Becca pushed her plate away with a small sigh. “I think I’m done.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Me too.”
I caught Savannah’s eye as she passed and lifted my hand slightly. She nodded, already bringing us the check like she’d been expecting it.
Becca frowned when I slid my card onto the tray. “Levi?—”
“I’ve got it,” I said easily. “Don’t make it a thing.”
She hesitated, then gave in with a quiet, “Thank you.”
Outside, the air was cool and damp, the kind of Sweetbriar evening that smelled like rain even when the sky was clear. We walked side by side toward her car, neither of us in a hurry to break the bubble the pub had given us.
I noticed her shiver, and without thinking, I shrugged out of my jacket and draped it over her shoulders.
She looked up at me, surprised. “You don’t have to?—”
“I know,” I said. “But you’re cold, and I’m not. No big deal.”
She pulled the jacket closer, fingers curling into the sleeves. The faint scent of my laundry detergent mixed with the night air. “Thanks.”
We reached her car. I stopped just short of crowding her, hands in my pockets now.
“Do you want me to follow you home?” I asked. “Make sure you get there okay?”
She rolled her eyes, but the smile was real. “You sound like my brother. He’s made hovering over me a habit lately.”
I huffed a quiet breath, stepping a little closer before I could second-guess it. “I’m not your brother, Becca.”
A pause. Small, but deliberate.
My voice dropped anyway, softer than I meant it to. “He cares. So do I.” I held her gaze for a beat longer than necessary, then forced myself back on track. “If you won’t tell me what’s really going on, at least call Matt. He’d want to know if something is bothering you this much.”
Her eyes met mine in surprise, then something softer filled her gaze, almost grateful. She looked down for a second, then back up at me. “You’re really not going to let this go, are you?”
“Not when I can see it’s weighing on you,” I said quietly. “I’m not asking to fix it. I’m just asking you to let someone in. Even if it’s not me. What about Harper? Even Jude? It’s okay to need people, you know.”
She studied me for a long moment. The streetlight caught in her eyes, turning them warm and golden brown. Then she stepped closer, rose on her toes, and pressed a quick, soft kiss to my cheek.
My heart stopped for half a second. The warmth of her lips lingered on my skin, faint and sweet, like the ghost of something we could have had years ago. She smelled like vanilla perfume and night air. The press of her mouth was gentle, lingering just long enough to make my pulse race out of control.
She pulled back slowly, eyes meeting mine. “Thanks,” she whispered. “For tonight. For caring enough to push a little. Sometimes I feel like I need too much. But you’re good at making me feel like it’s okay.”
Before I could answer—before I could even remember how to breathe—she slid into her car, pulled the door shut, and drove off. I stood there, hand touching the spot she’d kissed, the faint echo of her lips still warm against my cheek. Whatever this was between us wasn’t finished. Not even close. And after the way she’d looked at me before she left, she might be starting to let herself hope, too, and that made my chest ache in the best possible way.
Chapter 10
Becca
“Welcome back toSomebody Said in Sweetbriar, where I’ve recently learned that stability comes in the form of fluorescent lighting, a name tag, and knowing exactly where the Slim Jims are. And also in the form of a borrowed jacket that still smells faintly like clean laundry and someone who looks at you like you’re worth remembering.”
Afew days after Holloway’s with Levi, I was hired at the Stop & Go.
I hadn’t planned for this to be my life. Then again, I hadn’t planned on any of it—the trailer, the river, rebuilding everything from scratch at an age when I’d expected to be building something else entirely. But plans and I had a complicated relationship, and the Stop & Go had a schedule taped to the breakroom wall, a regular paycheck, and my old friend Elizabeth, who knew when not to ask questions.
For now, that was enough.
The Sweetbriar Stop & Go sat right in the middle of town. Four slightly crooked gas pumps wrapped around the side,always occupied by someone waving apologetically while taking forever. Inside, the fluorescent lights buzzed faintly overhead, scuffed linoleum stuck a little under my sneakers, and coolers hummed along the back wall like patient old friends, and shelves packed tight with snacks that somehow knew exactly when you were trying not to buy them, especially the Cool Ranch Doritos.
