Page 72 of Going the Distance
As if I needed any more reminders of Noah tonight, or any more reason to try and work out how I felt about the idea of kissing Levi. Stepping into the actual kissing booth with him was bound to be a recipe for disaster, I just knew it.
“Come on.” I grabbed Levi’s hand, and he tripped after me. “Let’s dance.”
• • •
It was warm outside, but I wrapped my arms around myself, hunching over. There were a few clouds in the inky sky, but I could still pick out a few stars. Behind me, the soft noise of the last dance filtered out from the gym.
The night had been fantastic: there were no problems, so even us guys from the school council had been able to enjoy the dance. I mean, someone had tried to spike the punch with vodka, but the teachers and chaperones had been keeping a close eye on that and sent the guy home before he managed to get away with it.
The kissing booth had been a hit, too. I did cave enough to take a photo in there with Lee. We took one with our arms around each other, one where he kissed my cheek, and one where I leaned toward him for a kiss and he shoved my face away with both hands with an overexaggerated expression of disgust.
“New profile pic,” I’d told him after zooming in on his face.
Once I was up there to take a picture with Lee, Warren and Cam had shoved Levi up there with me, and I’d stood awkwardly while Rachel snapped a photo of us at the booth. I’d stepped away quickly.
The band we’d picked was awesome. The dancing had been fun, too—but I didn’t want to stay for the last one. I didn’t feel like being surrounded by cute couples holding each other close.
So here I was—sitting on a bench outside the gym, alone.
A throat cleared behind me, and I looked up as Levi sat down next to me. I hadn’t seen him for a little while—I’d been dancing with some of the girls instead.
He was loosening his tie and cocked his head at me.
“You cold?”
I shrugged, and he slipped his arms out of his suit jacket, offering it to me. I put the jacket round my shoulders. It smelled like his aftershave. Which did smellreallygood. I had to work not to bury my face in the shoulder and sniff it.
“Thanks.”
“Guess you didn’t feel like taking this last dance?”
“Not so much that. I just didn’t want to be around all the couples, you know? Everyone hugging and kissing and being sappy…Don’t get me wrong, it’s adorable, and romantic—but that’s exactly what I don’t want to see right now.”
“I get it. You know, this is the first school dance I’ve been to since Julie broke up with me. I know how you feel.”
I leaned sideways, resting my head on Levi’s shoulder. “Breakups suck.”
“Yep.”
“Do you still miss Julie?”
“Sometimes. Less than I used to. It gets easier, don’t worry. But maybe it won’t be so easy for you because you’re going to see Noah again. Like, over the holidays. Thanksgiving and Christmas and stuff. I don’t see Julie anymore, and I think that helped me get over her.”
I smirked and laid the sarcasm on thick: “Wow. Thanks. That’s really encouraging, Levi.”
“Sorry.”
I nudged him with my head. “It’s okay.”
“It’ll get easier,” he reiterated.
“Yeah.”
“In the meantime, though…” Levi eased his shoulder from under my head and stood up. I sat up straighter and looked at him, silhouetted against the lights from the parking lot. Tall and lean, and his curls a little wild from the night of dancing. He was holding out a hand and smiling at me.
“Wanna dance?”
I smiled back. “Why not?”
