Page 18 of Closer

“You’re not just saying that?”

“Would it help if I told you I have a raging boner for you in this dress?” he says, and though I can’t be sure with all the fabric that separates us, something tells me he isn’t kidding. I chuckle anyway and step back, shaking the nervous energy out of my hands. It doesn’t work.

“Oddly enough, yes. That helps.”

“Excellent. Should I tell you that I want to push you back on that table, pull up your dress and slide my huge cock inside you right now?”

I let out a huge breath. “Okay, not helping.”

“Right,” he says with a sigh. “Marrying my bandmate.”

“Not that it’s not nice to see you, but what are you doing here?”

“I figured I wouldn’t get to see you much afterward to wish you congratulations, and I had something for you.”

My heart squeezes. “Why won’t you see me?”

“Because I’ll likely be drunk off my arse, or buried balls deep in some hot wedding guest.” I flinch, because though I know it shouldn’t, it still hurts to hear him talk like that. “Anyway, I wanted you to be the first to hear this.”

He pulls his phone from his pocket, and I stare at it. “Your phone? You know I have one, right?”

“Not the phone, what’s on it.”

“Okay,” I search his gaze, still not really comprehending. “I’m listening.”

He walks over to the entertainment unit and plugs the phone into the iPod dock. With a few taps, the sound of a bare piano filters through the room. It’s haunting and so beautiful, and after a beat, a gravelly voice begins to sing.

I glance at Levi, because though I don’t get to hear his singing voice often, other than on backing vocals for Coop, I recognise it instantly. I don’t recognise the song, though. “You wrote this?”

“Think of it as a gift to the two of you.” He shakes his head. “Fuck. Coop already got my girl, and here I am giving him a wedding gift too? There’s something wrong with my fucking head.”

I swallow back the lump in my throat. “I love it.”

Levi takes several steps towards me and holds his hands outstretched. “Dance with me?”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“Why not? Afraid I’ll steal you away?” His mouth turns up in a wolfish smile. It feels like forever since I’ve seen him grin like this. “Come on, Red. One last dance?”

I sigh and take his hand. “We never had a first dance.”

“We were dancing from the second I first laid eyes on you, or at least I thought we were. Turns out I was just over here dancing on my own like a tool.”

“You just haven’t found the right partner yet, but when you do, she’s going to make anything you had with me seem inferior, like wasted time. And I think it will kill me, as much as I love Coop, and I do love him, more than anyone will ever know, you’ll still break my heart when you find her.”

I lean up and press a kiss to his cheek. Levi being Levi, turns his head quickly so that my lips are pressed against his. He pulls me closer, pressing me so tightly to him I can’t breathe and pushes his tongue into my mouth. I don’t kiss him back. I wait. A beat later he pulls away, and I stare up into those shining green eyes. I press my hand to my lips and then quickly reach up and wipe the smear of my red lipstick from his mouth.

“You shouldn’t—”

“I know. I had to give it one last try, though.” He shrugs. His eyes are bloodshot and filled with so much sorrow that I feel it like a knife in my chest. “See if I couldn’t still get you to run away with me.”

“I’m marrying Cooper. I love Cooper.”

“You loved me once too. Maybe not as much as him, but you still did.”

“I still do. A part of me will always love you, Levi.”

“But you love him more.” The way he says this isn’t a question, it’s a fact we both know. It’s the reason I’m standing here in a frou-frou dress, about to be the centre of attention in a wedding I didn’t really want. I just wanted the man at the end of the altar forever. I could do without the dress, and the guests, the cake, and a big celebration. I could do without all of it, but I couldn’t do without Cooper Ryan.