee table to the doorway that would lead to the kitchen and it's back door.
