Page 65 of Picking Daisies on Sundays

Stop.Stop looking. I reared my gaze up hastily from the distance between us and found Levi looking at me. And for a split second, I swore he wanted to kiss me, but—

“This is where I take lit.”

His shoulders slumped with relief. “It’s just a student,” Levi whispered. I gave a look that said,ohhhh.

His arm moved past my waist towards the—

I latched onto his forearm. “Whatare you doing?” I whispered.

“Leaving, it’s just a student,” he whispered in confusion.

“We can’t leave now; you’ll look like the crazy TA that spends his afterhours in the lecture hall closet with women.”

“We can’t just wait in here.”

“Just give it a minute.”

The two of us leaned into the door trying to listen.

“It’s my last class of the day so I must’ve left it in here,” a girl said.

“See, she must’ve just forgotten something, it’ll be quick,” I said in a hushed tone.

“The rom-com class,” a guy corrected her.

“It’s on Jane Austen, not rom-coms,” she responded with impatience.

“Yeah, yeah,” the guy brushed her off.

“Oh stop, you’re just jealous because Mr. Coldwell is hot,” the girl scoffed.

I swear my smile could’ve glowed in that dark closet because of how satisfied I was. “I told you!”I whispered in victory. He

brought his hand to his face, silently laughing.

Shaking his head with a smile, he said, “I can’t believe this has been my reputation.”

The two students spent a few more minutes arguing while chairs scraped against the tile, obviously still looking for something.

I took that moment to tell him about the girls. “Claire and Rhea invited me over for movie night,” I said in a less hushed tone because of the amount of noise the two students were making.

He groaned, “You must think I’m the most boring man—still doing movie nights.”

I knew he was teasing because he took pride in his family. He loved them and wasn’t ashamed to choose them over nights out. But part of me thought he looked sad when he said it. So, I hope it helped when I said, “I think that makes you the most compassionate man on the planet.”

The hairs on my arms rose at the unexpected contact between our fingers. Just the tops of our knuckles touching. A silent thank you.

“I actually had a girl once call me lame because I stayed home with them.” An empty laugh fell from his lips. He sounded somber in a way that I hadn’t heard since high school when mornings felt like midnights because insecure and grieving thoughts stirred. There wasn’t a moment we hesitated to call each other about it.

“Levi, I’m so sorry.” I didn’t know what to say. I was so angry with this girl I’ve never met before for saying something he’d never forget.

His Worried Older Brother Look fell into place. “They’re my entire life. If they need me, I want them to know that I’ll always be there for them. I don’t want them to ever feel like they have less of a family because they don’t have a dad.” His voice cracked and my heart crumbled. “I don’t regret it. I don’t regret not having a social life. But what if it has made me lame? It’s like I’ve forgotten what I want out of life because I’m so worried about them every second of the day. I’m so worried something’s going to happen to them.”Like it did to my dadwere the words left unsaid. That’s what grief does to you, right? It never lets you live in peace.

I pressed my hand firmer against his. “They love you to pieces, but you also need to take care of yourself, Vi. You can’t give them a happy life if you’re not happy.”

“How were you always so wise?” he asked.

I laughed. “I’m going to remember that the next time I’m in the driver’s seat,” I said, poking his shoulder. He smiled. Good. “So what should I bring to movie night?”