Page 55 of Hold Me Instead
“We’ll talk more about the practice later.” She nodded a thanks to the waitress, then dumped her plateful of food into the container. Standing, Charlie rifled through her purse and pulled out her wallet, throwing a twenty on the table. “Um, let me know what else I owe.”
“Wait—”
“I really do need to go. Oh, but Zachary?” Her eyes focused hard on his, face determined.
He swallowed. “Yeah?”
“The thought of your dad retiring makes me sad, for many reasons. I love working with him, and for him. Honestly, I know I still have a lot to learn. I’m not ready for him to hand over the reins. The fact that you’re jumping to that conclusion is really painful, you know?” Her voice cracked. She shook her head. “Regarding you staying in town longer? What I’m struggling with the most isworking with you.”
Zachary stared at the space where she’d stood long after she left, kicking himself for not prying more about what had just happened with Loretta.
No. Kicking himself for accusing her of waiting with bated breath to take over the vet hospital. As though she’d been clamoring for it, or forcing it to happen somehow. She didn’t conjure his dad’s heart attack. She hadn’t made Zachary leave town in the first place and abandon the one thing his dad had been so proud to pass along to him. She didn’t make him come back, dead set on improving everything to try to make up for where he’d failed.
He owed her an explanation.
He glanced at the table and saw her box of leftovers.
Looked like he owed her dinner too.
Chapter 15
Charlie
Charlieslammedthedoorto her flat. Toothless sprinted off the couch and hid under the arm chair, yellow eyes glowing. Once she determined there was no threat, she inched out and rubbed against Charlie’s ankles.
Charlie scooped the cat into her arms and sighed, nuzzling her silky black fur.
“Ughhh, what is wrong with people?” she groaned into Toothless’s back.
Zachary and his hurtful accusations. Loretta and her blatant entitlement. Her ex and his douchey manipulation.
Like a boomerang, Charlie ran into Bobby’s parents often in the Village, never quite escaping that part of her past she so desperately wanted to retire. A past that solidified how much she didn’t fit into the storybook happily ever after.
A sharp knock made Charlie jump. She turned and looked out the peephole.
“Whoops,” she said, the volume of her voice loud enough to be heard through the door.
“I’ve got sustenance.” The gruff reply made Charlie grin.
She opened the door, and her neighbor Levi entered, covered paper plate in hand. He looked relaxed in worn jeans and a green-and-blue plaid button-down, the sleeves rolled up his forearms to reveal the edge of an intricate tattoo that traveled up his right shoulder. His dark brown hair was rumpled, with silver strands peppered throughout it and the short beard growing in thick over his olive skin. He looked ready for a singles ad for people in their thirties, his deep blue eyes adding a layer of mystique many found irresistible.
That was ironically the most Levi thing about him—the man was a vault. Charlie could talk his ear off for hours, he’d offer a few key, insightful sentences, then return to his apartment, never to bring it up again. Their friendship formed a flawless system—their opposite traits for communicating was bound by their mutual appreciation for space.
“It fell down, didn’t it?” she asked. Toothless leaped from her arms to follow their guest as he leaned against the arm of the couch.
“Sure did. The glass broke this time.” Levi granted Toothless an awkward pat. Satisfied, she curled at his feet.
Charlie gasped, a small laugh bursting out. “Are you serious?”
The shared wall of their flats mirrored each space, from the front door that opened on the living room and led back to the kitchen. From time to time, whenever someone closed their door too hard—Levi from a frustrating day, or Charlie from holding too many bags of pet supplies and kicking her door shut—a frame fell off the wall.
“I’ve never closed it that hard before.”
Levi held up the plate. “Figured you must’ve had a fucking bad day.”
“Is that…?” She walked over and pulled back the foil, elated at the reveal of homemade peanut butter chocolate fudge. “Yesss.” The first bite was in her mouth fast, eliciting a chuckle from Levi.
“Paul and the girls were over earlier, and they made sure to bring extra for you. They were disappointed you weren’t home. Though, I’m not gonna lie, it was probably because they wanted to see Toothless.” He looked down at the cat, who gave him a throaty meow in reply. He lifted his rugged waterproof boot closer, and Toothless rubbed her face against it lovingly.
