His eyes speak volumes, but we need to put all of this, what just happened here, on pause for a hot minute. He nods.
“Yes.”
I point to the front door. “Then go on and get. I do not want Mary calling you and thinking I’m holding you up.”
He looks at me like he’s got something to say, but instead he bites his lip and shakes his head. “You’re right. I’ll go clean up the bathroom and then I’m out of here.”
I watch him as he exits the living room and sashays that fine ass back down the hall, shocked that I even used that term to describe him, but hey, it’s a day for firsts.
Our first kiss in public for show, and our first kiss behind closed doors for…us? I know we’ll have to talk about this, I know it, I do, I just don’t want to. I kind of like the suspension in time of where we are, the vagueness of us. The gray area of it all. There’s something comforting to me about one-sided love. It’s when the feeling is returned that things get tricky.
But the kisses. THE KISSES. I could do that like it’s my job. All day every day for the rest of my life.
Kissing him because I needed to for Lorna’s sake is one thing, but having him kiss me and like this…child.
It’s another situation altogether.
THIRTEEN
Georgie
“Gotta admit, I am in shock,” Riley says, looking at me over her coffee, eyes narrowed. “This is a lot to take in in one sitting.”
“You’re telling me,” I mumble, my eyes following Toto as he runs with Riley’s dogs, Posh and Becks, down the hill of the dog park. The Sweetkiss Creek dog park is one of those green spaces that goes on for what feels like forever, complete with a well-positioned park bench, where we can sit and watch our “kids” as they play. “And all I’ve told you is that Duncan tried to steal a book. I’m not even warmed up yet.”
Riley glances around, peering back at the parking lot. “Well, get it all out before Bex arrives.”
Nodding, I sip my coffee. I had forgotten she’d invited Bex. “Okay, so you know how you picked me up from Levi’s apartment today, the one that he’s letting me stay in?”
She nods.
“In exchange for me staying there, we’re kinda sorta—engaged.” I let that word drop, and simply bring my coffee cup to my mouth and take another sip as her eyes grow wider by the millisecond. “And yesterday, we kissed. We didn’t just kiss,though, we blessed that apartment with our kissing alllllll over it.”
“What?” she exclaims, putting her drink down and shaking her head. “Hold on, you and Levi?”
“Also, Toto peed on Levi’s clothes.” I sit back and stare at my palm, pretending to be going over an invisible checklist. “Yep. I think I covered it all now.”
“When I got a bingo card for this month, I didn’t have any of these boxes on it,” she says, letting out a giant breath with a whoosh. “How come when I was his best friend, none of these things ever happened? I turned him over to you for taking care of, and now you’re engaged? I need to understand more.”
I shrug as she laughs, and then a car pulling into the lot distracts us. We both turn, waving to Bex as Riley grabs my hands.
“You have to tell me more. Everything, in fact.”
“Well, we’re going to try to keep it quiet, only because it’s not like we’re really engaged.” I scoot over on the bench, moving my crutches out of the way, placing them underneath us to make room for Bex.
“Who all knows?” Riley questions.
“You, me, Levi of course, his mom and Austin, and Lorna, Duncan’s grandmother.”
“You realize Lorna has been a Sweetkiss Creek resident for many years, right?” Riley brings up. “She’s in the local bridge club and plays bingo every Saturday night at the community hall. If she knows, then all her friends know you’re engaged, too.”
“Who’s engaged?” Bex asks as she sits down. She smiles my way. “Nice to see you again, Georgie.”
“Hey, Bex.” Bex is still very new to me. After moving here a few months ago, she’s started to acclimate and turn up at more events around town. A former assistant for movie star, and now a Sweetkiss Creek local, Spencer Stoll, we met herthrough Spencer’s wife, Amelia. In fact, she’s the one who had messaged me and asked that I please get Bex involved with my open mic night out of the sheer fact that Amelia thinks her voice is incredible. Now, after hearing it, most of the town would agree, which is why she’s got a permanent spot on the roster for Fifteen Minutes.
“I brought doughnuts.” She holds up a bag and shakes it in the air, only as she does, our three dogs appear out of nowhere, making me laugh.
“First time at a dog park?” I ask as Riley giggles beside me.
