Stevie smiles at her and sticks her tongue out at me, making me chuckle. I pull her in for a kiss, which I end with a nibble.
“All right, enough. You two are way too sweet, it’s making me nauseous over here.” Joan stands from the desk and comes around, practically shoving us out the door and waving goodbye as we walk away.
“You were surrounded by strong, independent women growing up…who you also really annoyed,” Stevie states.
I palm my chest and feign pain. “The girl I like thinks I’m annoying, ouch.”
She smirks. “Drama queen.” A sigh slips from her beautiful lips as she lifts her nose to breathe in the fresh air. “This has been fun.”
“Eh, I guess.” She elbows me, making me grin.
“Come on, it hasn’t been that bad. Your mom and grandma are awesome, and Joan reminds me a lot of Jenny, meaning, I adore her.” She pauses on the sidewalk. “Is it the memories?”
I stop walking. I’m going to sound so fucking pathetic. “Unfortunately.” Running a hand through my hair, I look down, feeling that sensation tugging at me again. The one that says I’m not good enough, the one that stops me from being able to share my most prized fucking possession and passion: my music. “It’s so stupid. I don’t know why I still feel like shit the second I step into this town, I just do.”
A soft hand catches the one on my head and tugs it down. “I know why.” Stevie fixes my hair with her other hand.
I scoff. “You do? Because I’d love to be in the loop.”
She ignores my smart comment. “You’re about to turn twenty-one,” she states.
“Yes, Bambi, that I know.”
Her head tips to the side. “It’s been under four years since you last spoke to Zack, and it happened here. When you tried getting closure, he treated you like crap for being yourself.” A flicker of fear flashes across her face, as if I’m going to run away. Like her, I’ll never run away, no matter how hard it is to hear the truth being said out loud for the first time. “Then it became a pattern. Maybe not the verbally abusive part, but from everything you’ve told me, most of your relationships have ended because of the same reason. I can’t help but think thatyou’ve subconsciously always traced it back here, back to the first time you got judged by somebody you loved. And not just any love, but your first.”
Fuck.Her words open some sort of door in my mind, and memories come flooding in of every relationship I’ve ever had. She’s right; the pain, the thoughts, the ending of every single partnership—they all lead back here.
Gran was right too. Stevie is a rare fucking gem. Not that I needed to be told that. I already knew.
“Anyone ever tell you that you’re a genius, Bambi?” I cup her face.
She starts to tear up, and shit, both of us are an emotional damn mess. Now my vision’s blurring. I hug her tight and kiss the top of her head as she nuzzles her face into my neck.
“Thank you,” I manage to croak out.
She nods, understanding what I’m thanking her for. Everything this woman has done for me the past couple of months, hell, the past few days, has helped me heal from traumas that happened years ago. She’s smarter than any therapist I’ve been to, but maybe that’s because she sees me for me, and I stopped trying to hide my insecurities from her a while ago.
“If I could go back in time, I would’ve said yes to writing that song together.”
She pulls back, her eyes red-rimmed. “No, don’t say that. Everything happened the way it was supposed to. Life’s too short for regrets.” Her voice is confident, like she’s already thought about this before.
I nod, agreeing with her. “Promise me we’ll write a song together in the future?”
“It’s about damn time you asked, Hotshot.”
I silence her with a laugh and a kiss, which turns into us making out in the middle of the street. Our tongues touch,causing me to push her against a tree, where she moans softly into my mouth. I’m hard as a damn rock. We haven’t been able to fuck for days. And yeah, I got that earth-shattering blow job, but she hasn’t gotten jack shit.
Grunting, I grab her hand and walk toward the small park where a large tree sits in the back. We can’t do anything at my gran’s place since we’ll be sleeping on the pullout sofa bed in the living room. Luckily, there’s no one here at this time of night.
“What are you doing?” Stevie’s eyes scan the area, and mine do the same.
“It’s a good thing you wore a skirt tonight, Bambi.” Her eyes widen before I take her hair that’s grown a bit since she got it cut and pull it. The outfit has been driving me crazy all day. I almost fingered her while driving, but I didn’t want to chance her being seen by another driver. The skirt isn’t as tight as the one she wore the first night we fucked, meaning easier access.
A whimper escapes her. “Levi.”
She attempts to grab me, but I shake my head. Glancing behind her, I spot the plaque attached behind the tree about some old dude who donated something to help the park. There’s a reason I chose this tree other than for its discretion, she won’t get hurt with the bark this way.
“Turn around,” I demand. She bites her lip and faces away from me. “Walk to where the plaque is.” Stevie gets close but not close enough. I take a step, and my boots crack the branches on the ground. The sound catches her attention, and she attempts to look over her shoulder. “Stare straight ahead and don’t move.” Her face assumes its position again, and satisfaction runs through me. I can hear her breaths growing louder, and my dick twitches at how excited and nervous she is.
