The Carrier (The Carrier Series Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

the counter.
    He backed into the corner of the
triangle-shaped booth and hoisted himself up on the counter. It looked like
something my mother would scold me for doing on the kitchen counter. “She ran
out to her car to get me the schedule for next week. She’ll be right back.”
    Damn .
    “Is the 5:15 your last trip? I’ve gotta work until eight tonight.” He looked up at me, and I
tried not to dive into the tranquil seas above his nose, but I got lost beneath
his long eyelashes.
    “Ava... are you
alright? You’ve got the weirdest expression on your face.”
    Dammit ! Play
it cool, girl!
    “Yeah, sorry. We
had two back-to-backs, and I didn’t really get a chance to eat lunch today.” It
was only a half-truth. I did eat a snack-sized bag of mini pretzels on the way
back upriver during the last tour.
    “Hold down the fort here, and I’ll run back to
the Last Chance to get you something.” He hopped off the counter that rounded
the booth and was silently closing in the gap between us.
    His chest looked like the most perfect place to
rest the side of my head. To invite his arms to wrap around me like two satin
ribbons, pull me in close, and tie gently behind my back.
    Like an idiot, I let out an involuntary sigh.
    Oops. Did he hear that?
      “Hey, Queenie ! Where’s Captain Jack?” Suzanne barged
through the door and quickly freed me from the trance Nolan was holding me in.
    “Why do you call her Queenie ,
anyway?” Nolan asked Suzanne, not breaking eye contact with me.
    I pleaded with her, “Oh, no. Please,
Suzanne...” This could be embarrassing. There were some things I wasn’t ready
to share with Nolan yet. I closed my eyes.
    “Oh, don’t you know?” An amused smile graced
her lips. “I do a little subbing up at the high school, and three years ago
when our little Ava here was a junior, she was elected prom queen.”
    “Ah! Well, that explains a lot.” Nolan,
grinning widely from ear to ear, walked back over to the corner spot.
    “And what exactly does that mean?” I played
along, letting my hands land on my hips in protest.
    Suzanne laughed and held one finger up in the
air. “Oh wait, honey, there’s more. As a senior she was named Homecoming Queen.
That’s right. Prom and Homecoming Queen. I’d
say we’ve got royalty amongst us!” Then she slapped me on the knee like a move
from some hoedown dance.
    The corners of Nolan’s mouth turned up slowly.
    “No, I did not sleep with half the class, as I can tell you’re thinking. Let’s just say I
am a very friendly and sweet person. It’s in my blood. A family trait, you
could say.”
    “I’m sure you are.” A hardly innocent and
crooked smile swept across his face, but somehow I still liked it.
    Suzanne let out a loud belly laugh, and a baby
near the booth began to cry.
     
    *   
*     *     *
     
    The
next day Nolan was assigned to a different ticket booth uptown. Suzanne made a
tiara in my honor out of the tinfoil from her lunch and posted it on top of the
clock in the booth. Nolan would think that was quite funny. It was a very slow
day, but I couldn’t tell if it was from the lack of tourists or because my
Nolan wasn’t around.
    I spent time between boats thinking about
checking my grades. Several times I had the page up on my phone, waiting for me
to press log-in.
    “Just do it,” Jack
pressured me. “I can’t imagine them being that bad. Not from you.”
    I swung around to see him peering over my
shoulder. “You have no idea.”
    “You? Bad grades? Come on, what classes did you take?”
    “English 101, Intro to
Psychology, Chem lab, and US History 110.”
    “Well, see there’s the problem. Those are
boring. Where’s your teaching classes ?”
    “I can’t take teaching courses until I’m
admitted into the School of Education.” I sat down on the back deck of the Bailey .
“And I can’t get into the School of Ed unless I have good grades.”
    “Then get good grades!”
    I blew a raspberry at him and he