“Umm….” I cover my face. “Don’t call me naïve and yup. I’m just dandy.”
“Good. Because if you were naïve, my little NRB would’ve made you uncomfortable, and we wouldn’t want that, now would we?”
“NRB?” The question slips out of me before I can stop it.
“No reason boner,” he clarifies with a smirk. “You do know what that means, right? Or do I need to go into more detail?”
“Nope! Nope! I’m good. Juuust dandy.”
“You said that already,” he quips, clearly enjoying my discomfort.
Tugging my foot from hi
s lap, I set it on the ground then grab my lukewarm dinner from the coffee table.
“Smartass. I know what a….” The ‘B’ word gets caught in my throat.
“A boner?” Levi offers innocently.
“Yup. I know what that is. I’m just not used to one being in the same room as me.”
With a condescending laugh and a pat on my knee, he mutters, “You’d be surprised.”
My eyes dart over to him as a piece of Beijing Beef hangs off my fork a few inches from my mouth. “Oh, would I?”
“Yup. You’re a girl with a kickass body, Charlie, no matter how hard you try to hide it with your giant hoodies and baggy T-shirts. It doesn’t take a genius––or a guy with X-ray vision––to imagine what you’d look like naked.”
Holy shit! Did he just say that?
Stunned, my entire body freezes as I try to process his comment. This is foreign territory. Hell, we’re not even on the same planet compared to what we normally talk about. I’ve never been so confused, aroused, curious, embarrassed, and so many other things in my entire life.
“But,” he continues. “Like I said, this was an NRB,”—he emphasizes the acronym—“so the whole attracted to you boner is a non-issue. Don’t worry, my little Naïve Nancy. Happens all the time. Doesn’t mean a thing. But, like I was saying before, you’re stubborn.”
Oh. Right.
I shake my head before stabbing my dinner with more force than necessary, even though I’d already had a perfectly good bite prepped and ready from moments before.
“And?” Shoving the bite in my mouth, I wait for him to get to the point.
“And you almost never change your mind.”
“Which is pretty much the definition of stubborn,” I reply, snarkily. “Get to the point, Levi.”
“Conner feels terrible for the way he treated you years ago. He told me about running into you on the subway and how uncomfortable he could tell you felt. I just…I don’t want you to be pissed at him anymore. For your own sanity. That’s all.”
Annoyed, I take another bite and catch Levi staring at me from the opposite side of the couch, his food untouched.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I want you to be happy. And holding a grudge for this long can’t be healthy.”
You know what else can’t be healthy? I want to say. Being attracted to your best friend, that’s what.
“Hmmm…,” I hum through another bite.
“Don’t hmmm me,” he mimics. My eyes drop down to his mouth as the sound vibrates past his lips. “He’s my friend, Charlie. And you’re my best friend. I want you guys to get along. Please? For me?”
Damn you, Levi. Damn you and your stupid eyes. And your stupid mouth. And your stupid muscles. And your stupid smile. And your stupid requests that I’m helpless against. Damn all of you.