by David Horne
“Levi,” he said again.
“Hey, you made it,” I said but even I could hear the hurt in my voice.
“Hey, look at me,” he said placing a hand on my shoulder. I trembled at his touch and I wanted to lean into is so badly, but I didn’t. I took in a deep breath and met his gaze. He inhaled sharply and cupped my cheeks. “Baby,” he started but I shoved his hands off.
“It’s fine. I’m fine,” I said but I didn’t sound very convincing.
“Levi, I’m sorry. I tried to get here on time, I swear it. Things just got busy-”
“At the bakery, I know.” I finished for him and he winced.
I chuckled but it was rough and thick. There was nothing humorous about what I was feeling, and I hated how defeated I felt. “Yeah, you said that last week too when you stood me up for our date. And the week before that when I invited you for lunch. And again the week before that. Are you seeing the pattern here? It’s always the bakery or me, but you never choose me. I’m never a priority to you. You said you weren’t hiding me, said you wanted to give it time. You promised that you weren’t ashamed of me but when you refuse to acknowledge me at work or see me outside of it, how do you think that makes me feel? It’s been over a month Jaxon and I feel like I’m your dirty little secret.”
He looked stricken and I looked around and found eyes on us. I’d started yelling and didn’t even realize it. I was hurting. My heart was aching, and I just wanted to be done with this shit.
“Levi, can we go somewhere and talk about this?” His eyes pleaded with me to say yes but it wasn’t going to work this time. I was sick of being let down by him. I was tired of not being seen as important. I was falling in love with a man who didn’t even see me as a priority. I needed out.
“No,” I said, and Levi jerked back as if I’d hit him. “I can’t talk to you right now.”
“Levi, please.” His pleading tone made more tears spring to my eyes and I knew I had to get away from him before the dam burst.
“I’ll call you later,” I said as I picked up my things and brushed past him. People still watched me as I went, and I knew it was because the tears had leaked out without my permission. Relationships were a joke and I was done with them.
Chapter Twelve
Jaxon
Levi didn’t call. Then he stopped coming into work. He and Carly had gotten super close over the past six weeks and when I asked her if she knew anything, she’d glared at me. Not once since she’d worked for me had she ever been angry at me but then she said, “For three weeks, I watched him become smaller and smaller and I didn’t know what it was. He was talking less, laughing less, joking less and we all noticed it. Then one day he just…” she trailed off as tears filled her eyes. “He watched you like a starving person. Like he was begging you to see him and it wasn’t some unrequited crush bullshit, it was someone begging the person they loved to see them. Just see them.” Her tears shred my heart into pieces. “but you didn’t see him Jaxon. You didn’t see him, and I watched my friend become a shell of himself. Did you even notice? Did you even realize that he’d put his walls up, that he’d shut down was blocking everyone out? We all did, and it scared the hell out of us Jaxon. It was scary to watch his eyes turn cold. He was just… vacant.”
Her words made me want to scream. How had I not noticed it? When did I become so busy that I couldn’t even glance his way? When was the last time before the fourth of July had I actually landed eyes on him that wasn’t a passing glance?
My calls went unanswered and when I stopped by his house his car was never there. My heart was breaking, and I only had myself to blame. I’d neglected him. There was no other way to word it. I’d let work control every moment of my life and I completely ignored the man I wanted to be with. I’d told him we’d take it one day at a time and I’d meant it. But we got swamped with orders and my reputation meant everything to me, at least it did until I saw the tears rolling down Levi’s face. Tears that I’d caused. It wasn’t until he pointed out all of the dates that I’d missed, time that I had promised and taken away, did I realize how shitty of a boyfriend I’d been to him. I’d told myself with each canceled date that he’d understand. He knew how much my business meant to me, but I didn’t factor in how much my time meant to him. I’d let him down and it was eating me up inside.
I pulled up into his parent’s driveway in hopes of seeing his car there. I didn’t but I’d come all this way. The door swung open and both Liliana and Elijah stepped outside. They eyed me as I approached, and I knew they knew.
“He isn’t here,” Elijah said, and I flinched at the cold tone in his voice. “No one has seen or heard from him since he ran away from the festival with tears streaming down his face.”
My eyes shuttered closed and I took in a deep breath before I met his gaze again. “ I messed up,” I said out loud for the first time and my voice cracked as I did so. “I didn’t mean to hurt him. It was never my intention to hurt him.” It was hard to speak past the lump in my throat. “I just need to find him so I can apologize and fix this. I don’t want to lose him.”
The Croft’s stared at me, both wearing mixed expressions. They didn’t trust me with their son, that much was clear, but I wanted to fix that. I had too. I was falling in love with him and I couldn’t lose him before I had the chance to show him.
“We really don’t know where he is. He told us to do what we wanted with his trust fund because he couldn’t go back to work. He couldn’t face you. That spoke volumes.”
It spoke volumes for me too. For someone like Levi, who enjoyed nice things, it couldn’t have been easy for him to give up his money like that. I’d seriously broken his heart to the point he didn’t even care about the money he’d been working so hard to earn.
My tears fell then, and I didn’t even attempt to hide them. I’d lost him.
