Page 71 of Blind Date with a #FORMERPLAYER
On my way to the counter, I spot one with a black momma bear cuddling her two little bear cubs. Claiming it for my mom, I carefully remove it from the tree and make my way to pay for both of them at the register.
Chloe and Gabe are both right, it’s time to step out of my comfort zone and talk to Levi beforeit’s too late.
“Why the hell is Levi Brennan still dating Layla? He’s so hot and she’s just…plain,” the woman finishes, the same woman that used to torture me growing up, with a shrill voice I will never forget. Getting older seems to have made it worse or I’m just more sensitive to it–to her and her friends.
I spotted her almost immediately and attempted to ignore her, pretending I didn’t but hearing my name as we walk by makes my footsteps falter, mirroring my heartbeat.
“What’s wrong?” Chloe asks, her eyes falling on Sacha and Rachel browsing women’s lingerie in the store behind me. “Oh.” She frowns.
“We have to get him to come out to the bar one night without her, I bet we could get him to change his mind.”
My stomach drops and I grab Chloe’s arm for support, my fingers unconsciously digging in. “Ease up there, Supergirl.”
“Sorry,” I mutter doing as she asks. She’s about to drag me away when their next words halt our footsteps.
“When I get a few drinks in him, I’ll just seduce him. Once I’m in his bed, he won’t be able to remember her name.”
Spinning on my heel, I stalk over to them, Chloe on my heels. “You’re still talking about other women? Don’t you get sick of being a bully?” Chloe accuses.
“It’s okay, Chloe. I got this.”
Rachel sticks out her hip and arches her eyebrows, looking down on me as if I were the dirt beneath her Jimmy Choo’s. “What do you think you got?” she scoffs.
“I’ve got Levi because he wants a woman who not only respects him but also respects herself enough to show some class. He wouldn’t stoop so low.”
She laughs like what I said is funny. “You’re just a temporary fixation. As soon as the season starts up again, he’ll go back to being the player he always was.”
Chloe tugs on my arm. “Come on, Layla. Like you said, they aren’t worth it.”
My heart lodges itself in my throat, their words making an impact and infesting my thoughts, their poison spreading like the plague. Allowing Chloe to pull me far away from them, she finally stops and turns to me. “Do not let them sink their ugly teeth into your brain. They are wrong. Levi is crazy about you.”
“But what if they’re not?” I ask, my voice trembling.
She shakes her head and puts her arm over my shoulders in support. “If by some ridiculous cosmic force, they’re not wrong,” she says dramatically and then her voice softens, “he doesn’t deserve you. But I don’t believe it. He would be a fool not to love you.”
“He doesn’t love me,” I deny, my heart skipping a beat.
“Yes, he does, but you’ll know soon enough,” she claims.
Even holding myself back a little bit, I’ve been falling for him, but could he truly love me?
Chapter 36
Layla
Rushing around my kitchen, my hips sway to the light jazz as I hurry to set the table with simple white dishes and black and white patterned placemats. I want everything to be perfect. Tonight, I need to let go of my worry and talk to Levi. There’s no more procrastinating. I got the job with the Mavericks. My stomach churns, terrified he’ll walk away when I’m already falling for him. The skirt of my black dress adorned with white polka dots swishes by my knees as I hurry knowing he will be here any minute.
A knock at the door stops me in my tracks and I spin around, my ponytail slapping me in the face. Pausing at the mirror, I reassess my appearance, tugging at the straps on the top of my outfit, a halter, hooking at the back of my neck. Quickly, I reapply my red lipstick and pucker my lips.
“Coming,” I call, my bare feet slapping against the wood floor as I run to the door.
Yanking the door open, I look up at Levi, dressed in faded jeans and a dark green V-neck shirt and smile. “Hi.”
“Wow, Layla, you look gorgeous.”
“You’re so sweet,” I say, feeling my cheeks warm. “Come in.”
As I move back from the door, he grips my waist and pulls my body flush to his, sealing his lips over mine. Trailing his fingers up my side, to my jaw, he holds me in place his mouth gliding, in a tender caress.
