Page 90 of Sunset Catchers

Levi is sitting on the edge of the bed. Taking every inch of me, slowly. My wet hair, slung behind my shoulders, leaving my bare face fully exposed. His eyes trail down my body, to the light-grey tank top that stops just above my navel. Then to the tiny pink short with white stripes on the sides.

His throat works around a swallow.

“You okay there, Levi? You look stressed out.”

“All good. Just tired. I think I’ll go take a shower too before we order dinner.”

“Bathroom’s all yours,” I say. Levi quickly makes his way to the bathroom.

As soon as the door closes behind him, I hurry to grab my phone to take a picture of the bed before sitting on the right side of it, then send it through Junie’s and my message threads. I follow it with another text.

THERE’S ONLY ONE BED!!!!!

Not ten seconds later, Junie’s incoming call pops up on my screen. I answered immediately, pulse thrumming.

“Explain. From the beginning,” she says as a greeting. I love that there’s no need for preamble with my best friend. We had a lifelong conversation that started when we were twelve that we can just pick up anytime.

“So I was in charge of booking our rooms for the trip, and I somehow got the month wrong when I made the reservation—”

“Of course you did. You always do that!” The argument I have ready dies a quick death. It’s true; I do always do that. Unsurprisingly, this isn’t the worst consequence of my inability to remember which number corresponds to which month. Junie would know about it because she was the one forced to sleep in her car for two nights because of that aforementioned incompetence.

“Yes, well, let this situation serve as proof that, sometimes, there is no need for an exception to confirm the rule.” She snorts out a laugh. I press on with my story, knowing I only have until Levi comes out of the bathroom to tell it. “When we arrived at the hotel to check in, the receptionist realized my mistake, and because of a few events happening around, there was only one room left. Which was fine by us. We spent most of our evenings together already anyway, so it was no big deal.”

“Right. Of course,” she agrees. “No big deal.”

“And then, we get to the room. There’s only one bed.”

“Did you look everywhere?” I bob my head but then realize she can’t see me. “Yes. No second bed. No couch. Only the one bed.”

“Oh, my god! What did Levi say?”

“He said he was fine with sharing a bed. But then I went to take a shower, and when I got out from the bathroom, he was looked stressed.”

“What are you wearing?”

“A tank top and some pink shorts.”

“Your tiny pink shorts?” she asks.

“Yes.”

“Oh my, Winnie. Levi totally wants to sex you up.”

“No!” I admonish like a chaste girl. Then, remember I’m talking to my best friend. “You think so?”

“Yes, obviously.”

“We can’t… I can’t. You told me not to fuck him.”

“Yeah, but that was before you developed a crush on him.”

My face scrunches up. “How does that change anything?”

“Because then, you’re not just having sex with him to feel better.”

“I mean, I don’t think it would feel bad.” She laughs. “But there’s something else should I tell you.”

I told her about the whole ordeal about my mother calling and how Levi mistakenly answered the call, finishing with the most interesting part.