Page 112 of What Are The Odds?
“I don’t know.” He smiled playfully “Maybe because it’s your birthday.”
My mouth fell open. How the hell did he know that?
“It’s your birthday?” Ryker asked, shock evident across his face. “Shit, Grace. I’m sorry. I had no idea. Happy birthday.”
“Thank you,” I returned, cheeks heating. “I’m not one to make a big fuss of birthdays.”
“Too bad.” Levi grinned. “Because I am. You ready?”
“Um. I suppose.”
He reached forward and closed his warm hand over mine. I guess we were really blowing off class.
“I’ll see you later,” I called to Ryker as Levi dragged me away.
“No you won’t,” Levi said once we were far enough away for Ryker to overhear.
“Figure of speech, caveman.”
Once we reached Levi’s car, he pushed me against it before lowering his mouth over mine. His hands travelled down my ribcage and ended on my ass, squeezing lightly. I shivered as my tongue met his. How he managed to turn something as mundane as getting into the car into a make out session never surprised me. Pulling back, he beamed at me.
“Now that’s how I really wanted to say happy birthday.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Didn’t want to be a dick in front of Ryker in case he’s still broken hearted over you.”
Rolling my eyes, I playfully shoved his chest.
“How did you find out it was my birthday?”
“I have sources.”
I raised one eyebrow.
“Ava,” he clarified. “And for the record, I am totally mad you didn’t tell me. But we can argue about that tomorrow. Not on your birthday.”
I chuckled. “Noted.”
He opened the door then gestured for me to climb in. I was relieved. The thought of getting hypothermia on my birthday wasn’t ideal. When Levi started the car, my phone automatically connected to the Bluetooth speaker. I’d vetoed all of Levi’s playlists until he eventually agreed to let me control the radio. Several notifications came through the speakers. The birthday wishes were still coming in hot and heavy. Because I hadn’t seen my family and friends for a long time, the messages weren’t short. They were recaps of what was going on back home, questions about my life here and, most importantly, when I’d be back. It was taking a lot of time writing back to them all.
“Who sent you that essay?” Levi asked, looking over my shoulder.
“Luke.”
Big mistake. Levi’s eyes widened.
“Luke messaged?”
“We’re friendly. Remember?”
“Not too friendly I hope,” he chastised, jutting his bottom lip. “Whoa, Hughesy. You’re popular. What’s this?”
I clicked on the Instagram notification that appeared. My high school best friend had tagged me in an Instagram post. There were four photos. One of us in our school dresses, smiling up at a camera. Another of us hanging out at the beach. A group shot of all my school friends at Schoolies, an end of year trip most year twelves went on. And a shot of Luke and me, his arms draped around my shoulders and his cheek pressed to mine.
“This is cool.” Levi’s eyes narrowed. “Except that one. Are there more?”
We sat in the car for a while, going through all the photos that elicited memories from home. Levi loved seeing them, loved hearing the stories I recalled or the faces I put names to. Right now, my whole world kind of revolved around him. But I had an entire life back home he didn’t know about. I’d met his friends. His family. Seen where he grew up. Apart from the awkward on-kiss-FaceTime-fiasco, he hadn’t even spoken to my brothers. I wanted to introduce him to Seth and Dylan. I wanted to show him my high school best friends. I wanted him to be a part of that world, but I was scared. Scared because I wasn’t sure he could be. It felt like he only belonged here. In this bubble. Because I had no idea how we could make the two worlds come together.
