Chapter Six

The Book Nook was open when Nash arrived, but Ace was nowhere in sight. Unlocked doors were a free invitation for robbery, not that anyone would rob a bookstore. Nash pondered Ace's whereabouts but left it at Ace being Ace-and got to work.

By inaccurate calculations, Nash thought he could finish by the end of the week, but the week was ending and half the workload had yet to be completed. It hadn't been that long since he met Ace, a few days ago, in fact. Their troubled first start morphed into something comfortable. There was something about Ace and his constant need to have lunch with Nash, treating him to coffee or snacks. Nash figures he was using the old tactics of working his way to Nash's heart through his stomach. While he enjoyed Do'Nuts donuts, Ace couldn't be more wrong. The way to Nash's heart was through a book.

"You left a book," Ace said, towering over Nash, who cleaned the shelves. He took the book from the upper shelves and placed it in one of the boxes.

"Who opens a store and then leaves?" Nash said, trying to calm his racing heart from Ace's sudden appearance.

"I didn't want you standing outside by your lonesome self."

Ace didn't move an inch when Nash turned to face him. The space between them was only inches apart. "Personal space," Nash said, gently pushing Ace, who refused to budge.

"I read somewhere that closeness improves relationships," Ace responded, mimicking Nash's touch by placing his hand on Nash's chest. "What's this? Am I making you nervous?"

Nash slapped Ace's hand away from his chest. He scoffed, "There's no way my heart would race because of you." He just hadn't fully calmed himself from the earlier scare when Ace popped up behind him. Nash stepped to the side, away from Ace. Why would his heart race for Ace? Why would he be nervous because of how close they were? It's inconceivable. He'd rip his heart out and stomp on it, then place it back if it ever thought of racing or skipping a beat for Ace.

"The evidence is there," Ace pointed at Nash's chest. "It's hard to resist the charm."

"There's nothing to resist in the first place,"

"You should be more honest with yourself. Not long ago, you said you would date me."

"Not my exact words. And I'm 100% honest with myself."

"Sorry, for a storyline or if I kept my mouth shut," Ace said, slowly approaching Nash. "This is the storyline. A guy desperately hunting for a book ends up meeting a rude yet handsome bookstore owner who happens to be nice after getting to know him. The classic enemy to lovers. At some point, they end up falling in love. That's your storyline. Our storyline."

"You should be a writer. Your imagination is wild. You'd be a hit with the reading community." Nash replied. He dodged Ace's persistent approach only to be backed into a corner. What's wrong with him today? "Stop talking nonsense and get to work."

"As they say, you can shut me up," Ace leaned forward. Nash was conscious of his presence more than ever as he whispered in his ears. "With a kiss. You know, for the sake of progress in the storyline."

Nash's body responded despite his unwillingness to Ace's flirtatious teasing. Nash didn't know what came over Ace for him to be acting like this in the span of a few days day or why his body reacted- flushed cheeks and racing heart. He blamed his lack of experience, which could've steeled his resolve at that moment.

"Would you like a lollipop? I ran out, so I went to get some."

Nash watched as Ace dug into his pocket and offered him a lollipop, acting as if he wasn't whispering attempts of sweet words into Nash's ear, purposefully closing the distance between them. It annoyed Nash how Ace could raise a reaction in him yet act calm afterward. Maybe this was the promised moment to take his heart out and stomp on it. How dare it race like that? Honestly, Nash was upset at himself for falling into the scheme of things.

"Too much candy isn't good for you," He grabbed Ace's bandage wrist in retaliation, resulting in a painful cry from him before walking off. Nash got to work, ignoring Ace for the rest of the day.

~~

Skipping lunch because he was emotional was a bad idea. Nash was working slower than usual and tempted by the chocolate-frosted donuts Ace gave him in an attempt to apologize for teasing him. They sat to the side, Nash occasionally glancing at them. How did he know to get the chocolate ones? Is he really trying to win me over with food?

