by KL Donn
“Thanks, Mom, I’ll be down in a few minutes.” She faked her own grin at the woman as she left the room.
Her body was stiff as she slowly rose from bed, intent on having a quick warm shower before making her way down to whatever breakfast her mother had butchered.
Turning the water on, she quickly hopped in. Washing her long, red hair, she remembered the way Levi seemed to be fascinated with it. She wondered if he even noticed how often his eyes had strayed to her locks. Not like he’d care, she scolded herself.
“Shake him off, Hayes,” she muttered to herself as she carefully stepped out. For her sanity, she had to let go. Say goodbye to him, even if it were only in her mind.
After slipping into the comfiest sweats she had—they were so worn-in they felt like soft, warm silk and were just baggy enough to hide the brace she had on her knee—she grabbed a tank and loose t-shirt and slowly hobbled her way downstairs.
The smell of burnt something or other assaulted her senses as she walked into the kitchen. Seeing her mom scraping a pan full of what could only be described as charcoal pancakes into the garbage, she laughed. She loved her mom, but the woman really should stop trying to cook. She burnt water when she boiled it.
“Morning, honey.” Her voice sounded chipper as Hayes sat at the counter. “Thought I’d make you something before you went to school.” Her mom looked around at the pans that clearly had the beginnings of breakfast. “Dad went to that bakery you like.” Her smile was rueful as she handed Hayes a cup of green tea.
“Thanks, Mom.” Hayes flashed a bright smile.
They were quiet for a moment when her mother sat beside her, grabbed her hand in both of hers, and spoke. “I know you don’t like to talk about things, Hayes, and your father and I are partially at fault for that. Everything was good until Ryder…” She had to take a moment to compose herself.
“Mom, please,” Hayes tried interrupting.
“No, honey, just listen. After Ryder, we all shut down. I lost sight of how much pain you were in, emotionally and physically. We almost lost you, too, and I didn’t know how to process that. Since then, though, I sometimes feel like I’ve still lost you because even though you put on a good front, you’re still hurting.” Hayes didn’t know what to say. “I want you to know, no matter how much you think Dad and I are struggling, we are always here for you. No matter what, sweetheart, you can always come to us about anything. Okay?” There were tears in the woman’s eyes as she waited for a response.
“I know, Mom. I’ve always known that.” It was the best she could do.
“Okay, honey.” She didn’t sound convinced, but further conversation was stopped as her father came through the door.
“I have food!” he announced.
They both plastered smiles on their faces as he came in the kitchen. “Cinnamon rolls?” Hayes asked as she smelled the melted cream cheese.
“You bet!” He chuckled handing her the bag.
Silence filled the room as they ate breakfast together. Her own eyes kept going to all the pans filled with either half-cooked or burnt food in them. When she met her mother’s eyes, the other woman glared at her, challenging Hayes to remain quiet about it.
She couldn’t hold it in, however. “Sure is a good breakfast, Mom. Must have been hard work.” She smirked sweetly as a muffin was tossed at her, catching it just as a horn blew outside announcing her ride. “Gotta go!” She blew her mom and dad a kiss as she left the house.
Brett and Lys waited at the curb for her as she slowly made her way down the sidewalk towards them. A revving engine drew her eye. The sleek, black frame of a gorgeous Charger had her breath grabbing as it drove slowly down her street.
Levi behind the wheel.
His ice blue eyes meeting hers as she opened Brett’s car door.
Her breath held when his face beamed at her. That one dimple appearing; his eyes possessive as they roamed her body.
“Hayes?” Lys questioned. Meeting her friend’s stare, she saw that they followed Levi with an angry glare.
“I’m coming,” she whispered.
Confusion swirled in her mind as they drove to school. Lys talked about prom coming up and how she wondered who would be crowned king and queen. The obvious answer was, of course, her and Brett.
Hayes’ mind was stuck on Levi, though. The look he gave her, the way he watched her. She couldn’t shake it. She was supposed to be kicking him out of her mind, but how was she expected to do that when he continued popping up?
