“Thank you guys for tonight,” I say softly to my parents as we stop to catch a cab to head home.
“You’re welcome, honey,” Mom murmurs, wrapping her arm around mine and giving it a squeeze.
“Any time, kiddo.” Dad smiles. I love my mom and dad. They have always made it a point to do things with my sisters and me as a family and with each of us separately. Like on our birthdays we get to choose something to do alone with them. Mine has always consisted of a show, Mac’s is always a baseball game, and Libby—well, Libby usually asks them to take her shopping. They might not be normal parents in a lot of ways, but where it counts, they are better than most.
Finally getting a cab, we head back across town. As soon as we pull up in front of my building, I get out with my mom and head toward the door while my dad pays the cab driver. Punching in the code, I hold open the door for my parents, then scan the street when I hear my name.
“Oh, it’s Levi,” Mom says, and I look to where she’s pointing. Levi is standing with a woman who’s wearing a pair of tight-fitting workout pants and a slim-fitting jacket, and she’s petting my dog.
Um, no!
“Baby, come here,” he calls, staring at me, and I narrow my eyes.
“I’ll meet you guys upstairs in just a minute. I need to get my key from Levi,” I tell my parents as I let the door go.
“Sure, honey,” Mom murmurs. Stomping to the edge of the sidewalk, I look both ways quickly, then continue my stomping as I cross the street toward Levi and the woman who is now sizing me up.
“Hey, baby,” Levi says quietly, and I glare at him, then move my eyes to my girl and take hold of her leash near her neck. No damn way is he going to use my dog to pick up women. Hell, no.
“Levi,” I growl, trying to tug Muffin’s leash from his grasp, but of course he doesn’t let go. No, he uses it to pull me toward him. “Levi,” I cry in frustration as his arm slides around my back and I’m dragged into his front.
“Did you have fun?” he asks, brushing his lips over mine and knocking me completely off kilter. I blink, watching him smile. “Never mind. You can tell me about it when we get inside,” he mutters, touching his lips to mine once more, then turning me in his arm. “Baby. This is . . . Sorry, what’s your name again?” he asks, looking at the woman standing in front of us. Her eyes fill with ice.
“Beth,” she huffs as Muffin’s head moves under my hand.
“Right, Beth, this is Fawn,” he breathes against my ear, making me shiver, and his arm tightens. “We should go in, baby, it’s cold.” He takes my hand in his as nausea and realization fill my stomach. “Have a good night.”
“Yeah, night,” she says, looking us over once more before jogging off. Tugging my hand free from Levi’s grasp once Beth is out of sight, I move ahead of him across the street to where my parents are still standing in the open door of my building, watching us with varying looks on their faces.
“Hi, Levi.” Mom smiles, giving him a hug like she hasn’t seen him in forever, and I fight the urge to scream at the top of my lungs.
“Katie, did you enjoy the show?” Levi asks while my dad and I head up the stairs ahead of him and my mom.
“Oh yes, the show was amazing. Wasn’t it amazing, honey?” she murmurs.
“It was amazing,” I agree through clenched teeth as I head across the open landing toward my apartment. Turning to face Levi outside my door, I move my eyes to his shoulder. “Do you have my key?” I hold out my hand.
“Yep.” He digs into the front pocket of his jeans and pulls it out, dropping it into my open palm.
“Thanks,” I mutter, turning to open the door for my parents. “I’ll be right back.” I smile at them—or try to—as they go inside, then shut the door behind them before they can ask me what I’m doing.
Stomping across the wood floors to Levi’s door, I cross my arms over my chest and tap my foot as I wait for him to unlock it, feeling anger swell inside my chest when I see him smiling. “You okay, babe?”
Am I okay? No. I’m pissed and hurt, but I’m focusing on the pissed part, because that feeling is the safer of the two coursing through me right now. As soon as he unlocks the door, I move in ahead of him and watch him shut the door. “I’m not your woman,” I say as soon as he turns to face me. After watching him cross his arms over his chest, my eyes then move to my dog . . . my dog as she takes a seat at his side, and he raises a brow. “If you don’t want to talk to a woman, just tell her you’re not interested. Don’t use me to throw her off your scent,” I hiss, leaning in, and his eyes narrow. “That is not okay.”
