Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 27555 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 138(@200wpm)___ 110(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27555 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 138(@200wpm)___ 110(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
"Rob!" Levi's voice cut through the night air like a knife.
I blinked until I was sure any remnants of my tears disappeared, then turned with a blank expression. "Sorry, I just needed fresh air. It's getting stuffy inside."
His nostrils flared. "I know what you think you saw, Rob, but I promise it's not that."
"Oh yeah? So it wasn't Sela with her tits pressed against you while you didn't push her away?" It all made sense now—why he didn't want to define us. "I am such a fool."
"If you think I want anyone but you, then yeah, you are a fool." He shook his head. "I don't know what else I need to say to make you see this clearly, Rob."
"You haven't said anything," I argued. "You haven't said what we're doing other than spending time together. You haven't said what you want to do about the baby either." I shook my head, annoyed, angry, and hurt. "I'm falling in love with you, but you know what? I'm flying blind, and I don't like it, Levi!"
"And you've been so open with your feelings?" His accusing tone was like a slap across the face.
I took a step back, but I couldn't argue. Communicating my wants and needs in a relationship was never my strong suit, but that's because I knew it wouldn't matter. This time, though, it was different. "I couldn't say anything," I replied, barely above a whisper.
"But I'm supposed to pour my heart out?" He shook his head. "So I'm supposed to put myself out there, risk my heart, while you say nothing?"
I sucked in a breath and closed my eyes, letting a few tears fall. "No," I said softly. "I didn't say anything because I didn't want to influence your decision about the baby. I didn't want you to think I was trying to manipulate you into something you might not want."
Levi stared at me without saying a word for so long, I began to shiver under the quickly cooling night air.
"Okay. Glad we cleared that up." I brushed past him and went back inside to finish my shift.
When my shift was over, I went home and curled up in bed, crying over a man who'd never really been mine.
18 LEVI
“It’s about fuckin’ time,” I growled to myself when I stepped out of the kitchen and found the bar empty. Mostly. Dani and Sela were heading out the door, and Xavier leaned against the bar, which meant Rob was still around here somewhere. I crossed the bar without a word and locked the door, just in case any stragglers decided they needed another drink or three.
My gaze swept over the bar, satisfied to find that the girls had done everything before they left. There was an eerie silence about the bar tonight, and I had a sinking feeling why that was—even without the weight of Xavier’s pitying gaze studying me. “She’s gone.”
He nodded, lips pursed as if he wanted to say something.
Of course she was gone. I really shouldn’t be surprised that she took off as soon as she could. After she spotted Sela coming on to me, again, and took off, I knew I needed to explain what she saw, the same way Xavier had days before. But then my mouth took over and fucked it all up. “I didn’t handle things very well earlier.”
Xavier’s perfect blond brows arched. “How not very well?”
“Horribly. There’s a good chance I fucked things up beyond all repair.”
Xavier whistled. “She seemed pretty upset when she left, but more defeated and hurt than angry.”
“Fuck.” I raked first one hand and then the other through my hair as if that could undo all the mistakes I made today. “We’re having a baby.” It was the first time I said the words out loud, and I waited for the panic to come, but it didn’t. There was fear, but it wasn’t about being a father—it was about being a good father.
“Holy shit. A baby?”
I nodded. “It was a shock, but Rob wants to do this.”
“Of course she does. She’s been a mom since she landed in New York, helping all the models who cycled through, making things easier for them. Her heart was too big for our industry.” He stopped talking abruptly and watched me. “What do you want?”
“I wasn’t sure at first, but I’ve been fooling myself for a while now. I want her, and I want this baby.” Was it too late to get everything I wanted? The fact that she took off instead of staying to fight it out wasn’t a good sign, but that didn’t mean I was done fighting.
Not by a long shot.
The only thing I needed to figure out was whether I was going to her tonight (right now) or whether she needed time to cool off. Maybe in the morning, I’d have the words I needed to say to her laid out perfectly, the words that would get her to see how much she meant to me.