Pirate, bibliophile, wordsmith

Between the Pages

Not Betad

No real warnings yet other than the reader loves drinking iced coffee and won’t drink it hot. I’m going to try my best to not have too many details describing the reader

Pairing: Ari x Reader

Reader will have she/her pronouns but only when in Ari’s pov.

Chapter one:

Ari x bookstore reader

Y/N POV

The shop was warm and cozy, unlike outside which had become a winter wonderland in just a few hours. Books of every genre lined the walls, with chairs scattered around. The fireplace crackled and kept the chill from outside away. People had always wondered why you would have a fireplace in a bookstore, and you would just smile in response and reply that it adds to the charm. You wanted people to feel welcomed, and at home when they came to your bookstore.

When you had moved to the small mountain town of Pine Valley to live with your grandmother after her hip surgery, you had never imagined you would own your own store. But when you had shared your dream with her, she had told you to go for it. She has been adamant that the people here would support you and the bookstore since you were now a local.

Especially since the nearest bookstore was in Big Ridge, the nearest “real” town a little over an hour away. But while Pine Valley didn’t have the hustle and bustle of bigger towns, it has everything one could want, a grocery store, coffee shops, a few boutiques, even a drive-in that was always a popular place to be. You couldn’t imagine a better place to have a bookstore.

As you were shelving some of the new stock that had come in over the weekend, the small bell above the door rang softly. “Welcome to Between the Pages! Let me know if you need help finding anything.”

A grunt could be heard in response. You glanced at the time, and smiled softly to yourself, only one person came in this early every morning and grunted instead of responding with words, Ari Evanstan. He never said hardly anything to you, maybe a couple of words here and there. But he was always there first thing Monday morning, and sometimes you could have sworn he was at the coffee shop across the way when you were closing up. You didn’t think much of it, over the years you had quite a few regulars who made weekly trips to see what was new, you even had a few you came in a couple times a week to get a new book and sit and read.

You had grown so much business that you had hired a couple coworkers to help during busy hours, especially when you needed to check stock to see what needed to be ordered and if anything needed to be sent back to the publisher if it wasn’t being sold.

You finished shelving and walked toward the front. Just as you thought Ari was seated in the chair he always did, the big plush brown chair tucked in the corner by the fireplace. From its location whoever was on it could see most of the store, the register, and whoever came and went from the door.

As you approached the register, you weren’t surprised to see your favorite iced coffee waiting for you. Somewhere down the line, even though he only said a handful of words to you every week, he always brought your favorite drink from the coffee shop across the way. While the recipe changed depending on the season, it was always iced. Your friends back home always teased you about always drinking iced coffee, even when it was cold, but it made you happy. No one in Pine Valley seemed to bat an eye at your coffee order, even if it was snowing like it was today.

“Thank you for the coffee Ari,” you said while taking a long drink. The icy cool caramel mocha brought an instant smile to your face. “Are you liking the book?” You asked motioning to the paperback currently in his lap.

He just grunted, barely looking up at you. You didn’t necessarily expect a real response, you had grown to know what his different grunts meant over the years. His eyes grunts tended to be softer grunts than his no’s, and his grunts towards you were definitely warmer than anyone else who dared to ask a question this early in the morning.

With his concentration on his book you took a moment to look at the older man. Tall, with broad shoulders and arms with corded muscles from working with lumber all day. His dark brown hair had started getting a little gray at the temples, the same was for the brown stubble that graced his cheeks.

Over the years that you had known him, you had grown to find comfort in his presence. He made the mornings seem less lonely, especially on days where the clouds kept the morning light from chasing away the darkness. It didn’t hurt that he was so easy on the eyes. Did you fantasize about him just grabbing you and kissing you, yes, but he has never really shown interest in not only you, but any other woman really. He had flings, like the rest of his brothers. But not one of them seemed to have any interest in settling down with one woman, truth be told it seemed like none of them actually dated. You couldn’t recall ever seeing one out to dinner or at the drive in with a girl.

