Page 23

Jude

Jude spent the morning in the storeroom, packing up books to return to publishers.

She was too distracted for anything that required brainpower, so she let Rhys handle the front-of-store.

Things were tense between them. Jude couldn’t stop turning over his comments in her head.

Was she stuck? Clinging to the fantasy of saving her mom’s bookstore, even though her friends so clearly thought it would never happen?

Rhys was right about one thing. Jude had been a lot less afraid before her mom died.

Back then, she’d hungered for new experiences.

That was why she and Becca had purchased tickets to backpack across Europe for the summer after their junior year—a trip Becca had gone on without her when Jude realized how sick her mom was.

They’d had plane tickets to Paris, a guidebook, and no plans.

Jude had been ready to just take things as they came and try to have as many adventures as possible.

She couldn’t imagine doing something like that now. Where had that person gone?

Jude sighed, stacked the last of the boxes, and threw down the tape gun. She walked into the store. Rhys was sitting behind the checkout counter, staring moodily down at his phone. He had a heating pad wrapped around his left knee—it must have been hurting.

“I’m sorry,” Jude said, sliding onto the stool next to Rhys. “I shouldn’t have gotten upset with you. I know you were just trying to be helpful.”

“I’m sorry, too,” Rhys said. “I wasn’t trying to gang up on you or make you feel criticized or anything. I just want what’s best for you.”

“I know,” Jude said.

“I don’t think you’re a failure,” Rhys said. “You’ve been through so much these past few years, and the fact that you’re still the kind, openhearted person you are is truly incredible. I’m proud of you.”

Tears pricked at Jude’s eyes. Rhys was such a good friend. She should tell him that she’d thought things over and decided that she was wrong: L.J. clearly liked him.

Before she could, a group of teenagers let out a collective giggle, and she looked up, trying to see what book was sending them into hysterics—her guess was that they were clustered around a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey.

But the teenagers were huddled together by the door, not even looking at the shelves.

Jude kept an eye on them, worried they were trying to psych themselves up for a bit of shoplifting.

It wouldn’t be the best choice, since they had cameras by the entrance, and it would be a simple enough task to email the principal of the nearby high school and ask them to identify some faces.

But they didn’t make a move toward any of the displays.

Instead, one of them took out their phone and angled it toward Jude and Rhys, trying to be discreet but clearly taking a photo.

Rhys looked at Jude, bewildered. She shrugged.

“Hey,” Rhys called over. “What are you guys doing?”

The kid with the camera flushed red, and the whole group dissolved into laughter. They ran out, the bell over the door tinkling wildly as they fled the store.

Jude watched them run away. “Well, that was weird.”

“Seriously,” Rhys said. “At least they didn’t steal anything.”

“Hey,” Jude said. “L.J. really saved my ass the other night. And I was thinking that maybe I was wrong to—” But just then, she was interrupted by a young woman looking to check out, clutching the latest Emily Henry novel. Jude moved over to the register.

“You’re going to love this one,” Jude said, taking the book from her hands.

The woman blushed furiously. Was she embarrassed to be buying a romance? As Jude scanned the barcode, she said, “Um. I just have to ask. Is Katrina Kelly as nice in person as she seems?”

Jude froze with the scanner in one hand and the book in the other. “What?”

“It’s just, she’s, like, my role model from when I was a kid. I watched P.R.O.M. every day. I wanted to be her.”

“Um.” Jude liked to think she was quick on her feet, but her brain was coming up absolutely blank. “Cash or credit?”

The woman tapped her credit card, then craned her neck, looking around the store as if Kat might be hiding behind one of the shelves. “Does she ever come here?” she asked. “I’ve been wanting to meet her forever.”

Jude thrust the novel back at the woman. “Here’s your book. Have a nice day.”

The woman lingered for a moment, disappointed, then grabbed her book and left.

Jude scanned the other customers milling around the bookstore. Was it just her imagination or were they…staring at her?

“Hey, Jude,” Rhys called. He was reading something on his phone. She could tell immediately from his tone that something was wrong. “I think you should check your phone.”

Jude grabbed her phone and took it off Do Not Disturb. Instantly, text messages and Instagram notifications started flooding her screen, one after another, so fast that she couldn’t read any of them.

“What is this?”

“Here.” Rhys handed over his phone. “L.J. texted it to me.”

Jude paused for a moment before she took the phone. Then she looked down to see her own face, plastered underneath a headline on Entertainment Daily.

“It came out, like, an hour ago,” Rhys said.

Jude skimmed the article. She handed back the phone, feeling lightheaded.

“Okay,” she said. “Well. That’s not so bad, right?”

“Right,” Rhys said, but he didn’t sound convinced.

“Um, I’m sorry to interrupt.” A woman leaned over the counter to speak to Jude. “But could I, like, take a photo with you?”

Jude stared at Rhys, wide-eyed.

“No,” Rhys said firmly. “There are no photos allowed in the bookstore. Please buy a book or leave.”

The woman held up her hands defensively. “I was just asking. Jesus.”

Rhys glared at her until she walked away.

