“What? Your riddle? No. I’m thinking about all the ways I can do damage to you. How much snow can I push on you from the top of my car before you run away? Those kinds of things.”
He puts his hands on his hips. “I have concerns. You’re pretty good at word problems.”
“Crazy good.”
“So you’ve calculated how much snow you can shove on me before I take off running?” When I nod, he says, “And? What’s your conclusion?”
“Not as much as you deserve for how annoying you’re being.”
He nods. “Sure. I can see your dilemma. I have a solution.”
“I don’t want it.”
“Yes, you do. Try this: stop pretending you’re mad at me. Lean into this.” He wades through the snow to stand next to my car. “Climb down right now and kiss me like you mean it. Like you want to make me forget every Eastern European beauty queen who has ever crossed my path.”
I fling snow at him. He only ducks and smiles. He keeps his eyes on me and says nothing else.
I go back to snow removal. Levi doesn’t move. After a minute of this, I growl at him. “Stop.”
“Stop what?”
“Whatever you’re doing.”
“I’m literally doing nothing.”
“Well, knock it off.”
His eyebrows go up. “What would you like me to do instead, Tay?”
I shove more snow off the roof, but Levi stands unmoving, then I give up and jump into the soft snow below and face him.
“What was obvious to you when you came to see me first?” I ask.
“Why I haven’t been back in four years.” He leans slightly forward. “What will you give me if I tell you?”
I sigh, my breath an irritated contrail in the cold air. “What do you want?”
“Admit you like kissing me.”
“I like kissing you.”
His eyes widen. He clearly hadn’t expected me to make it that easy. “Admit you want to kiss me again.”
“No.”
“Stubborn.”
“That’s not a newsflash, Taft.”
“Last name, huh? I’m in big trouble.”
“The Obvious Truck got you again, I see.”
He clutches his heart. “So hurt.”
“Only metaphorically. But I would like to run an actual truck over you.”
“Make you a deal. Let me finish up here. Turns out we can run the generator all day if you want. There’s enough reserve gas for it. I noticed the ingredients for cocoa in the pantry. If you’ll make some while I finish this and dig out your car, I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”
