She nods. “I feel like myself again. An even better self.”
“Good.” I’m quick to continue. “You have to know that you’ve never been anything less than beautiful, but this outfit—” I pick at her collar. “—this hair—” I thread a lock of her hair in between my fingers. “—and this makeup—” My knuckles graze her cheek lightly, causing her to flush the tiniest bit. “—enhance everything that was already there.”
We stare at each other, holding our breaths like we did last night. My eyes move to her lips, and she does the same.
Bad idea.
Apparently, I’m not as strong as I thought because I lean in a bit closer, and then Stevie moves.
“Let me help you with the bags.” She bends down, and it takes everything in me not to punch myself in the face.
What the fuck is wrong with me?I can’t have a nice moment with the woman without getting hard now.
Okay, I need to salvage this night. Her finishing the song should be celebrated, and there’s one more item on the list we can check off.
Chapter Eighteen
STEVIE
“Where are we going?” I ask Levi for the fifth time. As happy as I am with my new appearance and the fact that I finished the song, I want to rinse off and go to bed. Then again, it would be sad to see this makeup look go to waste. Maybe we’re headed to Kingston or another town nearby.
Levi smirks and doesn’t answer me once again. Turning up the music, I give up on asking him and expect to be in the car for half an hour instead of another five minutes when we get to an empty parking lot on campus. It’s the one farthest away from classes and dorms, so it’s usually empty every night.
Looking around to find something special about our spot, I come up empty. “What are we doing here?”
His eyes, which look a little bluer today, meet mine. “Item number five.” And with that, he opens the driver’s side door and runs to my side. A flicker of panic rises in me at what he’s doing. I reach for the lock, but it’s too late. He unbuckles my seat belt and pulls me out of the car, not harshly but enough that I’m not able to fight it.
I wiggle in his arms. “I’m going to wreck your car.”
He ignores my words and gently, but forcefully, drags me to the driver’s seat. “Don’t be so dramatic, Bambi. You had your license before last year.”
He has a point. “That still doesn’t mean I feel comfortable driving your car.”
After I try to push him off one last time, he laughs while forcing me to sit down, places my hands on the steering wheel, and buckles in my seat belt for me.
“I’m not a child, Levi.” I try pushing him away again and fail.
Once the seat belt clicks, he stands. “The fussing around says the opposite.” He shuts my door and sprints to the other side. I flip him off as he runs.
Levi gets in the car, chuckling. “All right, let’s do this thing.”
My hands grip the steering wheel until my knuckles whiten. Shit, I’m nervous. A knot forms in my chest. This is stupid. I’ve been driving since I was sixteen, but everything changed last spring. This is one of the few things I haven’t faced since then.
“You’ve got this, Bambi.” Levi’s left hand finds my right, and his thumb strokes the top of it softly. I look over at him, and his look isn’t one of pity but of confidence. He believes in me, so why don’t I believe in myself?
Then a memory hits me like a freight train.
“It’s inconvenient, but I never liked you driving alone anyway. What if you got into an accident or had a seizure while driving? You were lucky someone was with you in your room the first time. I’ll drive you anywhere you want, babe. You can count on me.”
I sit there staring at him blankly.
“What if we break up? Then what?” I ask, afraid that he’ll do it right here and then. “I don’t want to be a burden,” I repeat for the millionth time since my test results came back.
“You’re mine; therefore, you’re my burden.” Andrew smiles and attempts to make it sound romantic, but I don’t think heeven knows what the wordburdenmeans. Before I can define it, he kisses me lightly, slowing my racing thoughts. “You can trust me. I’ll never hurt you.”
Rage courses through my veins, another piece of the puzzle clicking. A puzzle that has been forcing me to see the true colors of what I used to believe was an amazing man, with whom I was in an amazing relationship. Little did I know, it was made up of pretty little lies and secrets tied up in a nice bow of pure manipulation. I’m not sure why these memories have been resurfacing more frequently lately. Maybe it’s part of the healing journey I’m on. And thanks to Levi and what I’m about to do, I get to say one more mentalfuck youto Andrew.
Turning the key, I toss my phone to Levi. “Pick a song and make it a good one.”
