“What’s wrong?”
“Do you have a different card you could try, ma’am?” the cashier asks, glancing at the growing line behind us. Laney swipes her card one last time and I lean forward to look at the screen. DECLINED. As Laney scrambles through her purse, I remember her making a comment at Blue that one night about how she couldn’t afford the wine because it was too expensive. Has she gotten herself into credit card debt? The thought that she could be struggling tugs at my heart. I whip my wallet out and slide my card through the reader before she’s able to find another form of payment.
“Levi,” she scolds. “You didn’t have to do that. I have another card. This has to be a mistake. There is no way my card could be declined.” She looks away sheepishly.
I’ve got to find out what’s going on with her.
“It’s not a big deal,” I tell her as she loads up the cart with our bags of food. We walk out to the truck and she doesn’t say a word. I almost feel guilty for embarrassing her, but that wasn’t my intention. I just hated that look on her face and wanted to step in and help.
She climbs in the truck before I can assist her and when I slide behind the wheel, she has her arms crossed over her chest. “I’ll pay you back.”
“Laney,” I turn toward her, propping my leg up on the seat. “I’m not worried about you paying me back. But I’m not going to lie, I am concerned about you. Is everything okay?”
She takes a deep breath and looks up. I can’t tell if she’s trying to fight back tears or gain some strength or maybe a little bit of both. For a split second, I get the feeling that she’s keeping something from me—something big—and my stomach sinks. But then she swallows hard, runs a hand over her face and smiles. “I’m sure it’s just a mistake. I’ll call tomorrow and get it straightened out.”
I should push her, but right now she looks stressed out and I’m a little terrified at what a push would do. So I bite my tongue and vow to revisit this later.
“Alright. Back to your house?”
“Oh, no. I’m taking these to Mary.” The weight of her words slams into me. Just the thought of her not having enough money for herself, and yet she’s willing to spend whatever she does have on someone else who needs it more? I’m completely floored. Laney has always been extremely giving; I think I just forgot that about her for a little while.
“You got all of this for Mary?” I question, needing to make sure I heard her right. “Or just some of it?”
“All of it.” Her eyes are wide with concern. “Her refrigerator was bare, Levi. She had nothing. I think she might be living off the meals she gets at the Senior Center.”
Everything inside of me shifts. I feel as though I’d been teetering on the edge of my feelings for Laney and this just tips me over.
“You’re doing a really great thing, Lane. You’re going to make her day.” Signaling a right-hand turn, I pull out onto the road and make the three-block trip back to Mary’s house. “I’ll help y
ou carry everything.” We hop from the truck, gather all of the groceries and walk to the front door.
“I hope she’s still up. She looked like she was about to fall asleep earlier,” Laney says, pounding on the door. Within minutes, it’s being pulled open. At first Mary looks at us, trying to figure out why we’re here, and then she looks down and sees all of the bags we’re carrying. “Can we come in Mary?”
The frail woman nods her head and steps back to let us pass. Laney walks right into the kitchen and starts unloading bags like she owns the place. When we get everything put away, we both turn back toward the living room but find Mary standing in the doorway. She doesn’t say a word; she just walks right into Laney’s arms and holds her like she hasn’t been held in years. Laney looks at me with eyebrows raised and I just smile. Mary pulls back, wipes the wetness from under her eyes and squeezes Laney’s hand.
“Thank you,” Mary whispers with a watery voice. “No one has ever done anything like this for me before.” I watch as Laney’s bottom lip trembles. Tears build up in her eyes and she swallows hard.
“You don’t have to thank me, Mary. Trust me, it was my pleasure.” And apparently, that’s all it takes. My heart explodes inside my chest and suddenly the only thing I need is to get her alone.
“Laney,” I interrupt with a hand on her shoulder. “We should probably get going.” She looks at me and nods and then gives Mary one last quick hug. Mary walks us to the door, thanks us again and shuts it softly behind us.
Laney bounces excitedly down the sidewalk and I follow her to my truck. “Wasn’t that fantastic? Did you see her face, Levi?” she asks, flinging open the door. “That was probably one of—”
Stepping up behind her, I push the door shut, spin her around and press her back against my truck. My hands cup her face, and my mouth on hers stops everything. Her words melt away as her lips mold to mine, and all of the regret and pain I’ve been holding onto dissipate as I lose myself in this kiss. Her hands find their way to my hair and she grips it tightly, pulling me to her. My tongue pushes into her mouth and she opens for me instantly. At first I kiss her hard and rough, my mouth desperate to get as close to her as it can possibly get. Her lithe body rubs against mine and, in turn, my body hums with approval. She’s trembling beneath me and I pull back, resting my forehead against hers, both of us panting and out of breath.
But she obviously isn’t done because, within seconds, she has her sweet little mouth back on mine—only this time she takes control. The kiss is slow and passionate, and so much like our kisses from nearly a decade ago. Our tongues are no longer dueling for power but reveling in the simplicity of being reunited. I slip my hands into her hair and grip the back of her neck. She whimpers, her body relaxing into mine, her touch igniting a fire deep in my gut.
Even though I kissed her a few weeks ago, this is different. This time I initiated it, this time she was the one taken by surprise . . . this time it’s my heart that’s involved. I’m not sure at what point I realized that fighting this was a losing battle. It could’ve been when she made my grandmother’s pie or when she kissed me in the kitchen. It could’ve also been when we had dinner under the stars, but most likely it was the very moment I saw her in my parking lot. I think I knew then that I was still hers.
Her hands slide down my chest and I groan, drawing back. I know that if I don’t stop now I’ll likely lay her out in the cab of my truck and fuck her . . . and that’s not how I want our second first time to be. Laney’s eyes are closed, her lips swollen and wet, and her chest is heaving as if it’s fighting for air. She smiles, and then her hooded eyes peek up at me. All it takes is this one look—this one kiss—and I’m owned. Every piece of my broken soul belongs to this angel . . . I just pray to God that she can find a way to put it back together. And more than that, I pray to God she doesn’t break it again.
MY FINGER RUNS A slow path along my bottom lip, and if I close my eyes, I can still feel his mouth on mine. That kiss was fantastic, but the best part about it was that I didn’t even see it coming. I thought I had memorized everything about Levi, but now I see how faded my memories had become because they were nothing compared to the real thing. I had forgotten how soft his lips are and the way he takes complete control when he kisses me. I’d also forgotten how he ends nearly every kiss by lightly sucking and nipping my bottom lip. I don’t ever want to forget those things again.
Neither one of us said a word after our kiss, but as soon as we climbed into the truck, he reached across the seat, slid his hand into mine and left it there, resting against my inner thigh. I’m now watching his thumb as it swipes lazily across my knuckles and it’s hypnotizing. I’d like it sweeping across other parts of my body, but now is probably not the time to shove his hand in between my legs and demand that he show me what he can do. Right?
“You’re awfully quiet over there.”
“I’m afraid that this isn’t real.” He squeezes my hand and I look up at him.