“I dunno. I guess I just assumed that since I haven’t met anyone….”
“I’ve never met any of your sexual conquests, either,” I challenge.
“Yeah, but that’s because you bit my head off the last time I asked a girl to tag along when we hung out.”
“Good point,” I mutter, remembering the night I finally snapped a couple of years ago and left him at the theater. But it had nothing to do with the girl. I was simply jealous. Which makes me wonder…. Would he be jealous if I brought a different guy around? Would it bother him the way his conquests bother me? Peeking over at him, I shake off the thought. Of course, it wouldn’t. Because he doesn’t look at me the way I look at him. He never has. And he never will.
His deep voice pulls me back to the present as he points out, “But I’ve never asked you to keep your dating life separate from me.”
Aaand, there’s my answer.
I feel like a boa constrictor is wrapped around my chest, my breathing forced as I ask Levi something I’m not sure I want the answer to.
“So, you’d be okay meeting guys I’m interested in?”
We round the corner as he considers my question, his jaw flexing for a brief second before he raises his head and stands a little taller. “Yeah. I mean…as long as he’s not an ass. I just want you to be happy.”
“I am happy,” I interject. “Since when do I need a guy to make me happy?”
“You don’t,” he rushes to clarify. “I guess I just don’t really understand how you’ve never been in a relationship or anything. Hell, have you even been kissed?”
I falter for a split second, unable to believe I’m having this conversation. And with Levi, of all people.
Kill me now.
Bonnie tugs on the leash to get my feet going, and I shake my head in an attempt to focus and not fall down the rabbit hole of what the hell is happening right now? I’m as innocent as they come. Hell, I’ve never even held hands with a guy. Why? Because the only one I’ve ever wanted to hold hands with has always been too busy sticking his up any skank’s skirt within a twenty-foot radius.
“I’m not sure that’s any of your business,” I mutter, shying away from him but rushing to keep up with Bonnie’s tugging.
“Hey.” Levi grabs my arm to stop my retreat. Body tense, I let him inspect me from head to toe, feeling more like an alien than a normal girl who’s begging for a guy to notice her. To notice her as a woman who has thoughts and feelings instead of a friend who needs dating advice.
“What’s wrong, Charlie?” he murmurs quietly.
“Nothing.”
“Tell me.”
I want to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. Instead, I give him exactly what he’s asking for, and I don’t sugarcoat an ounce of it. “Fine. I’ve never been kissed. I’ve never been on a date. I’ve never done anything. Hell, I wasn’t even asked to a high school dance, remember? Is this what you wanted to hear?”
“Charlie—”
“Don’t.”
“Charlie—”
“Seriously. Don’t.” I shrug out of his hold, keeping a safe distance between us.
“Charlie, you were never asked to a dance because I told all the guys to leave you alone. I knew what the punks in high school were thinking and what they wanted, and I didn’t want them coming near you. I’m—”
“Levi, I really don’t care right now, and I don’t want to talk about it anymore. I’m not in the mood, okay? In fact, I think I’m going to take Bonnie for another mile. You can just drop off Buddy at Forever Grey. I’ll talk to you later.”
Then I run back down the hill in the opposite direction until the muscles in my legs ache as bad as the one in my chest.
He wouldn’t let guys come near me in high school? Why? That doesn’t make any sense. Especially when he’s so gung-ho about my current dating life.
Gah!
And they say girls are complicated?