"So that's your house, huh?"
"Huh?" I had found myself drifting in thought and now snapped my head up, looking at Levi. I apparently hadn't had to give him directions to the church from my place. He seemed to be finding his way just fine on his own. "Oh... Yeah. Well, it's my parents' house."
Levi nodded, humming in affirmation. "You're younger than I thought, aren't you?"
My ears heated at his words. "What's that supposed to mean?"
He smirked and glanced at me. "Do I need to worry about having you in my car alone?"
"I'm not - I-I'm in college - I'm twenty-three!" I said quickly, feeling the heat creeping at my cheeks.
"Oh, well, that's a relief," Levi laughed. He paused for a moment to shift gear. "Where do you go to school?"
"Immaculata University. In the next town over. Have you seen it?"
"I might have. Can't say I'm very familiar with the area yet."
"Oh - yeah, you said you moved here recently, right? Where'd you move from?"
"From the city. Philadelphia. I lived west, in Roxborough." Levi looked over at me, his face warm and friendly despite its hard sculpture. "What about you, Ash? Where are you from?"
I laughed, tipping my face forward and folding my hands on the books in my lap. "I grew up in Lewitt," I told him. "I've never moved. Been there my whole life."
"Do you visit the city often?"
"Not at all..." I looked back at him, searching for a reaction that didn't come. So I went on. "Why'd you move all the way out here? There's not a lot..."
Levi shrugged. "Well, if you really want to know, it's because of my job, in a way."
"Oh... You came out here for work? Where?"
"Not to work for any company," he said. "I'm a small business owner. A store front was going to cost me too much in the city."
This surprised me. "You own a store?" I asked, incredulous. "Like, an actual store? Where?"
"Oh... a little place up there on Downing Street. A little ways away from downtown."
I knew where Downing was. It was a side street off of Main where businesses rarely survived. There were a couple fronts where Levi could have easily gotten shop space, but I didn't know one that had stayed in business for more than a year. "Is it hard... Making money there?" I asked him.
He smiled at me. "Not really. To be fair, I mainly make sales online. But I wanted a showroom, and I still have clients that come over from the city. I make home deliveries as well - which is why I need this car. I saw you looking a little confused when you got in."
I flushed a little at this, but only gave an apologetic shrug. "Well... What do you sell, anyway?"
There was a pause in which I watched Levi stare straight ahead at the road without a word, then he glanced at me, his lips parting in contemplation. I wasn't sure, but it seemed like he'd suddenly found it hard to answer me.
"What?" I asked nervously. "I'm... sorry, was I not supposed to ask?"
"No," he said quickly. "It's just not a simple answer, I guess. I can't really sum it up easily. I make and sell custom equipment."
Somehow this only left me with more questions. "Equipment for what...?"
But Levi was not about to clarify. Instead, he said with an indulgent smile, "You should come by sometime and see it."
I found myself wishing I had a better imagination, because when Levi said 'custom equipment', all I could picture was the sort of stuff I had to get special made for sports. My tennis shoes, the grips and damps for my racket, shit like that. But I wasn't sure why he'd be secretive with something like that - unless he somehow thought that being sporty was in contrast to the atmosphere he wore with his black leather.
Although Levi had driven us without needing any direction at all, he still let me take the lead when we walked up to the church together, gesturing for me to walk ahead of him. With winter still sucking the daylight away, it was dark by the time we made it to the doors, and few lights were on inside, marking only the rooms in use by now. "The men's bible study room ins upstairs," I said, turning to him and holding one of the big doors open.
Hands in pockets, Levi waited, looking at me as if reconsidering his acceptance of my offer.
"Come on," I grinned. "You've walked through the doors here four times without bursting into flame. Once more won't kill you, right?"
Levi's head dipped and he gave a soft huff of laughter. Taking my invitation across the threshold, he clapped a hand on my shoulder and, casually, ran it to my elbow, the fingers lingering on my jacket and his eyes on my own.
The underside of my stomach felt lighter than usual.
"You're an odd thing, Ash," he said. His hand clapped twice more on my shoulder and he broke away, turning back to me once he'd made it to the center of the lobby. "Go ahead. I'm following you."
Levi let me lead him up the stairs and down to the room where the men's bible study group met every week. They weren't the only one available - there was one for practically any kind of person who went to our church, but my dad had introduced me to the men's group, and I liked its focus on what one's relationship with God means in relation to his manhood, even after my dad had stopped finding time to come with me after work. I tried to tell Levi about this before we reached the room, but I felt like I was having a hard time conveying my thoughts efficiently, and his expression in response was unfathomable. "Anyway, you'll like it," I said weakly, handing him my spare bible before opening the door.
I wasn't expecting the group to receive Levi warmly, but I had at least hoped for more than what I got - six other members, all slightly older than myself, greeting him with lukewarm glances and throwing wondering stares my way. Only Jeff, who was just about to sink into a chair at the head of the round table, quickly got back to his feet and walked around to meet us, beaming at Levi and I in turn. "Well, hey, guys!" he exclaimed, shaking my hand vigorously and reaching out for Levi's. When Levi extended his hand, Jeff seized it and his forearm in both hands, a friendly deathgrip with a toothy smile. I thought Levi would recoil, but he only smiled back and let himself be manhandled. I quickly introduced him, and Jeff bid us both to sit down and start the meeting.
I had to help Levi find the passages in the bible that we were studying that night, as I assumed I'd have to, so I would quietly reach over and guide the pages to the right point, indicating where the line started before flipping mine open to the same spot. Each time I did this, I was conscious of the others watching me and appraising Levi each in turn. After seeing him in action (or non-action) every Sunday, I could feel their intention - to watch for a wrong move, a word that they didn't approve of, and seize upon it. But Levi was quiet and only read and listened along with me. I didn't know if this was indicative of indulgence or disinterest. Either way, he sat beside me, as he promised to do, and followed my fingers and my gaze wherever I drew him. Only once did I see any sign that his attention was wavering - when I realized he'd been looking at me for a minute, and how long it was that his eyes locked on mine when I found them.
