“They left,” Levi says. “I’ll drop you by the station so you can grab your cat, then I’ll close out my shift, too.”
“You’re sure? I hope I wasn’t too much trouble.”
He shakes his head with a low chuckle. “Trouble? Nah. You’re lucky Beau got there when he did, though. The place was starting to spit sparks.”
I wince, heat crawling up my neck. “Yeah. That was… not my best moment.”
He walks ahead, pushing open the clinic’s door for me. “C’mon. Let’s get you to Pancake.”
The ride is quiet at first, the truck humming softly beneath us as we pull away from the small-town clinic and into the sleepy twilight of Fox Hollow.
Golden-pink skies stretch above the treetops. Everything smells like rain that hasn’t fallen yet.
A few minutes in, Levi speaks again, glancing my way. “Not sure if you remember me, but we went to the same high school.”
I blink, looking at his profile. His beard is fuller now, hair shorter, but there’s a familiarity there I didn’t clock before.
“I was a few years ahead,” he continues. “Class of ’08.”
That triggers something.
He smiles a little when I don’t answer. “You were in the same year as Tessa Maddox, right? That’s my sister.”
I grin. “Tessa? Yeah. She used to draw horses on every page of her notebook. I remember her.”
“She’s doing well,” Levi says, nodding.
I smile, relaxing a little. The rhythm of conversation is easy with him. Not heavy or loaded. Just… calm.
“This town,” I murmur, half-laughing. “It’s not as different as I thought it’d be.”
Levi chuckles. “You’d be surprised. Some things have changed.”
“Like?”
He pauses for a couple of seconds before saying, “Oh! I’ve got one. Blade and Butter is now a fusion of gastropub and bakery. Same building, new name—B&B. Got one of those chalkboard menus and everything. Real fancy.”
“That’s unreal,” I say, laughing. “I used to save up my allowance just to split pancakes with my friend Norah in that booth by the window.”
He glances at me, the corner of his mouth lifted. “Maybe one of these days we can get dinner there.”
I hesitate. I like him. He’s kind. Steady. And if this were another time—another version of me—I might say yes. But I don’t want to mislead him.
And I don’t date Alphas.
“I’m not here for long,” I say gently. “Just helping out with fixing up the café while my folks are away.”
We’re just pulling into the fire station lot when I say it. Levi parks without pause, unfazed.
“That’s okay,” he says, smile intact. “Didn’t hurt to ask.”
He hops out and rounds the front to help me down, his hand warm on mine. The minute my feet hit the ground, I hear a familiar yowl.
“Pancake,” I whisper.
The cat bolts from Beau’s arms—fur puffed, ears twitching—and barrels straight for me. I drop to my knees and scoop him up, burying my nose in his fur. He smells like everything familiar—under a light layer of smoke.
“Hey,” Beau says, approaching us with a slight grin. “How’s she doing?”