The old hits Ace played in the background were hard to ignore. Nash found the whole thing comical. His choice of music was oddly fitting. All that was left was for Ace to sing in the rain. Nash supposed he was grateful that he wasn't playing those five-minute music, as he called them. Nothing beats music that can last decades and feel the same as when he first listened to it, something that was lacking in recent times.

"You still haven't eaten them," Ace said.

"Why should I?"

"Are you still upset about what happened this morning? Was it what I said or that I didn't kiss you?"

The audacity of this guy. "Why would I want you to have my first kiss?" Nash said dryly.

"Because it's me," Ace replied.

"Yeah. A guy that I'm not attracted to romantically. Why not let him stick his tongue in my mouth?"

"Did I make you uncomfortable?" Ace asked. "I took the joke too far. I'm sorry."

Nash wasn't uncomfortable. He was mad at himself rather than Ace-that he reacted like that. It made him wonder if Ace actually went in for the kiss, would he have accepted it?

Nash was hell-bent on holding onto the slightest resentment for Ace, even if a drop because he felt that if he let it go he would start liking Ace in ways he didn't want. They were getting comfortable with each other, and he didn't hate it. If Ace could have him feeling like that over something so small, any more of his niceties and Nash might find himself actually liking him romantically.

He was already entertaining such thoughts.

"Let's do something fun," Ace suggested. "I hate being given the silent treatment." Nash nodded. What did he have to lose? The more emotionally invested Nash got, the more the thoughts would torment him. All he had to do was not react and take Ace's action as merely a joke. "Let's ask each other a question, and we answer truthfully. Of course, you can skip if you don't want to answer."

"That's your idea of fun," Nash said. "I'll go first. Do you know anyone named Moonbeancactus?" He initially wanted to ask him earlier, but Ace had different plans, making Nash miss the opportunity. "Granted, it's not their real name, but does it ring any bells?"

"I don't know any moon, beans, or cactus," Ace answered, making Nash question just who Moonbeancactus was. "We'll do five questions each. Tell me honestly, why did you get so upset? You usually fight back, not go radio silent on me."

"Because my body responded in a way I didn't want it to. Honestly, I'm scared I might start liking you." Nash replied, rushing to change the topic, not missing the slight smile on Ace's lips. "Your tattoos, any reason behind them?" It was something Nash was curious about.

"Nothing grand. Most are things I like, so I got it," Ace showcased his sleeve. "Others have minor meanings such as freedom, etc. I always thought sleeves looked cool." Nash applauded the tattoo artist who got the job done. It flowed as one and not like random patchwork that looked tacky. "Do you ever think you could like me romantically and admit to it?"

Nash pondered his answer. "Maybe, but I don't want to."

Ace chuckled, "There's always a but with you. Is it that hard to accept we get along well despite our first encounter?"

"It's my turn," Nash said. "Why did you act like that when we first met?" Despite his inner turmoil, Nash was willing to hear Ace's excuse now.

"Since we're being honest, If I sold you that book and you left, would you even remember me?" The answer is no; Caught up in the excitement of finally receiving the book, he wouldn't care to remember Ace. Given his looks, Nash would probably remember him as the good-looking guy from the bookstore, then forget after a few days.

What did that have to do with anything?

"I wanted to create a lasting impression even if it was a bad one," A lasting one indeed. "I got you to come back to the store. I ended up spraining my wrist as a result. Here we are now." He smiled. "I do think that book is crappy, though."

"A simple Hey, can we be friends would've done the job," Nash told him, unsure how he would've responded. "So all of this was a ploy to have me around? I swear you're crazy."

"Yes, and it worked. You only have one question left." Ace said. "Would you like to go to the movies with me?"

"Do you like me?" Nash randomly asked. If he looked back on everything Ace had done, it only had one explanation: that he liked Nash.

Ace was visibly shocked by the question. "Answer my question first,"

"Haha. It's hard to resist the charm, I know." Nash replied, amused by the development. Here, he was worried that he might fall for Ace when the guy already liked him. "Is this your attempt at asking me out on a date? I'll go." He grinned.

Nash was enjoying himself.