Right Move (Clean Slate Ranch #6) - A.M. Arthur Page 0,51
they’d been happy for eight amazing years.
“He’s so young, Xan.” Levi stared up at the stars and imagined one of them was his brother, smiling down at him. “I’m scared of screwing this up.”
“Talking to yourself now?” Robin asked. “Maybe you need to go meditate more.”
Levi pivoted. Robin and Shawn were walking in his direction, hand in hand, goopy smiles on their faces. “I probably do. Um, you mind if I bend your ear about something before we go in?”
“You guys talk,” Shawn said. “This just means I get to go inside and pick the movie.”
“Nothing with a sad ending,” Robin replied, adding a pinch to Shawn’s ass. “This feels like a serious conversation.”
“I’ll look for a comedy.”
As soon as Shawn was inside the cabin, Levi walked to the porch and sat on the built-in bench that each cabin had. Robin plunked down beside him with a curious head tilt. “Okay, what’s wrong?”
“I almost kissed George tonight.”
“Almost? What stopped you?”
“Your phone call.”
“Oh shit, sorry.” Robin made an exaggerated grimace. “Didn’t mean to cockblock you, man.”
“It definitely would not have gone that far, trust me. I just...we were walking and it was peaceful, and the moon was up, and the way he looked at me... I’ve never felt so seen in my entire life, Robin. Not by anyone.”
“Not even Grant?”
“Definitely not by Grant. There were so many things about him I never saw, because I wanted to give everyone the benefit of the doubt back then. He definitely taught me to be cautious again.” Levi had admitted to his relationship with Grant a few months ago when he and Robin were out on a horse ride together. The fabulous mistake he’d made in falling for Grant and the horrible way Grant had betrayed him.
“Hey, sorry to bring that asshole up,” Robin said.
“It’s okay, he’s a relevant part of my past. George is completely unlike him in every way, and I have no reason to think he would do what Grant did. George is young and vulnerable, and all I want to do is protect him. But he’s so innocent.”
“How innocent?”
“Tonight would have been his first kiss, innocent.”
“Damn. Maybe my phone call was a good thing, then. Instead of in the heat of the moonlit moment, you can talk and make sure it’s really what George wants.”
“He asked me to kiss him. But again, I can’t decide if it’s because he wants me or if I’m just convenient. Which is why we need to talk.”
“Exactly. I mean, a vacation fling worked out real well for Wes and Mack a few years ago, but you and George are completely different people. In different places in your lives. But I know you, Levi. I know you’ll do the right thing by George.”
“I hope you’re right.” The last thing Levi wanted to do was ruin his friendship with George. Or worse, break his already fragile heart.
* * *
George had probably reread the same three paragraphs in his book at least two dozen times, and he still had no idea what he’d read. He put his phone down and walked to the big window. Moonlight cast a beautiful silver sheen on the vast land in his view in a way that was almost haunting. Gorgeous. He longed for a way to properly photograph its magic so he could share it with Orry.
“I need your advice, big brother,” he whispered to the sky. “But I’m scared to tell you, and I don’t know why.” Orry wouldn’t care that George was gay, so why was he able to tell Levi and not his own twin?
He’d wanted Levi to kiss him tonight. Wanted the man to be his first kiss. The entire moment had been pulled out of a romantic movie and made real. George had felt truly seen by another person for the first time in his adult life, and he didn’t want to lose that. But maybe preserving their friendship and forgetting the kissing stuff was a better idea.
Someone knocked, startling George into spinning around and tripping over his own ankles. He grabbed the windowsill to steady himself so he didn’t fall on his ass. “Who is it?”
“It’s Levi.”
He’d come back instead of staying to watch a movie with his friends? “I didn’t lock it.”
The knob turned and Levi slipped into the room, a sheepish smile on his face.
“You don’t have to knock,” George said. “It’s your room, too.”
“I know, I just didn’t want to barge in and scare you.”