Page 66 of Sunset Catchers

“Okay. That’s good.”

Sloane grabs one of the menus to browse through the options. I take a sip of the strawberry gin and tonic I ordered.

“So, should we all share an appetizer…Levi, my literal bro, you alright over there?” Sloane cocks her head, confused by Levi’s expression. He appears dumbfounded.

“Did you just have another one of your brain glitches?” I ask next.

“Did he not get a word of what we said…?”

Levi glares at his sister. “Believe me, Sloane, I’m fluent in metaphor talk by now.”

“You are?” She sounds doubtful. His nostrils flare.

“Yup. You can thank Win for that,” he explains while thrusting his thumb toward the culprit; me. I flip my hair over my shoulders, sliding the right one up.

“Guilty as charged.”

“Then what’s with the dumb face?” Sloane asks while swirling her finger over her own face.

“Have you ever both thought of using normal words and sentences? Throwing in some syntax every now and then?”

“Pretty sure all the words we’ve used are in the Oxford English dictionary,” Sloane argues, one of two light-brown brows gliding higher on her face.

Levi closes his eyes, releasing a long sigh.

They pop open again when my hand lands on his shoulder. I squeeze him lightly. “Don’t worry, Levi. We don’t expect you to know all these big words we’re using. After all, you’re literally just a man.” I squeeze him another time, because I appreciate the feel of him, and you should treat yourself on Saturdays, before letting my hand drop from his shoulder.

My brain is on overdrive from the simple touch.

He does his best to keep his smile away; but when I chuckle, so does he. We gaze at each other for what feels longer than we should.

“Levi, you’re drooling over there.”

He throws his cloth napkin into his sister’s face.

16

Idon’t remember the last time I had this much fun.

The kind that’s easy and breezy and makes you feel sunlit. Back home, I spend pretty much all my evenings at home, reading or watching shows, while Junie goes on dates with potential life partners or to PR soirées with people in her industry.

This change of pace is nice.

We share a plate of nachos, then talk over pizza as the sun slowly starts to disappear on the horizon, the sky streaky with pink and purple. I take a picture of it to add to my collection. Then, Sloane grabs my phone and takes a selfie of the three of us, pink sky in the background. They all turn up blurry, but I cherish their places on my phone even so.

Rows of bistro lights illuminate the terrace, making Levi look even better than he already does in his striped t-shirt and dark blue jeans. Or maybe there’s just something wrong with my vision, and I should add the eye doctor to the list of appointments to make.

“I can reimburse you for my part,” I say when Sloane forces him to take care of the bill.

He glares at me, insulted. I’ll keep my money, then.

A pang of longing lodges itself in my ribcage when Sloane and I talk about our shared love of a good iced latte. Junie would love Sloane. Levi’s sister, not girlfriend.

Not that he can’t have a girlfriend if he wants to. I was just surprised earlier is all. Levi can date the whole city of Toronto if he wants, and I wouldn’t care. His eyes could crinkle at the corners while he laughed at another girl’s joke, and it wouldn’t bother me in the slightest. He could bring any girl shopping to that cute pink store, and I would have no qualms about it. He could have as many movie nights with whomever he pleased, I wouldn’t bat an eye.

It’s fine. I am fine.

I sigh silently to myself.