Page 13 of Rescued Hearts
4
Levi
Everyone was ready to go home after Weston got into a fight with Savannah’s ex. I didn’t blame him for losing it after I found out he’d basically accused her of sleeping her way through Wild Creek. I wanted to take a crack at him myself for that. Would have, too, if it had been about Tess.
When she and I had made it to the parking lot, Savannah and Weston were making out against Delilah’s Jeep. Tess had brought her hand to her mouth, giggling at the sight of them.
But now she was leaving…and I didn’t want her to, even though I knew I needed to let her go for my own sanity.
“Are you sure you can walk?” she asked, looking up at me with worried eyes. “We can drive you. Emmett didn’t drink anything.”
The way her concern for me made me feel only made the decision to walk more necessary. “I’ll be fine. I live just around the corner. Don’t worry about me.”
Something in her eyes wilted, like she didn’t want the night to end just yet. I selfishly hoped it had something to do with me. The idiotic part of me that completely ignored the line I decided to draw when it came to her.
The line that I forgot existed all day.
After Colt announced his engagement, I was glued to Tess’s side like a magnet. Seeing her around her family, unguarded and comfortable, was addictive and infectious. But I understood how she felt that way. Being around my cousins and the Hayeses was like a breath of fresh air. Everyone was themselves. There wasn’t any contempt or sense of rivalry between siblings like there was in my family. They were one cohesive unit. A unit I wanted to be a part of. Not just an outsider looking in.
And I think today was a good start.
“Okay,” Tess said, accepting defeat. I hated to disappoint her, but I knew it was for the best. It was my responsibility to keep things between us professional, and I’d done a terrible job so far. “Will you at least let me know when you make it home?”
My chest tightened. Being cared for like this would get to my head if she didn’t stop. No one had asked that of me before. Not any ex-girlfriend. Not my siblings. Not my parents.
Just Tess.
I’d never wanted to break my own rules more than I did right now. Especially with the way those drinks stained her lips a dark raspberry pink.
“Yes.” I cleared my throat. “Of course.”
Her hand was soft in mine when I helped her climb into the passenger seat of Emmett’s pickup. It didn’t seem to matter that I’d been holding it almost all night while we danced; I still found it hard to let go.
Shutting the door, I looked over at Emmett in the driver’s seat. “Drive safe,” I said through the open window. He gave me a quick nod, and they pulled off, Tess’s eyes locked on me until they were out of sight.
Once they were gone, I scrubbed a hand over my face, sighing.
Tonight was a nightmare. Not because of the fight, but because it was one of the best nights I’d ever had. And I’d had it with a client.
But watching Tess exist without fear and let loose felt like a privilege, one I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.
I made sure my car was locked and started towards my house. I might’ve fibbed when I told Tess I lived just around the corner. It was more like three miles, but I needed the time to think anyway. To find a way to survive being around her while maintaining a professional distance.
I wasn’t hopeful I’d find one.
By the time I walked through my front door, I was sweaty, tired, and still at a loss. Tossing my keys on the entryway table, I kicked off my shoes and sent Tess a text that I had made it in case she was waiting for it.
My phone buzzed immediately.
Tess Hayes:Good. I had so much fun with you tonight
I smiledat my phone like a fool and told her I had fun too as I walked to my bathroom. I turned on the shower, needing to wash off the bar and the walk. But the second the warm water hit my shoulders, the exhaustion I felt bled into something else.
Something dangerous.
I lowered the water temperature and turned around, shoving my face under the spray to get Tess out of my mind. But she lingered.
The shy curve of her smile. The way she adored Luke. How she danced tonight. Unsure at first, like she was scared to take up space, but she eventually let go in my arms. Heat pooled low in my belly at the memory of her head flung back, her silky hair glistening under the lights as it swayed with her movements.
