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He swallows. “Why?”
“Because I enjoyed spending time with you.”
He blushes red. “Why aren’t you in the basement?”
“Your brother agreed to let me out for a breather. I was missing the sun.”
“I hate the sun. It’s too bright.”
“It’s life-giving, Lev. If it weren’t for the sun, it’d be dark and cold and scary all the time.” I inch towards him a little, watching his face the whole time to see if I tread too close. “But I’ve seen you go outside sometimes. When you play football with Uri.”
“It’s our quality time,” he recites in a mumble.
I smile. Something about big, scary Uri inviting his younger brother out for “quality time” makes me feel all warm and squiggly inside. “Would you like to come outside right now and spend some quality time with me?”
He stiffens instantly and his gaze darts towards the closed blinds. “Now?”
“I’ll tell you what: we can make a happy compromise. We’ll find a blanket and I’ll put it under the big tree in the corner so you’re not directly under the sun. How’s that?”
He peeks out from behind the blinds before he turns in my general direction. He’s still not eager to make eye contact but at least he’s not as anxious as he was the first time I met him. “I dunno.”
“We can have lunch outside on the lawn, too, if you’d like.”
His eyes bug out. “Lunch? Outside?”
“Why not? It’ll be fun.” He’s pulling at the edges of his t-shirt and there’s a slight rocking motion in the way he shifts his weight from one foot to the other. I have to caution myself about pushing him too much. We just met, after all. “But if you would rather not, I’ll understand.”
He wrings his t-shirt in his fists as his gaze flickers about the room uncertainly. “I like… quality time,” he says at last.
Be cool, Alyssa, be cool.
“Oh, Lev, that makes me so happy. Thank you!”
He gives me another small blush. “I want cornflakes for lunch.”
“I’ll do my best. Come on, let’s go to the kitchen and see what we can rustle up.”
I have to scoot a little closer to him to get to the doorway. He presses himself against the wall as though he’s terrified to touch me. I wonder if that will get better with time or if he’s always going to be as nervous of me every time we’re close together.
The kitchen is empty when we go in. It’s also ginormous. There’s a large pantry stocked to the nines and a walk-in freezer about the size of my first apartment. As it turns out, Lev is just as overwhelmed as I am. Every time I ask him where something is, he just shrugs or grunts noncommittally.
Then I hear the sound of confident footsteps and I know instinctively who’s coming.
“Lev, what are you—” Uri stops short when he sees me standing in front of the pantry. “Oh.” He clears his throat. “You two hungry?”
“Actually, Lev and I were gonna prepare a picnic lunch.”
Lev takes a step towards Uri and puffs his chest out. “Outside,” he adds proudly.
This is the first time I’ve seen the brothers interact up close. I’m fully aware I’m gawking.
“You sure, buddy?” Uri asks, clapping Lev on the shoulder.
“Uh-huh.” He nods vigorously, his eyes never leaving Uri’s. And I get it—he wants his big brother’s approval. He wants to make Uri proud.
None of that explains why I’m about to bawl like an idiot just watching it.
“But—” Lev’s voice dips low. “—can you come, too?”
