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The extended pause on the line had Katy wondering whether he’d answer, but his quiet response shocked her. “Nick and Emma’s.”
Nick and Emma’s?Katy blinked, her jaw slack before the indignation set in. Far louder than she should have for her business, she accused, “You’re staying at my cousin’s house and you didn’t even bother to fucking tell me. What the hell, Connor?”
“I needed some time to think. I’m sorry. For everything. I’ll come over tonight and explain.”
Clenching her teeth together to stop herself from saying something she’d regret, Katy ground out, “I’ll be home by six tonight. Make sure your arse is there.”
“Okay,” he responded quietly before hanging up. Fury and devastation warred for the top spot in her psyche.Why did he go to Nick’s rather than come home to us? What did we do to drive him away?All the ups and downs she and Levi had been through over the past week, going back to that place they were in—that limbo—when he was enlisted, was for nothing. A part of her heart had been missing, and Levi had spent the whole week on edge, constantly checking his phone for a missed call or text and hovering over his email account. And for what? So Con could enjoy a beach holiday rather than coming home to them?
Katy shot off a text to Levi. Six o’clock couldn’t come soon enough.
SEVEN
Levi
Something was up, but whatever it was, Katy wasn’t talking. She’d sent him a cryptic message about making sure he was home by six because Connor would be there. Like he was a damn teenaged girl at a One Direction concert—or whoever the teeny boppers were listening too now that they’d split up (and Levi wouldn’t admit to liking any of Louis, Harry, Zayne, Niall or Liam’s songs)—giddy excitement had filled him at the news. But for some reason, Katy wasn’t happy.
The knock on the door had his girlfriend stomping down the hall to answer it. “Hey,” he heard Connor greet her. He couldn’t hear Katy’s response, but from her mood, he could just imagine her standing at the door, arms crossed with a scowl on her face and motioning with a tilt of her head for Connor to come in. Levi grinned. His girl was a firecracker.
“How are you feeling?” Connor asked tentatively as they entered the room. Sure enough, Katy wore a scowl and still had her arms crossed over her chest, but his eyes were drawn to the man behind her. The shackles around his heart loosened a little. Seeing him, being in the same room as Connor had Levi desperate to go to him. Relief and something a lot stronger flooded through him, the butterflies in his belly taking flight. Levi had the crazy urge to trace his fingertips along the beard his friend had grown, to smell his scent again, to just be close to him. He’d never wanted to touch another man so much.
Katy sighed and answered. “I’m fine.” She gave him a small smile. “It didn’t take long to feel better once I got rid of the fever.”
“Good, I’m glad.” Their conversation was strained, and Levi was clueless as to why. He hated being on the outside, but considering the tension, he was glad he was.
“Hey, mate,” Levi greeted him. Trying desperately to come across as casual, he pulled two beers out the fridge. “We missed you around here.”
“Thanks.” Connor held up the bottle in a toast when Levi passed it to him and turned to Katy when she started speaking.
“Listen, about today, I’m sorry. It wasn’t right for me to yell at you. You don’t have to answer to me, but I was hurt.”
Connor nodded and reached for her hand. Levi took in the sight of them together, and his heart stuttered. The two most important people in his world stood before him. Sure, Levi would kick Connor’s arse for whatever he’d done to hurt Katy later, but at present, he wanted his two people to fix whatever it was between them. He needed them to.
“I haven’t handled things well at all. I should have told you, talked to you about what happened between Miranda and me. I didn’t mean for you to worry. I just needed some space.”
“You can talk to us.” Levi reached out and punched Connor lightly on the arm. It was either that or hug him tightly, and Levi’s emotions were riding far too close to the surface for him to do that. “You know that, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I do.” Connor sighed and leaned against the back of the couch. “It just hurts.”
“What did that bitch do to you?” Katy demanded. Levi bit back a grin. He could just imagine thedah, dah, daaahsound effect as the plot thickened.
“No, it’s entirely my fault. Miranda didn’t do anything wrong—”
“She kicked you out, Connor.”She what?
“Miranda was great. Things were great, right up until I yelled out the wrong name when we were… getting intimate.”
“Whose name?” Levi asked, a sick desire coiling in his gut for it to have been Katy’s. An even quieter voice in the back of his head wanted it to be him.
“That doesn’t matter, but I hurt her. She was justified in kicking me out and calling me whatever the hell names she’s called me.”
“Why didn’t you come home?” Levi asked, curious to know the answer, but trepidatious at the same time.
“You two were busy. I didn’t want to interrupt.” With Connor unable to look at either one of them in the eye, it didn’t take a genius to know he was bullshitting.
Katy called him out on it. “Connor, this is your home too. There wasn’t anything that would have been important enough to stop us being there for you.”
“Even a session with your new toys?”
