I jerked back to reality. It felt like so much longer, but it couldn’t have been more than a minute. Guiltily, I shot to my feet.

Whatever might have happened between us in the future now seemed out of the question. Everything was ripped and shredded. How would I be okay with a long-distance relationship? It wouldn’t be any better than the secrecy of my relationship with Elodie. It would still be sporadic, relying on stolen moments and long treks. I couldn’t put myself through that again. I hadn’t been thinking; I’d just gotten caught up in the moment. If I felt more for him than I did for El, then I didn’t even want to imagine the carnage left behind when my heart broke all over again. Did I want to risk hooking up with Levi when our future was still uncharted? I was out of my depth—I couldn’t navigate my love life by myself. If Penny were here, she would know what the right call was. She’d put those Slytherin smarts to use and come up with a plan that didn’t Avada everything.

Levi entered the living room—and bless his soul, there was no indication that he suspected me of invading his privacy, which only made me feel worse—and handed me a towel.

In silence, I dabbed my arms, neck, and legs. “Thanks.” I handed it back to him.

“So can I offer you anything before I start dinner? I can brew some cof—”

“No,” I said quickly.

“Oh. Right.” His lips tugged upward. “Stupid. I should have known after working in a coffee shop, coffee would be the last thing you’d want to drink.”

“I love coffee.” I shot him a nervous smile. “But it is pretty late.”

Levi stared. Under his scrutiny, guilty heat crept over me.

“You just got here,” he said. “I thought you were staying for dinner.”

I could see him trying to work out what had changed since he’d gone upstairs. His lips parted, but before he could say anything, before I could be convinced to stay, I blurted out, “Okaybettergobye!”

“What?”

I took a deep breath. “I have to go. I’ll take a rain check on dinner. Thanks.” I wasn’t proud of fleeing but I couldn’t stay, either.

“Babe, wait.”

He caught up to me outside his front door. Levi stood in the doorway, leaning against the doorjamb with a crinkled expression of worry on his forehead. “Is it something I—” He paused, coughed delicately. “Is everything okay?”

I stared at his face, twinges of electricity still pulsing through me. The long lines of his jaw led to a squared chin and a tapered neck. The muscles in his neck were taut.

“Will you text me when you get home?” Levi asked, still not looking happy at the idea of my leaving.