Page 63 of The Fake Out Flex

When I open my eyes, Levi and Harper are standing right next to us.

And, yep. This is real, all right.

I gently guide Evie to her feet before giving Harper a peck on the cheek. When Levi and I exchange our customary bear hug, he whispers in my ear, "You were great, but lifting me up into your arms won't be necessary."

"You sure?" I chuckle. "Wouldn't want you getting jealous that you're missing out on the full Fraser experience."

"Believe me. Not jealous at all," he says, smiling. "Also, for future reference, I have absolutely zero interest in knowing what the full Fraser experience is."

We start chatting.

I see Harper even less frequently than I see Evie, so I ask her how the reality TV show she's producing is going. She tries to tell me about it, but it's a little hard when a certain someone keeps interjecting with a play-by-play of her favorite moments from the game, as well as going through the notes she compiled on her phone.

I don't mind the interruptions at all. It's nice, actually. A small reminder that some things never change.

"So, should we go for dinner?" I ask.

"Sure."

"Sounds great."

"Let's go."

Uh-oh.

They all answered because they must think we're all going out to dinner together. My bad for giving them that impression.

"So, um, guys." I scratch the back of my neck. "There's something I feel bad about."

"Your face?" Levi asks, deadpan. "Is it your face?"

"His face is better than your face, doofus," Harper shoots back, and yep, we've just traveled back fifteen years in time.

"What I was going to say is that I made the dinner reservation for two."

"Oh."

"Oh."

"Oh."

I didn't know Harper would be here tonight, and I assumed Levi and I would catch up later.

Okay, those aren't the real reasons.

The real reason, the purely selfish reason, is that I want to spend time alone with Evie.

"I can give the restaurant a call to see if they can?—"

"It's fine," Levi jumps in. "Harps and I can hang out while you two raging lovebirds—Owww!"

"Oops." Evie smiles sweetly. "Did your arm just get in the way of my fist?"

Levi rubs his bicep. "As I was saying, Harps and I can do our thing while you two non-raging, non-lovebirds can have dinner and discuss all the things you need to discuss. There. Better?" he asks Evie.

She gives a firm nod. "Better."

Works for me, but I try to downplay my excitement at having Evie all to myself.

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