Page 6 of Dear Adam
“If by some, you mean thirty-two, then yes,” she replies, a smile playing at her lips. She tosses me an apron. “You have a little bit of…drool, right at the corner of your lip.” She narrows her eyes and wipes at her own mouth to direct me where to go. I wipe furiously until she busts out laughing. “Did Alyson Bloomingdale’s crush on her brother’s best friend never go away?”
“What? No!” I say, turning from her so she can’t see the blush spread across my cheeks. I tie the apron on and get to work on the wildflower arrangements beside her.
“Remember all those nights we’d lie in bed and you’d practice your wedding vows to me? ‘I’ll love you forever and ever until the day I die, Lev-,’” Emma cuts off when I elbow her in the side.
“Sorry, I slipped,” I say when she side-eyes me.
Emma doesn’t say anything else, only smiles to herself. A moment later, though, she says, “Wow Aly. Are you nervous or something? What did youeat?”
I whirl around to find Pretzel, happily snoozing under the front table. One eye cracks open and an ear twitches. “Pretzel?” I ask, tone dripping with accusation.
The very tip of her tail wags in guilty confession.
That night, I’m lying in bed reading, Pretzel unfortunately right beside me, when my phone lights up and begins buzzing on my nightstand, alerting me of an incoming FaceTime call. It’s an unknown number, so I hit decline and settle back into the bed, not in the mood to chat about my car’s extended warranty. I crack open my novel again when it begins buzzing a second time. Annoyed, I swipe it open, ready to let whoever’s on the other end know my 1960s Bronco can’t exactly be warrantied.
“Aly!” Levi’s voice booms through the speaker and his face fills the screen. He’s holding the phone entirely too close and his cheeks are flushed.
“Levi?” I ask, pushing my glasses up into my hair. “What are you doing? Is Adam okay?”
Adam’s face fills the screen now and it looks equally as flushed. “I’m fine. I wanted to see Pretzel, and I forgot my phone,” he confides with sad eyes. “And for you to see how amazing this place is.” He switches the camera around to show a sandy beach bar with twinkling lights strung along the ceiling. It’s so beautiful I can't help but be a little jealous. Levi shifts the camera to point at the water, and the view of the glowing sun dipping lower into the turquoise waves is breathtaking.
“That’s beautiful,” I breathe. “It looks like y’all are having fun.”
Suddenly, the camera jerks and the screen goes dark. A few seconds later, Levi picks it up and uses the corner of his shirt to wipe the sand from the camera. I’m treated to the shortest, most decadent peek at his toned torso. I’m about to wipe the drool from the corner of my mouth when his face appears. “How have you been, Aly?”
Before I can answer, Adam comes into view with two very blonde, veryprettygirls. “Levi, meet Olivia!” he says, taking the phone from him. An unrecognizable expression crosses Levi’s face before Adam whisper-screams into the speaker, “Byesis!” as if trying to be as clear as possible that they are incredibly, one hundred percent single. As if the fact that we look exactly alike wasn’t a clear enough giveaway.
He ends the call, but not before I get one more glimpse ofOliviawith her perfectly perfect blonde waves and juicy, pink, pouty lips, wrapping her perfectly painted red fingers around Levi’s bicep. He didn’t even get to see Pretzel.
I roll my eyes and pick up my book but give up three seconds later. How am I supposed to focus now? I look over at Pretzel and honestly, she looks annoyed that her man’s out with another woman. “Disgusting, right?” I ask and scratch behind her ears. She winks, which obviously means she’s agreeing with me.
I pick my phone up and toy with the idea of texting Levi, only to see if he’ll answer while he’s with her. I can’t think of anything witty enough, though, and I don’t want to look desperate. Plus, we haven’t talked in years. I have nothing to say to him other than, “When did you grow up to look likethat?And can you please tell me what your tattoo is because I’ve only thought about it all night.” I know I’m just sleepy enough that anything couldpop out of my mouth, which is exactly what I do not need.
Growing up, Adam never actually told me to stay away from his best friend, but he always made it pretty clear that he’d kill me if I so much as looked at Levi for more than two seconds.
For instance, one time we went out to celebrate after Adam and Levi’s soccer team won a championship. The ice cream shop was packed after the big win, and Adam went to the bathroom as soon as we got inside. There were only two spots open at the bar, so Levi and I awkwardly wedged our way in. We were forced to sit so close that my right knee brushed up against his left. I was secretly dying inside from being so close to the hottest guy at our high school, the guy that I only doodled about in my notebook during every single class.
The waitress, busy from the rush, had forgotten my milkshake. “Do you want to share mine?” Levi had asked, pushing it toward me.
I blushed at the thought of sharing the same straw. Did this mean he had a crush on me? I took a sip, letting the strawberry ice cream and whip cream dance around my tongue before swallowing. When I looked up, Levi’s eyes were trained on my bottom lip.
“You have a little bit of…here let me get it,” he murmured, gently brushing his thumb over a stray gob of whipped cream on my lip. When he pulled away, I bit the spot he had touched nervously.
“Congrats on your hat trick.” My breath hitched in my throat when he lazily dragged his eyes from my bottom lip to meet my gaze. Heat spread across my cheeks like a wildfire when he leaned in, resting a hand on my knee. Heat seared through my jeans, his touch electrifying.
His mouth was inches from mine, and all it would take was one little tilt of my head and we’d be—
“Did you guys order yet?”
Adam wedged himself between us, oblivious that he had interrupted what I’m pretty sure was about to be an amazing kiss with the boy of my dreams.
Once the seat next to me emptied, he literally pushed me off my stool and sat in my place, forcing me to move even farther from Levi. Now two seats down, Levi offered a half smile that only made my heart flip uncontrollably in my chest. I questioned whether he was really into me, or simply on an emotional high from winning the game.
From that day forward, Adam had an annoying habit of making sure Levi and I were never alone again.
Pretzel rolls over in her sleep and lets out a soft snore. She almost looks, dare I say, cute. I softly scratch her belly and pick up my phone again to text Emma.
Beach Sunday?
