“Fine. I’ll try to let the past go and only focus on the present. But so help me, if he ever makes another comment about how I look or that I have a boy’s name, I will neuter him where he stands.”
Grinning, Levi pulls me into a quick side hug then reaches for his cold Chinese food.
“That’s my girl.”
Chapter Twelve
Charlie
Bouncing on the balls of my feet, I stretch my arms over my head for the hundredth time while waiting for the infamous Levi to show his face.
“Dude. Where are you?” I mumble under my breath, trying to contain my frustration. He’s never late. That’s not how he works. Hell, that’s not how either of us works. With another sigh, I search the empty street before resting my hands on my hips and tapping my toes against the damp concrete.
“Levi, I swear to—”
My phone vibrates.
Pulling it out of my pocket, I read the message.
Levi: Don’t hate me. There’s an early meeting that I completely forgot about. I’ll make it up to you later, okay?
Disappointment swells inside of me, but I push it aside.
Me: No worries. Good luck at your early meeting.
Sliding my phone back into the elastic pocket on my shorts, I jog down the road without my best friend. And even though I saw him twice yesterday, his absence is still glaring.
When I reach Forever Grey and open the door, my heels dig into the ground.
“What are you doing here?”
Two heads swivel in my direction. The first is Suzette’s, and the second is Asshat Conner Daniels’.
“Uh…hey,” Asshat greets me with a chin lift.
“You two know each other?” Suzette interrupts, eyeing us both carefully.
Ignoring her, I address the guy who’s totally stalking me. “What are you doing here?”
“Filling out paperwork?” He motions to the clipboard.
“No. I mean here. As in Forever Grey.”
“Levi told me about it. I try to run a couple of times a week when I’m not going to the gym. Figured I might as well kill two birds with one stone.”
As soon as my best friend’s name slips from his lips, I turn into a blaze of fury.
“Did Levi set this up?”
“Set what up?” he asks, looking at me like I’m a crazy person.
My finger wags between us. “This. This little not-so-coincidental meetup. Did Levi set it up?”
“Levi told me about this place yesterday. He said it opens early in the mornings, and I felt like going for a run. That’s it.”
“And what about the early meeting?” I accuse my skin prickling in awareness.
“What early meeting?”