I glance over, the effects of my impulsive question settling.
"No…" he drawls out, eyes widening. He laughs. "Holy shit."
"Don't say it," I warn, wincing.
He shoves my shoulder. "You do have the hots for the nanny."
My head snaps toward him. "Stop." A defensive heat flushes my cheeks, and Levi sucks his teeth. "It's not like that."
He holds his hands up in surrender, mumbling under his breath. "You sure seem uncomfortable talking about it for it to not be like that."
I scrub a palm down my face. "I shouldn't have said anything."
"I think that's where you're wrong," he counters, boldly this time. "You've clearly been thinking about it."
I open my mouth, but I have no comeback.
He's right.
He studies me for a moment, then his face softens. "This is okay, man, remember? You're allowed to be interested. Shit, I'd be worried if you weren't."
I throw a glare in his direction, then stare at my glass, the last few sips taunting me. Letting out a heavy breath, I peer over.
Levi holds my gaze, challenging me.
"We had a… moment," I finally admit.
He tips his chin up, his eyes moving toward the bartender as she busts back in through the swinging door. Her gaze immediately lands on me, and mine takes a vested interest in a stain etched into the worn wooden bar.
"Go on," Levi says, brushing the fog off of his glass.
I sigh deeply. "It was probably nothing. We were in her hotel room after the game because Ruthie fell asleep in mine—just talking," I toss in when I see Levi's eyebrow lift. "I was getting ready to leave, but when I stood up I got a cramp and…" My eyes roll to the ceiling. "You know the rest."
He smirks this time. "I really don't."
"My leg cramped," I say bluntly as if that should explain it. "I fell forward… she was standing in front of the dresser I grabbed onto…"
I look at Levi as if those two details should spell it out for him, but he simply takes another sip, waiting.
"We were close, okay?" The words spill out as my tolerance dwindles. "Like… really close, and I don't know… the way she looked at me, and how I felt…"
Still, he waits.
I groan, uneasy. "It was just different than anything I've experienced in a long time. Unexpected." My mind replays the memory like a highlightreel—the ambiance, the smell, the silence, all flooding back. My walls fall lower.
"I didn't want it to end, ya know? It kind of felt like it wouldn't. Like that five seconds froze time altogether, and neither of us wanted it to start again." I inhale slowly, laughing to myself. "It was almost as if everything tunneled—on her eyes, her scent, the way one loose hair slipped onto her forehead. Like the noise of everything else somehow got lost underneath the faint sound of her breath."
I pause, coming back to reality, and slowly roll my head toward Levi. He holds my gaze, a soft smile on his face. "So…" he starts gently. "Maybe itislike that."
"But it shouldn't be," I fire back, shaking the idea. "She's our nanny. And the first one I've felt comfortable with in a while. She's living with us now, and Ruthie—"
"I never said it was simple," Levi cuts in. "What Iamsaying is… I haven't seen you like this in over a decade. Maybe ever."
My chest tightens again.
"We're good, me and Ruthie," I argue, my voice low. "And so much is already changing for her—and for me. I don't think it's the best time to throw anything else into the mix. Even if she's been telling me I need to."
Levi chuckles, and it steals my attention, threatening my last inch of patience. A heat crawls up my neck. "What could possibly be funny?"
