The Wrong Girl

by M. Piper

  The door cracks open and I hear Levi joking with someone down the hall.

  “Right!” he yells. “Fuck you, too!”

  “She’ll be here soon, princess!” Anders yells back.

  “I’m locking my damn door. Don’t let her in.” Levi curses and I grin at their banter and sit up, biting my lip nervously as I wait for him to realize I’m in here. He walks in, a towel slung low on his hips and I briefly forget why I’m here. My eyes hold on to that ‘v’ that turns my brain to mush and makes my lady bits tingle. “Finley?” he blurts, slamming the door behind him. My eyes fly to his and I try to grin.

  “Surprise!” I scrunch my nose and giggle, standing from the bed and walking over to him.

  “What’re you doing here, Squirt?” His arms wrap around me and he chuckles. “Where’s your sister?”

  “Back at my place working.” I pull back and rest my hands on his pecs. “I needed to see you.” My eyebrows furrow briefly before wrapping my arms around his waist again and resting my head on his chest. He smells fresh. Clean. The water droplets on his chest press against me and I take a deep breath, inhaling the crisp scent of Levi right after a shower. God, he smells good. I should back up and give the man space but I don’t. I can’t.

  He holds me tight for what feels like forever before pulling back and bringing his hand to my cheek.

  “You never replied. I thought you were pissed,” he whispers.

  I shake my head.

  “Scared is more like it. This is all so new and fresh…even if it doesn’t feel like it. I guess with everything going on I just realized how easy it would be for you to walk away.”

  His eyebrows push together and his eyes lock onto mine. Both hands brace around my face. I almost get lost in the blue swirl, shining at me like I’m the most important thing in his life.

  God, I want that to be true.

  “I’ve wanted you for as long as I can remember. Yeah, this might be a new situation for the two of us…” he sighs and shakes his head. “But I’ve spent the majority of my life wanting you. These feelings I have aren’t new, Finley. Why the hell would I give up now that I finally have you?”

  My lips curve up into a bright smile.

  “The majority of your life, huh?”

  “Absolutely.” He kisses me softly and when he deepens the kiss I whimper in his arms, loving how aroused he gets just from a kiss.

  Growling then letting out a curse, he pulls back and pushes his forehead to mine.

  “I can’t stop Miranda from coming here, Finley,” he whispers. “I wish I could. But I don’t know what her problem is. I can promise you there’s nothing to worry about.”

  I sigh.

  “I hate this whole situation.” I admit.

  “We’ll just have to sneak around more.” He moans and lifts me, letting his towel fall and I gasp when he spins me against the door. “I kind of like the thrill of the possibility of getting caught.” He grins into the kiss as his lips slam to mine.

  “Yo!” Someone pounds on the door and Levi growls, dropping his head to my shoulder but I can’t stop giggling. “Put some clothes on. You have a visitor!”

  “Pence, seriously,” Levi growls and steps back, running his hand through his hair.

  “I should probably go, huh?”

  “Yeah. Fuck.” Shaking his head, he wraps his arms around me again. “I really don’t want you to. But Miranda’s unpredictable and I’d hate to send you back to home with a black eye.”

  “Hey, I could probably take her.” I pretend to be offended but he’s right. I’m scrappy and couldn’t land a swing if I tried.

  Which I never have.

  With a laugh he taps my nose and nods to the back door that’s attached to the porch. “Want to sneak out?”

  “So much sneaking.” I roll my eyes and giggle when he slaps my ass as I step out onto the porch.

  “I’ll see you soon. I promise.” He pushes his lips to mine, his hand holding my chin still as he brushes his lips against me. Anders pounds on his door again and yells that company is here…still…and Levi groans. “Wish me luck.”

  “Same.” I don’t want to pull away but I do and I skip down the steps, taking the long way back to my car and the even longer way home.

  When I walk into my apartment it doesn’t look like my sister’s moved from her spot at the table. She glances up at me then right back down to her notes on her laptop, waving her fingers at me before she starts talking to someone.

