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Chapter Twenty-Three
Abby
Before I can insert my key into the lock, I hear laughing coming from my apartment. Giving the knob a turn, I find it unlocked, but I’m more surprised to find my dad sitting at the kitchen table with Levi. My dad is drinking a beer, while Levi takes a sip from a half-empty bottle of water.
“Dad?” I ask, stepping inside and setting my purse on the counter.
“Hey, honey. I just stopped by earlier to drop off your sweater. You left it at the café,” he says, standing up to give me a kiss on the cheek.
“Oh.”
“And your dad was just telling me about when he was dating your mom,” Levi says with a laugh. “Your grandparents were a hoot way back then.”
“Well, they were definitely something,” my dad replies with another grin. They both stare at each other for a few moments, and I can practically see the private conversation pass between the two of them. I look around, wondering if I stepped into some wacky alternate universe that looks like my apartment, but it’s inhabited with aliens. That’s the only way to describe the weirdness going on right now.
“Anyway, I should go. I’m sure you two have plans before Levi heads to work.”
“You can stay,” I stutter, meeting him at the door.
“I have an early flight in the morning. I thought I’d drop by Meggy’s and see how she’s doing before heading home.” The sadness in his eyes is evident.
Meghan attended the family luncheon, but definitely wasn’t herself. She was quiet and forlorn and barely cracked a smile, even when our grandparents started their perverse antics over dumpling soup. And why would she be? Today would have been Josh’s twenty-eighth birthday.
“Okay, Dad. Give her my love.”
“I will, sweetie. Enjoy your evening,” he says, placing a kiss on my forehead. Then he turns back to Levi, who’s standing beside the table. “Good to see you again, son. We missed you at lunch,” Dad says, extending his hand to Levi.
“I’ll be there next time,” Levi replies. My head volleys back and forth as they continue to talk as if they’re long lost buddies.
Dad bids us goodbye once more before slipping out of my apartment, reminding me to lock up.
“That was weird,” I say, turning to face Levi.
“What?” he asks, stepping forward and pulling me into his arms.
“What were you guys talking about? I felt like I interrupted something.” My hands wrap around his neck as my soft body collides with his much harder one.
“Guy talk, angel,” he says before his lips claim mine. The kiss starts sweet, but the moment his tongue sweeps across the seam of my lips, it ignites into something more. My entire body starts to hum with anticipation and excitement. But it also feels like he’s using the powers of his magical lips to distract me from something.
Pulling back, I gaze up at his lustful eyes. “Confession time,” I whisper, sliding my thumb over his bottom lip.
Levi sighs. “Fine. He might have walked in here when I was wearing nothing but my skivvies, pulling something to eat from your fridge.”
I blink once. Twice. “What?” I whisper, sure that I misheard.
“Don’t fret about it. We talked. It’s all good,” he says, trying to continue the kiss we started.
“You talked? About what?”
Again, he sighs and takes a step back. “I might have said something about wanting to use you to alleviate my hard-on.” I gasp. “I didn’t know it was your dad!” he exclaims as my hands cover my mouth.
“And he didn’t kill you?”
“Why would he kill me, angel? We talked and he knows how I feel about you,” he says, covering my hands with his own and moving them from my face.
“How you feel?” I whisper, my heart hammering in my chest.
“Yeah, he understands that our friendship has grown into something more. He knows I’m crazy about you and enjoy spending time with you. He realizes that my feelings for you have developed into something bigger than anything I’ve felt before, and as scared as I might be, I really want to explore that with you.”
