A Queen Without A King

Chapter 7

"Hey! You said no touching!" I shrug my shoulders and continue walking. "Oh, so the rules only apply to me. I see how it is."

"Punching you and putting your hand on my waist are two very different things. You knew what I meant when I set the boundaries. Don't play dumb with me," I state. Owen lifts his index finger threateningly and wiggles it in my face. "Touch me again, and I'll make sure you can never use that pretty little hand of yours again."

"Feisty. I like it," Owen says tapping the tip of my nose. I roll my eyes and lead us into the library.

I take my seat on one of the window seels and prop my feet up on the ledge. Owen stands in front of me, almost waiting for me to do something. I point to the shelf behind him with all my favorite books. He turns around and takes a random book off the shelf and places it in my lap, and then reassumes his position.

I realize that he doesn't want to sit on the ground and is waiting for me to move to make some space. I sigh and get up. I sit down on a pillow that's placed on the carpet leaning back on the space below the window and begin reading whatever book Owen gave me.

Owen stays standing in front of me, not moving an inch. I feel him staring at me and try to ignore it, which feels next to impossible. "Can I help you?" I ask, closing my book.

"Why are we here? You pulled me out of breakfast to make me watch you read?"

"You're welcome to join," I smile. He knows the drill, we've been hanging out and doing absolutely nothing together all this time. What else did he think we were going to do?

Owen turns around and looks through the shelves of books, picking up some novels and putting them back. "What should I read?"

"I don't know, and I don't care". I go back to my reading and let him struggle to find his own. Before I get a chance to even turn to the next page, Owen is next to me again. "You're like a child, aren't you? Can't do anything for yourself."

"Your books suck. It's not my fault, it's yours." I put a hand over my heart while frowning at his comment. How could he insult my library like that?

"Don't be rude. My books are wonderful," I mumble. I get up and go to my favorite bookshelf and pick out a random title and hand it to him. "Read this and leave me alone".

"I already read that one," he says, giving me back the book. I take the book back and hand him another one. He claims to have read that one too. I roll my eyes and we go through that same process several times before I get fed up.

"There is no way you've read all of those!" I yell. He shrugs his shoulders and just gives me an evil smirk. "You're annoying."

"Yeah, but you love it." I roll my eyes and go back to my place on the floor. "Let's do something else."

"You can go do something else then," I say, turning the page of my book. Owen stays quiet, walks over, and takes a seat on the window seal. I feel him lean down and look over my shoulder. "Do you mind?" I can't stand people reading over my shoulder. When I would read stories to my younger siblings, I would never let them look until I was done reading the page.

"Just keep reading, pretend I'm not here." I turn my head to look at him. Owen is so close I can feel his breath on my lips. If either of us just leaned forward half an inch, our lips would connect. I see his eyes wander to my lips and he starts to move in. I pull back quickly and clear my throat. Owen lets out a chuckle before bending all the way forward and pulling me up to sit on his lap.

"Hey! The rules!" I yell. Owen laughs and pulls me closer to his chest so that my back is pressed against him. "Owen!"

"Just keep reading, pretend I'm not here," he repeats. I tilt my head upwards to try and look at him. "Cute".