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His dark eyes bore into mine, and my cheeks flushed as realization of what he meant hit me.
“Umm well, if you’re trying to flirt with me, Levi, I have to tell you–”
Before I could finish thwarting his advances, I heard Grace and Emily’s voice nearby. My eyes widened, and I shielded myself with Levi’s massive body, standing close enough that his musky scent filled my nose. I felt the tightness of his chest against the hand I placed there to prevent myself from falling into him.
“What’s–” he started to ask.
“Shhh!” I hissed, pressing my fingers to his lips.
He stayed quiet and didn’t move even though I was pressed against him. I had to admit, it felt nice, but as soon as my sisters’ voices moved away from us, I relaxed away from him, sliding against the tree down to the ground, my drink sloshing in my hand.
Levi looked perplexed. “Why are you hiding from your family, Anna?”
“Because they keep insisting on setting me up. My mother too,” I said, finishing my drink, ice and all. I glanced over Levi and realized I couldn’t get to the bar and back, so that was it. I sighed. “I just want to be left alone.”
He let out a dry, deep rumble of a laugh.
“What’s so funny?” I asked, cocking an eyebrow.
“Only that I get it. My family is trying to do the same thing. That’s why I’m hiding too. My sister, Irene, brought someone she wanted to meet, and the girl seems nice and all, but I’m not interested.”
“Only one suitor? Lucky. I’ve had three so far, and my sister is dragging a fourth poor sap around looking for me as we speak.”
“Only one today. Since my entire family is married, and since I finished college and moved back, they’ve been relentless. I’m just tired of it, to be honest.”
“Tell me about it. If only there were a way to get them off our backs…” I trailed off as a thought occurred to me. “Maybe… Nah, that’s crazy…”
“What?” Levi asked.
I looked at the handsome brute of a man. The Callaghan family was well known in Sunville. Their family was respectable. I grew up alongside Levi and his brothers, and though we weren't in the same grade or the same clique, our families were always aware of each other.
And if I managed to snag the youngest of the Callaghan brothers, my family surely would be off my back for a bit.
“Well, what if there were a way to get both our families to back off, at least for the next little while? I don’t plan to be in Sunville past September, so it’s only a temporary solution–”
Levi raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms in front of him. “You have piqued my interest.”
“Well, what if we just pretended to be dating. Just long enough to survive all the summer events. I know my schedule is filled with weddings, and since we know a lot of the same people, I’m sure you do too. Again, it would only be temporary but–”
In the distance, a female called out, “Levi? Where are you?”
Levi cringed and cut me off. “Let’s do it.”
“Really?” I asked, surprised he was so gung-ho without much discussion.
“That’s Jenna. She’s been following me around the entire evening like a sad little puppy dog. I don’t know how many different ways I can tell her I’m not interested, and that it’s not her - it’s me. It just doesn’t seem to click, and she’s relentless. Even if I manage to get her off my tail, Irene will find someone else next week and I’m tired. So let’s do this.”
“Levi!”
“Anna!”
We were clearly in demand; everyone was looking for us. And we couldn’t hide forever. I reached out my hand, Levi took it, and we shook.
“Let’s do this,” I said.
“I’m in.”
Levi smiled and my heart fluttered. Something about the way he looked at me made my insides warm and gooey, and it had been a while since I’d had any fun.
