Page 40 of Sidelined Love

“I can make sure you get to your car safely then. I also drove here, which helped me not be later than I already was.”

I hesitate for a second. It's silly because I'm perfectly capable of walking myself to my car. Yet there's something sweet about his offer. With a slight shake of my head, I say, “Alright, please walk me to my car.”

As we leave Brewed Beginnings, the night air is a small shock to my system given how much chillier it is since I entered.

Levi and I walk in comfortable silence. At least for me, it’s because I'm not sure what else to say. I'm not sure why Levi's being quiet.

As we reach my car, I unlock it, putting my things in the passenger’s seat before walking over to the driver's side. Turning to face Levi, I extend my hand.

“Thank you for walking me to my car and for the flowers,” I say sincerely.

He takes my hand in his and shakes it firmly. “No need to thank me. And I'm not going to thank you again for the lessons because while I'm grateful, I'll be repeating myself for the seventh time at this point.”

I let go of his hand and unlock my car door. As I slip into the driver's seat, I hear him call out, “See you around?”

“Yeah,” I reply, starting the engine. “See you around, Levi.”

16

HAILEY

Ihave a smile on my face.

And it's the strangest feeling.

This isn't to say that I don't smile at all. I simply prefer to keep my smiles reserved because it's the best way to keep from having to talk to people. It works, which is why I continue to do it.

But right now, I couldn’t remove the smile off my face if I tried. I'm not sure how to feel about it.

What I do know is that it has everything to do with Levi.

Fuck.

My grip on my steering wheel tightens as I think about it. Thankfully, I'm almost back at my apartment and then I can think without having to worry about whether I'll get into an accident or not.

Soon, I find a parking space not too far away from the entrance of my apartment building and I kill the engine. The silence I'm in is still way too loud as my gaze lands on the white box that he gave me. It's a whole different layer to this puzzle that I don’t want to get into right now.

I unlock my car door and make sure to grab all of my things so I can avoid having to go around to the passenger’s side door. Once my car is locked, I quickly make my way through the entrance of my building and unlock the front door of my apartment.

“Hey, H,” Jade says as soon as I walk across the threshold. She's sitting on the living room couch watching a movie. However, as soon as I close the door behind me, she turns her body so she's giving me all of her attention. “What's with the box?”

“Why don't you look at it,” I say as I hand it to her because there is no point in playing dumb. I turn my back to her as I take off my shoes and jacket. As I'm putting them in their rightful places, I hear a squeal come from the living area.

“Who gave you flowers?” She pauses after her question before she continues. “Was it?—”

“Levi?” I ask, cutting her off. “Yes, those are from him.”

“You've got to be shitting me.”

“I'm not and before you jump off the deep end, he told me those are thank you flowers for teaching him how to play chess.”

Jade jumps off the couch and says, “You know that's such a lie. It's complete and utter bullshit.” I throw a side eye her way, but she keeps talking. “I'm willing to bet money that him giving you those flowers has nothing to do with him wanting to say thank you.”

“Those were his words, not mine.”

Jade rolls her eyes, obviously not believing a word of it. “You and I both know Levi Jamison didn't need to buy you flowers just to say thanks for chess lessons.”

“I think you’re reading too much into this,” I reply, trying to brush off what she is implying. But given how much I overthink things, I'm going to think of one million possibilities as to why he did buy them until I find the right one.

---