“Ahhh! Reeeee! Wow, you finally wore that dress. It looks…”
Ashley’s squeaky, excited voice came to a screeching halt the moment Levi slid into the car beside me. She was in the front passenger seat of her brother's car, but her head whipped around toward the back seat where we sat.
Her lips froze mid-word, forming a perfect oval. Her brown eyes went wide as they darted between Levi and me, utterly stunned.
Ashley is one of my best friends—part of our girl gang, the *Sassy Six*. But right now, her entire face was frozen in disbelief, eyes fixed on Levi. One of the two carefully curled strands of her impossibly long natural hair drifted into her mouth.
“Ash!” I snapped my fingers to break her out of her trance, having no clue how to even begin an introduction.
“Hey,” Levi said casually, tipping his head at her.
Liam, Ashley’s brother, glanced back from the driver’s seat, a puzzled expression stretched across his face.
“Hi,” I said to Liam, flashing my most apologetic smile as his eyebrows lifted in silent question.
Liam returned my smile with his signature African Prince charm. His chocolate-dark skin glowed as his lips curved wider, and his hand instinctively brushed through his wavy black cut with the neat side parting—he did that a lot. A silver stud gleamed on his left ear.
I secretly wished I could sneak a peek at his famously built muscles that always threatened to rip through his shirts. Maybe later tonight.
Liam’s eyes drifted to Levi, and a friendly grin lit up his face.
“What’s up, man?”
“Hey, what’s good?” Levi replied with a nod.
I cleared my throat. “This is actually my…”
Stepbrother? No. Uncle? Definitely not. I don’t even know—*is* he family?
I stumbled over my words, then finally landed on, “He’s my stepmother’s brother. They just arrived today and I… kinda wanted to show him around a little. Sorry, is that cool?”
“Yeah, of course,” Liam said, turning back to the steering wheel.
Ashley finally swallowed her shock. “Wh… wh… when? How? Wha…?” she sputtered, staring at me like her brain had crashed from too many questions at once.
To rescue her from mental overload, I jumped in.
“His name is Levi. He just flew in from Germany with his sister today. They literally moved in this evening. I wanted to tell you, but I figured it would be better to introduce him in person. Also, my phone died, so I couldn’t text you. I left it charging. So… meet Levi,” I rambled as fast as Liam started the engine.
Levi took a breath. “Hi, again.”
Ashley blinked rapidly, then finally found her voice.
“Hi. I’m… I’m Ash. Ashley. Ash for short. Wow, what a way to start your first night—club party and all.”
“It’s just a little night hangout. We’ll leave by midnight,” Liam added, eyes on the road.
Ashley made a sarcastic face but let it go in three seconds.
“So, when did you get here? And do you speak German?”
“Yeah, I do. I speak Deutsch. And I’ve been in Nigeria for a week.”
“Nice… You, uh, have a pretty cute face,” Ashley said, twirling a lock of her hair with a goofy blush.
Correction: he has a ridiculously cute face, complete with that light guyish mustache on his upper lip. His skin was this sharp shade of light brown—hard to say if he had a Black parent or grandparent. The tone wasn’t as obvious on Lilas, she was so pale, but Levi was more of a creamy, sun-kissed tan.
YOU ARE READING
A kiss for Ree
Teen Fiction"You got hotter?. How long have I been away?" Jax drapped an arm possessively over my shoulder. I smiled, but my gaze met with Ludwig's again, his eyes narrowed in a possessive way I knew too well. Well if he's dancing with another girl, then I'm g...