“Jaxon,” Elijah said, and I wiped at my eyes to face him, He wasn’t my father, but he was the type of man that wasn’t a fan of men showing emotions. “Do you love my son?”
“Yes,” I said without hesitation.
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I know where he is,” he said, and my eyes widened.
“What? You do?” Liliana screeched. “Why would he tell you and not me? He loves me more.”
Elijah rolled his eyes and ignore Liliana’s question. “I’ll tell you where he is on two conditions.”
“Name them,” I said. And Elijah sighed.
“I know how important business and reputation is but the people you love always have to be first in your life. Your business can survive without you. So my first condition is you take a week off from work. That means cutting off all communication with the bakery.” It felt like he’d placed an anvil on my chest. I’d never been away from my bakery for longer than a day. I didn’t think it could survive without me. But Levi’s face popped into my head and I knew I’d do it; I’d do anything for him.
“Okay,” I said, and Elijah smiled.
“Second condition spend that week enjoying your vacation. Do something you’ve never done before and show Levi that he’s just as important to you if not more, than your business.”
“Done,” I said firmly, and Elijah smiled.
“Pack warm, looks like you’re headed to Fiji.”
When the plane landed at Nadi International Airport, I was almost coming out of my skin. I was only a ride away from seeing Levi again and I’d never been so nervous in my life. It had taken my two days to get things in order at the bakery and another day to talk myself into not having a mental breakdown. Leaving my baby in the hands of other people, scared the hell out of me but I’d hired my management team for a reason, and it gave Liam a reason to step up and manage. He’d been out of town looking at locations for a second bakery, so he hadn’t met Levi just yet. He’d heard about him of course. To say he was shocked when I gave him the full story was an understatement.
“He must be special as hell to make you break your moral code,” he said,
and I sighed. Special wasn’t even a good enough word to describe Levi. He was beyond special.
The announcement came that it was time to load the seaplane to Vanau Levu, and my heartrate picked up speed. It was only me and four other passengers on this trip, so I relaxed as we loaded the plane. Soon we were taking off and I felt a sense of calm wash over me as I stared at the beautiful water below. Water that made me think of Levi’s beautiful eyes. I couldn’t wait to see him, I only hoped he wouldn’t slam the door in my face when he saw me.
When we unloaded off the plane, we were greeted by staff members from the resort. They escorted us up the steps and toward check in. I’d reserved a room for one night in hopes that the remainder of my time there would be spent with Levi.
I received my key card and made my way to my bungalow. The view from the living room was enough to take my breath away. Miles and miles of crystal blue water greeted me. And as I stepped outside, a deck led you right out into it. A glass separator kept you from venturing out too far, but it was still magnificent. I went back inside the luxury cabin and took my bags to my room. The four-poster king sized bed looked inviting with it’s white, fluffy comforter and thick pillows. It was calling for me to take a nap, but I couldn’t. I needed to find Levi.
I did a quick wash up in the waterfall shower and moaned at the feeling of the water beating down on my tense muscles. I’d needed this more than I realized, and I was glad I’d listened to Elijah. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d taken a vacation.
I left my bungalow and took in a deep breath. Elijah had told me what bungalow Levi was in and as I made my way toward it my heart got caught in my throat. I began to wonder if I’d come all of this way for nothing. Would he even see me? Would he forgive me?
My hands shook as I approached and voices from the back of the bungalow had me going around. Everything shattered and pieced itself together with one look. There Levi was, in a pair of white board shorts and nothing else. His skin was slicked with oil and his tan looked even more glorious. He looked stunning. The problem was he wasn’t alone. What looked to be one of the resorts employees was leaning into Levi as if he was going to kiss him and Levi was leaned away with his hand pressed to the guys chest.
“Come one, Lee, we haven’t seen each other since the last time you were here two years ago. I missed you baby.”
Levi scoffed and shoved the guy away. “I told you Kyle, I’m not here for that. Just do your job and leave me alone.”
“Levi,” he began again, and I’d had enough.
“I’m sure he said to leave him alone,” I growled, and both heads whipped my way. Levi’s eyes widened as he took me in. He blinked a few times and squinted as if he was trying to see if I were real.
“Jaxon?” he said my name like a prayer, and I didn’t give a fuck about the guy sitting too close to my man or anything else. All I knew was I needed to touch him. So I moved across the deck and over to Levi who still stared at me as if I were an illusion.
“You’re really here?” he said as I pulled him from his chair. His fingers touched my freshly shaven face and he giggled. “You shaved.” I smiled and leaned into his touch, not realizing how badly I needed it.
“What are you doing here, Jax?” he asked, and I saw hope along with trepidation. He was terrified of me. Terrified of what I’d come to do to his heart and my own heart ached because of it.
“I’m here to make things right. I’m here to apologize for the way I’ve treated you over the past few weeks. I need for you to see that you mean so much to me Levi and that I’m not ashamed of you. I love you,” I said, and his breath hitched.
“Yeah?” he said, and I nodded before I pressed a long kiss to his lips.
“Yeah, baby.”
