Page 112 of Kiss Me Tonight

My tongue suddenly feels thick in my mouth. “I-I—”

“If shedidn’thave a boyfriend, I’d want to ask her out,” he continues, completely oblivious to the fact that I’m at a total loss for words.

If he was just another player on the team, I’d slap him on the back and call it a day. But this is Levi’s son, her baby boy, and I don’t know whether to bubble-wrap him so he can’t evenseethis Natasha girl ever again or dump him on his mom’s taco welcome mat and tell her I’m out of my element.

As though sensing my internal struggle, Mina brushes past me to bump Topher over so she can grasp one of the wheelbarrow’s arms, leaving him to hold the other. “What do you think about Natasha’s friends? Any single cuties?”

“Well, there is this one girl . . .”

Together they move up my driveway with Tim and Harry tagging along behind them.

A hand comes down on my shoulder, startling me.

“I’ve never seen you speechless before.” Nick.Right.

With my eye still on Topher, I bend and grab the tarp we’ll be laying down over my floor while we go to town demolishing the walls. “His mom would kill him if she heard him talking about a girl’s bikini top.”

“Who’s his mom?”

“Levi.” I don’t know why I fail to introduce her as Aspen other than the fact that her first name has slowly begun to feel like my way of connecting with her on a level no one else does. “She’s my coworker. Boss.” I shake my head. “She’s the head coach for London High. She lives next door.”

Nick’s head swivels as he looks between Levi’s cute Cape Cod-style home to the 1950’s ranch to the left of my house. “Cape Cod? She’s got good taste.”

Trust the home-restoration guy to make judgments based on how much he likes a house. Granted, he wouldn’t be wrong about Levi. She tastes fantastic too.

“You should see the inside of the place. She’s got this nautical theme going on, and it fits her personality to perfection.”

“Yeah?”

I nod. “She’s out with her sister right now, but when she gets back I’ll see if she can give you a tour. We could ask Topher, but . . . he’s on punishment duty. You know, the whole bear-claw thing.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t gotten it fixed yet.”

“Just been busy.” Not that I haven’t had the time to bring it to the shop. I have, I just . . . haven’t gone. For whatever reason. “Figure when I bring in the truck, I’ll do Levi’s Honda next.”

“You’re sleeping with her, aren’t you.”

Not a question.

Slinging the heavy tarps over one shoulder, I motion for him to hand me the remaining bucket of tools we’ll need for demolition day. “A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell.”

Nick snorts under his breath. “Since when are you repping the gentleman title?”

I slide a glance his way. “You can’t be the only good guy around here, man.”

“Are you a good guy?”

“Fuck no. But . . .” I kick my chin toward Levi’s house. “She makes me feel like I could be. Does that answer your question?”

“Not even close.” The van’s doors slam shut, and then he’s at my side, my own Greek fairy-godfather looking to sprinkle some romantic fairy magic on me. “You love her yet?”

My lungs threaten to pop and deflate right there in my chest. Choking on nothing but the salty breeze from the bay, I glower at my best friend. “Jesus, don’t ask me that.”

“Because you’re scared the answer is yes?”

With Topher and the other boys laughing inside my house with Mina, I want to tell Nick the truth: that I’ve never loved another person, not even Savannah Rose, and I have zero experience with the emotion. All I know is that I’m willing to do anything to keep Levi from kicking me to the curb.

If love is fearing that she’ll send me packing, then yeah . . . I’m fucking terrified.

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