9 #2
Levi stood slowly, brushing his hands off on his jeans and walking over with the marshmallows and chocolate.
“Alright,” he said, voice a little raspier than usual. “Let’s make some magic happen.”
But as he handed the supplies to Emery, his eyes lingered on her face for an extra second, and he didn’t try to hide it. The flicker of the fire caught something in his expression that she couldn’t name.
And in that moment, everything she’d told in June, all the quiet beliefs she’d held about what she wasn’t meant for, felt a little less certain.
After the sticky fingers and chocolate-smudged cheeks were wiped clean and June was tucked in, the house fell into a comfortable hush. Crickets chirped outside the open windows, and the scent of charred marshmallow and summer hung in the air.
Levi stepped out onto the porch a few minutes later, a beer in one hand, the screen door clicking shut behind him. Emery was already there, legs curled up on the porch swing, slowly rocking, her fingers wrapped around a jar of sweet tea.
He leaned against the post, watching her for a beat.
Emery spoke first. “June fall asleep okay?”
“She was out before her head hit the pillow. S’mores might be the secret weapon.” He took a sip of his beer. The swing creaked, and the wind shifted.
They sat in silence for a few long seconds, the kind that wasn’t uncomfortable, just heavy with something unnamed.
Finally, Levi cleared his throat. “She really likes you, you know. ”
Emery glanced over, surprised by the sudden confession. “I really like her too.”
He nodded once, then added, “And she’s right.”
“About what?”
“What she said earlier. You’d be a good mom.”
He kept his eyes on the dark horizon, but Emery saw the way his jaw worked like he wasn’t sure he should’ve said it aloud.
Her throat tightened. “I don’t know about that. I never really imagined it for myself.”
“You should,” he said simply, like it wasn’t up for debate.
Emery’s heart tugged a little at the weight behind his words. She stood and walked closer to him at the porch rail. “You don’t trust easily, do you?”
He shook his head, then glanced at her, his gaze lingering. “Not with June. Not with… this.”
“This?” she echoed softly.
He gave her a look, dry and a little self-deprecating. “Whatever’s happening between you and me that we’re both pretending isn’t.”
She didn’t answer right away, feeling the air between them thin.
Finally, she spoke. “I’m not trying to pretend. I’m just trying not to get it wrong.”
Levi set his beer down on the rail beside him, turning to face Emery and leaning a hip into the rail to look down at her. “You haven’t gotten anything wrong yet, sunshine,” he murmured.
She inhaled sharply as his gaze seemed to paralyze her, the world narrowing to the warmth between them.
Her eyes looked him over, and with no interruptions from June running through the room, or alarms reminding her she had somewhere else to be, she had no excuse not to stare.
She’d never stood this close to him for this long, so she hadn’t yet noticed how tall he really was.
Her mind drifted, wondering about what being in his arms would feel like.
Blinking and quickly turning her attention to the porch felt safe, until even just the sight of his hand gripping the rail had her mind running wild and her stomach feeling butterflies, like a lovestruck teenager.
Her breath caught in her throat as his hand slid over her own.
She matched his form and turned to prop her hip on the rail as his gaze flicked from her eyes to her lips, and back, slow and deliberate, like a magnetic pull.
Lifting a hand to her face, he let his thumb slide along her lower lip, barely grazing it. “God, you’re beautiful.”
Her stare now landed on his eyes and that perfect shade of blue, but in this moment, they had a heat behind them that she hadn't seen ever before. Her brain suddenly seemed unable to function, like she'd just lost all sanity.
He dipped his head, whispering against her skin, “Emery?” His breath tickled her neck, and with no answer, he brushed a light kiss across her throat.
She felt the heat from his lips like a spark, somehow soft, reverent, and yet igniting something deep inside her. Her eyes fluttered closed—her hands finding their way to his chest.
He paused there for just a second, his lips hovering just above hers, as if asking one more silent question. He breathed her in, their noses almost touching. His lips parted slightly, like he was about to say something, but he didn’t.
Instead, he kissed her.
She’d caught herself staring at his lips more times than she’d admit, when he was talking, when he wasn’t, when he bit the corner of his bottom lip if he was thinking too hard.
There was something infuriatingly confident about them, like they belonged to someone who knew precisely what kind of effect he had.
But up close, and especially now that they’d touched hers, she knew she’d never stop thinking about the way they felt.
Warm. Not rushed, not careless. They moved like he could read her, like he wanted her to feel every second of it.
Like he knew exactly what he was doing… and exactly what she needed.
The kiss was full of intention, like he’d been waiting, like he didn’t want to waste a single second ignoring anymore. His hand cradled her jaw, his fingers tangling in her hair, and she melted into him, into the moment.
Her fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt without meaning to, anchoring herself as everything else blurred. All she could feel was his mouth moving with hers, slow and deep, like he was learning her one breath at a time.
When they finally pulled back, both breathless, foreheads touching, she couldn’t stop the smile forming on her lips. Neither could he.
“Damn, Em, I been thinking about doin’ that for a while,” he said, voice low and rough.
“Yeah,” she whispered, still dazed. “Me too.” As amazing as that kiss was, and despite how badly she wanted to spend the full night doing just that, the way her brain completely shut off terrified her.
Sure, she'd been with other people before, but no one had ever made her feel like that just from one single kiss.
“I should get going, my boss is a real stickler for being on time,” Emery said once she found her voice .
Levi frowned at the idea of her driving these backroads this late at night. “You could stay here tonight. I’ll even be a perfect gentleman and give you the guest room—the mattress feels like plywood, but it’s all yours.”
She smiled, touched by the concern in his voice. “I’ll be okay. It’s just fifteen minutes.”
He frowned, clearly not loving the idea. “Text me when you get home. I mean it, Emery.”
She stood, brushing invisible crumbs off her jeans and trying to ignore the warmth still lingering on her lips. “Yes, Dad,” she teased with a smirk, hoping to lighten the thick pull between them.
But when she looked back up, Levi was still watching her quietly, his expression unreadable in a way that made it impossible to pretend the kiss hadn’t changed something.
“I just—” he started, then exhaled sharply and ran his hand down his face. “I just want to know you got home safe.”
Her heart stuttered. That wasn’t casual. That didn't feel temporary.
“I will,” she promised softly. Without giving herself time to overthink it, she stepped down from the porch and headed for her car, gravel crunching beneath her feet.
She didn’t dare look back. If she did, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to leave.
Levi stayed on the porch, hands slipped into his pockets, watching until her taillights disappeared down the long, dark driveway. Even then, he didn’t move. Not until his phone buzzed in his pocket.
EMERY: Home safe. Still thinking of you… I’m not sure I’ll get much sleep. Goodnight, trouble.
A low smile curved on his lips as he stared at the screen.
LEVI: You callin’ me trouble now? That’s bold.
EMERY: If the boot fits…
LEVI: Only if you’re around to catch me causing trouble .
She bit her lip, grinning at her phone like a teenager. This was dangerous. And addictive.
EMERY: Sleep, Levi.
LEVI: Dream of me, Em.
She stared at it for a long moment, heart pounding, pulse fluttering in places that hadn’t felt alive in a long time. Then she turned out the light, still smiling in the dark.
Yeah… she was in trouble.
And she couldn’t wait for more.