“Not my fault you skipped a grade.” Levon grinned up at her dazzlingly. While she was busy being blinded by his good looks, he took her bag from her. Stole her bag from her, more like.
“I skipped two grades,” she corrected primly.
“Who’s feeling competitive now?”
Olive huffed, blowing an errant curl of hair out of the way of her glasses, and then made her way cautiously into his bachelor pad as he carried her things off to rooms unknown. Man cave or not, this was a definite step up from the shed. A bit impersonal, as she would expect a furnished rental to be, but it was nicely put together. The space was precise without sacrificing comfort: there was a flat-screen in the den, and an overstuffed sectional that looked more comfortable than a heavenly cloud pulled down to earth. Olive sank into it with a deep sigh. She felt bone-weary all of a sudden, and she didn’t think it was just her pregnancy.
The baby. She had been so focused on the logistics of staying healthy to deliver her child—and on the reality of becoming a single mother—that she had actually been able to avoid thinking about the emotional side of things. For the most part. Days were easier, but the nights alone were torture.
That was why she focused so hard on her work, pouring herself into helping her students so she wouldn’t have to think about the task looming ahead of her. It helped having Franklin and the rest of her students to worry about. Of course, now that she knew Franklin and the others were facing real danger, her anxiety over them was going to get way more intense. Especially when factoring in the note that made it seem like she was being targeted, as well.
“Here. I brought you something.” Levon’s low voice pulled her out of her more disturbing thoughts, and Olive looked up.
“Tea?” she said brightly, perking up at the sight of him carrying two steaming mugs. She took the one he passed to her gingerly.
“Careful. It’s extra hot. I know that’s how you like it.”
“You do?” Olive blinked in confusion. “And how do you know that, exactly?”
“Please. I have a better memory than you think.” Levon joined her on the couch. The cushion beside her sagged beneath his greater weight, and she couldn’t stop the flutter of awareness inside her. Levon Asher had always been big and powerful, never going through the awkward stages of puberty like the rest of the boys in their class… at least, not that she had noticed. And she had definitely been paying attention.
“Of all the things about me, this is what you remember?” she asked. He kept his distance from her on the couch, but it was still too easy to imagine him spanning that distance, hot tea be damned.
“Of course. You’re the only person I’ve ever met who used a Bunsen burner to reheat their beverages.” Levon chuckled at the memory and threw his arm over the back of the couch. “Did you know they make electric coasters now?”
Olive stared at the mug cradled in her hands. “What can I say? I was ahead of my time.”
“You were ahead of all of us, and probably still are.”
The open admiration in his tone made a fresh wave of embarrassment rise inside her and she kept her gaze lowered to avoid seeing his expression.
“Which is why it amazes me you managed to get yourself into this situation,” Levon continued.
“Hey!” Her eyes flew to his at that, and Olive raised an eyebrow. “I know you had a little trouble with the sciences back in the day, but surely you know how babies are made? It takes two, you know.”
“I… what?” Levon scowled and rocked forward, spilling his tea down the front of his shirt in the process. “I was talking about the gang, Liv! Christ.”
Darn it. She’d really mucked that up—and he might have gotten burned as a result. “Oh! I’m sorry! Do you want me to go grab you a towel, or…?”
“No, it’s all right.” Levon stopped her with his hand on her arm when she attempted to rise. “Sit. Let’s get this out there now.”
Cheeks hot with mortification, she slumped back into her seat again. “I’m sorry, Levon, I just… this whole thing tonight has me unsettled, you know? And I did try to contact you after I found out, but the naval office told me there was no way to get in touch with you when you were deployed. Then, after a while, I got used to the idea of being on my own through this and things got busy at the school and I just stopped trying to find you.”
He seemed to take that in a moment, then gripped her knee. The unexpected contact made her tingle. “How soon after I left did you find out?”
“About a month.” She shrugged, then took a deep breath, remembering those early days when she’d survived on saltine crackers and broth because of the morning sickness. “At first I thought I had the flu. Went to the doctor and everything. She suggested a pregnancy test, and well…” She held up her hands in front of her now bulging belly. “My periods have never been exactly regular, even with the pill, so when I missed one, I didn’t think too much about it.”
“Guess we were that one percent, huh?” he said, his thumb circling gently, absently against her knee, his voice low. She gave him a confused look and he said, “They always say on those commercials that the pill is ninety-nine percent effective.”
“Actually, it’s ninety-nine point seven percent effective, so there was only a point zero three percent chance…” She lowered her head and tucked her hair behind her ear. “But yeah. Guess so.”
The moment stretched out between them until she finally said, “I’m glad about it though. The baby, I mean. I always wanted kids.”
“Me too.” He caught her gaze and held
