Chapter 58
“Levi?”
Still unable to decide, I gnawed on my lip.
“Okay, I’ll call her and tell her something came up.”
“Thank you,” I mumbled, relieved that he’d taken the decision out of my hands.
“You sure you’re all right?”
“I am.” I nodded, forgetting he couldn’t see me. “I just need to talk to you. Thanks.”
“NP, little bro. You know I’m here for you if you need me. GTG. See you at seven.”
Shaking my head, I said, “Use your words, Matt.”
“Don’t go all Mom on me. Bye.” My phone grew silent and I put it down on my desk after glancing at the time. Four PM. Meant I had three hours to come up with arguments that would convince my big brother that me asking Beckett out for a date was a great idea.
Piece of cake.
* * * *
I arrived at the diner early and snagged our regular table in the corner, where we always sat when we needed a private place to talk. Maybe it was weird that we didn’t hang out in either of our homes, but this place felt more like neutral ground. We were on equal footing here. Not that we ever argued anymore; our last fight was way back before Matt left for college and we’d been friendly ever since. More or less.
As I waited, I scrolled through Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, but nothing grabbed my attention. My knee bounced under the table, and I jerked and looked up every time the bell at the door indicated that someone had entered the diner. For once, my yoga breathing techniques couldn’t calm me down.
Instead, I opened the text app and read through my conversation with Beckett. We’d been texting every day since I’d made him dinner last week. Nothing important, just to check in with each other. He asked about my day, sent me dorky accountant jokes—’It’s accrual world’ had made me groan and laugh at the same time—and texted goodnight before he went to sleep. He talked about new details he’d discovered in the tenth re-read of the Harry Potter books, and this morning he’d taken a screenshot of the horoscope and sent me—gaah, I really needed to tell him about that—with a laughing emoji. He was a full-blown emoji-holic and used them all the time. When I’d asked him about it, he said it was because misunderstandings were so easy when we couldn’t see each other’s faces online, and he wanted to avoid them at all cost.
His texts had become the highlight of my day and I couldn’t stop thinking about him. I wanted to make him smile and laugh. To ruffle the perfection out of work-Beckett; I liked him best in his beanie and out of his stiff, boring accountant tie. I wanted to taste his lips and kiss him until we couldn’t breathe. I’d never kissed anyone with a beard before. Would it tickle? Be rough against my skin? I needed to find out.
I needed to know what he looked like naked. Did he have body hair? All visible signs pointed to yes, but I had to know for sure. Please, please, please, let him have hair on his chest. And his belly. Oh, God, a hairy belly was my favorite characteristic in a man. I also needed to know if he was as cuddly as I imagined. I bet he was a snuggler and would let me lay glued to him without complaining. He would probably give me that warm smile and indulge me, and we would sleep with our limbs entwined and wake up and make love first thing in the morning, and I—
“Sorry I’m late.”
I blinked and looked up from my phone as Matt threw himself into the chair. He never could sit down like a normal person. “As usual.”
He’d only just sat down when the waitress came up to our table. “Hiya boys. How’s your mama?”
“Hello, Miss Myrna,” we said in chorus.
“She’s fine,” Matt added.
Miss Myrna nodded. “Excellent. Little ones keeping her busy?”
“They sure are,” I replied.
“God bless her soul,” she sighed and shook her head. “What can I getcha?”
We ordered our usual cheeseburgers and milkshakes, Miss Myrna winked, whirled around, and hurried away.
I shook my head. “If I have that much energy when I’m seventy, I’ll be happy.”
“You can say that again.” Matt leaned back and gave me a thorough once-over. He nodded as if he was happy with what he saw. “Liza sends her regards,” he said, knowing not to ask what I wanted until the food was delivered.
“No, she doesn’t.” I crossed my arms over my chest and stared him in the eye. Daring him to contradict me.