[ONC2024] Everyone can read minds except for Ethan Langdon. And Ethan Langdon has the dumbest (and cutest!) thoughts Lukas Hoffmann has ever heard.
____
Lukas Hoffman's life in Brambleburg is about as boring as you'd expect for a town where everyon...
The bookstore is cozy and dimly lit. It's still a little dusty, though Ethan had tried his best to sweep it yesterday. We could hear his thoughts till late last night while he was trying to figure out how to use a broom—his dramatic sweeping technique only caused the dust to rise and then settle back down. Oma finally went and told him to go home.
"Some of our stock is still in these boxes," I explain. "But everything on the shelves is already categorized so we just need to slot these in." I had closed the record store for today so that I could help Ethan settle in.
I pick up the first box, lifting it to the stock room counter so that it's easier to sort through. It's a little heavier than I thought, my biceps straining through the thin material of my white T-shirt.
"So is it arranged by genre or...?" Damn, Lukas is ripped.
"Yes, first by genre and then alphabetically by author." I bend to get the next box.
"Yeaaah...that makes sense." Ethan doesn't even pretend to listen as he continues checking me out like a library book. His arms are so nice. Those jeans are really snug against his....
"Could you help me out, Ethan, please?" I interrupt before his thoughts get too vivid. The store isn't packed, but there are enough customers milling around on the far end that I hear a stifled giggle in someone's mind.
"Oh yeah, yeah. Sorry!" Ethan lunges forward so fast that he almost falls face first into a dusty box of mystery novels.
I throw out an arm to catch him and he topples into me instead, sending us both crashing to the floor. The wind is knocked out of me as I fall on my ass, Ethan landing conveniently on my kidneys.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry." OH MY GOD I'M ON TOP OF HIM. He digs his elbow further into my side as he tries to roll off. HE SMELLS SO GOOD, I CAN'T.
I groan as his knee catches me. "Ethan...."
"What?" He blinks, pausing in his efforts to scramble up. He sounds so sexy when he says my name like that. His voice is out of breath like he's been working out...or doing other...."
"Get. Off."
"I'm trying!" His face goes red as his hands land on my chest, but he finally manages to pull himself up.
I get to my feet a bit shakily, dusting my hands off on my blue Levi's. Ethan is staring at me with wide doe eyes. His messy hair and soft brown eyes make him look so innocent, but unfortunately I know better. He blinks and his long lashes flutter in their faux innocence as dirty thoughts run havoc in his mind.
"We should probably take these outside," I mutter.
"Huh? Oh, the books. Yeah." Is Lukas blushing?
I grab a box and stomp out of the stock room, Ethan trailing behind me. He heaves it onto the store counter and I set mine down as well. Luckily there's no one at the cash register, most of our customers being curled up in the reading nooks. I crack open the first box, the scent of old books filling the air.
Ethan gasps, peeking inside. "Are these Star Wars books?" He grabs a few to get a better look. "There are so many! Ooh the Thrawn trilogy is good."
"Er, yeah." I don't know what that is.
"Did you know there are 381 Star Wars books? I haven't even read some of these!" He sifts through the pile. "Argh, this book about Revan ended on a cliffhanger, which was super annoying actually because they never showed him at his most powerful. You have to play the games to get the rest of the story about Revan, but they're not even chill games," like Stardew valley or Sunhaven, "they're online multiplayer ones."
My lips quirk up as I imagine Ethan watering his plants in Sunhaven. "What about this one?" I ask, picking up a random book. There's something endearing about hearing him rant about obscure books. Ethan Langdon is a nerd.
"Hm, Fatal Alliance, that's part of the Old Republic too. I don't really remember that one, to be honest. It was dragged out more than necessary." He pauses. "I have similar thoughts about The Phantom Menace. I keep rewatching it but I can never remember what happens."
"Oh yeah, the first Star Wars movie," I agree, picking it up from his thoughts.
"Hey Lukas! I've been looking for you." The old wooden floorboards creak as Tobias walks up behind me, interrupting Ethan's enthusiastic discourse.
Oops! Bu görüntü içerik kurallarımıza uymuyor. Yayımlamaya devam etmek için görüntüyü kaldırmayı ya da başka bir görüntü yüklemeyi deneyin.