  Oh. Her phone. She’s on a business call in my living room.

  The childish side of me wants to blare the radio…because it’s my house and I can do what I want. But instead I walk by her, use the ice machine on the fridge to grab some crushed ice for my water, then walk past her again on the way to my bedroom. Making sure to very blatantly ignore her as I go.

  I turn on Netflix and start to count down the minutes before she goes home. I’m good with her visiting to have fun. Coming down last minute with no notice and sitting here acting like I’m a burden to her work environment is not the way I want her to visit.

  ***

  “Finley?” I hear my sister’s whisper and feel her nudging me. Groaning, I slap her away and curl back into my blankets. I don’t know what time it was when I finally fell asleep but for the love of God do not wake me up in the middle of the night. “Fin!” she barks and I shoot up in bed, just missing hitting our faces together.

  “Fuck, Kat!” I yell. “It’s the middle of the night!”

  “Yeah. And some goons out on the beach think now’s a fantastic time for a beach bonfire.” She plops on my bed. “They’re loud.”

  “So put a pillow over your ears.” I lie back down and she groans and lies next to me, restricting my blankets from moving to where I need them.

  “Can’t you call the cops or something?”

  Laughing harshly, I tighten my fists at my side and squeeze my eyes shut.

  “Kat. It’s a public space. They aren’t hurting anything. Did you not learn to sleep through party noise in college?”

  “I didn’t party in college, you know this.” She scoffs. “Just make it stop. Or let me sleep in here.”

  I had no intentions on getting involved. Nope. I wasn’t going to intervene in this battle. She can fight her own.

  But when she curls into my bed I lose my shit.

  “Get up,” I blurt, throwing off the covers and storming to the living room. She runs after me like she’s scared we’re going to get in trouble and I pause, wondering what the hell is wrong with her. Yanking open the patio door, I step outside and the muggy Florida air hits me.

  Who the hell would want a bonfire in this weather?

  I hear the laughing and see the fire in the barrel a few houses down. Right behind Levi’s house…

  “Shit,” I mutter, watching the crowd of people around the fire, all seemingly drinking and happy as can be at two a.m. I wonder if he’s in the group. Why, of all nights, would they pick tonight to do something like this? Maybe it’s not them…

  “Pence!” I hear yelled into the night and I know that voice. And that name. Rolling my eyes, I lean over the banister and find it in me to yell at them, when in all reality I just want to join them.

  “Can’t a girl get some sleep around here?” I yell, backing off so they can’t see me almost fall over the railing. My sister’s standing behind me and when we hear them all cackle I roll my eyes.

  If this were any other night I’d be out there with them. I wouldn’t care. But it’s not any other night. It’s a night that my sister’s here and I have to play the part of annoyed civilian or I’ll give way too much away.

  “Just call the cops,” she murmurs, arms crossed in front of her. I pause and glare at her.

  “I’m not calling the cops on them.” I rush back inside but before I can slam the door and give up my bed for the night to my sister, I hear a girl yell into the night and I freeze.

  Fury. Anger. Jealousy.

  I want to walk out the
re and slap the bitchy, whiny tone from this girl’s voice.

  “Let’s go, Levi!” she yells at the top of her lungs. “The house is empty, baby!”

  My throat tightens and my eyes burn with rage. Baby? No one calls him baby but me! I spin to rush out the front door and go give her a piece of my mind but I catch the look on my sister’s face and my joints lock up. She heard it too. She hasn’t mentioned him, though…so maybe she doesn’t know he lives so close.

  Either way, I can’t go out there now. Because she’ll follow. And it’s two in the morning. Definitely not the time for this conversation.

  “You want to sleep in my bed?” I whisper, closing the patio door tight and she looks over at me. The look of confusion and hurt that I briefly saw streak across her face is gone.

  “I’ll be okay out here.” She smiles. “I’m sorry for putting you through that. Rude kids.” With a roll of her eyes she moves back to the couch. I can still vividly hear the laughter and screaming so I groan and grab her blanket.

