Chapter 21

“What do you mean?” I asked, catching my bottom lip with my teeth.

“Sales have rocketed up,” the cashier told me, glancing up at me from the thick stash of coupon codes he was counting.

A big bookstore like this needed to live up to its customer’s expectations and demands, and by the look of it, discount coupons were just the way to do it. “Even at our online store,” he continued. “It’s crazy. Frantic week, I tell ya.”

Given the thick stash of coupons he was holding, it didn’t surprise me. “Doesn’t all this book frenzy seem weird to you…”—I looked down at his name tag—”…Roman?” His mom must’ve been a fan of romance fiction. I could clearly imagine a muscle-bound, handsome hero with that name. If only the good-looking features had come with the name, though. The wiry, pimpled guy standing behind the counter was far away from owning the title.

“CD’s and movies, too.” he said, oblivious to my thoughts.

“What?”