Son of a bitch.
A thought occurs to me. “Brad?”
“Yeah?”
“Were you willing to date me exclusively?” I give him a side-eye.
His jaw flexes. “There’s no doubt I have a reputation, but I’m never dishonest. I would’ve been with only you if we had both felt something. I’m not scared of being someone’s boyfriend, I just haven’t found the right person yet.”
Looking out the window, I make my final decision. “If that’s the case, I have a friend of a friend named Luna who you might like. She’s a dancer and is funny, outgoing, kind, and beautiful.”
Brad raises both eyebrows. “Send me her number.”
Picking up my phone, I barely glance his way when I say, “Hurt her and you’re a dead man.”
He chuckles. We talk like friends do until he drops me off, hugs me goodbye, and I head up the stairs, not knowing what’s about to happen next.
Chapter Twenty-Six
STEVIE
Opening the door to the apartment, I find Levi standing over the counter, picking at what seems to be a takeout box.
He barely looks my way when he greets me.
“What are you eating?” I ask, attempting to start some sort of conversation.
Levi picks up a fork of what seems to be flat noodles. “Thai food.” He points to the fridge. “I didn’t know if you were going to eat with Brad or not, but just in case, I got you some vegetable yellow curry.”
Of course he did.
Levi continues to look down, and I want to yell, “Look at me!” and “I like you.” But instead of doing that, I blurt out the other truth.
“Brad and I kissed.”
Levi halts all sorts of movements and remains silent for what seems like an eternity.
“I take it, the date went well then.”
He marches to the garbage and dumps his container aggressively. Why did I have to say it like that? More importantly, why is it bothering him?
“That didn’t come out right?—”
“You guys didn’t kiss then?” He takes out a bottle of water and slams the cabinet door shut, making me jump.
What the hell?“We did but?—”
“Was it better than ours?”
My head rears back at his question, and I open my mouth, but no words come out. Everything is happening too quickly. I wanted to tell him how I felt about him, but he’s not giving me time to.
Levi looks me straight in the eye. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
He shakes his head, still not looking my way, and reaches for the handle of his bedroom door.No, he doesn’t get to walk away from this.
“Why the hell do you even care?”
“Because I like you!” he yells so loudly it echoes off the walls, and everything in me stops. Levi’s breaths are heavy as he speaks. “I’ve liked you for fucking weeks. I haven’t been able to get you off my damn mind, and tasting you, tasting all of you, made it so much worse.”