It was official. Levi had become a damn stalker. He’d sat outside Hayes’ house for nearly an hour before she’d emerged. He’d watched her father leave then come back. Her friends pulled up. He knew he had to go, and meant to do so surreptitiously, but his body had other plans as his foot decided to go rogue and hit the gas pedal a little too hard, so his engine revved.
She knew immediately, too. Her entire body tensed up as she saw his car. Her step had faltered as she tried not to limp to her friend’s car. He wanted to swoop in and be her knight. Show her he wasn’t some arrogant dickhead. His problem was, he wasn’t a knight, and he was arrogant.
After following her to school, he went straight to the shop, intent on talking to Nox. He might have some advice on how to work through the shit floating around his mind.
It wasn’t too busy when he pulled in, so he went straight for the office knowing that’s where his brother would be.
“Hey, Levi,” Sophia greeted him, her smile big as she looked up from one of her books.
Walking over to her, he leaned over the counter to kiss her cheek. “How you doin’, pretty girl? Classes aren’t too hard, are they?” A quick glance at her book showed they didn’t look too bad.
“I’m good, Levi. Classes are fine.”
“Nox busy?”
“Nope, just doing some paperwork for an old customer.”
“Thanks, Soph.” He kissed her cheek again before walking into his brother’s office and closing the door.
“What’s up?” Nox asked without looking up from what he was doing.
“There’s this girl.” He figured he might as well go for broke.
“Not a shocker.” Nox finally looked at him.
“Shut up. She’s in high school– “
“Christ, Levi,” he interrupted.
“Would you listen to me?” Levi demanded, understanding why he had that reaction. “She’s eighteen, would have graduated, but she was in an accident of some kind that held that up.”
“This about that girl from the other day that exploded on you?”
He couldn’t exactly deny it. “Yeah, that was her friend. I had done something before I knew her age. Then I made her feel like shit, and I seem to keep on doing that. But I can’t shake her from my fucking head. She’s been planted there like a root, and she’s all I think about.” He rushed to explain. Nox had a huge grin on his face that only pissed Levi off. “What the fuck is so funny?” he snapped.
“Oh, nothing.” Levi could see his brother struggling to hold back his amusement.
He knew what Nox was getting at. The way he and Loch had teased their older brother about falling for Soph, and Nox promising he’d laugh when it happened to them and they were left clusterfucked. Well, for Levi, that time had come, and he was well and truly fucked.
“What’s the issue, Levi? You’ve never given a fuck before, why’s now so different?”
“I give a fuck about her. She puts on a good front, but I have the feeling someone talking about us—her being in school and me being older—I think she’ll take issue with that. It would hurt her.”
“How bad did you fuck things up with her?”
“In short?” Nox nodded. “Things got heated, then I pushed her away when I found out from the guy she was with that she was in high school.”
“So, you took some guy’s girl, made out with her…” Levi’s brow raised at the making out part. “Seriously?” Nox was shocked. “Okay, so he said she was in high school?”
/> “Uh, yeah.”
“Didn’t occur to you he was being a dick?”
“Not at the time.” He was slightly sheepish at the admission.
“You thought taking his girl was a good idea because…?” He let the question hang.
“It wasn’t the first time Hayes and I have met.” He defended. “We’d met twice before.”
“So why didn’t you try asking her out either of those times?” Did the man have to be so damn sensible?
Blowing out an annoyed breath, he told Nox, “I was kind of a dick both of those times, too.”
Nox threw his hands in the air in an exaggerated fashion, saying, “No wonder she wants nothing to do with you. Stop being a dick, Levi. Stop getting your rocks off with her and get to fucking know her. Do you know anything other than her name, age, and that she’s in high school?”
“She was in an accident,” Levi supplied.
“The one that prevented her from graduating last year?”
“Yeah.” He paused. “I think so.”
