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“I lived off of movies. Movies have been my best friends for years.” I grin, my uneasiness starting to subside. “But never in the theater.”
“What did you see?”
“Anthony East, No Return.”
“No way,” his smile grows into a beam. “Did you like it?”
“I did,” I say, feeling warm over every inch of my body. “Crazy special effects.”
“Right?” he titters a little. “I thought so too.” He breathes out another laugh before returning to my list. “And number fourteen—cut and dye my hair.” His fingers grapple at the ends of my hair. “You aren’t blonde?”
“I am. But these highlights are all new. I also had hair down to my butt before I chopped it all off.” I flutter my eyes, wondering if he’s picturing Rapunzel in his head. It’s definitely not that romantic. My hair was ratty and full of split ends. Dad never thought about it needing a cut.
“Serious?”
I nod, glad I’m sharing this with him. Scary or not, it feels good to confide in someone.
I watch his eyes as they return to the top of my list, scrolling through all that he skipped. He doesn’t make it far before he pauses, clears his throat, and taps the paper again.
“Number five?”
I lick my lips, my tongue turning into sandpaper. “Yes.”
“You’ve never been kissed?”
Nerves bounce around inside my body. I’ve thought about number five a few too many times since meeting Levi Bailey. But I’m honest and cool, keeping my nerves under wraps. “My third year of online high school I cyber kissed Toby Nelson.”
His brows lower, thoughtful. “That does not count.”
“It does so.” I shake my head and point to number five on my list. “You’re missing the most important part.”
He stares at me. So I tap the page again, forcing his gaze to my list. He reads out loud for me. “Kiss someoneworthkissing.”
I nod. “That’s right. Toby was not worth my kisses.”
“Those weren’t—” He stirs, sitting straighter on the bench. “How do you cyber-kiss someone anyway? Where did you learn to do that?”
I shrug one shoulder. “Toby taught me. But he wasn’t a gentleman. And after we kissed—”
“That’s not a real kiss—”
“Then he ghosted me.Jerk. It didn’t matter, after my dad found out about Toby, he read a bunch of articles about adults preying on children over the internet and he cut me off from all my online friends.” I sigh. “It was a lonely time.”
Levi weaves an arm about my shoulders and pulls me against his side. “I’m sorry, Mer.”
I rest my head against his collarbone, breathing him in.Someone worth kissing. I think Levi would be someone worth kissing. He’d be good at it. He’d be kind.
“Keep going,” I tell him. “Don’t stop now.”
He reads in his head, only stating a few of my items out loud. “Number nine: shop at a thrift store. Um,why?”
“We only ever shopped online. There are so many treasures at a thrift store. You know, the famous proverb—one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”
He returns to the list and it’s quiet between us for an entire ten seconds. “Ah,” he points to number twelve, “you mentioned this one. Stand-up comedy. You like to make jokes? You’d want to do that in front of a crowd?”
“It just sounds exciting, you know?”
His lips pull down in a grimace. “It sounds like a great way to be embarrassed.”
