by A. K. Evans
She nodded.
Confusion washed over me. “Is there another tour you didn’t tell me about?”
“No,” she replied.
“Care to enlighten me as to why you are packing?”
A look of confusion washed over her face before she answered, “So I can go home.”
“Home?”
“To my apartment,” she explained. “I don’t have to worry about anyone stalking me anymore, so now I can go home.”
Fuck.
The second she said those words, I realized how much I didn’t want her to leave.
“You want to go back to your apartment?” I questioned, my throat tight.
She held my eyes a minute, something flickering in them, before she responded, “Well, yeah. I mean, all of my things are there. My bed, the rest of my clothes, my books that I really want to read, and my lip balms to name a few.”
I stayed silent. I didn’t want this. I wanted her here.
She set the clothing in her arms down on the bed and walked toward me. “Levi, what’s wrong?”
My heart was in my throat. I wanted to be selfish and tell her to stay, but after what she had been through, I needed to give her the freedom she’d been robbed of for the past few weeks.
I brought my hand up to the skin at the side of her throat. “I’m going to miss having you here, sunshine.”
Her hand came up and wrapped around the back of mine before she reassured me, “I’ll miss being here, but life has to get back to normal. You need to get back to work. I know you’re staying here because you’re worried about me. I appreciate that more than I could ever tell you, but I don’t want Leah to have any more control over our lives. The one good thing she did was bring us together, but I want us to make the choices in what happens with our relationship moving forward. I’d like for us to have a bit of a normal relationship for a while. I want to spend my days hanging out at my place giving myself a manicure, or cuddling up on my favorite chair to read a great love story. Then, when the evening rolls around, I want to be able to call you or have you call me so you can tell me all about your day. I want us to talk on the phone for hours. I want to be able to invite you over for dinner and a sleepover and I’m hoping I’ll get an invite to your place in return.”
“Ok, then I’d like to invite you for dinner and a sleepover here tonight.”
She laughed.
I know she thought I was teasing her, but I was serious. Fuck, I didn’t want this. I loved her. And because of that I’d give her what she wanted, no matter how much I hated it.
“I want to be home tonight, love,” she said softly as she looked up at me innocently with those beautiful honey-colored eyes.
“Any idea on when you’ll be inviting me for an overnight visit?”
“This weekend,” she answered immediately.
It was only Wednesday.
“The weekend starts on Friday after work, right?”
She gave me a nod.
I dropped my head to the ground, feeling defeated.
Elle’s hand came up and she allowed her knuckles to brush along the skin of my cheek. “This is going to be great for us, Levi. Trust me.”
When I lifted my head, I insisted, “Friday is so far away.”
Her eyes went liquid and she dared, “Then you better make good use of the time you have left with me now.”
“El…” I trailed off. “Are you sure? After everything you’ve been through,” I managed to get out before she cut me off.
“I’m sure, Levi. In fact, I know that a little bit of lovin’ from you is exactly what I need after what I’ve been through. You’ve been showing me love from the minute this thing started between us. After what happened Monday morning, you’ve not wavered once in giving me all of the emotional love and support I need. Now, though, I really want your physical love. Will you give that to me?”
I stared at her briefly before I captured her mouth with mine. She tasted like brown sugar and cinnamon. With my mouth still connected to hers, I bent slightly to pick her up and carry her to our bedroom.
Then, I made good use of the time we had and gave her good love.
Chapter 28
Elle
More than a month had passed since I was nearly killed by a person I loved and trusted. I had lived more than a month of my new life without the person I had considered to be my best friend by my side and I still wasn’t sure how I felt about it all.
There were good days.
There were bad days.
Then, there were very bad days.
There were also very good days.
Thankfully, I had more good than bad.
It wasn’t easy to get to the point that I’m at now. In fact, it’s really only been in the last two weeks or so that I’ve started to really accept the reality of the situation and what my role in all of it was.
Nothing.
It took time to get to a place where I realized that I did absolutely nothing wrong in this situation.
Over the course of the last few weeks, I’ve talked a lot with Levi’s soon-to-be sister-in-law, Emme. She’s been through a bit of her own Hell, having dealt with sexual assault and physical abuse at the hand of her ex-boyfriend. He kidnapped her a couple months ago and, thankfully, Levi and his team found her only a few hours later. I’m amazed by how strong she’s become over the last few months and talking with her has helped me gain fresh perspective from someone who’s been there.
I’ve also spent a lot of time writing new music. I pulled out my song inspiration notebook and my guitar and went to work. It was cathartic and I found I felt much better after a music session.
My focus has slowly shifted over time and I’m no longer spending as much of my day thinking about Leah and what she did. I’m sure my heart will hurt for a long time whenever I think of our friendship and the perception I had of it for so many years.
