Twenty
Levi had had one drink all night; that first glass of red wine. But he felt drunk all the same. Drunk on the scent of Jillian’s hair, the way she tipped her head back when she laughed, the way she fidgeted with the strap of her purse as he drove through the quiet streets of Smile.
He reached over, put his hand over hers, stilling it. “Do you want me to take you back to your place?”
Her head whipped toward him. “What? No. Why?”
Laughing at her tone, he kept his eyes on the road. “You seem nervous.”
Turning her hand so their fingers linked together, she ran the fingers of her other hand over his knuckles.
“I don’t want the night to end.” She said it like it was a secret she was scared to admit. He had no doubts about his feelings for this woman—they were snowballing in his chest so quickly, he worried they’d come tumbling out of his mouth.
“How about some pie?”
She looked over at him. “That sounds perfect.”
He hadn’t been to Petal’s Pie Palace since prom. They’d had the event at a hotel in Mackinaw City, and when the bus brought them back to Smile, all of them had been too restless and amped up to end the evening.
Holding the door for Jilly, he was grateful that the shop hadn’t changed much and it was relatively quiet. The overhead lighting felt harsh against the night sky through the windows. A couple of teens sat at a booth in a corner, the waitress chatting with them.
“You can sit anywhere,” she called.
He and Jilly moved toward the back of the shop, settled into the aging vinyl seats. He liked sitting across from her like this; had pictured it more than once as a teenager.
The waitress, with her short hair pulled back from her face in flower clips, brought over waters then pulled a one-page menu out of her apron. “These are our newest pies. They’re on special. Hey, you’re the three pieces lady.”
Jilly’s face scrunched. “I shared them.”
Levi laughed. “Do you have a closet pie addiction?”
“I’ll give you a minute,” the waitress said as she’d already started walking away.
Jilly picked up the menu, gave him an adorably haughty look over top of it. “Sometimes it’s hard to choose.”
Leaning back in the booth, he nodded. “I’m not arguing. Why don’t we get two different ones and share?”
They settled on peanut butter cream and French vanilla, both of which looked and tasted delicious. Levi took another bite of the vanilla.
“Hard to say,” he said, pointing his fork at the other one. “That one is a bit too sweet for me, though.”
Jilly scooped up a bite. “Rookie. You need to up your sugar tolerance, that’s all.”
Laughing again, he realized he’d done a lot of that since he got back.
“What happened with Liam and Leo?” Seeing the bar split in two had struck a chord in him. A sad one. Like Beckett, he’d gone to school with the twins and they’d been tight for a bit; played sports together, hung out.
Jilly frowned. “No one really knows, honestly. You know them; they’ve always been more than twins. They were best friends. Brothers’ used to be my favorite place to hang out the few times I came back to visit. It had so much energy and such a great vibe. They got into a fight in the middle of the pub, according to what I’ve heard. I didn’t live here when it happened. When I came home, they’d split it in two. Now, I can’t visit one side without feeling guilty. Most of the town feels the same, so people who know them make an effort to visit both.”
Levi shook his head. “That’s a real shame. I can’t think of what could come between two people so close.”
Jilly shrugged and Levi got lost in thought about his dad. He’d idolized his dad growing up; never could have imagined feeling the way he did now.
He was happy Jilly changed the subject.
“So, you’ve narrowed it down to three trucks. What’s the key difference between them that’s making you unsure?”
He liked her business brain as much as her sense of humor. He was beginning to think there was nothing about her he wouldn’t like.
A few more people came through the door, laughing on their way to their table, but Jilly held his focus.
“Price and size are the key factors holding me up.”
“Are you getting a loan?”
He nodded. “Already did. I have savings as well. Want to come look at them with me?”
She reached over, took a bite of the vanilla, and added some peanut butter cream to her fork. “Maybe. Things are starting to amp up for the lodge. We’ve got the fitness company’s team coming this week. You’re still okay to do the food for that?”
“Of course.”
“Then we have Ollie’s class coming on an overnight trip to celebrate the end of the year.”
“Do you have the meals taken care of for that?”
The waitress glided by, not looking at them.
“We still need to talk to Shane about it.”
“I can help.”
He wanted to help. He wanted to do whatever he could to be with her more. Plus, the lodge had been fun to work at. He wasn’t sure if it was the space so much as the people.
“I’ll let you know, but if you get the truck, you might be pretty busy yourself.”
He nodded. They chatted about what foods he would serve, he told her about his dad and finding Anderson helping him out. She listened when he talked, her gaze holding his, like she not only cared about what he said, but felt what he felt.
He pushed his plate away, took a large drink of water.
