Levi felt suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to run as far as he could from this apartment, this town, this planet that felt too small to contain whatever wanted to break free inside him. But bolting through the streets of Summertown in his underwear wasn’t an option, especially since the last thing he needed was another scandal.
Finally, he met her expectant gaze and simply said, “Thank you.”
Haddie pressed her lips into a smile. “You’re welcome. Thank you for taping my window.”
He nodded. They were close. So damned close he could smell her citrus shampoo in her still-damp hair. So close he could count the freckles on her nose and the few sprinkling onto her cheeks. Seventeen. So close that if he didn’t care about her as much as he did, he’d ask if she’d thought about their kiss in his hotel room since that night. He’d admit that he couldn’t forget it no matter how damned hard he tried.
But he did care about Haddie, which was why he never would.
“We can pop by the hardware store tomorrow after work,” he told her instead. “Tommy’s uncle Pete can probably fix it by the end of the week. Until then, you probably shouldn’t sleep in there, just in case the tape doesn’t hold.”
Haddie nodded. “Right,” she said. “Of course. I can crash on the couch until then. Just in case the tape doesn’t hold up.”
Levi smiled. His first instinct was to offer his bed and for him to take the couch, but he’d never fit if he stretched to his full height, and he knew Haddie wouldn’t hear of it. He could offer to share his bed. It was a king, after all, and there was plenty of room, but how did he even suggest such an idea without it winding its way back to his newfound fear of erections. So he simply said, “Okay,” and helped her gather her bedding and repurpose it on the couch.
“Good night, Levi,” she said sleepily as she burrowed beneath her blankets, the storm already miles away from Summertown once again.
“Good night, Haddie,” he replied as he backed into his room and pushed his door shut.
His chest squeezed as he collapsed back into his bed, and he wondered how hard he’d have to beg the powers that be to stop what he feared had already started.
Levi was falling for his roommate.
Chapter 17
Levi and Haddie stood in front of their teams, their eyes shiningwith excitement. It was Friday afternoon, and the sun was just beginning to set over the horizon. Haddie couldn’t believe they’d pulled the fundraiser together in only a week and that they had a roster of customers prepaid and ready to arrive.
Haddie stepped forward, in her purple Muskies soccer T-shirt and shorts, grateful for the lingering warm weather even midway through September.
“Okay, everyone!” she called, her voice clear and strong. “This is how it’s going to work. Levi and I are in charge of the hose. You need your bucket filled? You come to us. You need your bucketrefilled? Again, you come to us. Do you get where I’m going here?”
“Yes, Coach…” they sang in disappointed unison. Haddie had no doubt there would be at least one, if not several, water fights at some point during the day, but it wouldn’t be because a student got their hands on the hose.
“Your assigned group will be given a bucket, a sponge, and a stack of car-drying towels. Levi and I will be around supervising,but it’s up to you guys to get the job done. Got it?”
This earned her a slightly more enthusiastic, “Yes, Coach!” Haddie squinted through her sunglasses at the line of cars already entering the parking lot. Adrenaline coursed through her like electricity. If her first fundraiser was as successful as it was easy, she might have a real shot at saving the soccer program.
“You heard the boss, everyone!” Levi called out. “Let’s get moving. The car wash is officially open!”
The teams quickly got to work, some of them already flinging wet, soapy towels at each other to the surprise of absolutely no one, least of all, Haddie.
Haddie and Levi moved between them, offering tips here and there on how to be quick and efficient but also thorough.
As they worked, Haddie couldn’t help but steal glances at her roommate, admiring the way he joked with his students like they were bros but also commanded their respect when he needed to get them back in line.
She caught Levi looking too and flashed him a knowing grin, a spark of something passing between them. They weren’t flirting because that would be ridiculous. And dangerous. They’d established and reestablished that too many times to count. It had been almost two weeks since the night of the storm, and Haddie still couldn’t stop thinking about how close they’d come to kissing in their bathroom…how if Levi hadn’t stepped on the brakes, Haddie wasn’t sure she could have. Just look at the man, for Pete’s sake! She’d have to be a troll hiding under a bridge not to notice Levi’s own Muskies tee ride up when he used the hose to spray down one ofthe taller SUVs. Was Haddie supposed to not look at the patch of exposed skin above the elastic band of his shorts?
His looks weren’t the real problem though, were they? He’d protected her from the storm. He’d flat out told her that he wanted her to feel safe, and with a friend like him on the other side of her bedroom wall—afriend, dammit—how could she not feel safer than she had in years?
Thatwas the problem. Levi Rourke was beautiful inside and out, and that is one lethal combination.
It was Sarah Ramirez, Haddie’s star goalie, who waved her hand in front of her coach’s face to interrupt her gaze.
“Um…Coach?” Sarah asked, and it sounded like maybe not the first time she’d tried to get Haddie’s attention.
“Huh?” Haddie asked, blinking several times before her vision focused on the student in front of her instead of the man a few cars away.
“Oh. My. God.” Sarah said softly. “You were totally checking Coach Rourke out!”
