Chapter 3

Jack

"That was crazy." I murmur to Everett as we exit the bookshop, my head still spinning from what I learned today. 

Although the anatomy lesson was actually very appreciated. 

"So your house or mine?" Everett's question pulls me back into the present.

"For what?" I ask. He rolls his eyes, clearly exasperated with me. 

"For when we host book club." He says. I look at him confused as we continue walking towards the parking lot. 

"What?" I ask. He lets out a frustrated sound and tips his head back, his lips moving dramatically as he silently prays for strength to deal with me. 

I've seen that look enough to know what it is. 

"Only the first night of book club is at the store. We take turns rotating every week to people's houses. They took pity on us and let us do it together." He says, showing me his sheet of paper showing what week people signed up for. I have one as well, but I just folded it and shoved it into my book not realizing what it was. 

"Shit, so what does that even mean?" I ask and Everett shrugs. 

"Fuck if I know." He says, grabbing something else from his bag. "Can you believe these bookmarks they gave us?" He asks, showing me the pink tasseled piece of cardboard with the words 'Smut Slut' written in gold leafing displayed proudly on both sides. 

"If we're gonna do it, we might as well go all in." I say, looking at my own bookmark that says 'Emotionally attached to a morally grey character' in loopy font. 

At least mine's black. 

"We're going to Julie's house next week. I'll pick you up." He says, heading towards his car. I sigh, unlocking my own car before stopping to look over at him. 

"You think what they said is true? That we could learn something?" I ask and Everett smiles at me, laughing a little to himself. 

"Couldn't hurt." He responds, not bothering to say goodbye before he slides in and I hear the engine turn over. 

I try to push the reservations from my mind and focus on what Gwen said. Who cares what anyone else thinks? If I want to read a book, I can read a fucking book. Plus, this one has werewolves and shit in it. Maybe it'll be cool. 

I toss the book on my kitchen counter as I enter my small house. It's not much to look at, but they allowed dogs and that's really all that mattered. 

"Hey, Basil. You miss me, bud?" I ask my Australian shepherd. He lets out a chipper little bark as he bounds towards me, trying to jump on me. I chuckle as I lead him towards the backyard, letting him outside and following him. I throw a ball around a little for him, trying to get some of his energy out. We head back towards the house and he bumps into my leg repeatedly, trying to get me to turn around. 

"Stop trying to herd me. I'm not a sheep." I tell him firmly, tossing him a treat as I walk into the bathroom to brush my teeth before bed. 

I lay down, thinking about the book as I stare at my ceiling. Basil jumps on the bed, spinning a few times before he lays down next to me. I run my fingers through his fur absentmindedly, my brain refusing to stop spinning as I think about the first few pages of the book. It started out with the beginning stages of a war, the main character building an army of werewolves to defeat their arch nemesis. 

Vampires. 

Fucking cool. 

I can't stop thinking about it and push myself out of bed, going to the kitchen and grabbing the book. I settle back in bed, cracking the spine and pulling out my bookmark. I start to read and my eyes begin to grow heavy. 

The next thing I know, my alarm is blaring and the book is laying next to me, open to the page I fell asleep reading at. I shove the bookmark in, setting the book on my bedside table before getting up and stretching. Basil does the same, making that cute whining sound he does when he yawns. 

I get to work a little later than I anticipated. Basil conned a few extra throws of his tennis ball out of me. Luckily, my job is pretty independent so no one notices. When I went to school to be an electrician, I never imagined it would get me a job as maintenance man at a school. With my dad being a contractor, I learned from a young age how to fix almost anything. I can't complain about my job. The kids are cute as fuck and I get the summers off. It also has one other noticeable perk. 

Miss Bri.

At least that's what her preschoolers call her. Brielle must be hard for four year olds to pronounce. 

As if me thinking about her summoned the woman herself, she breezes past me in the hallway, clearly in a hurry. 

"Good morning, Jack." She says with a bright smile. 

She's so fucking pretty. 

"Good morning, Miss Bri." I say teasingly. She giggles a little and continues walking. 

"I have a lightbulb out. You think you can handle it?" She asks and I sigh heavily. 

"I'm not sure. That sounds like a big job." I say jokingly. She laughs again, the melodious sound bouncing off the walls of the hallway. 

"If anyone can get it done, it's you." She says with a look that makes me wonder if she's flirting with me. 

Probably not. 

I mean, she's gorgeous. I know she's not married, but she has to be dating someone. There's no way someone like her hasn't been snatched up by some guy. 

Not that he'd deserve her.

She disappears around a corner and I make my way towards the mechanical room that doubles as my office. Anything Brielle needs takes precedence over other projects. Mrs. Brentwood will probably get pissed at me for not unjamming her window first thing in the morning, but maybe she should be nicer. 

She always yells at her students. Plus she constantly makes snide comments about how her son, who's the same age as me, is in medical school. 

She can wait.

I take my time to find the right lightbulb and the tools I'll need to fix it, giving Brielle time to collect her tiny pupils and get back to her room. Sure, I could have it done by the time she gets back, but then I wouldn't get to see her again. I'm not sure where they found a teacher like Brielle. When I was a kid, all of the teachers were old and mean. I guess I'm lucky in a way. If I had that to stare at all day I probably never would have graduated. 

I walk back towards her room, whistling a little as a bolt of excitement flashes through me when I get to her door. I knock gently and hear a sweet 'come in' from her. I push the door open to see ten toddlers all sitting in a circle on a rug on the floor as Brielle hands out what looks like homemade instruments. I can't help but smile at the sight. 

"It's that one, Jack." She says, motioning towards the corner light that's flickering. 

"Don't you worry, miss. I'm here to save the day." I say with a grin. The kids all giggle and I watch with amusement as Brielle blushes slightly. 

I take my time fixing the lightbulb so I can listen to the kids try to play their instruments in sync to make a song. 

They sound terrible, but it's still adorable. 

I finish up and go to flick the lights. Everything works fine and Brielle claps a little. 

"Let's all thank Jack for fixing our lights!" She says excitedly and all of the kids let out a little cheer. I couldn't keep the smile off of my face even if I tried. I bow a little and take the time to give each of the kids a high five. 

"Anything else I can do for you while I'm here?" I ask Brielle as she follows me towards the door. 

"No, I think we're good." She says. I turn to face her, surprising her. She stops only a few inches from me and looks up with wide eyes. 

"You sure?" I ask, lowering my voice and reaching out to rub my thumb against her cheek. I check on the kids, but they're all too engrossed in their instruments to notice our exchange. When I look back down at Brielle, her face has gone a sweet shade of pink again and I watch with amusement as it travels up to her ears. 

"I'm sure." She says, licking her lips as she looks at me. I bite my cheek to hold in my groan. 

"Well, if you ever need me just call." I say, giving her a wide smile before I turn to leave the room.