“Are you done?” Pressing my lips tightly together in answer, I move toward the door only to stop as he steps in front of me, blocking my path. “You’ve got me confused with someone else.”
“Confused?” I frown, and he grins.
“You think I’m the kind of guy that would do something like make an excuse to a woman so I don’t hurt her feelings. That’s not me, baby. I’m not that guy. I’m not that nice.”
“You’re nice.” I shake my head, and his fingers run up my jaw, then slide behind my ear, where he tucks a few strands of hair.
“I’m not nice,” he says so sincerely that I almost believe him, but I know the Levi who brought me a cake on my birthday, the Levi who offered to watch Muffin when I’m gone, and he’s nice, really nice. Maybe even too nice.
“You’re always nice to me,” I whisper, and the look in his eyes changes ever so slightly.
“Yeah,” he agrees, sliding his hands around my waist and turning me until we are face-to-face. “I’m always nice to you.”
“Why?”
“Because I like you, because you’re different.”
“You like me?”
“I think I’ve made that pretty clear.”
“What’s going on between us?” I try to keep the vulnerability out of my voice, but it still seeps in. I hate not knowing what I’m doing or where I stand with him. I hate feeling insecure, and I would rather embarrass myself right now and know there is nothing going on than to have one more day go by where I question things.
“Fawn.” His face softens, and his fingers tighten. “Can’t you see I’m trying to figure it out?”
“Oh.” I drop my eyes to his chin and press my lips together. That is not the answer I was looking for.
“Look at me,” he urges, resting his fingers under my jaw, and I reluctantly do.
“What I know is that I like the parts of you you’ve allowed me to see. I enjoy spending time with you and want to do that more. I’m not psychic, I can’t see the future, so I don’t know what will happen between us, but I’m interested in you enough to want to find out.”
“Oh,” I repeat, this time swallowing.
“Now, are you on the same page as me?” he asks, and I nod. “Good. Now are you done being pissed?”
“I wasn’t pissed.”
“Gorgeous.” He sighs, shaking his head. “You were pissed when you saw me across the street with Becky.”
“Beth,” I grumble, and he grins.
“Whatever her name is.”
“I thought you were using my dog to pick up chicks.”
“I’ve never needed a dog to pick up a woman. Besides, I’ve got my hands full with this hot little blonde who lives next door to me and may or may not be crazy.”
“I’m not crazy.” I feign annoyance while secretly doing flips in my head. He thinks I’m hot.
“Crazy people never think they’re crazy, gorgeous.” He grins, and I slap his chest, then feel my mouth soften when he takes my hand to kiss my palm, just like I watched my dad do to my mom at the theater. “Now, why don’t you go on over to your place, make sure your parents are settled, then come back and hang out with me for a while?”
“Sure,” I agree as nervous excitement fills my stomach. Muffin has sprawled out on the couch, making herself at home.
“She can stay.” He brushes his lips over mine as he opens the door.
“Are
you sure?”
“Positive,” he agrees. “Now go on and hurry back to me.” He taps my ass lightly two times, sending me on my way. Stopping with my hand on the knob to my apartment, I turn to find him watching me. I don’t know what he’s thinking, but the look in his eyes makes my mouth dry. Pulling my eyes from him, I scoot through and close the door behind me, finding my parents both on the couch in their pajamas.
“Is everything okay?” Dad asks as soon as my eyes meet his.
“Yep. I’m going to go hang out with Levi for a bit. I’ll be home in a while,” I say as casually as possible, even though my stomach has started to turn with nervous butterflies.
“It’s after eleven,” he states, and Mom smacks his chest. “What?” he asks looking at her.
“Go on. Have fun, honey.” Mom rolls her eyes at him.
“I’m just going to change first,” I say, heading to my bedroom and shutting the door. I take off my coat, toss it to the floor of my closet, and dig though my stuff until I find something to wear. Settling on a pair of leggings, an oversize off-the-shoulder sweater over a tank top, and a pair of scrunched, warm socks, I change as fast as I can, almost taking myself out a few times in my rush.
As soon as I’m done, I go to the door and swing it open. “I’ll see you guys in the morning,” I say, going over to kiss each of my parents’ cheeks.