Checking Out Love Read Online Free PDF Page A

finished the sentence.
    Jeremy gave a very real sigh. “I couldn’t stay away.” When that got him puzzled silence and a blink, he added, “This place is incredible.” He made sure to whisper this time.
    The librarian wrinkled his forehead, then smoothed it, then looked Jeremy over. Once again, Jeremy hadn’t dressed up. There hadn’t been a reason to, he’d thought. Now he felt underdressed, like he’d shown up to a date in blue plaid and jeans. He’d put on fingerless gloves because there was a chill in the air and he got cold on his bike. He sometimes felt a chill when driving. He felt it now too, with the librarian silent.
    He’d done it again, somehow he’d done too much and this guy was already tired of him. He pulled off his gloves and stuck them in his pocket to give himself something to do. Before he pulled his sleeves into place his wrist tattoo was clearly visible, and the librarian’s eyes went right to it. Since the guy probably didn’t read Chinese characters—Jeremy didn’t either, really, but he knew some things—Jeremy translated.
    “It means ‘trust’.” Jeremy let out a small laugh. “Get it? Because so many white kids get Mandarin characters as tattoos while trusting that they mean what they were told they mean, which I thought was funny. And there’s this idea in linguistics about the formation of language that involves trust. I was really into language and linguistics for a while, though I’ve changed focus since then. Communication is the strangest thing. They still aren’t sure how, or why, speech evolved. Some people pointed out that trust is necessary for creatures to share a spoken or written language.” That got him another startled blink. “You see, because words reference things that aren’t necessarily there at the time, so they could be lies. There’s no reason to trust words, since words can be faked, unlike primal noises.”
    Which made him think of primal noises, and if the quiet librarian would make any in bed. Maybe he was all hush in the library and all groans in the bedroom. Now there was a thought. Jeremy wasn’t likely to ever find out, but it was a good thought anyway. He’d never had detailed library sex fantasies before, and didn’t know what was hotter, the idea of getting pastel sweater vest here to blush while he blew him by the almanacs, or the idea of the Beast catching them and showing Jeremy how devastating he could be.
    He realized he was staring. They were both staring, actually. Jeremy’s face was decidedly warm. He cleared his throat. “Which is interesting, because you have to wonder, did people develop language to communicate with each other, or to keep other people from communicating with them? It’s a paradox. Kind of part of my thesis. Well, not exactly that. My thesis is about storytelling. We create stories for our own kind, stories of our history or our beliefs. Yet we willingly pass them on to others, who change and adapt them. Look at how many different versions of Cinderella there are. For all that the story undergoes superficial changes, the idea remains the same. The popularity indicates the tales strikes something common in….” He went silent the moment he realized he was probably boring the pants off the poor guy. “Anyway.” He shuffled his feet in awkward apology. “I don’t have time to get lost in the diary today, although I loved every second of it and will be back for it. I needed a quiet place for a few hours. Roommates and everything.” He gestured, vaguely, at ‘everything’ and gave the librarian a smile, as though any of that explained why he’d come over to bug him. “How’s Persephone?”
    The librarian didn’t seem too bothered. He straightened. “You remember my cat’s name?”
    Jeremy shrugged. “My mind is… I couldn’t tell you what my garbage pick-up day is, but your cat’s name I will remember forever.” He was so used to seeing uncomfortable expressions when he talked like that he