The thud from Nox’s head hitting the desk in front of him made Levi flinch. “I’ve taught you nothing,” he mumbled.
“She’s a runner,” he supplied when Nox didn’t make a move.
His brother’s head finally popped up. “Go with that. If she’s a runner, she’s likely got ambition. Run with her. Show her you’re not a dick. And when she opens up about anything, ask her the fuck out and stop being a chickenshit.” The emphasis on anything wasn’t missed.
“And if people talk?” That was his real worry. For her.
“If people talk, give ‘em something to talk about,” was his only answer.
“Thanks, Nox. Loads of help.”
“Anytime, Levi.” His sarcasm wasn’t missed either.
Walking back to the front, he grinned at Soph who was nose deep in her book again as he passed. When he was about to go to the back, her soft words stopped him.
“Does she drive?”
He turned to look at her. “Uh, I don’t think so, no.”
“You could pick her up… Today,” she added when he looked confused. “You said you were a jerk after finding out she was in school. If it doesn’t bother you, picking her up would show her that.”
“You’re a genius, Soph!” Her glorious smile followed him into the shop.
She was right. Picking Hayes up would show her that he wasn’t ashamed of her age. He’d been shocked as hell because she’d gotten him off in the shower, but everything else she’d said or done with him showed her maturity rather than her age. Hopefully, she’d give him another shot and not turn him down in front of her peers. He wasn’t above begging; he’d just rather do it in private than on display.
Chapter Six
Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave.
Hayes sat in study hall just waiting for the bell to ring. She was exhausted, in pain, and still had to stop at the pharmacy to pick up her prescription. The worst part was that Brett and Lys had left after lunch, and she would either have to walk, take a bus, or call her parents to pick her up.
Walking wasn’t even close to being an option when her house was six miles away. Calling her parents would only have them worried, and her dad would miss work because of her. Taking the bus, it was.
She always felt judged when she had to take public transportation. People stared because of her limp, silently wondering what her damage was. Sometimes they would work up the guts to ask her and think her rude when she chose to say it was personal. It wasn’t like she wanted to be a jerk about it, but it wasn’t anyone’s business.
The bell rang, startling her from her thoughts. Tossing her things into her backpack, she was incredibly grateful it was the end of the year, and she could leave her heavier textbooks in her locker instead of bringing them home.
She waited as everyone else packed up their things and left the room before struggling to her feet. Her knee had been numb longer than she would admit to anyone. Regret heavy in her stomach as she wished she hadn’t outdone herself because of a tool bag.
By the time she was at the front doors of the school, the halls were mostly empty, just teachers getting ready to leave for the night. Making her way outside, a light breeze cooled the sweat from the exertion of holding herself up. Leaning on the railing at the front steps, she took a few deep breaths before starting her descent.
Car doors shutting in the distance caused her to flinch while she struggled. Footsteps drawing closer to her had her looking up just as the person reached her. “Levi, what are you doing here?” She tried to sound angry, but it came off more like an out-of-breath whisper.
The concern on his face couldn’t be faked as he wrapped an arm around her waist, taking as much of her weight as he could. “I’ve been here for an hour waiting for you. Are you alright?”
“I’m okay.” She had to grit her teeth so as not to give away the fact she was anything but fine.
“No, you’re not,” he said, swooping her up into his embrace. She wanted to protest, she really did, but Lord did his arms feel good around her, holding her tight to his body as he walked to his car. The relief on her knee wasn’t so bad, either.
“Put me down,” she half-heartedly protested.
“Not happening, sugar,” he countered.
It wasn’t like she was in any position to fight him on it. Besides, she didn’t really want to. She fought the urge to kick him in the junk for the hurt he’d caused her, but just this once, she was going to enjoy the feeling of being close to him.
His muscles rippled against her hip as he walked.
The spicy cologne he wore that assaulted her senses.
His tight grip on her.
She would savor it all for as long as she could before the real him came forth again and made her feel like dirt. For that one moment, she could pretend he cared, that she was his.
