Not terrifying enough to keep me from gripping the back of his head to deepen the kiss.
Levi doesn’t even hesitate to meet me, his tongue tangling with mine. I can feel him hardening against me, and I wish more than anything we were somewhere else.
A loud whistle cuts through the air, and Levi curls around me like he’s protecting me, even as he breaks the kiss and looks up. I follow his gaze to see my brother slow-clapping our very public make-out session.
“Keep that up and I’m bringing a shotgun to my wedding,” he says.
Levi grins and laces his fingers through mine, stepping away only to give me a little tug. “Want to get out of here?”
“Yes, please,” I say.
Together, we hurry down the street, hands still linked like a real couple.
Chapter Fifteen
Levi
Finding my way around a town this small shouldn’t be difficult, but I have to stop on the corner of Main and Snowman Street to text Josephine and ask for help.
“Everything okay?” Gentry asks.
“Just need directions.”
“If there are directions, there must be a specific place we’re going.”
“Uh-huh.” I bite back my smile.
“So, where is it?”
“You’ll find out when we get there.”Ifwe get there.
I tilt the phone away from Gentry as a text comes in from Annabelle. She still hasn’t found anything damning about Gentry’s father. He’s got no arrests or police record, not even a speeding ticket.
I need to do some digging myself. I have a bad feeling about Gentry’s Dad and I’m not letting him come to this wedding until I’m sure I can prevent any and every possible disaster. I’m just not sure when I’ll get the time.
Josephine texts back right away, and I realize where I went wrong.
“Okay,” I say. “We need to take a left.”
“And go where?” she asks.
“To the place we’re going.”
“And what if I don’t want to go there?” she asks. “What if you drag me all the way there and what I really want is to buy chocolate from that candy store Sophie told me about?”
“We can stop there after.”
She huffs in annoyance, but when I glance over at her, she looks quickly away, hiding a smile.
Two blocks later, we’re standing in front of the Hollyberry Art Gallery. Gentry looks up at the sign, then over at me, then back at the sign.
“What are we doing here?” she asks warily.
Not the reaction I was expecting, but I can work with it. “You still love art, right? I thought you’d like to see the gallery.”
She pulls her hand from mine and wraps her arms around her waist. “I do.” She looks up at me, her eyes glistening. “I’m just not sure I can handle it.” She shakes her head and scrunches up her adorable nose. “Oh, my God. I can’t believe I’m having this reaction. I’m fine. It’s fine. Let’s go in.”
I cannot stand here while she’s upset and not pull her into my arms. She hugs me back immediately and sniffles. “If you don’t want to go in, we’ll find something else to do. But you should know, they’ve got a canvas and paints set up for you inside if you want it.”
