“Let me give you a hand,” I offered.
“I got it.”
“Come on.” My heart skipped a beat as I reached for the camera bag, our hands brushing as I took it. Levi swallowed hard, his eyes tracking me as I headed back to my truck.
I had no idea what the hell was wrong with me. I’d lived in Texas my entire life and knew better than to be openly . . .what? Bisexual? Flirty with a burly man like Levi? I hated that I even had to think about it, but the last thing I needed was to deal with someone homophobic or asinine. He was friends with Austin and Dallas though, and since those two were also bi, I doubted Levi was homophobic. But I’d learned I could never be too careful here.
Levi opened the door on the opposite side, but this time his smile was a little more genuine, and his cheeks a little more pink.
And maybe not from the sun this time.
His brow lifted. “Do firefighters normally rescue guys like me?”
“You’d be the first to run over a saguaro.” We both slammed the doors and got into the front. I stole another glance at him as I pulled onto the nearly empty road. “A nice bonus to my day, though. Before you, I was literally rescuing a cat from a tree. And I gotta say, you were a lot easier to pick up.”
A husky chuckle left him. “Didn’t think firefighters still did that.”
“We do in Whynot.”
He let out a soft hum and relaxed a fraction. “How long have you lived here?”
“A few years. Moved over from Lubbock after my firefighter and EMS courses. There was an opening here, and well, I have a cousin and grandmother in town. Just made sense.” I stole another glance, noting the way his left thigh bounced up and down. Was I making him anxious? “Do you need a Gatorade or anything? I got some in a cooler in back if you do.”
“I’m all right. I’ve been drinking plenty.” His gaze focused on the buildings as we crawled along Main Street at fifteen miles per hour. “Do you think Avery hates me?”
Their interaction must have been on his mind as much as it had been on mine. Avery had a temper sometimes, but she never aimed it at people. The way she’d snapped at him wasn’t like her, but between being asked about her dad and feeling embarrassed, I understood why she did.
“No. She went home and scrubbed the blue dye off her skin. And she’s been painting and working her normal weird hours.”
“What hours are those?”
I wasn’t sure I should answer that, because then he’d discover I knew a lot more about her schedule than I should have as a friend.
“They’re just all over the place. I’ll park over by her gallery and we can walk over to the hotel. Maybe you can chat with her. I really doubt she’s holding a grudge.”
Frankly, I knew Avery could hold a grudge. Dallas and Austin knew that better than anyone else. The truth was, if she were still mad at Levi, she would have said something to me.
Not that we told each other everything.
Justalmosteverything.
Levi didn’t say anything else as we passed by the coffee shop first. The front was painted bright pink, with “Whynot Community Coffee Roasters” gleaming on a custom hand-painted sign Avery had made a few months ago. I was halfway convinced there wasn’t anything Avery couldn’t do. Small tables sat outside, a few people lounging beneath the umbrellas and sipping on iced lattes.
Then there was the flower shop, Whynot Bloom, which was owned by June. It had the same bright colors as the coffee shop, like a cactus in bloom amid the neutral tones of the rest of the street. My favorite shops here were all the ones that went the extra mile with their storefront, such as Avery’s gallery.
Levi leaned forward slightly, ducking his head.
“We got a theme in this town, as I’m sure you remember. Pretty much everything is named after the town.”
“Andwhy not?” Levi sat back in his seat with a smirk. “I know it gets old.”
“It does. But I like it. Adds a bit of charm.”
“So does the landscape.”
He was right about that. A few miles north of our little town were the Davis Mountains, and then to the south was Big Bend National Park. Whynot had a lot of visitors passing through—including hikers and artists—especially during the summer. It was part of the reason I kept my truck fully stocked with water and emergency supplies.
“You planning to do some stargazing while you’re here?”
