Page 17 of Holiday on the Rocks
Levi leaned down and spoke through gritted teeth. “I should?—”
“I’m sorry.” Toby put a hand up. “I am, I’m sorry, I know I was out of line.”
I felt the weight of everything dog piling on me. The stupid car accident, being stuck with Levi, which was rattling me to my bones, and the helplessness of being held against the wall by a stranger. I felt weak, stupid, and utterly disappointed in myself.
Levi took my hand and led me into the hall and stopped. He leaned down. “Are you okay?”
As I looked into those eyes I realized I was not okay on all fronts. Nothing in my life had prepared me for how quickly things could catch on fire. Again. I wanted to hop in a time machine and go back to my childhood to learn some shit because clearly someone failed me somewhere.
Fuck you Elmo.
He leaned down more. “Allie?”
“I’m okay. I just want to leave.”
EIGHT
LEVI
DISTRACTION
We walked to my SUV in silence until her purse dropped on the ground and crap was everywhere.
“Let me get it.” I opened the passenger door.
She used her coat to dab her eyes. “Are you being bossy right now?”
“Yes I am. After all that’s happened today, can we call an hour’s truce? Just not hate me for sixty minutes so we can make sure you’re okay? You know, Langley, not fantasizing about me being attacked by honey badgers, barefoot in a desert of Lego bricks near a Bieber concert.”
She looked down.
“I know what the car accident today was for you. It hits in a different way for you than it would for anyone else. I also know the ER only sent you with a few Tylenol, so let’s pick some up to keep you comfortable. So just take a quick hate break, okay?”
She chewed on her lip for second. “But I thrive on the hate thing and you expect me to just let it go?”
“Of course not. Come on, all that time and energy put into the hatred of Levi Dawson? I would never want you to give that up. But you’ve had some shit go down today. We can be civil for an hour, right?”
She shifted her weight and looked away. I grabbed the magic eight ball that was just behind the tire and handed it to her. “What do you think?”
She took it, shook it, and looked into the little window. A tiny grin slithered across those pale pink lips as she held it out for me to see.
“Why the fuck not?” I shook my head. “Best decision maker in the history of time.”
She gave the smallest nod before climbing into the passenger seat. I shut the door before grabbing the last items from her purse and got into the driver’s seat.
“Langley, why do you have taco seasoning and socks in your purse?” I grabbed my phone.
“I get hungry and cold sometimes.”
“Of course you do.” Her blue eyes zapped me. “My phone said there’s a twenty-four hour grocery story a mile from here. Would it be okay if I run in to grab Tylenol for your head and a few items for tomorrow?”
“Okay.”
Her tension filled the vehicle as she stared straight out the window. I knew between the car thing and the guy holding her against the wall she was shaken up, and I didn’t know how to make it better. I did the only thing I could; turn up the tunes and belted out some Benson Boone. While she was silent, I chose to believe that my top shelf vocal abilities had just stunned her into silence. Yes, I was going with that.
Once parked, I turned to her. “You can wait here, I’ll be?—”
She laced her fingers together nervously. “No.” She took a breath. “I don’t want to stay here.”
