Read Online If Only by A. J. Pine - Free Book Online

English major, hoping to God my group is more than a pair.
    Duncan laughs. “Everyone else!” he shouts. “Time starts now!”
    Griffin kisses me quickly on the cheek. “A scavenger hunt? You owe me. See ya in a bit.” And he’s off to find the other social science majors. A couple of small groups have already formed and are heading toward Duncan for their lists when I spin slowly to see who’s left.
    “I already asked around,” Noah says, approaching me with slow, trepid movement, like he’s trying not to disturb a sleeping lion. “No other lit majors but us.”
    He attempts a smile, but I don’t offer one in return. Less than twenty-four hours ago, that half smile would have melted me into a puddle. Hell, it practically did. But I won’t let myself be that gullible again. I won’t let my heart get in the way of my head.
    Noah backs away as carefully as he approached. “We can just join other groups. Duncan won’t care. It’s not like he knows our majors anyway.”
    At this I groan and stalk past him, heading for Duncan and the dwindling group of students. “We’re already behind!” I call over my shoulder.
    Noah catches up to me as I reach Duncan.
    “Just the two of you, aye?” Duncan asks, handing me our scavenger hunt list.
    “Unless you have any other literature majors wandering about,” I answer hopefully, but he shakes his head.
    “Good luck, then. See you at the Lantern in a couple hours, aye? Or less if you win.” Duncan laughs and heads up the street.
    “He’s not going to the pub now, is he?” Noah asks. “I mean, it’s not even nine o’clock. The pubs aren’t open yet.”
    Noah’s voice rises at the end of his sentence so it sounds more like a question than an answer.
    “Maybe they’re always open.” I shrug.
    I glance at the piece of paper in my hand. One side shows a list, the other a King’s College map. And without any further exchange, I march in what I hope is the direction of our first destination.
    “Are you really going to ignore me for two hours?”
    We’ve been walking for thirty minutes. So far, yes, I’ve ignored the shit out of him. But I can’t hold my tongue anymore. Not here. Noah stops next to me. I don’t answer him yet, only stare, and when he follows my gaze, he understands why.
    “Whoa. What is that?” he asks.
    We both take in the sight before us: a mammoth square structure covered in glass and what looks from here to be large, interlocking bones.
    “The Sir Duncan Rice Library.” I finally relent, acknowledging his presence. “Duncan’s list gives ten locations. We have to try to locate at least five and prove it with pictures. I chose this for our first stop.”
    I pull my phone out of my pocket and grab at least five shots, as much for myself as for Duncan. Until now, I haven’t let myself look Noah in the eye. I’ve kept a step ahead of him the whole walk here. Of course he could have easily caught up, my height and stride no match for his, but Noah respected my need for distance after a couple attempts at getting me to talk. I have to look at him now, not wanting to share this experience with only my phone.
    He smiles, a breath seeming something akin to relief releasing as he does.
    “Good first choice, Brooks,” he says. “Perfect, actually.”
    I hold my phone up for him to see. “We can’t go in. It’s not open yet, but I Googled an image of the inside.”
    Noah reaches for the phone, his eyebrows rising in question. I nod my permission, expecting him to take the phone from me. But instead he grabs my hand that holds the phone, so we’re now holding it together, our shoulders touching, his fingers fitting around mine.
    A surge of electricity rockets through me, and I fight to keep steady on my feet.
    It’s not him. He does not have an effect on me. It’s the gorgeous monument in front of us, the shared love of literature, the photo staring from my phone of the library’s spiraling vortex of floors rising from the first-floor