Page 36 of Dear Adam
My gaze travels back to his mouth, and scenes from all my favorite romantic comedies of couples kissing under fireworks play in my mind.
“Is that a no? It’s fine if you can’t…or don’t want to,” Levi says when I don’t answer, shoulders slumping in defeat.
“No! Sorry,” I say. “I mean no, that’s not what I meant. I would love to go to the Fourth of July cookout with you.”
His shoulders perk back up a little, and it would be incredibly adorable if he hadn't turned down my kiss a few days ago. If things hadn't been so awkward, if I hadn't put myself out there, ready and willing for a smooch, I might even have my hopes up right now. But I refuse to put myself in that situation again. He made it clear that we are just friends then and I’m sure this invite is only to cheer me up because of how badly I miss Adam.
“I can pick you up around four if you want?” he asks. “As long as you don’t mind the Teenie Mobile.” He grimaces, and mental images of the Mini Cooper are enough to make me throw my head back in a cackle.
“It’s not that bad,” I lie.
“It’sterrible,” he says. “Oh, speaking of Teenie, I guess her and Glenda are friends now and she’s coming in for the cookout too.”
“Glenda, as in your assistant from California? How did they become friends?”
“Long story,” he says with a shake of his head. “I figured I better warn you. She can be a lot to handle.”
“She can’t be that bad.”
I peer at Levi’s boxers, unable to help myself. When he catches me, he reaches for a pillow to cover himself. “What are you staring at, you perv? Haven’t you ever seen a man in boxers?”
I giggle and point to one of the unicorns. “Get your mind out of the gutter. They’re winking. It’s adorable.”
His face blushes crimson. “Considering you’re pants-less, I totally get it if you want to be done for the day.”
“Are you kidding me?” he says. “We’ve got work to do. I’m not letting this little mishap stop me.” He gets up and puts both hands on his hips in his best Captain Underpants impersonation, which is enough to send me into hysterics.
“Why do you keep laughing at me? You’re going to give me a complex.”
“You don’t want to go home and grab some pants?” I ask, still chuckling.
“We have way too much stuff to get done to be taking meaningless pants breaks. I can work just fine in what I’m wearing. But if these unicorns are offending you…”
“No offense here,” I giggle. “By all means, let’s get back to work.”
He shoots me a wink and heads back to the bathroom, leaving me staring after him—and not hating the view. Unicorns and all.
Dear Adam,
Tourists are swarming in from all over for the Fourth of July. I’m hoping you wake up by then but if you don’t, I’ll video it all for you. I know the Fourth is your favorite. I’m actually going to watch the fireworks with Levi this year at his dad’s company cookout. Why didn’t you tell me he was such great company? I love having him here, but it’s not the same without you. I miss you. I’d love to say Pretzel also misses you…but she’s pretty fond of Hank. Love you.
Chapter seventeen
Levi
AmIreallytilingAly’s shower in my unicorn boxers right now?
That’s the million dollar question that pinballs through my mind. I’d also like to know where exactly this newfound confidence came from. I did not under any circumstances plan on anyone seeing my underwear today, least of all Aly, and especially notthese. I could only hope she believes they were truly a gag gift.
Spoiler alert: they were not. They’re actually my favorite, perfectly soft and supportive in all the right places.
Aly hands me another piece of tile, and it’s not lost on me how dangerously close to my butt she is as I stand on this ladder. Why couldn’t I have worn my fancy Calvin Klein ones that I keep reserved only for date nights? Date nights that actually never happen. Trying to grow a business in a state completely foreign to you is tough work and most days, after twelve hours on job sites followed by coming home to fix the bookkeeping errors Glenda had made, I was exhausted, and dating was the last thing on my mind.
I can’t help but wonder if she’s at least enjoying the view, then mentally berate myself.Keep it together Middleton. This is your best friend's sister! Don’t go there.But oh, how I wanted to go there. I wanted to go there worse than when I was a middle schooler desperate to peek behind the door of Spencer’s in the mall only to have my ear jerked by Mom.
Originally, I planned to leave last week, but something about this girl had me pushing back my flights to stay in Charleston a little longer. Maybe even more than that. Ideas of working for my dad have occupied what’s left of my brain when I’m not thinking of Aly, and both are more than seductive thoughts. If I stayed in Charleston, I could stop worrying about making ends meet in California. I could help Dad when he so clearly needs any extra hands he can get.AndI could be with Aly. If she’s even still interested after that colossal screw up the morning after our perfect movie night. I try not to dwell on how disappointed she was and instead focus all my attention on making sure she knows how I feel about her at the cookout. Maybe then, I’ll have the cojones to man up and tell her how I really feel about her.
Two hours later, she hands me the last piece of tile. After it’s positioned perfectly in the top corner, we both take a few steps back and marvel at our handy work. A vibration from the counter pulls Aly’s focus, and she picks up her phone to study it.
