“But,” he continues. “Like I said, this was an NRB,”—he emphasizes the acronym—“so the whole attracted to you boner is a non-issue. Don’t worry, my little Naïve Nancy. Happens all the time. Doesn’t mean a thing. But, like I was saying before, you’re stubborn.”
Oh. Right.
I shake my head before stabbing my dinner with more force than necessary, even though I’d already had a perfectly good bite prepped and ready from moments before.
“And?” Shoving the bite in my mouth, I wait for him to get to the point.
“And you almost never change your mind.”
“Which is pretty much the definition of stubborn,” I reply, snarkily. “Get to the point, Levi.”
“Conner feels terrible for the way he treated you years ago. He told me about running into you on the subway and how uncomfortable he could tell you felt. I just…I don’t want you to be pissed at him anymore. For your own sanity. That’s all.”
Annoyed, I take another bite and catch Levi staring at me from the opposite side of the couch, his food untouched.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I want you to be happy. And holding a grudge for this long can’t be healthy.”
You know what else can’t be healthy? I want to say. Being attracted to your best friend, that’s what.
“Hmmm…,” I hum through another bite.
“Don’t hmmm me,” he mimics. My eyes drop down to his mouth as the sound vibrates past his lips. “He’s my friend, Charlie. And you’re my best friend. I want you guys to get along. Please? For me?”
Damn you, Levi. Damn you and your stupid eyes. And your stupid mouth. And your stupid muscles. And your stupid smile. And your stupid requests that I’m helpless against. Damn all of you.
“Fine. I’ll try to let the past go and only focus on the present. But so help me, if he ever makes another comment about how I look or that I have a boy’s name, I will neuter him where he stands.”
Grinning, Levi pulls me into a quick side hug then reaches for his cold Chinese food.
“That’s my girl.”
Chapter Twelve
Charlie
Bouncing on the balls of my feet, I stretch my arms over my head for the hundredth time while waiting for the infamous Levi to show his face.
“Dude. Where are you?” I mumble under my breath, trying to contain my frustration. He’s never late. That’s not how he works. Hell, that’s not how either of us works. With another sigh, I search the empty street before resting my hands on my hips and tapping my toes against the damp concrete.
“Levi, I swear to—”
My phone vibrates.
Pulling it out of my pocket, I read the message.
Levi: Don’t hate me. There’s an early meeting that I completely forgot about. I’ll make it up to you later, okay?
Disappointment swells inside of me, but I push it aside.
Me: No worries. Good luck at your early meeting.
Sliding my phone back into the elastic pocket on my shorts, I jog down the road without my best friend. And even though I saw him twice yesterday, his absence is still glaring.
When I reach Forever Grey and open the door, my heels dig into the ground.
“What are you doing here?”
Two heads swivel in my direction. The first is Suzette’s, and the second is Asshat Conner Daniels’.
“Uh…hey,” Asshat greets me with a chin lift.
“You two know each other?” Suzette interrupts, eyeing us both carefully.
Ignoring her, I address the guy who’s totally stalking me. “What are you doing here?”
“Filling out paperwork?” He motions to the clipboard.
“No. I mean here. As in Forever Grey.”
“Levi told me about it. I try to run a couple of times a week when I’m not going to the gym. Figured I might as well kill two birds with one stone.”
As soon as my best friend’s name slips from his lips, I turn into a blaze of fury.
“Did Levi set this up?”
“Set what up?” he asks, looking at me like I’m a crazy person.
My finger wags between us. “This. This little not-so-coincidental meetup. Did Levi set it up?”
“Levi told me about this place yesterday. He said it opens early in the mornings, and I felt like going for a run. That’s it.”
“And what about the early meeting?” I accuse my skin prickling in awareness.
“What early meeting?”
“The one Levi bailed on me for.”
“Levi and I aren’t in all of the same departments. We answer to a handful of different people and are working on a few different projects. I don’t know his schedule, but I do know mine. I can guarantee that I don’t have an early morning meeting, although it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for Levi to.”
“So, you’re not here to corner me?” I press, feeling like a crazy person.
With a low chuckle, he shakes his head. “Definitely not here to corner you. But I do enjoy running partners. Would you wanna run together?”
“The dogs love running with each other,” Suzette interjects, a mischievous smirk plastered on her face.
So help me, Suzette!
“I’m sure they do,” I huff.
“It’s just a run, Charlie.” The way my name rolls off Conner’s tongue causes my heart to jump. Anxiously, I wait for the venom to seep in, but there was only sincerity in his delivery. Levi’s comment from the night before rises to the surface.
He’s not the same guy you knew.
Digging my teeth into my lower lip, I turn to Suzette. “Any chance Bonnie’s available? She and I have found a good rhythm lately.”
“Sure thing. I’ll grab Benny too. He’s new, but they seem to get along really well. I’ll be right back.”
Ooo, Benny’s new. Maybe I can convince Bonnie to use her dog communication skills to pull Conner into oncoming traffic.
Suzette disappears into the back of the shelter, leaving me alone with Conner as he fills out the paperwork. The sound of his pen scratching against the waiver grates on my nerves.
“Did you know I’d be here?” I accuse.
Finishing with the questions, he sets the pen on a counter that separates the back room from the front then turns to me.
“I knew you came here regularly, and I knew I wouldn’t be disappointed if I ran into you. So tell me, why Bonnie? And who’s Benny? Should I be worried?”
The desperation painted across his face is enough to get me to crack a smile. A big part of me wants to make up some horror story about how Benny has a penchant for ripping off testicles or something, but I restrain myself.
“I haven’t met Benny yet, but I’m pretty sure you’ll be fine.”
His relief is palpable. “Phew. You had me worried there. Especially when those pouty lips turned into a devious smirk for a split second.”
“Devious smirk?”
“Yeah. Don’t think I didn’t notice the wheels turning in your pretty little head. I bet you were trying to come up with a way to scare me off.”