by Kelsie Rae
She’d have a heart attack.
I left my mom’s in a rush when I saw the time and realized I needed to get home and shower before Alexandra fires my ass for not helping set up for the gala tonight. Then I need to pick up Charlie and––
My phone buzzes.
Charlie: Hey! How’s your mom doing?
A fresh wave of euphoria runs through me as I type my response while walking toward my apartment.
Me: Great, actually. She was keeping a secret from us.
Charlie: And what secret is that?
I make a point to let go of my bitterness in regards to the secret and focus on the positives that came out of it.
Me: She’s going to be okay. Had the surgery earlier this week, and the doc called with the results yesterday. It isn’t cancer. She’s totally fine.
My phone vibrates in my hand seconds later, notifying me that someone is calling. After sliding my thumb along the screen to answer it, I lift the phone to my ear. And squealing commences.
“Are you serious right now, Levi McCoy? She’s okay? Like for real? She’s seriously going to be alright? Why the hell didn’t she tell us she was getting it removed before the original date? I mean, I love that woman, but I kind of want to throttle her right now.” Her empty threat tugs my mouth into a smile as I cross the street toward my building.
“I kind of wanted to throttle her too, but it all worked out, and I understand why she was afraid to fill us in. She didn’t want us to worry.”
“Still,” she argues, not letting it go that easily. I knew she wouldn’t. Things have always been pretty black and white with that girl, and I knew this situation––and another one I’d rather not think about––wouldn’t be any different.
“I know. She’s okay, though. That’s all that matters. They’re going to keep a closer eye on her in the future, but she’s got a clean bill of health for now.”
“You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that.” She sighs in relief before adding, “Although, I wasn’t kidding about the whole throttling part. I’m not cool with lies, and I’m not cool with skating around the truth, either, Levi. You know that, and so does she.”
The blood drains from my face, and I break out into a cold sweat before remembering she doesn’t know about my arrangement with Conner. Besides, I called it off. Everything is fine.
I give myself a two-second pep talk then clear my throat. “Don’t worry, Charlie. I already yelled at her enough for the both of us. Make sure to give her a hug the next time you see her, though. She’s already given me enough crap about not inviting you to tag along for brunch.”
“Aww, that’s sweet of her. And I guess I’ll let her off the hook. But only because I’ve never needed to in the past, so she’s kind of earned a free pass this time. So help me, though, if it happens again, your best friend will not be pleased.”
“Best friend? Is that all you are to me?” I tease before taking the stairs two at a time and effectively changing the subject. Enough talk about lies. My conscience can only take so much. I could take the elevator, but with all the adrenaline pumping through my veins, I figure the six floors are a good way to burn it off.
“You tell me,” she starts, but a muffled noise cuts her off. A few seconds later, her timid voice comes back on the line. “Hey. I have a few friends here to help me get ready for tonight, so I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Friends? Are these the same ones from the picture at the hair place you sent me the other day?”
“Yup,” she confirms. “Those are the ones. See you tonight!”
“Hey, Charlie?” I ask before she has a chance to end the call. There’s something that’s been on my mind ever since she agreed to go out with me, and I want to make sure we’re clear.
“Yeah?”
“Have you had a chance to tell Conner yet?”
There’s a heavy pause. Then, her soft voice comes through the line. “Not yet. But I promise I will. It’s just been a whirlwind, ya know?”
“I know, but….” My voice trails off, and I let her fill in the blank. The longer we sneak around, the longer it looks like we have something to hide. And we don’t.
“I know, Levi. Let me take care of it, okay? He deserves to hear it from me.”
“Okay. See ya, beautiful.”
Then the call disconnects, and all I’m left with are sweaty palms and a fresh dose of guilt.
When I open the door to my place, I come face to face with Conner.
“Oh. Hey,” he greets me before dropping his gaze to the keys in his hand. He flips them back and forth a few times; their jingling only heightens the awkwardness of our encounter.
Things have been…forced, to say the least since our little conversation at my desk, and we’ve been giving each other a wide berth ever since.
“Hey,” I return, shifting my weight between my feet. “You helping Alexandra?”
“No. I have to go drop something off at my dad’s, and then I’ll swing by once it starts.” He raises his hand to keep me from interrupting him. “I know, I know. I was supposed to help set shit up, but my dad said he’d handle it.” My lips pull into a thin line, but I keep my mouth shut. Sensing my resignation, he releases a sigh. “I’ve been trying to reach Charlie, but she’s been ignoring me.”
I rock back on my heels and shove my hands into my front pockets. “Oh.”
“You taking her?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Figured. I gotta go.” Brushing past me, he’s out the door without bothering to say goodbye.
He isn’t an idiot. He knows something is up, and I was too much of a dipshit to tell him the truth. Charlie said she’d take care of it, though. I just need her to do it soon before everything falls apart.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Charlie
When Levi asked if I’d attend the gala with him, I didn’t know it was tonight. He left to go see his mom after our little morning tryst in bed, promising to pick me up at 7 pm, which is only thirty minutes from now.
My phone vibrates with a message, and I anxiously check it to see if it’s Levi. It’s not.
