“Oh, you’re not leaving here without a copy. I don’t see one, though . . .” He turned the corner and she heard his voice travel to the aisle beside her. “Maybe they have it shelved in the fiction section. I’ll be right back.”
While Nick went in search of the customer service desk, Lily continued to browse the shelves. She spotted the third book in the Dragons of Blood series by Elena Masterson and pulled it down to show Nick once he returned. Her phone vibrated in her bag and she pulled it out to see that Iris had sent a selfie to their sister group chat. She was grinning from ear to ear and holding a charcuterie board.
Guess who’s ready for the Real Housewives of Potomac reunion???
Lily: Omg I forgot that was tonight!
Iris: What?! I can’t believe you almost forgot. I’m disappointed and so is the grand dame Karen Huger. I’m glad I texted you. It starts in three minutes!
Violet: I won’t be home for at least another hour! No spoilers!
Lily: I’ll have to watch it later too. I’m at the bookstore with Nick.
Violet: Who’s Nick?
Iris: Oh, you’re at the “bookstore” with Nick. Okay.
Lily: Don’t start.
Violet: Hello?? Who is Nick?
Iris: I didn’t say anything! Quick question, is he still making you smile?
Lily: Bye!
Violet: WHO IS NICK?
Lily sighed and dropped her phone back in her bag. Why did she have to slip up and mention Nick again? It wasn’t like she could tell them the real reason they were hanging out tonight. Iris still believed that Lily and Nick were more than friends because she saw Lily smile at his text one time . . . and Lily stupidly revealed that she and Nick had kissed weeks ago. She’d just have to let Iris think whatever she wanted. And she definitely wasn’t going to give any information to Violet. She’d take it and run.
“I heard they’re turning those books into a movie series.”
Lily startled and glanced over. A guy with light brown skin and curly hair was standing a few feet away from her, pointing at the Elena Masterson book she held. He kind of reminded her of a shorter Michael Ealy but with brown eyes.
“I heard that too,” Lily said, overcoming her nerves and finding her voice. “I’ve read it so many times.”
The guy smiled and walked closer. “I read the first book. It was okay to me. My younger sister really likes it, though.”
“She has good taste.” Lily smiled too. So he didn’t love Elena Masterson, which was a bit disappointing, but not completely unforgivable. Everyone was entitled to their own preferences. What was important was that the topic of Elena Masterson had been enough to spark a conversation. Could it be that Nick’s method might actually work?
“But isn’t it frustrating that they always shelve her with adult fantasy?” he asked.
Lily raised an eyebrow. “No. Where else would her books go?”
“YA.”
Lily blinked. “Elena Masterson doesn’t write YA.”
“Yes, she does.”
“I—” Lily wasn’t even sure what to say. He was wrong, but she didn’t want to argue with a stranger. “That’s actually a common misconception made about women who write fantasy. Elena Masterson writes adult fantasy and always has.”
The man scoffed. “No. She writes about protagonists in their late teens and early twenties. And they’re all so whiny. It’s annoying when you go into a book expecting one thing and you get something else. That’s all I’m saying.”
Lily was speechless. He doubled down on his opinion like it was an obvious fact. Wrong and strong, as Iris liked to say.
“You do understand that what qualifies a book as YA is more than just a character’s age, don’t you?” she said. “There are specific themes addressed in YA. Esch is only fifteen in Salvage the Bones, but there are clear reasons why that book is adult and not YA.”
He rolled his eyes. Actually rolled them! “It’s okay for you to admit that Elena Masterson is just trying to cash in.”
“And it’s okay for you to admit that you’re a literary snob.”
Lily never imagined that she’d speak to a stranger this way, but she was so incensed.
“I’m not a snob,” he said indignantly. “You just don’t know what you’re talking about. I have no idea why I’m talking to you.”
“Neither do I.” Lily felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned, and Nick was standing beside her. He was frowning at the guy, who’d suddenly backed farther away. “Do you work at a publishing house?”
“No,” the guy mumbled.
“Then I think we should leave it to the expert who does.” He nodded toward Lily.
“R-right. Whatever,” he stuttered, then quickly hurried away.
“And YA characters aren’t whiny!” Lily called to his retreating back.
Of course once Nick showed up, the guy suddenly scurried off and didn’t have anything to say. Lily huffed out a frustrated breath. However, when she turned to Nick, she felt herself smirk.
“Just because I work in publishing doesn’t mean I’m an expert,” she said.
Nick’s mouth was still set in a deep frown, his eyes trained on the man who was far away at the other end of the bookstore by now. When he looked at Lily, his expression softened.
“Sure it does.”
“I think your plan might have backfired.”
“Looks that way.” He held up a copy of This Is How You Lose the Time War. “It was on a display table. I bought it for you.”
All of Lily’s annoyance from her interaction with the pretentious guy evaporated. She almost said You didn’t have to do that. But really, it was nice that Nick had bought her a book. And she was grateful that he loved Elena Masterson and wasn’t a literary snob.
“Thank you,” she said, taking the book from him.
Without needing to verbally agree, they left the Strand and walked in the direction of their building. It was dark now, and Union Square was alive and loud. Lily was thinking about how she’d been having such a good time with Nick until that guy came along, when Nick suddenly said, “I’m sorry that my plans to help you aren’t working.”
He looked genuinely frustrated, which was both funny and touching.
“It’s okay. Honestly, it’s probably me. I never have luck with dating or relationships.”
“You mean with the people your sisters set you up with.”