Amy Maxwell & the 7 Deadly Sins (The Amy Maxwell Series Book 2) by Heather Balog

wife cut off his penis or something.” River grins mischievously as I cover my mouth to prevent myself from laughing again. “He really loves those textbooks. In fact, he wrote two of them, so as long as you scour every inch of them, you’ll do fine.”
    I groan. “So I really have to buy thousands of dollars worth of text books?”
    River looks confused. “Wait…what?”
    “I just looked the books up on the college bookstore page. They were like $250 apiece.” I pointed to my phone but the page with the text books had already mysteriously disappeared, compliments of my crappy phone. “Well, they were here a second ago.”
    River shakes his head. “Nobody buys from the book store anymore. Maybe that’s why they’re so expensive. You can download the books to your iPad.” He arches his eyebrow. “You do know what an iPad is, right?”
    I resist the urge to hit him as I retort, “Yes! I know what an iPad is! I’m not from the dark ages, you know!”
    He shrugs and remarks casually, “Oh, just saying. The elderly have trouble with technology…’cuz my mother has no idea how to use an iPad.” He grins wickedly and I narrow my eyes at him. I feel like I am being put through the ringer by my own kids.
    “Here.” River pulls a marble notebook out of his back pack and scribbles on a piece of paper. He rips the page out of the notebook and pushes it through the window at me. “Try this website. You can get the books much cheaper from here.”
    I raise my eyebrows as I accept the paper. “This is all legit, right?”
    River rolls his black rimmed eyes at me. “I’m a criminal justice major. Do you think I would do anything illegal?”
    I want to point out that I’ve met quite a few crooked cops, but instead I tuck the scrap of paper in my bag. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”
    “Don’t mention it,” River replies while standing up. Then, as if he has forgotten something, he crouches back down by my window and holds his hand out, palm facing up. “Give me your phone?”
    I shrink away from the window. After all that, he’s going to mug me? Geez, Amy, you sure know how to pick them. Obviously you aren’t cut out for police work if you can’t even read someone…
    “ Relax . I’m going to put my number in your phone,” he explains as I practically crawl into the passenger seat. “In case you have any questions or you ever need any help.”
    “Oh,” I relax my tense shoulders. “Help with what?”
    River shrugs. “School work? Or questions about college. Or police work. My cousin and aunt and uncle were cops so I know a lot about police work already. You’d be amazed at the jargon you pick up just sitting around the table at Thanksgiving.” He smiles as he adds, “You’re safe with me.”
    Oddly enough, I feel that I am. I return River’s smile as I hand over my phone. He quickly taps a few buttons and then hands the phone back to me.
    Suddenly, I am curious. “Why are you going out of your way to help me?” I ask with a twinge of suspicion. “Are you in some sort of ‘assist the elderly’ program? Because I’m sure there’s some old lady you could be helping across the street.”
    It is River’s turn to raise his eyebrows. “I was joking about you being old. I…” He frowns as if he is looking for the right words. “I just saw the way you looked today after class.”
    I wrinkle my brow. “Okay…how did I look?”
    “Like someone who was defeated,” River explains while twisting his eyebrow ring nervously.
    It feels as if all the air has been deflated from my lungs. I am about to snap at River and argue with him. I’m not defeated! And then I remind myself, Amy…you were about to give up already, throw in the towel and call it quits. River is right.
    Instead of arguing, I simply bob my head. “Thanks. I really need to go so I can get home before the kids do.”
    River offers me a smile and a wave. “Oh, and my mother would never let me live it down if I didn’t help one of