Conner: Hey. Is everything okay? You haven’t been responding to my messages.
The text brings a fresh wave of guilt. Shit. I really need to talk to him before he finds out from Levi that I’m dating someone else. I type out a dozen responses before finally deciding just to keep it simple. It’s not fair to him to break this off over text.
Me: Hey. Sorry. I’ve been crazy busy lately. How are you?
Conner: I’m okay. I heard you’re going to the grand opening tonight. I was wanting to see if you’d go as my date, but Levi mentioned he already asked you.
I grimace.
Me: Yeah, I’ll be there.
Conner: Perfect. I can’t wait to see you.
My brows furrow. He knows I’m going with Levi, so why would he be excited to see me? Doesn’t he get it?
Scrunching up my face, I type another quick message.
Me: It’ll be good to see you too. We’ll have to catch up, but I gotta go get ready, so I’ll just see you there, okay?
Conner: Sounds good. See ya there, beautiful.
My hands shake as I set my phone onto the bathroom counter then run my fingers through my hair, fluffing the mess of curls like Sophie had demonstrated.
I’ll deal with that later.
“How do I look?” I ask Sophie, Indie, and Suzette, who are all crowded into my tiny bedroom. After giving them a quick rundown of my date with Levi, they all insisted on coming over to help get me ready for the grand opening. It’s as if I somehow inherited three nosy fairy godmothers who are at my beck and call. And it’s freaking awesome.
“Love the hair!” Suzette compliments. “Now, go try these on. We each grabbed a few options for tonight, but we didn’t have a lot of time, so we’ll just have to make do with what we have.”
Eyeing the bags of dresses lying on my bed that accompanied each of them, I tease, “I’m not too
worried. Besides, anything is better than the same black dress I wore the day before.”
Sophie waves her hand through the air. “Meh. We can totally make that work if we have to. With a long necklace and a pair of heels, you’d be golden, and Levi wouldn’t even notice it was the same one. But let’s see if we have anything else that works before we move to Plan B, shall we?”
“Yes, please, because heels are a no-go for me. I can’t walk in the damn things.”
Suzette covers her mouth to hide her laughter, and I’m sure she’s imagining me trying to do just that. It’s not pretty.
“Trust me. It’s worse than you can imagine,” I quip.
A giggle bursts out of her, followed by a full-blown cackle. “Please give us a demonstration. Pretty please?”
Bouncing over to the bed, Sophie grabs a handful of hangers and shoves them at me. “Let’s just hope these work, Charlie Brown. Try these first.”
I slip on half a dozen dresses, impressed with my fairy godmothers’ skills before landing on a deep red, lacy dress at the bottom of the pile. It hugs my curves and falls to the ground. Sleeveless and low-cut, the neckline dives down into a ‘V’ on my chest as well as my back to expose a decent amount of skin without being too over the top.
When I twirl for the girls, they start clapping.
“Woot, woot!”
“Looks gorgeous!”
“You’re gonna knock Levi on his ass!”
“You think?” I ask, fluffing my hair for the tenth time in ten minutes. I’m so nervous I might actually puke.
“Absolutely,” Suzette states, brooking no argument. “You’re a babe, Charlie. Flaunt it.”
We’re applying the finishing touches to my makeup, which makes me look more refined and feminine than I’ve ever felt in my entire life when there’s a knock on the front door.
My anxiety spikes. “He’s here.”
“Which means we’ll be leaving,” Indie says before grabbing the stack of dresses. “You’re going to have a blast. Call us later with an update.” Giving Indie a quick hug of gratitude, I find myself in the middle of a Charlie sandwich as Suzette and Sophie join in.
Another knock breaks our little moment, and they scatter to clean up their stuff as I go to the door and open it.
“Hey!” I greet him in an attempt to act casual, though my fingers are digging into the door like it’s a lifeline.
“You look….” Levi’s eyes slide back down my body, reminding me of our date the day before. Only this time, there’s an edge of heat that accompanies his look, warming me up from the outside in.
The girls interrupt him from finishing his comment by squeezing out the door and giving me a final wave behind Levi’s back, panting and smacking the air as if it were Levi’s butt. I bite my lip to keep from laughing at their antics. Turning to see what all the fuss is about, Levi watches my friends drop their act and turn on their heels, disappearing down the hall.
“Did my best friend finally learn to get along with other girls?” he teases, turning back to me.
“Maybe.”
“Ooo, I like it.” Wrapping his arms around my lower waist, he gives me a soft, slow kiss, and I sigh into his mouth.
“I missed you,” he admits quietly.
“I missed you too.”
“You ready to go?”
“Yup.” I wiggle out of his embrace and grab my clutch, phone, and keys then lock the door behind me.
As we walk down the hall, Levi glances over at me before grabbing the back of his neck and squeezing. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.” I press the down button on the elevator, and the doors slide open.
After we both step inside, Levi mutters, “Does Conner know you’re not interested in him?”
Another wave of guilt hits me square in the chest, and I rub my hands along my bare arms. “Not yet.”
“I figured.” Clenching his jaw, Levi drops his chin to his chest. His gaze is glued to his black loafers as the elevator slides down a few more floors.
