But not his.
“Do you have more?” I asked.
His eyes brightened and he nodded. A black bag sat on the table and he unzipped it, pulling out his camera. He turned it on and came around to my chair, leaning down behind me and showing me how to flip through the photos.
Damn, the ones he hadn’t printed yet were even better. There were a lot of landscape shots that made me think we needed to get up to the mountains.
“We should have a picnic at the state park,” I said. “And I can bring my art supplies and paint while you take pictures.”
Levi was quiet for a moment and then I felt his lips press against the top of my head. “That sounds like the perfect date to me.”
“It would be,” I said excitedly.
“Mateo can come along and look pretty.”
I laughed and craned my head back to look up at him. Levi smiled as he kissed me on the mouth again, an ease settling between us that surprised me.
“You know, for someone that made me want to pull my hair out when you rolled into town, you sure are wonderful,” I said.
He chuckled and straightened, rolling his shoulders carefully. I frowned when I noticed his wince.
“You okay?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Just my right shoulder. It bothers me sometimes.”
“Want me to give you a massage?”
“I won’t say no to that.” He settled into the other chair and propped his chin up in his hand. “I’m also thinking about going back to Sunday yoga.”
“Oh yeah. That would be good. I don’t go every week, but I'll go again this Sunday if you want. ” I studied him for a moment. “Listen, I’m all for yoga and massages, but have you gone to a doctor for it?”
Levi groaned and put his head down on the table. I snorted, raising a brow at this little dramatic show.
“Do you know how many times I’ve gone to the doctor in my career? I’ve lost count. And I know I should probably go for this, but my hope was that it’d work itself out. It has been feeling better, it just hurts sometimes. I’ve felt better since being in Whynot, though. I think I was pushing myself too hard.”
I reached across the table and slid my hand into his. “It seems like you needed this break.”
I wish you would stay.
Those words almost came out of my mouth, but I swallowed them down. What the hell was I supposed to say to him? Leave your career completely behind and move to Whynot? What was a small Texas town compared to a city like Minneapolis?
The first little tear in my paper heart hurt. Because as special as it felt being with Levi, I knew this was fleeting. I knew he would go back home and forget all about me.
“I definitely needed a change. I feel guilty for taking it. Everyone is saying that I was at the height of my career, and this is a huge failing on my part. But there’s a part of me that’s gone numb to all that.” Levi shrugged. “I would rather be here with you. I am more excited about our date night tomorrow than I’ve felt about anything in a long, long time. So, thank you for that. And thank you for giving me a chance.”
I reached across the table and slid my hand into his, saying the cheesiest thing I could think of to break the tension between us. “Why not?”
Levi sighed, his eyes fluttering into a flat expression. “Fucking kill me.”
“You gotta lean into it,” I teased. “You’re in Whynot now.”
So why not stay? Why not fall in love? Why not break my heart again?
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Mateo
It’d been two weeks since I met Levi.
