Shopping
Normally Sam hated shopping, especially during the holidays. He was only in the Books-a-Million because of Quorra anyway. She'd blown through Scalzi and had knocked out most of his copies of the Discworld novels. He was gliding from Asimov to Clark when he saw it. A paperback that he was certain he'd seen before, only beat up and worn instead of shiny and new. He picked it up, examining it, flipping it, turning it, before determining that it wasn't supposed to be in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy section. He held it in his hands, not quite willing to part with the book, sticking it in the small basket he'd nicked from the entrance in preparation for the books he knew he would probably be getting. Pausing at Bradbury, Sam spotted A Graveyard for Lunatics and snatched it. He'd let his out to Lora and had never gotten it back, which was fine, he'd been meaning to get another copy anyway. Snagging a second copy for Quorra, he stared at the shelf. Something wasn't quite right. Scanning the shelf again, dragging his finger along the titles, he hit a dip between Fahrenheit 451 and Something Wicked This Way Comes. There was a slim novel there, and Sam plucked it from its resting place. "Well now, that's not your spot," Sam said. "Come on little fella, let's get you back with the rest of your herd, shall we?" Cradling the slim book, he stepped over to its author's shelf, making a spot for it amongst the other copies. Smiling to himself, he finished perusing the shelves, occasionally snagging a book for either himself or Quorra.
The novel, so out of place among his Sci-Fi greats, earned him a look from the cashier. Sam just shrugged, tucking the book in the bag with the others.
A few days later, Sam found the book again, cradled in the hands of Ed Dillinger, a soft smile on his face. "I didn't know you liked The Princess Bride enough to read the book," he said, turning the smile on Sam.
"I don't. It just seemed right to get it," Sam said, shrugging.
Ed kept smiling. "Try it. It's a good book. My dad read it to me a lot when I was a kid." Sam looked at Ed with a slightly confused look on his face. His dad read to him when he was a kid? That was kind of interesting. Ed broke Sam's musing by taking one of Sam's hands in his and gently placing the book in it. "You'll like it." Sam just nodded, hand warmed by Ed's slightly larger ones. Ed winks, brushing lightly calloused fingertips across and around Sam's wrist. Sam just swallowed, a deer-in-headlights expression across his face. "I'll see you later, hmm?"
"Y-yeah." Slowly, Ed's smile became a smirk.
"Good." With that, Ed dropped Sam's hand, turning around and leaving, clicking the door closed behind him.
Gaping, Sam breathed heavily for a few moments. "What… the fuck was that?!"
Nothing answered him.