by M. Piper
“Your son fucked up, Mr. Walsh.” Anders says, crossing his arms in front of him. Like he’s not worried at all that I’m about to kick his ass.
Just as soon as King lets go of me.
My dad sighs and shakes his head.
“Big surprise,” he mumbles and I let out a puff of annoyance.
“He took Finley somewhere and isn’t telling me,” I blurt, shoving against King to try and loosen his grip.
Jesus Christ this man’s strong.
“Because you broke the poor girl’s heart and won’t let her be! Twenty phone calls in an hour, Walsh? That’s stalker material.”
“Shit,” my dad huffs. “What the hell, Levi?”
“It’s not my fault,” I growl, my heart hammering in my chest. It’s hard to breathe. It’s hard to think. It’s hard to fucking do anything other than think about the fact that she’s leaving me. She’s checking out and I can’t do shit about it if I can’t talk to her.
“King, let the kid go,” my dad says, waving his hand at King. “Levi, sit your ass down and start talking.”
I growl at them all, rubbing my arms where King had his death grip on me, and glare at Anders.
“I can tell you what happened, Mr. W.” Anders shakes his head at me. “Your boy over there’s a married man.”
“Married?” my dad blurts and I curse.
“God, no.” I groan. “Fuck.”
“Levi, this isn’t looking good, kid. You better start spilling or I can’t promise not letting these boys kick your ass for being so stupid.”
“Fuck, okay! I’m married, yes!” My stomach rolls and I want to vomit just saying those words. “But did I know it? No. Not at fucking all. I’m in love with my best friend’s little sister, but apparently I married said best friend two years ago when we were black out drunk in Vegas and don’t remember. She never even told me. Then I went and fell in love with her sister. I married the wrong goddamned girl,” I groan, falling back to King’s bed and staring at the ceiling. “Fuck.”
The room falls silent. I stare at the ceiling, praying to wake up from this nightmare. Honestly, how the hell does someone’s life get this fucked in a matter of a few hours? My dad’s laughter finally breaks the ringing in my ears and soon all of them are joined in.
“Wait, you got married in Vegas and don’t remember it?” He laughs harder and King’s snickers make me squeeze my eyes closed.
“Exactly. I married Kat two years ago and she’s known this entire time.”
“And she never mentioned it to you?” King asks and I shake my head.
“Never.”
“Can I please go to sleep? I don’t watch soap operas and I don’t want yours,” Kellan grumbles from under his blanket but everyone ignores him.
“Shit,” Anders mutters. “Man, did you tell Finley that?”
I sit up and glare at him.
“Don’t fucking talk to me right now.” I stand and walk over to him, shoving my finger in his chest. “You’re on my shit list, Pence.” Shoving him, I pause when I feel my phone buzz in my pocket. Frantically pulling it out, my heart sinks when I read her message.
Finley: This hurts more than you’ll ever understand, Levi. I’m leaving and I’ll be safe. You should do the same. Please give me the time I need to process this.
Holding my phone so tight I could crush it, I glare at King then to my dad. “She’s going home.” Where else would she ‘leave’ to? Home is her only option.
“Good. Then you can talk to her once you get back.” He clasps his hands on his thighs and stands from his spot on Anders’ bed. “Go to sleep you four. Tomorrow’s going to be a busy day.”
“I’m trying to!” Kellan blurts. “Fuck.”
“Levi. Downstairs.” My dad points to the stairs and I curse, pulling my hands to the top of my head as I storm down the stairs.
Fuck that.
There’s no sleeping until I get back to my girl.
My phone buzzes again when I get back to my room and I roll my eyes.
Kat: She said she left to head home, Levi. If you want to have breakfast and talk this over we can.
Me: I want you to get the papers drawn up and tell me where to sign.
I toss my phone on my nightstand and lie on top of my covers, trying to figure out how I can make Finley not hate me.
***
“That was the longest drive of my fucking life.” I stand and stretch and Kellan watches me silently with his arms crossed in front of him. “What?”