Everyone knew that the Evanstan boys were all heartthrobs. Each stunningly gorgeous in their own right. The brothers all lived on the same property, land that had belonged to their parents before them. So many of the single women around town tried to catch their eye, but it would usually only end up with a night in the woman’s bed. None of the brothers ever brought a woman back to their land.

After about an hour or so, once the sun started sparkling off the fresh snow, Ari stood and nodded to you before he walked out the door. You waved as he left, you still didn’t know why he spent most mornings in your store, but you were partly thankful for the company, even if he was silent.

Ari POV

When the whole thing started, Ari hadn’t been willing to admit why he started spending his mornings reading in Y/N’s bookstore. He could have done the exact same thing from the comfort of his bed, and saved time not having to drive into town and then back out towards the woodworking company that he owned and worked at with some of his brothers. But after a short period of time, he realized why he kept coming back.

There was something about Y/N that called to him, that made him want to be everything for her. The wolf blood was strong on their father’s side. Growing up, his father took the time to explain just what that wolf blood would do to them, what it would give them. He stressed above all that at some point, it would lead them to their mate, and in Ari’s case, as the leader of their pack, his Luna. His father had told them that he just knew that their mom would be the perfect partner for him and the more he got to know her, the more he knew his gut had been correct.

Ari had never had that feeling before. Even with the girls he dated in high school he knew they wouldn’t be the one he settled down with. He had begun to lose interest in even trying to find that someone that was his match. The women he hooked up with all just wanted to claim they landed an Evanstan for the night, or in some cases more than one night. None had actually taken the time to get to know anything about him. Once the grey started coming in in his hair and beard, the hookups just seemed to want to know if he still had the moves he did when he was ten fifteen years younger.

No one had caught his attention in that way, not in the way Y/N did from the first glance. Of course she was stunning, even if she didn’t seem to know it. But there was more to get than just her looks. From the first meeting she seemed to actually care what he had to say and his interests, even if he only said a small handful of words to her. She took every grunt and short answer with grace and tried to turn it into a conversation. She learned what he liked to read and had always made sure to save a few paperbacks for him from the new releases and shipments she got in.

He hadn’t expected to find his match in someone at least 10 years his junior. While he knew she was end game, he had no idea on how to make her give him a chance. He had never seen nor heard about her having a steady boyfriend, sure she has been out with friends but not a word reached his ear about any man trying to make an honest move, and with his brother Bucky owning the best bar in town, Ari would have heard by now. Ari knew that he had to make a move, and soon. Y/N was too good of a catch, and it was only a matter of time before others saw what he saw. His wolf was growing impatient, knowing that his Luna was so close yet so far away. Between his brothers’ constant prodding, and his wolf trying to make him take charge, he was starting to go stir crazy.

As he pulled up by the office up in the mountains, Ari could see Steve through the window. The two story workspace had been designed and built by the brothers, it was a project that had brought them closer together. They had to make sure that it would flow with the forests and rocks around it. While most of them worked in some form of construction or woodworking, it didn’t mean that they didn’t want to protect what they could.

Steve looked up from the plans he was going over and smirked when Ari walked in. “Spend another morning in town?”

Ari just glared in response, hanging up his jacket by the door. His brothers knew where he went. Most mornings at least one of them was up and in the main room by the time he left. They had all decided instead of tearing down their parents home, they would just expand it. Each had their own set of rooms, starting with the doors that once hid their childhood bedrooms. While they knew some families weren’t close, the thought of living apart had seemed wrong in all of their eyes.

“When are you going to give into your wolf and tell her that you want her to be your and you want to be hers? You know she isn’t going to be single forever.” Steve told him.

Ari just let out a soft growl, he knew his brother meant well, and just wanted him happy, but after so many years, it was hard to think that what he wanted most in the world, was right within reach. “Soon”

Taglist: @jesevans @imaginedreamwrite @faewitch-effect