“Well, at best, it’s a mixed blessing,” he said, pushing his coffee cup toward the edge of the table. “Now all I need is to decide how I want to handle this going forward.”
“Avoiding me doesn’t seem to be working, so you might want to throw that plan out the window.”
“Yes, yes,” he said, looking out the window and frowning. “I still don’t understand what you want with me after all these years. We’re not...well, if not much about you has changed, I know that trying to dissuade you isn’t going to work. You’ve never been one to take a hint, no matter how obvious it is.”
“Worked pretty well when you left.”
“I also left the city, ditched my phone, and made sure I wouldn’t be easy to find. That’s a sign of just how much effort it requires to get you to back off and let me be on my own.”
“Wow, I almost feel bad for you.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I really don’t.”
He smiled, reaching into his pocket and pulling a napkin toward him, writing on it before sliding it over to me. “Text me, it will be more reliable than trying to call, that much I can tell you.”
“Okay,” I said, taking the napkin. “That’s...our area code...this one.”
His face stiffened for a moment before he pushed to his feet. “I’ve been back in town for nearly a month.”
I snorted, tucking the napkin into a pocket. “And I’m sure the first thing you did was buy a new phone.”
“You’d be surprised what needs to be done in my life to stay on top of things.”
“You mean out of prison.”
“Or dead,” he said as he made it to his feet. “Maybe the more you understand what kind of world you’re flirting with by talking to me, you’ll finally realize what I was trying to do all those years ago.”
“And if you’re wrong and it doesn’t scare me off?” I asked him, my smirk dropping. “Seriously.”
He took a deep breath. “If that’s the case, then I hope I never live to regret your stubbornness.”
Our conversation was clearly coming to an end, but I stayed in the booth. I wanted to linger and think about what just happened after he was gone. “You’re still dramatic and morbid, I see.”
“It comes with the territory,” he said stiffly as he adjusted his jacket and began to walk off. “Text me...or be smart and throw the number away and stop looking for me. I have too much on my plate to try to keep you from throwing yourself into the viper’s nest.”
“Drama queen,” I said as he walked past me, and I felt a flush of warmth. “Hey, Levi?”
He stopped, turning his head toward me with a wary expression. “Yes?”
“Nice to see you finally got yourself an ass after all these years,” I said, glancing meaningfully down at said ass. “Was that just age, working out, or did you throw money at your ass?”
His eyes widened slightly, and he turned half a step, as if unconsciously trying to hide his ass. “Don’t...get any ideas, Dom. You’ve already had enough to last me a lifetime.”
“Hey, I’m allowed to compliment a good ass when I see one.”
“You’re the one who’s not into men, remember?”
“Ah, ah, I saidmostmen. And once upon a time, we learned that you are not in fact most men.”
He drew himself up. “Bye, Dom.”
I couldn’t figure out if he was just uncomfortable with compliments or if the idea of me flirting with him, specifically me, was the issue. Either way, it was pretty funny to watch him leave, moving as quickly as possible, as if that was somehow going to help. It certainly wasn’t going to help me. From the moment I’d been turned on just because he’d bumped his knee against mine, it had started a chain reaction in my head. I certainly hadn’t been paying much attention to what he looked like or how I felt about how he looked when I’d run into him the first time. But within minutes of the knee bump, I was suddenly paying attention to his ass? Admittedly, I hadn’t lied; his slacks hugged his ass so nicely that if the whole situation wasn’t awkward and weird for both of us, I might have actually been a little jealous of his pants.
I pulled the napkin out and stared at the writing, feeling a strange pang as I realized it was the same handwriting he’d had as a teenager.
“This should be interesting,” I muttered as I tucked the napkin away and sat back to figure out just where I stood.