Usually Anders and I do the drive together, but everyone agreed he’d end up dead on the side of the road if they were to put me in a cab with him, so here we are.
“You want to talk about long drives? Try being the one stuck in the cab of the car with a brooding man who’s ready to spit fire at anyone who looks at him the wrong way.”
“Fuck you.”
“Yeah, I got that message. Plenty of times, bro.”
I ignore him and walk up to the front door of Finley’s mom’s house. I won the coin toss on whether we’d go straight home or straight here. Kellan was pissed, but he’s not one to back down from a bet so here we are. Four in the afternoon and unannounced. It’s been two days since Finley’s replied to any of my calls or texts. Two days since my entire world changed.
Two days since I found out I married the wrong girl.
This morning on the drive here I got an e-mail from Kat stating she was back at work and in the process of filing the paperwork. She apologized again in the e-mail but I ignored it. I didn’t even respond. She’s not getting a response from me until she hands me those papers to sign. And then the only response she’ll get will be my signature on the line. I have nothing to say to her.
I bring my shaking hand to knock, praying Finley’s here. Where else would she have gone? I gave her space like she asked. But she’s had enough. This isn’t my fault…
“Levi?” Mrs. Reeves smiles sweetly as she answers the door. “What a nice surprise!” She hugs me tight like a mother would to a son she hasn’t seen in a long time and for a moment everything feels like it could be okay. Mrs. Reeves always acted like the mother I didn’t have. She was nice, she was kind, and she made killer pancakes.
“Hey, Mrs. Reeves.” I take a step back. “Is Finley here?”
The words feel foreign. Every time I’ve been on this front porch it’s been for Kat. Her oldest daughter. Now that I’m here for Finley the smile on her face fades the slightest and her eyebrows push together. My heart beats wildly in my chest, nerves rolling through my limbs as I watch her head shake ‘no’ slightly.
“She lives in Florida now, I’m sorry.”
A breath leaves me and I feel the panic rising.
“Uh…yeah.” Blink. Breathe. Don’t panic. “She had mentioned maybe coming home this weekend.” I shove my hands into my pockets and my entire body is wracked with nerves.
“I didn’t know you two talked,” she says, watching me carefully.
“Yeah…” I chuckle. “So she’s not here?”
“Unfortunately no, dear. She’s staying with a friend down there until the storm passes.”
Fuck. My. Life.
“Oh. Great. Okay.” I nod, my hands tingling with rage.
She’s still down there.
“I can have her call you next time I talk to her.” She chuckles. “But to be honest, you’ll probably get a hold of her faster than I can. She’s not been very responsive these past couple of months. I think she’s enjoying her life down there.”
“Yeah. Great, thanks.” I turn to head down the steps.
“Levi,” she calls out. I turn to look at her and I feel like she knows. I don’t know how, but she knows something’s not right. “The friend’s name is Alexa, I think. She said she’s safe. I wouldn’t worry if I were you. And if you hear from her have her call home, okay? Just to let me know she’s okay.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Reeves. I will.”
I trudge my way back to the car, feeling like there’s a hundred pound weight s
itting on my chest. I pop open the car door and slide in, my ears ringing at the newscast Kellan’s watching on his phone.
“Hurricane Idom bears down on the Florida Keys, wreaking havoc on the everglades as the worst hurricane in the history of Florida hits landfall.”
My ears start to ring and Kellan gives me a look. The video on the screen shows the wind toppling over trees leveling buildings and I feel like I could hurl.
“She not here?” Kellan asks finally.
“She never fucking left Florida,” I whisper, panic rising to my throat and tears threatening.
I left her down there.
Fuck.
Chapter 11
Finley
Two weeks later
Remember a few weeks ago when I said I don’t do things I’ll regret?
Well I did. I’ve done a lot of things I regret. And as soon as I can I plan on fixing the situation.
“Still no service?” Alexa asks, watching me try and walk around the house and get something. Anything.