I can feel him slipping away from me, his frustration palpable in the small elevator, so I rush to fix it. “I didn’t feel like it was fair to him to do it over a text, and I haven’t had any time to meet with him and break it off officially. But I promise I’ll do it tonight, okay? I promise.”
Reaching for his fisted hand, I tangle our fingers together and squeeze.
“I know you guys weren’t official. I know that you only went on one date together and that you only kissed him once. But that doesn’t mean I don’t feel guilty as hell for stealing you from him.”
“You didn’t steal me,” I argue. The elevator doors slide open, interrupting my argument. Levi doesn’t reply right away. He waits until we’re on the bustling street before giving me his thoughts.
“I feel like I stole you, Charlie. I feel like I was back in grade school and didn’t like that someone else was sniffing around my favorite toy. I know that isn’t fair to him, and it sure as hell isn’t fair to you, but that’s how I feel.”
Pulling him to a stop outside the door, I grab both sides of his face and stand on my tiptoes to make sure I have his full attention. “Levi, I was always yours. You were just too blind to see it, and I was too stubborn and scared to admit it to you.”
“You sure about that, Charlie?”
If he only knew.
“Positive. And Conner will be fine. Like you said, it was one date. Hell, you practically forced me to go in the first place, remember?” I laugh at the memory, but my comment only makes Levi freeze. Sensing the change in his behavior, I ask, “You okay?”
“Fine,” he grits out. “Let’s just get going, okay?”
“Yeah. Sure.”
He leads me to a black car with a driver waiting by the open back door. “Mr. McCoy. Ms. Bannon.”
After sliding into the back of the car, I whisper, “A town car, eh? Fancy.”
His rigid posture softens before he wraps his arm around my shoulder. I snuggle into his side.
“Alexandra wanted to help me woo you,” he admits with a wolfish grin.
“Who’s Alexandra?” The name sounds familiar.
“She’s the woman with the set of twins you met at Get Baked a little while ago.”
“The girl you introduced me to?”
He nods.
“Oh, yeah! She was really nice! How does she know about us?”
“She may have heard me and Conner arguing about you the other day after your date with him.”
Grimacing, I shift in my seat before glancing up at Levi. “You got into a fight with Conner?”
“It was nothing,” he consoles, trying to put me at ease. “But, yeah. Then Alexandra pulled me aside and helped me come up with a plan to sweep you off your feet.”
“She did, did she?” The thought makes me smile.
“Yeah. The town car was her idea. What do you think?”
“I think I like it. But you shouldn’t have to go out of your way for me, Levi. You’ve already won me over, remember?”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t treat you the way you deserve, either.”
“Well, thank you.” Lifting my chin, I wait for him to get the hint and give me a kiss. And because he’s a badass mind reader, he does exactly that.
When we reach the new arts center, the driver pulls up to the curb then opens the back door.
Cameras are flashing, and I squint my eyes to let them adjust to the unexpected attention.
“Damn, Levi. I didn’t know this was the red carpet,” I mutter under my breath. A soft smile spreads across Levi’s face when he hears me.
His arm wraps around my waist, practically plastering me to his side before he leans down and whispers, “With a dress like that, you look like you’d blend right in with that type of crowd.”
I take in his chiseled, freshly-shaven jaw, his slicked-back hair, his crisp suit that fits like a second skin. The whole package belongs on the front of a magazine.
“Dit
to, Mr. McCoy. You look good in a suit.”
“Careful, Ms. Bannon, or I might think you’re objectifying me.”
With a light laugh, I slide my hand around him and squeeze his ass, making him yelp and flinch beside me. I love that I can still tease him. That he can still tease me. That this new…romantic aspect isn’t tainting our relationship. It’s simply the cherry on top of our friendship. A really hot and sweaty cherry that tastes better than anything I’ve ever experienced. And I wouldn’t change it for the world.
The front doors open, and we’re guided to the elevators before going up to the second floor. When we reach our destination, Levi and I are gifted with a view of the grand foyer for the Jelani Okiro Arts and Cultural Center.
“So, do you know what this place is for?” Levi asks beside me.
I shake my head.
“Dexter Truitt knew the guy.” Raising his chin, he motions to a few pictures lining the walls. They all feature an older gentleman with dark, weathered skin and a kind smile. “His name was Jelani Okiro. I don’t know a lot of the details, but apparently, he had a pretty big influence on Mr. Truitt before he died of cancer. Mr. Truitt built this art center in his memory. Montague Enterprises is funding the whole thing.”
“That’s amazing,” I breathe as I take in the various Kenyan artworks scattered throughout the giant room and the glass cases lining the back walls. “Seems like Montague Enterprises is a pretty great place to work. Have you found out whether you’ll be getting the final position or not yet?”
He shakes his head. “Not yet. Soon, though. I’ve turned in all my reports for the project I was headlining and have a presentation due Monday. We’ll see how it goes. Conner had his yesterday, which is probably why he wasn’t pressuring you to go on another date with him this weekend.” The last part is spoken with a growl, his jealousy threatening to break to the surface.