When it comes to Leah, she dealt her own hand. She decided her fate. The evidence Trent delivered to the Windsor Police Department coupled with Leah’s guilty plea meant there would be no trial. She simply received a sentence. I debated for quite some time about whether I wanted to be there for her sentencing, but I ultimately decided against it. I already knew what the outcome would be based on the discussions I had with Levi. She would be spending life in prison for attempted first-degree murder.
There was an odd dichotomy happening inside my head when I learned this. Logic told me that this is what she deserved. Leah was a smart girl; she knew there would be consequences for her actions. She, I’m certain, knew the punishment would be severe and still chose to go ahead with her sick, evil plan. On the other side of it all, though, I had to swallow the fact that my best friend since college was going to be spending the rest of her life in prison. Regardless of what she did to me, it didn’t change the fact that I had grown so close to her over the years. As a result, the reality of her fate hit me hard.
This is where Levi was my saving grace. He made it very clear that he wasn’t fond of Leah in the beginning, but particularly loathed her now. Regardless of his personal feelings toward her, he made a valiant effort to understand the pain I was going through and was there for me every step of the way. He laughed with me on my good days and held me tight on the bad ones.
I moved back into my apartment and while we spent many nights at either of our places, we still spent many nights apart. On those nights, I knew Levi would be there to lend an ear if I needed him. I could call him at any point during the day or night and he’d drop what he was doing to listen.
Our relationship had grown so much in the weeks following my near-death experience. I found that while I adored every second I was around him, I absolutely loved our late-night phone calls. They weren’t always about Leah and that whole situation. Sometimes, we just talked about random things. He’d tell me about his day at work and I’d tell him about the newest love story I was immersed in. Often, our calls would be quick, lasting only twenty minutes, but most of the time he’d call me after h
is evening workout and shower and talk with me until I fell asleep. Of course, there were the nights that his work had him occupied and he’d be working a case, but even in those situations he always reached out just to connect with me. On those nights, I found I had the most inspiration and motivation to create more music.
What I loved most in all of it was Levi’s willingness to sacrifice. I knew from the moment I told Levi that I wanted to move back home that he wasn’t thrilled with the idea. It was something I needed at the time, though. He could have fought me on it and made it difficult, but he didn’t. Every sacrifice he made only served to make my love for him grow. It filled me with such warmth to know he’d move mountains to not only keep me safe, but also to give me the things I needed emotionally. He would give up the things he wanted to give me what I needed. And now, weeks later I knew there wasn’t anyone else with whom I’d rather be.
Levi was the love of my life.
As I steered my car into his driveway, this was precisely the thought running through my mind. That, and the fact that I was finding I hated not seeing him every day.
It was Friday evening. Levi planned to come home from the office early so he could shower and pick me up at my apartment before taking me to Lou’s. I was going to be performing for the first time since everything happened with Leah and was excited to finally be getting back to what I loved.
Feeling overwhelmed by my love for Levi when I woke up this morning, I decided on a change of plans and wanted to surprise him. I got ready for my show earlier than necessary, hopped in my car, and made my way to his place. I still had my key, but didn’t want to use it. I rang the doorbell and waited. Not even a minute later, the door opened and there stood my handsome man.
He looked shocked and a little confused at seeing me there.
“Hey, love,” I greeted him.
He stepped back and allowed me to come inside.
“What’s going on, Elle? I was just about to leave to come and pick you up.”
I shrugged my shoulders and replied, “I didn’t want to wait to see you and felt like surprising you.”
His face softened and he asked, “Is there a reason?”
I gave him sexy, bedroom eyes and answered, “I love you.”
He grinned and stepped in closer to me while he wrapped an arm around my waist. Just as Levi bent his head down so he could kiss me, I held my hand up in front of my face. He pulled back and gave me a questioning look.
“You need to prepare yourself, Levi.”
“For what?”
I gave him a coy smile and explained, “For the flavor you are about to taste on my lips. I’m thinking this might be your new favorite.”
“I don’t know, El. You’ve not been able to knock my number one choice out of that spot for a while now. And I’ve tasted a lot of flavors since then.”
“This one is different. Trust me.”
He thought on it a moment and examined my lips. “Are you going to let me try them now?” he finally questioned.
My head gave a subtle movement indicating he could try.
He wasted no time and brought one hand up into my hair, while the arm around my waist dropped lower so his hand was at my ass. Then, he pressed his lips to mine. Once he tasted me I knew I was right. He groaned and his fingertips dug into the cheek of my ass as his grip on my hair tightened. He used every part of his mouth to taste mine. His tongue, his lips, and finally his teeth all took turns devouring me.
I loved it.
It was a long time of heavy kissing before he finally pulled his mouth from mine.
“Fuck me, sunshine. Honey? You found fucking honey-flavored lip balm?”
“What’s the verdict?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“Do we have time for me to properly show you what I think of it?” he countered.
I shook my head.
He thought a moment as he searched my face before he spoke again. “Ok, I need to show you something. Then, I’ve got a question to ask you.”
I asked him what he thought of my lip balm flavor, certain I knew what his answer would be, and now I wasn’t feeling so sure. In fact, I was downright nervous.