“Nope.” I sigh and fall to the couch annoyed.
The storm that came through here destroyed so much but it’s what happened before the storm hit that’s still not setting well with me. Nothing feels finalized and my stupid ass had to go and stay here rather than heading back home like I said I was. I lied, and now I’m stuck. No car. No service. Partial power. We have a generator and running water which is more than what some people around here have, but that’s only because DJ is letting us crash at his place until I find a new place to live. My building was too badly damaged in the storm and a few of the houses on the street were leveled by the winds and water surge. Levi’s dad’s house isn’t standing anymore. That’ll be a hard pill for them to swallow once they find out.
God, I miss him.
When the hurricane hit I was terrified, but to be honest nothing quite tops the fear of never seeing Levi again. I hurt everywhere, but it’s not because of the gash on my arm I got while trying to get the door closed in the wind.
God, the wind was so bad.
I went to Alexa’s place to cool off and wrap my head around everything. I needed a day to figure out how I felt about everything that was happening. The marriage. The lies. The confusion. By the time I was ready to talk, the storm was hitting and I couldn’t make a call out to save my life. Luckily we made it through the worst part of the hurricane and Alexa had enough sense to get us to DJ’s before the storm surge brought in the floodwaters. She’ll be lucky if she has a house left, honestly, but we’re safe and I guess that’s what matters.
Well. Most of what matters. Honestly my thoughts have been so plagued by the drama with Levi and my sister lately I haven’t been able to obsess over the impact of the storm. There’s been an even bigger storm in my chest brewing since the day I walked away from him, and guilt is eating at me that this whole thing isn’t really his fault…but mine. If Levi was telling me the truth, then he honestly didn’t know about it and I didn’t stick around to help him work through it. I still don’t understand how that can happen, but I know I’ve been black out drunk a few times and can’t remember shit, so I shouldn’t discount his story.
But knowing my sister’s been hiding that from me for that long? That hurt the worst. I haven’t talked to her about it yet and I’m not sure what to say when I do. I’m sure by now she knows what’s going on between Levi and I. Or what went on. Honestly I don’t know where we stand. I love him more than I ever planned on, but with all this time apart and the marriage and me overreacting like I did… I mean, I wouldn’t put it past him to be finished with me for good.
Fuck.
“What if he’s given up on me?” I whisper. “He tried so hard those first couple days and I was such a bitch.” More than a bitch. I ignored him to the fullest extent and went as far as lying and saying I was going home just to get him off my case. I don’t know why I did it. I was hurt and angry…and look at me now.
Karma’s a real bitch.
“No you weren’t, honey.” She sits and I rest my head on her shoulder. “You were hurt. It makes sense. Then the storm came through and kind of put everything on hold. It’s going to work out.”
“Yeah,” I mutter. “I miss him.” God, I miss him so much. It’s bad.
“I know.” Her lip juts out and she hugs me tight to her. Over the last couple weeks Alexa and I have holed ourselves up in this apartment and I’ve grown fond of the friendship I have with her. She’s been my rock when I needed it. And if I’m being honest with myself, being around DJ hasn’t been as terrible as I once thought. Now that I know his past it’s easier to understand why he is the way he is.
A knock comes at the door and DJ walks into the room.
“You two stop lezzing out on my couch. I don’t want cream spots.”
“Pig,” Alexa says, rolling her eyes but the pink on her cheeks makes me wonder what’s going on between the two of them. She’s slept in his bedroom more than one night while I took the guest room and they’re constantly looking at each other.
Constantly.
It’s almost sickening, but when I think about it that’s how Levi and I were. Can’t keep our eyes or hands to ourselves.
Well. Couldn’t.
Ewe, I’ve turned into that friend who’s jealous of her own friend’s happiness
I sigh, slumping back to the couch after Alexa hops up to grab a beer. We’re two weeks after the storm. Most grocery stores are starting to reopen but none of us have a working vehicle yet to get to one plus the roads are so blocked we wouldn’t be able to get through, so we’re still eating the food that DJ stocked up on before the storm. The man can be annoying and intense, but he at least knew how to prepare for something like this.
