A kiss for Ree

Chapter 1||He's Levi

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For those of you that have been with me in this book journey with series of changes of titles, to change of names, changes of characters and everything. Thank you 🙏. Thank you so much for the patience. Everything is starting to fall in place now and it's better, I assure you 💯.

To new readers, thank you for choosing this book and have a trilling adventure 😊

I wanted this book to be long, I wanted this book to be short. The latter eventually won tho.

You can check out more of my books on my profile 😊

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How It Really Started

On a bright midsummer day, the wind carried the scent of blooming flowers across the air. A gentle breeze cooled the atmosphere, birds chirped, and happiness buzzed in every bee as they-

Wait... that's not how it started. Sorry. Let's try again.

On a dark, cloudy evening at the tail end of fall, a strange wind danced through the air, sending shivers down the spine of anyone it touched. Ominous grey clouds blanketed the sky-

Okay, okay. I'm joking. That's not how it started either. We're not living in a fairy tale.

Here's how it really started:

"Omarrrrrrrrr!" I shouted, completely forgetting I was supposed to be resting my sore throat. The lozenge slipped from my tongue and hit the floor just as the popsicle I'd grabbed from the fridge dropped from my hand in shock.

I stood frozen, glaring into my open makeup drawer in disbelief.

"Omarrrrrrrrr!!!" I yelled again.

From inside my bathroom, I heard his signature annoying laugh echo back. "Hahaha!"

Boiling with rage and barely able to breathe, I stormed toward the bathroom-only for my feet to slip on a puddle of water which I knew Omar had poured there on purpose. I skidded across the tiles and fell hard, my head narrowly missing the floor by a hair.

"No running on slippery floors, Sister Akorede!" Omar called out mockingly from behind the door, his phone raised in one hand, camera snapping away. Snap! Snap! Snap! His mouth opened wide in his signature cackling laughter.

Every hair on my body stood on end. I stared at my ridiculous cousin-dressed in a plain white T-shirt and shorts-as if he were some crazed photographer on a modeling set.

"Omarrrrrrrrr!" I roared again, my voice now hoarse.

"Has anyone ever told you how pretty you look when you're angry?" he said, backing out slowly while still taking pictures.

I began dragging myself up from the slick, pink-tiled floor, wincing as pain radiated through my backside.

"Shebi it's just your lip gloss I broke!" he called over his shoulder, turning to bolt out of the room.

He didn't make it six steps.

Bang!

A loud thud echoed as Omar slipped and fell.

"Pfft... pfft!" I tried to hold it in but couldn't. Laughter bubbled from my throat as I walked out of the bathroom, now fully amused. There he was, flat on the floor, cradling his head, a shattered phone screen beside him, and the half-melted popsicle at his feet.

My laughter, however, was short-lived. A harsh cough erupted from my throat, reminding me of my sore throat.

A shame, really! I would've loved to give him the loudest, most mocking laugh I could muster.