“Thanks,” Jude muttered. “How many people do you think have seen this?”

“Um.” Rhys made a face like he was about to lie. “Not that many? She hasn’t been in a movie for a while, so maybe people don’t care that much?”

A tall man in a black sweater strode up to the counter. “Hi,” he said, flashing Jude a huge smile. “My name is Ned Edwards, and I’m a reporter for the New York Host. I was wondering if—”

“Out!” Rhys bellowed, interrupting the man midsentence. “Anyone who isn’t in this store to buy a book, get out now!” He glared around the store, then half turned to Jude. “I’ll handle this. Go home. Leave through the back door.”

Jude hurried into the back room, slamming the door behind her. She leaned against it and took a deep breath. What was happening?

She’d expected people to find out that she was dating Kat. She was famous, and they weren’t exactly being discreet. But she hadn’t realized it would be front-page news.

Jude’s phone rang and she jumped. She went to put it back on Do Not Disturb but stopped when she saw who was calling.

“Hello?”

“Oh, thank God.” Kat sounded relieved. “I’ve been calling you for the last twenty minutes. Where are you?”

“At the bookstore, but Rhys just told me to go home. It’s…a little wild over here.”

“Ah. I’m really sorry about that.” There was a long pause, and then Kat sighed. “Can I come over?”

?????

The one benefit of being a homebody with a very limited social life was that Jude’s apartment, with the exception of her mother’s dusty room, was usually clean. So at least Jude didn’t have to frantically sweep and mop while she waited for Kat to arrive.

Instead, she surveyed her apartment, desperately looking for anything embarrassing.

She took a framed photo of a teenage Jude with a buzz cut off a bookshelf and tucked it into a drawer.

She swept the half-read comic book off the coffee table and replaced it with a collection of essays by Sartre.

Then, after staring at it for a minute, she decided that was too pretentious and replaced it with My Autobiography of Carson McCullers instead. Just the right amount.

The buzzer rang, making her jump. She pressed the button to let Kat in and then ran to the bathroom to smooth her hair down and quickly rub on more deodorant. Just as she finished, there was a knock at the door.

“I am so sorry,” Kat said as soon as Jude opened the door. “I am so, so sorry.”

“Whoa, whoa, hey.” Jude stepped aside to let Kat in. “It’s okay. Take a beat. Deep breaths.”

Kat strode past Jude into the living room. “What happened at the store?”

“Um.” Jude followed her. “It filled up with a lot of people asking questions about you.”

Kat groaned and flopped down on the couch. “I’m so sorry,” she said again.

“It wasn’t so bad.” Jude sat down next to her. “Just a few people asking for photos and one reporter.”

Kat sat up very quickly. “Which reporter?”

“Some guy from the New York Host. ”

“What did you tell him?”

“Nothing. Rhys told him to get out and then I snuck through the back exit.”

“So you didn’t talk to him only because Rhys wouldn’t let you?”

“What? No. Why would I talk to him?”

Kat studied Jude, her forehead furrowed. There was a divot in her cheek, like she was biting the inside. Finally, she dropped back against the couch with a long sigh.

“I’m really sorry you had to deal with that.”

“Please stop apologizing.” Jude put her arm around Kat’s shoulders.

“I should have warned you.”

“You didn’t know they’d run this article,” Jude said.

Kat bit her lip. She swallowed a few times and then said, “Of course someone would report on it eventually. That’s how my life works.”

Jude turned to face her, letting her palm trail across Kat’s back as she shifted. “That must be really stressful.”

Kat’s big eyes blinked up at Jude, and for a second Jude thought she was going to lean in for a kiss. But instead, she held out her hand. “Give me your phone.”

Jude handed it over and tried to pay attention to Kat’s words, not her lips, as Kat talked her through basic security measures.

Making her Instagram private and closing her DMs. Making sure her email wasn’t listed anywhere.

She even made Jude sign up for a service that would scrub her phone number and address off any public-listing websites and then insisted on paying for it.

“Are you sure this is really necessary?” Jude asked as she typed her signature into a consent form.

“Yes. Trust me.” Kat took the phone back, hit Submit on the form, then got up and put her phone back in her purse. She paused, looking around her. “So this is your place, huh?”

“This is it.” Jude surveyed her apartment, trying to see it through Kat’s eyes. It wasn’t exactly glamorous.

“Big Beatles fan?” Kat asked, studying the framed posters on the wall.

“My mom was,” Jude said, going over to stand beside her. “Hence the name.”

“Right. That makes sense.”

Kat turned to face Jude. “I really am sorry about the article,” she said softly. “But it’s good to see you again.”

“It’s really, really good to see you.” Jude let her hands rise up to brush Kat’s arms, trailing the softness of her skin as lightly as she could.

Kat looked up at her, and Jude’s breath stuttered in her throat. She’d endure a hundred tabloid articles just to be here, right now, touching this wonderful person.

Jude smiled, and Kat smiled back, a little shyly, ducking her gaze down. Jude reached out and gently used two fingers to tilt her chin back up. Then she leaned in and closed the space between them.