That was weeks ago, however. So beer and pickles is about all we have left.
DJ walks into the room and stops in the doorway, looking at me with his hands on his hips.
“When was the last time you showered, Reeves?”
“Wow.” I laugh, standing up. “Yesterday, fuckwad.” Shaking my head, I grab a blanket from the pile across the room and pull it back to the couch. “It’s naptime. Can you turn the light off on your way out?”
“Uh,” he stammers. “You’ve got company.” He shrugs. “Sorry. Maybe you should have showered today.”
Company?
“What?” I shriek, sitting up straight and glaring at DJ. “What the hell do you mean company? Are the roads clear? Can we get out finally?”
“Uh…” he looks behind him and when Levi walks in my eyes almost pop out of my head. My heart starts trying to jump out of my throat and my trembling hands go to the rat’s nest on top of my head.
“Roads are not clear, no,” Levi says, staring at me. Probably in horror because I look homeless.
I guess in a way I am homeless…
“What are you doing here?” I whisper, curling my legs under me on the couch as he steps closer.
“This asshole walked the last three and a half miles of his commute because the condition of the roads here wouldn’t allow his car through.” DJ laughs. “I told you she was safe, man.”
“I had to see for myself.” Levi smiles at me and though it shouldn’t, everything feels right again. There’s so much we have to talk about to make things right, but just that one smile gives me hope.
“You two…?” I’m more confused than I was when I overheard Levi and my sister in the room. “You talk without murdering each other?” I glare at DJ. “You have phone service?”
DJ laughs and Levi follows.
“Intermittently when I’ve headed out to help with cleanup, yeah.”
“I found him on social media. He’s been posting the aftermath of the storm and since I couldn’t get ahold of you and Alexa doesn’t seem to have a social media account this jerk was as close as I could get.”
“He loves me.” DJ grins and nods over to me. “You alright? Need me to sit in on this while you guys fix this shit? Because you’ve gotta fix it. I’m tired of mope
y Finley. I need the girl back who I can bicker with without feeling guilty that I hurt her feelings.”
I furrow my brows at him. “Uh. No. I think we’re okay.”
Levi smirks at me and shoves his hands into his pockets. I’ve missed those smirks. I’ve missed the man standing in front of me. And though he looks worn down, he makes the room feel bigger and brighter just by being there. Watching me like his world is complete again.
“Alright. Alexa and I will be in my bedroom. Yell if you need anything.” He winks at Levi before heading down the hall to his bedroom. “But really, don’t interrupt us!” he hollers, laughing before closing the door.
“Well King’s going to be heartbroken.” Levi chuckles, walking over to the couch. “He’s still pretty hung up on that girl.”
“She’s not…” I chuckle. “I’m sorry, are you really here to talk about Alexa’s dating life?”
He sits on the couch and turns to look at me, bringing my hand to his and intertwining our fingers before letting out a heavy sigh. God it feels good to be touching him again.
“No,” he whispers. “But I don’t do emotions well. And these past two weeks have been Hell on Earth. I had no clue where to find you. And when I saw the damage to our street finally…” he trails off and curses. “I thought you were dead. No one had seen you since before the hurricane hit and the news station had mentioned that there were hundreds of missing person’s reports out. The Visitor Center where you worked is gone. I didn’t think I’d ever find you, Finley.” He chokes on his last words and curses, shaking his head.
“I’m safe,” I whisper and he nods, taking a deep breath.
“I know. Somehow, by sheer luck I found DJ online and was able to contact him. Your phone’s been off for so long I was starting to fear the worst. Instantly the guy shot to the top of my favorite people list when he told me you’re safe at his place.” He laughs at the skeptical look I give him. “Okay, so first I wanted to murder him until I realized you weren’t sleeping with him here and just using the guest room. But then we were best friends.”
“I’m sorry.” I wince. “I tried calling you, I really did.”