She smiled at him across the table, her gaze lifting through lowered lashes. His chest tightened just from looking at her. Wanting her. She pushed her plate away. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
He leaned back against the padded seat. “Okay. Hmm. The fast-food industry generates over five hundred billion dollars of revenue a year.”
Her expression went blank and then she laughed, picked up her napkin, and tossed it at him. “Not what I meant. Something about you. Something I wouldn’t know from when you were younger.”
He paused, thought about whether or not what he was about to say would be embarrassing or endearing. “I once wrote out a mini speech on a cue card to read to Beckett. It was so I could ask you out.”
Her mouth dropped open. “You did not.”
Laughing, he reached out, took her hand, stroked his thumb over her skin, enjoying the warmth that filled her gaze. “I did. Then I found out I’d gotten the scholarship and was leaving.”
The look on her face was one that would forever be in his memory. “I love knowing that.”
She ducked her gaze, bit her lip, and he had to fight back a groan. When she looked up, her expression was so sweet it made his heart ache. “Lainey and I used to pass notes back and forth about our crushes. Your name was always in mine.”
His chest felt full. He reached out, grabbed her other hand across the table. “Oh yeah? One of those ones with ‘do you like him? yes or no’?”
She nodded. “Those too. Some of them were: ‘who’s cuter?,’ then your name, Liam’s, Leo’s, and sometimes if she was being irritating, she’d put my brothers’.”
He laughed. “Bet you crossed those ones out. Did you ever not check my name? Did you ever choose Liam and Leo over me?”
She shook her head. “Never.”
He inhaled deeply, looked around for the waitress, and asked for the check. “Let’s go for a walk.”
Once they paid, they left his mom’s car in the lot and took one of the trails that led to the water. The air was cool but he didn’t feel it. He pulled Jilly closer, in case she did, and because he liked having her next to him.
The trail through the trees led to an alcove that followed the water. Large, weathered bricks, stacked about waist high, created a wall where people often sat, stood, or leaned to gaze out or make out. He smiled, thinking about how they’d once called this area Kissing Cove.
They stopped at the wall and Levi turned Jillian toward him. Leaning down, he kissed her, his mouth lingering, his heart waiting for that hitch in her breath.
“Tell me more.”
He’d tell her anything. He smoothed her soft hair back from her face. “What do you want to know?”
“Your favorite color. Song. What you hate to eat. Where you’d go if you could travel anywhere. What you love most about being back in Smile. Your favorite thing to do on a lazy Sunday.”
Surprising an adorable squeal from her, he yanked her closer, putting his back to the brick and holding her tight.
“That’s a lot of questions.” He kissed one cheek, the other, then the tip of her nose. “Okay. Dark blue. You can’t go wrong with ‘Paradise City.’ Jell-O is gross.”
Jill laughed and moved her hand up his chest, burrowing closer, making him wish they were at his place. Of course, he might want to actually get some furniture before that happened.
He focused on the questions rather than the way she fit against him perfectly, like the dips and curves, the lines and planes of their bodies were meant to fit together. “I’d like to go to Seattle. Never been. Seems like a cool city. Or Nashville.” His brain blanked when her fingers, her nails specifically, traced over the back of his neck. “Um. This. I love being here with you. In Smile. Where we grew up. But being grown-up enough to do this.” He kissed her then, crushing her body to his, his arms wrapping around her as he changed the angle of his head to kiss her more. He pulled back, swept her hair back from her face. “Kissing you is my favorite thing to do on a lazy Sunday or any day that ends in y . You’re killing me, Jillian.” His voice came out hoarse like he’d been screaming.
She ran her fingers over his face, like she was memorizing it.
“That’s funny. You have the opposite effect on me. You make me feel more alive than I can ever remember feeling.”
Levi moved his hands to her hips, one of them sliding to the side of her neck so he could feel the heat of her skin. Her breath shuddered out.
“You’re so sexy.”
“You make me feel that way,” she whispered, that hint of vulnerability, along with the slight pinkening of her cheeks, undoing something inside of him.
“There’s something I’ve sort of always wanted to ask you,” he said, whispering even though there was no one else around them.
She leaned back, her hands on his shoulders. “What’s that?”
“Will you be my girlfriend, Jillian Keller?”
Her laughter floated around them, echoing off the water and making Levi feel like he’d won the lottery.
“Is this a yes, no, or maybe question?”
He tickled her waist, making her laugh more. “Do you need that many options?”
Her gaze found his, all humor fleeing from it. “No. I don’t need that many options. I’d love to be your girlfriend, Levi Bright.”
He grinned at her, probably looked like an idiot, but he didn’t care. He pulled her close, tightening his hold to swing her in a circle.
When he set her down on her feet again, he pressed his forehead to Jilly’s. “What now?”
“Now, you kiss me.”
She would absolutely never have to ask him twice.