Hold on, that’s not nausea.
“You don’t understand, Stevie.” Levi paces near a storefront.
I wrap a hand around my throat. “Levi,” I whisper, wanting to apologize for making him admit something he didn’t have to, but my body isn’t allowing me to.
He rubs his forehead, clearly not having heard me. “All I saw was red, and I can’t get my thoughts straight. I’ve always been overly protective of people I…that I…”
Shit.“Levi,” I whisper again, a bitter taste filling my mouth.
He scoffs. “I’m already territorial, and we’ve barely done anything in the bedroom.”
He turns to me, and whatever expression on my face must catch his attention. Levi sprints to me. “Do you feel one coming on? Is it an aura? What do you need?”
Attempting not to cry in embarrassment at the timing of my condition, I ask him to open my bag and take my emergency pill out.
He quickly looks for the small, round, white pill that takes any auras away.
“It’s not here.” He digs deeper, except there isn’t much to dig through.
Tapping his shoulder, I gently tell him that I must’ve forgotten it. I’m trying to keep myself calm, to keep him calm, and not escalate these damn auras. They still haven’t gone past the bitter taste and slight headache, but I need to get to the meds before my right leg starts to jerk.
Turning his face to me, I say, “Carry me to the apartment? I’m not sure when my leg will start jerking.”
Levi doesn’t hesitate when he loops my bag around his arm and scoops me up, like he did the night we first kissed.
“Don’t pass out on me, Bambi.” His voice is smooth and calm, the opposite of how it’s been for the past hour, but the worry is evident in his eyes. I feel the compulsive need to soothe him and tell him I’m okay, we’re okay…only, I’m not.
“It’s going to be okay,” he says, as if reading my mind. “We’re almost there.”
My legs remain still as he walks me up the stairs in smooth strides. He unlocks the door in one swift move and doesn’t bother to take anything off before laying me down on the couch.
I point to my bedroom, where I most likely left the bottle. Levi is in and out in two seconds flat, grabbing a bottle of water and giving me both the pill and an open drink.
Gulping down the small bitter pill, my right leg begins to twitch slightly. By the way I’m feeling, I know this is as far as it’ll go. I’m well-controlled with my medications, and the one I took will put everything to a complete stop in a couple of minutes.
Closing my eyes for a moment, I inhale and exhale deeply, calming my mind and heartbeat. “Thanks, Hotshot.” Opening one eye, I smile and see him attempting to do the same but failing. He remains sitting on the edge of the coffee table, his foot tapping the floor. I grab his slightly red hand and talk calmly, needing him to understand that this is my normal, and the situation tonight, although not his fault, can’t happen again. If we’re going to live together, or have sex eventually, or do anything else at some point, he’ll have to see me this way occasionally, and those kinds of things make it unnecessarily worse. “I’m okay. This happens. I was an idiot for not bringing the medication, but given the lack of sleep and the stress of the audition and tonight, it’s not very surprising that it happened. But this isn’t your fault. He started it.”
He nods, regret filling his dark blue eyes. He doesn’t believe that it’s not his fault.
“I didn’t mind handling Andrew,” I say weakly. “It was kind of fun.” Tiring but satisfying.
Levi bites his lip. “I shouldn’t have been reckless.”
I only shake my head and rub my thumb against his knee. He tried to talk to me tonight. It wasn’t a great conversation, but itwas also stopped early by this. My mind is too preoccupied with how my body is feeling to process his words properly.
We both wait silently as my leg stops twitching and the bitter taste is completely gone, leaving me so drowsy that I don’t have the energy to move to bed.
My eyelids feel heavy as muscular arms lift me off the cushions.
This feels nice.
Managing to open one eye, I see the inside of my bedroom. “I can’t sleep in a bra, Levi.”
He chuckles humorlessly, sadness still coating his features. “You can manage for one night.”
I shake my head against his hard chest, the high of the medication taking over. “You have nice pecs and abs.” He laughs again, this time for real, and I feel his muscles flex. “I knew it was you in the closet today because of it.” His sharp intake of breath is the only response I receive. Once I’m on the bed, I gently lift myself into a sitting position, the room spinning slightly.
“Whoa there.” Levi tries to push me back down.