  “Let’s go. I’ll turn on a movie and we’ll fall asleep like we used to back in the day.”

  Smiling up at me, I see the sister I grew up with inside the façade of the business woman she’s turned herself into.

  With as much of an inconvenience it is having her here at this very moment, maybe it’s exactly what she needed.

  ***

  “You remember Levi?” My sister’s words cut through the silence in the kitchen as I make us bacon and eggs and I almost drop the spatula. I slept like shit last night while she snored away, not budging from her spot on top of the covers. Who sleeps on top of the covers? My coffee pot isn’t making the sweet delicacy fast enough and if I have to hear her on the phone with one more client already this morning I’m going to lose my shit.

  “Yep.” I chirp probably too loud then, with shaky hands, pour myself another cup of coffee, contemplating whether or not to tell her the truth right off the bat.

  “He lives here.”

  I pause, trying to gauge my reaction and make sure it’s not too shocked but not too nonchalant. Wow, it’s hard acting. Damn good thing I never wanted to be an actress.

  “Really?” I don’t turn around because I think my cheeks are burning. And not out of guilt, but only because thinking about him sends need straight between my legs and turns my thoughts dirtier than a gutter after a storm.

  “Yeah. He’s doing work down here with the roofing company his dad owns.”

  “Cool. We should hang out with him.” The words flow out of my lips before I know what I’m actually suggesting and when I glance back at her there’s a smile on her face that makes me uneasy.

  “I was kind of hoping I could get a hold of him. We left things so weird last time we hung out.” She scrunches her nose and my stomach twists.

  “Weird? How?” Trying to keep my voice and hands calm as I carry her the plate and talk about my boyfriend like he’s a stranger is not the easiest. And then she lets out this awkward laugh groan thing and I know exactly what she’s about to tell me before the words leave her lips.

  Fuck.

  “We just…” She shrugs. “I don’t know. It’s Levi.” She sighs. God, I know that feeling. “He’s always been there and I never really saw him, you know? But I do now…and I’m terrified to say something to him about it.” Sitting up straight in my seat, I’ve lost my appetite and all I want to do is throw myself off my balcony.

  “You’ve loved him a while haven’t you?” I whisper, swallowing down the tears.

  “I don’t know if it’s love,” she says quickly and for some reason I feel slightly better about the situation. Somehow. “I just…” She shrugs and I smile at her, feeling like the lines are cracking my face.

  How the hell am I going to make it out of this without hurting my sister? I could always break it off with him, but I don’t feel right throwing away my happiness because of her. She wouldn’t do it for me. Never has in the past.

  “Well, call him,” I chirp too loudly again, hopping up from my spot.

  “You’re not eating?” she questions and I flip around to look at my plate still full of food.

  “My stomach’s off. I’m taking a shower.” With trembling hands, I grab my phone and bolt to the bathroom, locking the door behind me.

  Me: Code. Red. I just figured out why my sister’s here.

  I hit send and sit on the side of the tub, throwing my head into my hands. It should be easy. I could have just said ‘Hey Kat, I ran into Levi a while back and since then I’ve kind of fallen pretty hard for him. Truth be told I’ve liked him for years and we were both too chicken to do anything back then because we didn’t want to hurt you. But we’re adults now and I hope you can see our happiness isn’t worth throwing away friendships over.’

  Sounds perfect right? Ha! I wish it were that easy. But it’s not. My phone chimes and I glance down at the screen.

  Levi: Me too

  He attaches a screenshot of the texts she’s sent him over the last twelve hours and my eyes almost bug out of my head. Seven texts, all seemingly not responded to, range from I miss you to we need to talk to Meet me at this address today.

  Today.

  Me: She definitely didn’t come here for me. She’s here for you, Levi. And not in the friendship way.

  Levi: We’ll figure this out, Squirt.

