Page 75 of Picking Daisies on Sundays

The class was unsettling until suddenly, it was fun. Levi and I were laughing; Rhea and the Claire would blow kisses at us whenever Levi twirled me; and we were all making fun of Sarah and Jeff’s first dance because Jeff would move too quickly, causing Sarah to topple forward. Even Rhea and Claire joined in at the end, fighting over who got to dance with their big brother. Levi, of course, made it a priority to give each girl their turn, picking them up, holding them close, and spinning them around to the music. The girls giggled and shouted with joy to not be put back down because they were having so much fun.

He had this smile on his face that could’ve powered the sun.

The corners of his eyes crinkled with laughter; the way dough of croissants creased in the oven. His brown curls bounced with the balls of his feet, and I stared in awe. Setting aside my feelings that were bursting from the seams of my heart, I thought over how I wouldn’t get to see this or be a part of this for a year if I chose to go to Paris. If that was a decision I made, I’d only hope that this friendship wouldn’t come to a complete halt again. Maybe I’d send postcards and they’d call. Maybe.

Levi and I followed Jeff, Sarah, the girls, and Grandma Coldwell out of the studio to the parking lot. Levi knelt down and picked up Rhea, putting her in her booster seat, and then did the same for Claire, planting a kiss on each of their heads. “I’ll see you tomorrow night, alright?” They nodded and shouted, “Love you!” through the car windows as we walked away.

“Bye guys, be careful,” he said to Sarah and Jeff, giving Jeff a death glare in the driver’s seat that was evidently adrive careful or elselook.

“Ready to go?” Levi asked me. I nodded.

We got in the car (daisies droopy but not dead on the console) and Levi snagged my attention from his seat.

“What?” I asked curiously.

“Thank you, again, for coming. It’s been a long time since I had fun like that. I’m always worrying about everything going on that I forget to have any type of fun, even with the girls.”

I reached my hand over and rubbed the back of his hand in a friendly, caring gesture. “Thank you for letting me be a part of it.” Things felt normal, nice.

Until I saw Bella’s name appear on his phone; a cruel reminder after the fun we had tonight. Dancing and laughing together while also being intimate, only to realize that he’s been doing this with Bella for the past four weeks. My hand behind his shoulder,herhand behind his shoulder. His hand on my waist, his hand onherwaist.

I’m so over being the side character.

I clutched the bouquet of daisies to my chest for the rest of the ride home.

34

if hearts were meant to love, then why did mine

feel so empty?

It is statistically proven that if you don’t tell the person you’re in love with that you love them, then it’ll be written across your face at all times. That’s completely factual. And I have the evidence, because it was how I looked at the moment, walking into Levi’s mother’s home to find him chasing Rhea.

Normal, I know. But Claire had opened the door for me and told me that Levi had only just gotten out of the shower, so he’d be a second. But then Rhea seemed to have stolen something from him, because he was in the hallway with soaked hair, no shirt, and just a towel…

“Rhea, give me the clothesnowor—”

“Hi Daisy!” Rhea stopped mid-run and shouted.

His head snapped up to spot my presence at the front door. His cheeks went crimson, and his hand tightened on the towel around his waist. The towel was catching the droplets of water that fell from his hair at the nape of his neck and traveled down the muscles in his chest and abdomen—I was going to pass out.

I threw my purse in front of my face. “Sorry, sorry! Claire said you were still in the shower, I didn’t realize—”

He grabbed the clothes from Rhea’s hand and placed them in front of his— “No, no it’s fine. This is what I get for showering here after work. My mom had to go to a real-estate class, so I came early. I’ll be quick, I just need to get dressed.” And then I heard the bathroom door shut.

I don’t think I’ll ever get that image out of my head. Levi must’ve been equally scarred because he took more than a moment to get changed.

Fortunately, I had Rhea and Claire as buffers to distract me from this situation. They pulled me into the kitchen to show me all the snacks they prepared: bowls of popcorn, chocolate, chips, and—

“Is that strawberry shortcake?” I asked in surprise from the kitchen threshold. Two tiers of vanilla cake with white frosting and cut strawberries wedged in between and on top. It was the kind of cake you wanted to make a home out of and live in because it was so pretty.

“We made it for you.” I turned and found Levi in the hallway, dressed this time, looking at me with a shy smile. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t difficult to ignore what just happened and how he looked under his shirt.

“For me?” I asked incredulously, pressing my finger to my chest. He was talking about me?

“Who else?” he asked. And suddenly, I felt naked in my linen pants and T-shirt. The way he was looking at me felt too vulnerable. He rendered me speechless…I, I didn’t even know what to say. “Do you want some?” he asked.

I laughed at myself, thankful for him filling in my blanks. “That would be amazing.”