Levi sighed and leaned into me. His head fell to my chest before I wrapped my arms around him. I’d never felt more content about anything in my life. At some point the Kyle guy left and I was grateful for that. I didn’t want to cause a scene and I likely would have had Levi shown interest in him. But I should have known better.
Levi threaded our fingers together before he led me inside his bungalow. He led us to his bed where we climbed in. Levi curled into me and I wrapped my arms around him, holding him as close as I could get him.
After a while he finally spoke, “How’d you convince my dad to tell you where I was?”
“I made him a promise,” I said before I told him about the conversation I had with his parents. His head shot up as he studied my face.
“No work for the rest of the week?”
“None.”
“So you’re all mine?” he smiled, and I cupped his cheek.
“I’ll always be yours. I know I haven’t done a good job of proving that to you, but I promise to do better from now on. You are a priority to me Levi. I said we’d take this a day at a time and I completely dropped the ball. I won’t mess up this time. I promise you, Levi, you’ll know every day just how much you mean to me.”
“And what do I mean to you?”
“Everything.”
Chapter Thirteen
Levi
The two weeks I’d planned to spend re-grouping turned out better than I could have expected. Jaxon wanted to try everything the island had to offer, and I reveled in his excitement. We went snorkeling which had been one of the most beautiful visions I’d ever seen. That was until we took a nature walk that led us to an amazing, breath taking waterfall. Jaxon documented everything we did with tons of pictures that he posted online. His way of showing me wasn’t ashamed of me. I didn’t need the online photos, but I appreciated them all the same.
My own social media blew up with comments. People couldn’t believe I’d actually gotten a boyfriend. A lot of comments were from snarky classmates and jaded hookups but for the most part, people seemed to be genuinely happy that I was happy. And I was happy. Happier than I thought I’d ever be. Spending that week with Jaxon had been the best moments of my life. He’d been so attentive during the day and at night he’d make love to me so slowly, so torturously that I’d cum buckets by the end of the night.
As we boarded the seaplane to take us back to the airport, I sighed heavily. Jaxon chuckled from beside me and pulled me close.
“Don’t look so sad. We have plenty of adventures ahead of us,” he said, and I grinned up at him.
“Do we?”
“Hell yeah, I’ve always wanted to visit New Zealand. What about you, anywhere you’d like to vacation?”
I thought about it for a moment and though I’d love to just travel like crazy with Jaxon there was something else I wanted more.
“I want to go back to school.” Jaxon’s head snapped toward me and small grin appeared across his face as he studied me.
“Yeah, what do you want to study?”
I shrugged and Jaxon chuckled. “I just want to be doing something with my life. I know I don’t want to work in corporate America. The thought of sitting at a cubicle gives me hives.” Jaxon chuckled again as he brushed my hair away from my face. I needed a haircut but Jaxon seemed to like running his fingers through it so I figured I may as well keep it for a while.
“Have you ever considered culinary school?” he asked, and I frowned because I’d never given it much thought. “You have a natural talent for baking, and you do have an eclectic pallet. Culinary school could work for you. And if you don’t want to go the school route you could be an apprentice under one of my bakers and learn from them. I didn’t go to culinary school, only had my tutor. That’s also another route you could take, that is if you even want to keep working in the bakery,” he rambled, and I grinned at how adorable he was when he got flustered.
“I’ll think about it. Thank you for your advice, baby.” Jaxon smiled and leaned in to kiss me gently on the lips.
“Anytime, love.”
The plane took off and soon we were boarding the plane at the airport and headed for home. We slept the entire ride home. Nineteen hours was a long time to be on a plane and b
y the time we landed, the jet lag was real. I didn’t even care whose house we were going too, I just wanted in a bed. We ended up at Jaxon’s place and I sighed as I fell onto his lush bed.
“I love your bed,” I mumbled, and Jaxon chuckled from somewhere in the room.
“You might love it more if you got your clothes off.”
I groaned and turned my head. “Too tired for hanky-panky,” I said, and Jaxon’s deep chuckle went even deeper.
“Not even if I do that thing to your ass with my tongue that you like so much?”
I groaned as my dick twitched in my pants. “Jaxon,” I growled as he laughed. The bed dipped and his arms wrapped around me. He kissed my bare shoulder before his head rested against mine.
“We’ll save that for you to do to me,” he whispered, and my dick was fully awake. I lifted my head and turned to meet his gaze.
“You’re asking to get your ass pounded, aren’t you?” I said and heat swirled in his eyes as he licked his lips. My heart raced as I took him in. He wanted it. He wanted me to fil him up.
“Take your clothes off, Jaxon,” I growled and Jaxon nearly whimpered as he stood and removed his clothes. I watched as inch by beautiful inch of skin was revealed. His thick cock stood hard and proud as he stood naked before me.
“Go wash up then I want you on the bed, ass in the air, hands gripping the headboard,” I demanded, and his dick twitched at the command. He rushed toward the bathroom and I heard the water running. He was whispering something to himself that I couldn’t decipher but it sounded a lot like he was saying Hail Mary’s. When he returned, he crawled onto the bed and did as he was told. I bit my bottom lip and groaned at the sight he made. His built, beautiful body on display for me.
“I’m going to devour you,” I growled, and Jaxon’s head dropped to his chest.