Page 70 of Going the Distance
I rolled my eyes, wanting to shrug it off and not let it upset me, but I appreciated the sentiment. “I broke up with him, remember?”
“I know. But I know you still miss him a lot. Every time your cell phone buzzes, you jump for it, like you’re expecting it to be him begging you to take him back.”
I busied myself double-checking the contents of my clutch. Lip gloss, check. Ticket for the dance, check. Cash, check. House key, check…
Zero contact from Noah, check.
“Bud, you know you can talk to me, right?”
“There’s nothing to talk about, okay? I couldn’t deal with the distance and stuff. It got to be too much. It’s better this way.”
“And you’re sure there’s nothing else going on?”
I looked over at my dad, who was raising his eyebrows at me skeptically behind his glasses. Was this about college? Or had Lee told him about the whole thing with Amanda? Was that what that look was for? So, carefully, I replied, “Like what?”
“Oh, just…you and Levi. You guys seem really close.” He raised his eyebrows even higher, and his lips pressed into a line like he was trying not to smile. “Hanging out all the time, texting a lot, now you’re going to this dance together…”
Oh.
OH.
I snorted, as though I hadn’t just been thinking about kissing Levi a few minutes before. “Dad, that’s really not what’s going on. Levi and I, we’re just friends.”
“Sure about that?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. If you say so.”
I rolled my eyes deliberately at him. The sound of a car engine outside drew both our attention, followed by a car door slamming. “That’s him.”
“Are you going to be completely embarrassed if I insist on taking some photos of you two going to the dance together?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’m doing my job as your dad exactly right.”
• • •
Once my dad had taken, like, two dozen photos of us, and Brad had told Levi all about soccer practice this week, we finally left.
And I had to admit, Levi did look hot in his suit. It was a plain black suit, with a pink shirt and black tie. Plus, he smelledreallygood. His curly brown hair was tidier than usual, held down with some gel that caught the light.
Something else caught the light, too.
I reached over and ran a finger over his cheekbone when we paused at a stop sign. “Is that glitter?”
Levi did something between a laugh and a sigh. “Becca wanted to help me get ready.”
“Right…”
“And she persuaded my mom to buy her this glittery moisturizer stuff last week.”
“Ah, I see.”
“You know what she said? It’s funny. She said, my face needed to be soft, in case I kissed any pretty girls tonight. Like you.”
I didn’t have to pretend to be shocked, but I acted melodramatic about it to play it off. I hoped I wasn’t blushing again. “You were talking about kissing me?”