Goddamn, did she feel good in his arms. When he saw her emerge from the high school, he’d hopped out of his car faster than the Tasmanian devil could swirl around town. He’d immediately sensed she was in pain and had to help her. She was pushing herself, and it was his fault. He was the tool her friend accused him of being. Now that she was in his arms, he figured maybe he could convince her to let him help her with her knee.
He may not know the extent of her injury, but he’d do anything to help her with the pain. “I’d like to take you to see my trainer,” he told her as they reached his car, and he set her down beside it to open her door.
“What for?” Her question was understandably skeptical.
“He can help with your injury.” She didn’t look convinced. “He’s a physiotherapist, and he helps me after each fight. I’d be worse off without him.” Her glare was unmoving. “Please, Hayes.” She was going to make him beg.
“I need to go to the pharmacy.” She slid in without answering him. She also didn’t refuse him.
“Whatever you need,” he vowed, rounding the hood to get in. As they sped down the street, he watched her, the way she held her leg steady with both hands. Held in every hiss of pain when it moved. He tried to take it easy on the turns, but he couldn’t do anything other than slow down when they hit a pothole.
“The Walgreens on the right is good,” she told him through clenched teeth.
“What do you need, I’ll grab it?” He asked, parking the car.
Her wary look pissed him off. Not at her but himself. “There’s a prescription at the counter for me.”
“Don’t move,” he told her before she could protest.
Jogging into the store, he rushed to the back where the pharmacy was located, glad there was no line as he reached the counter.
“Can I help you?” the woman asked.
“Picking up a prescription for Hayes Morrison.” He was unable to stand still, slightly afraid that by the time he got back to his car, Hayes would be gone. She was too damn skittish, and he had no one to blame but himself.
“Here we are,” she said a few minutes later.
; “Thanks a lot,” he replied as he finished paying, not even sure if she had insurance or not. Not caring either. Helping her was the only thing on his mind.
Bursting through the store’s front doors, his gaze immediately sought her out in his car. When he didn’t see her sitting in the front seat, panic nearly seized him.
“What the– “
“Don’t say it,” he heard her comment as he came to a stop beside the car to see her lying flat across the seat.
“I thought you’d left,” he replied lamely.
“Where and how exactly would I have accomplished that?”
“Good point,” he muttered handing her the bag with her prescription in it. As he got back in the car, he headed in the direction of Casper’s gym. The guy was an annoyance, but he employed the best in the business, and if anyone could help Hayes, it was going to be JJ.
“Where are we going?” she asked after a short time passed and they weren’t at her house, which he’d known was close to the Walgreens they’d stopped at.
“To see my guy,” he told her like she should know that already.
“Just take me home, Levi.” Her voice was barely above a whisper, and the breathy quality she’d said his name with had his whole body perking up. Mostly, he just liked hearing her say his name.
“Let me help you, Hayes.” He could feel her light indigo eyes directed at him, but he wouldn’t budge. She was hurting, and he could help so he would.
When she didn’t say anything more, he figured he’d won this round. Once she was feeling better was when he’d have to get crafty in his assault on breaking down her walls. He’d hurt her, he knew he did, but there was so much more to her than what he’d been shown so far. She had secrets hidden deep inside that he felt she had yet to show anyone.
The gym was across town, and in rush hour traffic, he knew it’d be a bit of a longer drive. “Close your eyes and rest, sugar,” he told her quietly.
When she didn’t respond, he quickly looked at her, seeing her eyelids shut and her body relaxed. His free hand went to hold hers on the console where it laid. Intertwining their fingers, he brought them to his lap to rest on his leg. The way they fit together made him want to wax poetic crap about how right they looked together. Without her intent and angry stare on him, he could see the few freckles spattered across the bridge of her nose and under her eyes. He could admire the way she twitched her nose as she slept or maybe even dreamt. He was left to wonder what all of her hopes and dreams were. What happened in her past that made her so distrusting and always on the offensive.