I gulp the cool liquid and nod. “Just a little sleepy.”
He touches me gently. “We can go home if you don’t feel well?—”
“Absolutely not.” I turn to face him. “It is your twenty-first birthday, and I feel perfectly fine.”
Levi narrows his gaze, assessing me. “Okay,” he relents.
“Roaring 20s” by Panic! At The Disco plays next as Levi takes a sip of his Coke, and his eyes widen. “We’re dancing.” He grabs my hand and pulls me to the dance floor.
Shaking my head, I pull back. “Maybe I don’t feel well after all,” I lie.
Levi smirks. “I love this song, and it’s my birthday, we’re dancing.”
Pouting, I know I can’t deny him, and I’ve been practicing.I’ve got this.Looking around, I see everyone moving differently.
How do you dance to this kind of music?
“I don’t know how?—”
Levi grabs my arm and turns me, before pushing and twirling me away again, and suddenly we’re dancing like a pair of idiots, entirely out of sync. I throw my head back laughing, and Levi follows suit. Eventually, the song slows down a bit. He presses my back against his front and grabs my hips.
Yeah, he knows how to dance, how to move his hips. I’m the spaz. The dance only lasts a couple of more seconds until the song switches to a much slower, familiar one. “Brooklyn Baby” by Lana Del Rey, a favorite of mine.
Levi twirls me and takes my right hand with his left. I smile. Now this, I know how to do.
I place my free hand on his shoulder, and he grabs me gently by the hip.
Our eyes stay locked in, and we remain quiet for half of the song. He leans down, keeping his eyes on me. “I love you.”
Butterflies fill my stomach like they have been all day. “I love you.”
He opens his mouth and closes it again. Tilting my head, I wait to see what else he wants to say. His eyes examine every inch of my face. “I want you to know that I’m taking us seriously, that this…” He pauses, trying to find the right words. My heartraces a little quicker, nerves building within me. “I see a future with you, Stevie.” His voice is barely loud enough to hear over the music.
My stomach flips. That’s, um…serious. He did say forever earlier, but it was also in the heat of the moment.
“We’ve only known each other for a few months, yet I can’t picture my life without you in it. And I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of keeping these thoughts and feelings inside.” His Adam’s apple bobs as I stare at him blankly. “Please say something.”
My throat is completely dry, more out of surprise than nerves. “I Wanna Be Yours” by Arctic Monkeys begins, allowing us to dance at a similar speed.
“We don’t have a song,” I blurt out.
His brow furrows before catching on, and he listens to the song playing. He smiles. “The lyrics are pretty accurate.”
Smiling, while still processing his previous statements, I nod. “I agree.”
Levi dips his chin. “This is our song then.” He looks over my head, and I know he’s disappointed in my response.
“Hotshot?”
His eyes shoot down to mine, looking full of nerves and hope. “Bambi?”
Clearing my throat, I tell him the truth. “I see it too.” Once the words escape me, a huge weight lifts off my shoulders. It’s not the first time I’ve said them to a man, but it’s the first time Imeanthem.
Levi’s face twists into a look of glee and surprise. His lips open, letting out a breath of relief.
Pushing myself onto my toes, I give him a soft kiss. His eyes heat. “If I spend one more second tonight without being able to touch you properly, I might die.”
Goose bumps break out across my body. “We can’t have that now, can we?” I whisper back, repeating the exact words he said to me the first night we were together.