  I try to think positive but there aren’t many positive things to look at today. My boyfriend’s in the same house as his ex-girlfriend who thinks they’re still together and my sister’s in love with my boyfriend.

  Perfect situation.

  Me: How was the bonfire last night?

  I hit send and turn on the shower, stripping my clothes off and waiting for the steam to overtake the bathroom. Glancing down at my phone, I see his response and grin.

  Levi: Some crazy cat lady screamed at us in the middle of the night. And I slept in King’s bed because Miranda won’t leave my room. Dude snuggles like no other.

  I let out a laugh and my hand flies to my mouth. I don’t know this King character but if his name fits his personality I’m already terrified of him.

  Me: Sounds thrilling. This crazy cat lady is getting in the shower

  Levi: Pics or it didn’t happen

  I smirk and take a quick selfie, not showing him near enough of what he wants and toss my phone on the counter before hopping in the shower. I need to figure this out. I want Levi in my life but I don’t want to lose my sister in the process.

  ***

  I text Alexa on our way here, letting her know the details of everything that’s happened this weekend. She replied with one of those gif’s of Michael Jackson eating popcorn then a few laughing faces. I like having her as a friend and feel good that I can have someone to talk to who knows the whole story and doesn’t judge me.

  “He said he’d meet us here,” Kat says, shuffling her feet nervously. She’s wearing heels and a tight black skirt that shows off her small curves with a blouse our mother would wear. I almost feel bad for the girl. She’s not ugly by any means. And when presented properly she could be hot as hell. But her sense of style is null and void. Stuffy. Unfortunate.

  “He’ll be here,” I rub her arm. “What if he has a girlfriend, Kat?”

  “Then he has a girlfriend and I’ll wish them the best of luck. I just want to clear the air. See if there’s anything there that could have been or could still be. You know?” She rubs her hands together nervously in front of her and I smile.

  I wish I could believe her, but the minute she finds out the girlfriend Levi is so infatuated with is really her little sister I’m sure she won’t feel that zen about it.

  “That’s a good mindset.” I pat her shoulder and see his car pull into the parking lot of the Japanese restaurant she picked for lunch. A restaurant that is way out of my price range so I’ve never even considered eating here. My sister’s paying today so I don’t have to worry about it. And I may even get a glass of wine just to add to the bill I don’t have to pay.


  When Levi’s passenger door pops open my stomach plummets that he brought the ex-girlfriend with him, but when I see Anders step out I smile in relief.

  “Who’s that?” Kat asks. I don’t want to give away that I know him because giving that away would give away that I know Levi is here so I shrug.

  “No clue,” I mutter, nervousness rolling through my stomach like rocks on a ship.

  Shit, I hope Levi gave Anders the rundown of this situation. He could possibly kill this whole plan before we even have it set in stone.

  “Hey,” Levi says, going to hug Kat first then he hugs me and I breathe in his scent, missing him even though it’s only been a few hours. His hug lingers longer than it did with my sister but I force myself to pull back and look over at Anders nervously.

  Please don’t give it away.

  “I’m Anders,” he says to me, his hand jutting out with a knowing smile on his face. Relief flushes over me and I take his hand in mine, noticing finally how many muscles this man has. Like he spends his life at the gym. And his hand?

  Massive.

  “Finley. Nice to meet you.” I smile sweetly and pull my hand back, watching Anders move to Kat. He’s suave. Sweet. And that smile. Bright white and tanned skin. Brilliantly handsome. Damn. But when I glance at the way he’s looking at my sister, then look over at Levi who’s standing there smirking, I know what his plan is.

  And I love it.

  “You guys want to grab some grub?” Levi clasps his hands together and leads us into the restaurant, following me through the door and his hand grabs my ass before dropping it without a word or a second glance my way. I gasp and my knees tremble, knowing the game he plans on playing today.

  When we take our seats I manage to end up next to him without even trying. Anders is on the other side of my sister, talking her ear off. She keeps looking at Levi but she’s talking to Anders like she’s enjoying the conversation.