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Story: Ill Will

“I’ll be the judge of that.”
His eyes were on me.Onlyme. It did unfair things to my brain.
I wasn’t one to get much attention, especially not from men. If I did, they all wanted to get through me to Calvin.
I hadn’t gotten a gift for my birthday, but maybe whatever god above had decided to swoop in and give methisinstead.
“D-do you want something to drink?” I asked. “We have water, soda. Alcohol, for some reason ...”
“Just water, thanks.”
My face was on fire as I got him what he asked for. I watched as he took the glass and drank the whole thing in one go.
How had I never realized he was good-looking? He was practically Adonis, with a symmetrical, chiseled face and dimples to die for. His dark brown hair was longer than I remembered but was casually pushed back on his head. His blue-green eyes were striking against his dark lashes.
I gulped, hoping I didn’t blow this. The last thing I’d expected for today was to be living in my very own meet-cute.
“What book are you reading right now?” he asked.
“You want to know what kind of books I’m reading?”
“Of course I do. How many have you torn through by now, a hundred?”
According to Goodreads, I’d done that this year alone. “Yeah, something like that.”
He tilted his head, a corner of his mouth quirking. “So, you have to be reading something right now, right?”
“I am. It’s about a woman who’s a wallflower. She meets this ridiculously hot guy?—”
“Seems a little autobiographical, does it not?”
“What do you mean?”
He gestured between the two of us.
“Well, it could be. But the hot guy kinda breaks her heart after getting her pregnant, so I hope not.”
Levi laughed and shook his head. His cheeks turned red, and I realized this was the first time I’d seen him embarrassed. “I should have let you finish your sentence. Is that sort of thing normal in romance books?”
“Some of them. This one is about groveling.”
“And what’s that?”
“Where the guy messes up and has to make it up to her.” I couldn’t resist my smile. “It’s one of my favorite tropes.”
“Did you know that your face lights up when discussing books?”
A flush of heat spread from my cheeks to my toes. “I ... didn’t. I guess I don’t talk to many people about them.”
“What about your book club?”
“I let others talk about their books. And there aren’t any guys in there anyway.”
“What book is it?” he asked. “I’ll read it, even if only to prove that guys can like romance books.”
I had to take a shaky breath before I told him the name of it. He took out his phone and ordered it without a second thought.
“That was quite possibly the hottest thing I’ve ever seen,” I said.

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