AllFreeNovel
Share Us
That makes me glad that I don’t have to hear about all of the women he’s sleeping with. Until this pesky little crush thing goes away, I’m not sure my heart can stand the details. But should I also be worried that he’s not bringing it up to me? I mean we tell each other everything. Does this mean something has shifted, potentially changing our friendship?
Now that hurts my heart to think about.
That’s why I need to keep my distance. No more mud wrestling or flirty banter. He can’t help it, but he also doesn’t know the effect it has on me. The best thing I could do is not engage in teasing and not touch him. Touching him is bad. It leads to dirty thoughts and self-induced orgasms in your sister’s shower.
By the time dessert rolls around, everyone is relaxed and having a great time. Well, most everyone is relaxed. I’m tense and fidgety. There’s a pair of hazel eyes that have been glued to me since dinner. Levi sat beside me on the picnic table, which isn’t a big surprise, but I couldn’t help but focus on the way the hair on his leg tickled mine. As soon as I was finished eating, I got up and went to sit under the tree by Brielle. He watched me as I moved and has been observing me ever since. It’s like he noticed my nerves and could sense that I was hiding.
I can feel those eyes on me. He’s sitting in a lawn chair across our makeshift circle, which gives him the perfect line of sight to gawk. I do my best to ignore him, and the crazy way my heart beats in my chest, but it’s difficult. Brielle and I are playing with dolls and it takes everything I have not to glance up and look at him.
“Who wants dessert?” Grandma hollers from the back door.
Jaime jumps up to help her carry out two containers of homemade ice cream that she and Ryan made the night before with Brielle. Bri had spent the night so Dean and Payton could go have dinner with some of his friends who were in town. Since it’s July, they spent the night making several batches of flavored homemade ice cream in a churn that he picked up at the hardware store. Bri loved it, I’m told; especially taste-testing every flavor.
The dolls and I are left behind as Bri jumps up and heads towards the table. I know Levi brought a dessert, one I didn’t get a chance to try ahead of time since I haven’t really seen him much lately. Not since we woke up on the couch last weekend. Yeah, Bri isn’t the only one who is used to taste-testing all of someone’s creations.
“Levi, what are these?” I hear my sister Meghan ask from the table.
“They’re mini crepes. The ones on the left are blueberry, the middle ones strawberry, and the ones on the right are raspberry with a yogurt glaze.” My ears perk up instantly.
“Raspberry?” I ask as I stand up, my tongue surely hanging on my chin.
I don’t even hear him approach. I’m too busy watching which ones everyone else takes, hoping that there’ll be lots of raspberry ones left for me to steal. I mean take home. “Of course I made raspberry ones,” he says quietly behind me. His voice is low and husky as he leans in and adds, “I know you love them.”
A shiver sweeps through my body as goosebumps pepper my skin. Wrapping my arms around my midsection, I wonder if the temperature dropped suddenly. You know, maybe with the sun getting ready to set has made it about twenty degrees cooler than it was a few moments ago?
Or maybe the temperature rose a good twenty degrees.
I can feel his breath against the nape of my neck, and another tremor races through me. My breathing is shallow and my body very much aware of his close proximity. In fact, I can practically feel the material of the shorts he borrowed from Ryan graze against the back of my thigh. God, he’s so very close.
“Come on, angel. Let’s get some ice cream before it melts and fill you up on the raspberry crepes before they’re gone,” he says. Levi places his hand on my lower back and applies a little pressure, which causes me to move. As we approach the table, I notice the warmth still firmly planted against my lower back. Again, cue the shudder.
He doesn’t let me get far after our bowls are full of dessert. I try to sneak away and sit over in a chair by my dad, but it doesn’t work. Apparently, Levi doesn’t understand my need for space or the fact that he’s causing me sexual anxiety. Well that, or he doesn’t care. Every time I glance his way, I find his eyes on me. They’re…different. They’re darker and laced with something I’m not used to being directed towards me. They look almost lustful.
Again, this is all new to me. Sure, I’ve had boyfriends, but none of them looked at me the way Levi is right now. Like he wants to forget his ice cream and gobble me up instead. It’s making my brain go haywire. I know I’m reading more into it than what is actually going on. I’m crushing on him, therefore seeing things that aren’t there. Namely, his desire for me.
Suddenly, Grandma comes out of the kitchen with a large butcher knife. It’s so out of place that it draws just about everyone’s attention. I watch as she walks over to the ice cream and starts to scoop some into a bowl. Then she adds two crepes on top of her sweet treat, grabs the knife and walks over to the picnic table to sit beside Grandpa.
“Uh, Grandma? Why do you have that knife? You know you don’t need it to cut ice cream, right?” AJ asks nervously from across the table.
“Of course I do, sweet girl. This knife isn’t for dessert,” she says, setting it down in front of her. “This knife is to cut the sexual tension floating around Abs and Levi. It’s so thick, I’m afraid it might choke someone.”
Speaking of choking, the ice cream I’m eating goes down the wrong pipe and I all but sputter and spit chocolate ice cream all over myself. I’m probably even drooling it down my chin right now as I gasp for air. Levi reaches over and pats me on the back as all eyes focus on me.
Kill. Me. Now.
When I finally find words, I glance at my grandma. “There’s no tension, sexual or otherwise. We’re friends,” I say lamely.
“Keep telling yourself that, dear.” And with that, she turns back to her dessert and eats like she didn’t just embarrass the crap out of me in front of my entire family. Including Levi. Everyone snickers around us.
I’m divorcing my family.
Later that night, as everyone is cleaning up the backyard before we leave, I find myself alone with my twin. Something has definitely been off with her lately, but I can’t quite peg what it is. Stress, I’m sure. She’s been evasive for a while now when it comes to Chris and their struggles to conceive. I feel horrible for her, especially in light of Payton’s confession a few months back. What if Lexi has the same thing – that PCOS – and even though all of the tests she’s had done lately don’t lead in that direction. In fact, all of the tests came back clear.
Is it Chris? Is there a problem with him? Not that I want to think about my brother-in-law’s sperm count, but maybe it’s low and his little swimmers just aren’t getting to where they need to be? I’m no doctor, but I do know he hasn’t yet been to see any one of the physicians she has been recommending. That’s one thing she has told me.
“Where’s Chris?” I ask as I pick up any cans or bottles still lying around from the gathering.
“I don’t know. Probably at home.”
