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Chapter Twenty-Eight
Levi
I know she’s home.
I saw light filtering through her curtains when I pulled into the parking lot, and it took every ounce of strength I had not to run across the hall and beg her to speak to me. Did she like my flowers? My note? Did I help repair even the slightest bit of damage I’ve caused? Probably not, but I’m determined to put in the time and the work necessary to prove to her that she can trust me again. The alternative is unthinkable.
After a quick shower, where I jack off again to more dirty images of my best friend, I head to the kitchen for dinner. It was another busy evening for the fire department and doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon. My stomach growls, as it has a few times today, but I’ve been too worked up to eat. After delivering the homemade mac and cheese to Abby’s fridge earlier this afternoon, the fire call came in for an out of control residential burn just on the edge of town. It might have only taken a short period of time to get it under control, but I ended up staying back at the station, working out and cleaning up some of the equipment.
It’s not like I was super anxious to come home and stare at my fucking walls and surround myself in misery, ya know?
But now that I know she’s home, I wonder what she’s doing. Did she eat the dish I left her? What did she think about the flowers I spend an embarrassingly high amount of money on?
Do you know how much crow I had to eat when I called Payton for help? First off, she didn’t even want to take my call. I believe her exact words where, “I hope you fall into a tub of honey, naked, and then step on a beehive.”
Ouch.
But I was persistent, even though I kinda wanted to cower beneath the coffee table as she spewed big sister venom through the phone line at me, like missiles in an active warzone. (I’ll totally deny that if you ever tell.) One thing’s for certain, these sisters stick together. I feel sorry for the next sorry sucker that crosses one of them.
It took me basically confessing to her what I shared with Lexi early this morning for her to agree to help me. Fortunately, for me, but not so fortunate for my wallet, one of her distributers arrived this morning at the time of my call. That’s how I was able to secure an obscenely crazy amount of red roses and one planted orchid. (Her favorite.) And being the stellar big sister Payton is, she didn’t even charge me a delivery fee for running eighteen dozen red roses over to her sister’s place.
That’s because she charged me full retail price.
But I don’t care. It’s only money, and showing Abby that I’m serious when it comes to working towards her forgiveness is the ultimate goal.
That, and getting her back into my arms and my bed.
Fuck, my bed misses her.
My laptop sits on the coffee table, taunting me as it has for nearly twenty-four hours now. With the remote in my hand, I kick my feet up on the table, one of the Lethal Weapon movies on TV. The movement, again, causes the computer to wake, lighting up my home screen. I should probably deactivate my account on that fucking dating site. I mean it’s not like I plan to find someone to take on the perfect date. Nope. The only woman I want to date is across the hall sticking needles into her Levi-shaped voodoo doll.
With the computer in hand, I bring up the scene of the crime, my guitar profile picture filling the screen. My favorite instrument appears to be weeping in the picture, probably realizing he’ll never be cradled against her sweet body while she gently strums its strings. I know my cock is weeping at the thought.
I’m just about to click on the settings to deactivate when a message notification pops up. I’ve ignored every request received since I set up the profile, so why would now be any different. I guess curiosity really did kill the cat.
My heart literally stops beating in my chest when I see the message. AngelEyes. Click. Click. Motherfuckin’ click!
AngelEyes: I don’t know why you did what you did, but I want to know. No, I need to know. I don’t believe you did it to hurt me, even though that’s where my mind originally went. That’s on me, and for that, I’m sorry.
SimpleMan: You have nothing to apologize for. Nothing. This is on me. I guess the only way to explain it is to start at the beginning. When I saw you signing up for this dating site, I guess I became jealous. No, that’s not true. I was fucking crazy with jealousy. The thought of you dating someone made me mad with possessiveness. Why? Because you haven’t been the only one fighting feelings for the other for a while. I wasn’t kidding when I said I hadn’t slept with anyone for a year. Every woman I saw was you. Everywhere I went, I saw your face. So I signed up for that site under the guise of keeping an eye on you. I should have come clean from the beginning, that first time we talked, but I didn’t. I don’t know why. I can only guess it was because I was enjoying talking to you more than I already was. So I kept it up. It was never to hurt you. Ever. Just knowing that I’m the asshole that put those tears in your eyes is crushing me. When you asked at the restaurant yesterday about it, my initial thought was to just deny. I knew you’d be pissed that I was SimpleMan and had been all along. I realized instantly that my lie was hurtful and wrong, so I had planned to confess last night when we got home. But then the fire call happened, and everything spiraled out of fucking control so fast from there. All I can say is I’m sorry. Hurting you was never my intention. I hope someday you can forgive me. I promise to work for your forgiveness every day for the rest of my life.
I click send without rereading the message, feeling the slightest bit of relief that I finally told her a few of the things I’ve wanted to say. I just hope my apology isn’t too late.
A few moments later, I see bubbles. Fuckin’ bubbles!!
AngelEyes: All lies are hurtful to some degree. That’s why you’re not supposed to tell them, especially to the person you consider your best friend.
SimpleMan: You’re absolutely right. So fucking right, Abs. I wish I could go back and do everything over again. I wouldn’t have lied. Hell, I probably wouldn’t have signed up for the stupid site.
AngelEyes: Me too. I wish I knew where to go from here.
SimpleMan: Why don’t we start over? Not the friendship, but everything else.
AngelEyes: Start over?
SimpleMan: Hey, AngelEyes. My name is Levi. I’m an EMT and fireman and a complete bonehead sometimes. My best friend would probably tell you I’m a bonehead most of the time, but that’s OK. She’s right. Yes, a girl. My best friend is the best fucking person I know. She’s smart and sexy and sweet and forgiving. So fucking forgiving.
AngelEyes: *blushing* A girl best friend, huh? Funny, I have a boy best friend.
