“Come on, Levi. You know I’d treat her right.”
Conner’s a good guy. He might’ve been an ass growing up, but he turned out all right, which is why the next words slip out of me, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth.
“We’ll see.”
Chapter Nine
Charlie
A soft breeze blows my ponytail back and forth, making my hair tickle my upper back as I wait for Levi in front of Get Baked. Rolling my shoulders, I do a few quick stretches while scanning the street.
With a grin, I finally spot him.
“Hey, stranger. Took ya long enough.”
He smacks the brim of my baseball cap in greeting. “Give me a break. I didn’t get to bed ‘til two in the morning.”
“Which means you got a solid four hours of sleep,” I tease, fixing my hat. “Don’t be a wimp. Besides, you’re going to like this surprise.”
“Then let’s see whatcha got, Charlie.” His frown tilts up on one side, giving me hope that Mr. Grumpy Gills will perk right up with the right amount of sass.
Walking side by side, we make small talk before arriving at Forever Grey a few minutes later.
“How are they open so early?” Levi asks, eyeing the vinyl logo on the door with open curiosity.
Tugging on the door handle, I step inside and explain, “Most people run in the mornings or later in the evening. They’ve had better luck getting volunteers if they work around those hours.”
The lobby is vacant, so I ring a bell on the front desk while Levi rocks back on his heels, inspecting the place. Thirty seconds later, Suzette appears through a door that leads to the back of the shelter where the dogs are kept.
“Hey, Charlie. Back so soon?” she asks before her eyes land on Levi.
Mouth dropping, she scans him up and down, taking in his black basketball shorts that showcase his calf muscles and a dark red T-shirt with a Nike logo plastered on the front. It’s not tight per se, but it still has a way of hugging his chest and leaving little to the imagination.
Yup. I know exactly what she’s thinking because those same thoughts hit me like a truck when he rounded the corner a few minutes ago.
Hot. Damn.
Clearing my throat to get her attention, I say, “Yup. And I brought a friend to help me. Levi, this is Suzette, one of the head volunteers at Forever Grey. Suzette, this is Levi. He’s going to take one of the dogs out too if that’s okay?”
“Yes, of course. Let me just….” She shuffles a few papers on her desk before finding a brown clipboard with the waivers. “Here they are. If you could sign these, that’d be great. Then I’ll get you two lined up for a couple of running partners. Speaking of partners, are you dating anyone, Levi?”
I nearly choke on my surprise, fighting the urge to laugh––or to slap a hand over Suzette’s mouth––when Levi’s chuckle grabs my attention.
“Not at the moment, no. Why do you ask? Is that a requirement?”
“Obviously not when we both know Charlie’s single. You do know she’s single, right? And gorgeous. Why are you single, Charlie?” Suzette turns to me with a wicked glint in her eyes that makes me want to claw them out.
Cheeks beet red, I stumble over my response. “I…uh…I’m sorry, what was the question?”
Levi bumps his shoulder into mine. “She asked why you’re still single, which is a pretty good question, actually. Why don’t you ever date anyone?”
“Uh….” My attention bounces between my two interrogators. “I’m sorry, but did I just cross into an alternate universe?” Finally landing on Levi, my gaze narrows into tiny slits. “Since when do you care if I date anyone?”
He raises his hands in defense. “Hey, I’m not the one who brought it up.”
“Nope. I did,” Suzette interjects, clearly enjoying the conversation way more than I am. “And I think it’s an excellent question. Anything you want to say?”
“About why I don’t date?” Face burning, I laugh in an attempt to cover my shaky response. “Not really.”