Black Rainbow (Rainbows 1)

“I like you, but I’m a mess Levi. I really am. Some days, I don’t even know how I get out of bed. You should walk away because I will likely fuck your life up. Trust me, it’s what I do, and I don’t want to do it to you.”

She finished off the rest of her wine.

“I don’t answer to you,” I said to her. “You can’t make choices for me. If I want to be with you, then I’ll try to be with you. The only other person who has control over this is you. So are you in or out?”

She shook her head and reached for the wine bottle when I stopped her. If we were going to have this conversation, we were going to have it sober.

“Look at me.” Of course she didn’t. “Thea.”

She sighed, looking up, and I cupped her cheek.

“You are not a black rainbow. I see every one of your colors. You may have been one once, but you sure as hell aren’t one now.”

She gaped at me in shock. “How did you—”

“The day after you rejected me— the first time— your sister called me up and asked to meet with me. She was worried about you being here alone, and I think she just wanted to see me in person.”

She sighed, leaning on my counter. “She really is the mature one.”

“I think she takes after you.”

They had been each other’s support systems growing up, and so they always tried their best to remain strong for each other.

“Are you staying the night?” I asked her.

She swallowed, gripping on to her glass.

“We’re on winter break right now, and at the moment, I’m not your professor. So, are you staying the night?”

“I am. And I’m going to act like a grown-up.”

I smiled, pulling out my cell phone. “Then we’re going to need dinner.”

THEA

I sat on his lap on the living room floor, changed out of my wet clothes and into one of his cotton shirts. We were both eating Chinese, and listening to the thunderstorm outside. After being apart for so long, I was expecting it to be awkward, but it was as if we had picked up right where we had left off.

He stroked my thigh with one hand, while flipping through the emails on his phone with the other.

“A penny for your thoughts?” he asked as he caught me staring.

“Only a penny? What type of girl do you think I am?”

He snickered, kissing my shoulder. “Don’t overthink it.”

“I’m not.”

He gave me a look.

“Okay, I am,” I admitted. “But I can’t help it. It’s like nothing’s happened and we’re back to week one again.”

“I don’t mind week one.”

“Neither do I, but you know so much about me, and I feel like I know nothing about you.”

“Ask me something then.”

I thought for a moment.