Page 37 of Picking Daisies on Sundays

“You’re going to be coming home late?” Levi asked, sparing me a quick glance before turning his gaze back to the road.

“Not too late, I should be done around 8.”

Another glance towards me but accompanied by a furrowed brow. “That’s late.”

“Not as late as previous instances.” I expected a humorous eyeroll or a laugh, but instead, silence. His silence was never a punishment though, it was just his way of thinking things over. He used to do it in high school when the teacher called on him for an answer or his sisters asked logical, complex questions, likewhy did dogs exist?

But his mother’s brownstone townhouse came into view before anything more could be said. Now it was time to pretend. Hold hands, smile, look at one another lovingly.

I grabbed my purse from the floor of the car when he came around to open my door. “Thank you.”

He nodded, taking my hand, leading us up the stairs. My hand was stoic in his, trying not to move or else every part of his skin would be embedded in my brain. But when he knocked on the door, turning to look at me and silently check if I was alright, I clutched onto his fingers, trying to remember the feeling of his hand before I had to let go.

Bella was sitting at the other end of the table and has been running her eyes across Levi’s body like she was undressing him for the

past twenty minutes.

I couldn’t blame her—I spent four years enamored by his presence, let alone his appearance—but Jesus, I wasright here. This was more painful than the time I stained the wedding dress Mom designed, the day before it was photographed for the cover of Vogue. It was as if I wasn’t sitting right beside him, our hands interlocked on the table for everyone to see.

Pretending, pretending, pretending.

I hadn’t stopped repeating it since his hand caressed mine. It sounded like a hospital monitor in my head on repeat, but the sound went up an octave when the pad of his thumb rubbed my index knuckle. I think I jumped slightly, but everyone seemed too wrapped up in wedding conversation to notice.

“How was The MET today?” Sarah asked. I had a mouth full of pasta in my mouth, so I turned to Levi at my right to answer.

“Busier than usual for a Sunday morning,” he responded.

“That’s one of the things I miss most about the city, there’s always people around,” she emphasized.

“You could always move back.”

Sarah rolled her eyes. “I rather not live with three roommates in order to afford it.”

I couldn’t tell if she was referring to her mother, Rhea, and Claire, or the fact that Levi lived with three roommates. But either way, she wasn’t wrong. A closet-size apartment with a monthly rent the price of a car down payment wasn’t exactly ideal for newlyweds.

He didn’t look up at her when she responded, dropping the conversation altogether.

Sarah and Jeff moved back to the city just to prepare for the wedding, but Levi had explained to me that they had been living in Vermont the past two years. That was the only time we had talked about it, and I could tell he had no interest in talking about it further.

Trying to change the subject, I asked, “Are you saying youdon’twant to move in with Levi and his roommates? I’m sure they’d make room for you in the cabinets.”

Sarah laughed, earning me a shooting glance from Bella down the table. “Have youseentheir apartment? There wouldn’t be room for me in the cabinets!”

“The cabinets are not that bad!” He defended himself with a laugh.

“You need to move out of there, they live like pigs. You could always move to Vermont, you know.”

“I’m not interested in leaving New York, we’ve talked about this.”

“Have you considered moving in together?” she asked. Everyone at the table went silent, forcing me to look up from my plate to see that “you” meant me and Levi…

Oh my. There wasn’t a lie my mind could come up with in a seven mile radius.

I couldn’t answer questions about our fake relationship, let alone our fake future! Obviously, no one at this table knew that because they thought we were childhood friends to lovers, when in reality, we’re just two adults who had a past friendship that was presently filled with awkward moments and a one sided crush.

“We haven’t even graduated yet,” he replied, shaking his head in a dismissive way.

“So,” she says, shrugging her shoulders. “You guys have known each other for years. You’re perfect together!”