“What is it?” I wondered, the nerves in my voice undeniable.
He took me by the hand and led me through the house. We walked down to an area of the house I never really spent any time in. Usually, I was always in Levi’s bedroom, the bathroom, the kitchen, or the family room. The only time I ever went to this part of the house when the day he first brought me here and gave me a tour. I didn’t remember much except that a few of the additional rooms were large and empty.
We stopped outside the closed door to one of the rooms, where he turned and looked at me. “I miss having you here with me, sunshine. This house never felt big to me until after you moved back to your apartment. I know that going back there is what you needed at the time, but it’s so empty here without you that I’m beginning to hate it.”
He turned the knob on the door and pushed it open before he put his hand to the small of my back to guide me in ahead of him. It was like I was in slow motion. My eyes scanned the room; the entire space had been remodeled. My eyes filled with tears when I realized exactly what Levi had done.
I turned to him and whispered my question, “You built me a library?”
“I want you here with me, Elle. I love you; that’s not changing. I know you need your own space and I remembered you talking about one day having a library in your home to fill with all the books you currently keep in boxes. I want you to move back in with me, sweetness. This time, I want it to be permanent.”
I turned back to the room and stared in awe at it. I couldn’t believe Levi had done this for me. While I stared at it, he started speaking again.
“I want it to be your space, so I didn’t have it painted or any furniture added. I want you to fill the shelves with your favorite love stories and have the space to sit and read if that’s what you want to do. If you’re feeling like you want to write new music, I want you to do that here. I want to be able to walk in this room any time of any day and see you sitting there doing the things you love. Whatever you want to do to decorate it and make it yours, just tell me and I’ll make it happen. I want to give this to you, Elle.”
“I’m going to cry, Levi,” I admitted.
“Come here,” he murmured softly as he pulled me into his arms.
I buried my face in his chest and took slow, deep breaths. I really didn’t want to cry before my show since I had already taken care of my makeup. A few minutes later, I managed to reign it in and pull back to look up at Levi.
“You ok?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s alright if the answer is no, sunshine. If you aren’t ready for it, I understand. I won’t like it, but I’ll accept it.”
I tilted my head to the side and shared, “I was just thinking about this today on the way here.”
“A library?”
“No. I was thinking about how much I appreciate everything you’ve done for me since the day I ran into your office months ago. But, more than that, I was thinking about how much I’m starting to dislike being away from you and not being able to see you every day. I love talking to you on the phone at night, but I’d rather talk to you in person, make love to you, and fall asleep with your arms around me instead.”
His face lit up.
“Is that a yes? Are you going to move back in with me?”
“Yeah,” I started. “It’s a yes, love.”
His hand came up and gripped the side of my neck. He squeezed gently before he remarked, “Welcome home, Elle.”
“Stop,” I ordered. “I don’t want to cry.”
“Alright, then let me have another taste of this honey before we go.”
I couldn’t help myself. He built me a library. So, I leaned in and gave him another taste of honey.
It was roughly an hour later at Lou’s when my people started arriving. My brother always came to my shows. He always b
rought his friends with him to support me. This included Zane, Stone, and Luke. Now that all of them were in relationships or, as far as I knew in Luke’s case, hooking up with a woman, those women now all came to support me as well. In the weeks following my overnight stay at the hospital, all of those women checked in on me. It felt good to have genuine friends around me. Cruz, Dom, and Pierce all came out to Lou’s tonight as well. I guess my first time performing since the tragic event was enough to get them to come out. The whole group of us was huddled at the front of the saloon right by the stage talking with each other until it was time for Lou to announce me.
The girls and guys all pulled me in for a round of hugs.
“How does it feel to be back here ready to perform?” Charley asked.
“I’m ready. I’ve had enough time off and I’m so excited to be back here doing what I love. I just wish I knew what I was going to do about all of my marketing moving forward since Leah used to handle all of that.”
“Lexi,” Monroe stated.
“What?” I asked.
I heard Cruz make a sound beside me.
“Luke’s sister, Lexi. Back when I got my studio opened, she was about to graduate from college. She hadn’t found a job yet, so she came and worked as my receptionist. Her work at the studio was so much more than just being a girl who answered the phones. The girl is young being fresh out of college, but she’s got a bright future in public relations. She still does all of my marketing campaigns for the studio, and she’s done such a phenomenal job that I needed to hire a couple more instructors and two new receptionists. She’s looking to make a full-time gig out of a PR career and I think she’d be perfect for you.”
I was so happy to hear this. “I’d love to meet her. Can you arrange it for me?”
“Sure. I’ll have her reach out to you this weekend. You’re going to love her; she’s great. Right, Cruz?” Monroe asked teasingly.
My eyes went to Cruz.
Uh oh.
I had a feeling there was a story I didn’t know. I made a mental note to figure out what that story was and I planned to do it sooner rather than later.
