Bear Among the Books by T.J. Masters

Author:T.J. Masters [Masters, T.J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gay romance
ISBN: 978-1-63477-271-6
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2016-09-02T00:00:00+00:00

Fourteen

THE FOLLOWING morning was another typical Saturday in the library: lots of dads with children. Not all of the dads were engaged either with their children or the books, but the few who were made all our work worthwhile.

Sometimes I just wanted to shake the hands of those men who sat down and shared books with their offspring. All of the children, without exception, loved reading with their dads and having their dads read to them. I couldn’t help but think that for the boys in particular these dads were great role models, and I hoped it would encourage the youngsters to develop their own interest in reading. These interactions always cheered up my Saturdays, but this morning I already had a head start on that, and even the lovely Daisy commented on my good mood.

Jason appeared just before eleven, and he caught up with me among the bookshelves. I wasted no time in settling arrangements for the evening, and it was agreed that he would be at mine for dinner at seven thirty. He also chose to tell me he didn’t need to be home at any particular time either. I was happy to hear that, even though I hadn’t dared hope that we might be able to stretch out an evening together.

“Do you mind if I just spend some time looking at books this morning?”

“Of course. You don’t need to ask me to do that.” It hadn’t occurred to me that the library had changed for Jason in recent weeks. His mornings coming in just to look at books had been very important to him, but between working in the garden and his reading lessons with me, Jason had been missing out on his exploring time with the books.

“Don’t ever feel guilty about coming in just to look at books the way that you always used to. I know you loved doing that, and you should carry on doing it when you can.”

“Okay thanks, I will.”

“Great. Now I need to get some work done myself, so I’m going to leave you in peace, and if I don’t see you before you go then we’ll catch up tonight.”

Jason walked off, and I went back to shelf stacking. It felt strange leaving him to his own devices. After all, that was what first brought him to my attention, so why should things be any different now? Indeed if we were going to move things forward in any meaningful way, we would need some sense of normality about our behaviors, both as individuals and as a couple.

So it was that I wasn’t even aware of Jason leaving until Daisy came to tell me she was taking her lunch break. That’s when I realized how much time had passed and that he had slipped away. Now my thoughts turned to the evening and our first proper dinner date together.

I’d planned to keep things simple, and so I only needed to do some light grocery shopping on the way home. I prepared as much of the food as I could in advance and then took a long, leisurely shower.

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