Page 26 of Taboo
On the seventh call she answers, “Levi. Please.”
“Please what? Let you get raped by that fucking dick neighbor of yours, not a chance sweetheart. Get your ass back to this house before I fire up my bike to come find you.”
“I need space. You two are smothering me to death and I need to think.”
“What’s there to think about? The only thing you need to be worried about right now is your damn safety. Where are you going?” I fire back sounding more irritated than I mean to. This fucking hangover isn’t helping this conversation go as smoothly as it should be.
“I was just going to drive until I found a place to stop. Thought maybe the open road could allow me some time to process everything.” I can feel her pulling away from me. It has to be Noah.
“I’ll go with you.”
“Levi. You’re one of the reasons I need to think and I can’t do that with you around me.”
“I get that. Just come back here and I’ll give you all the space you need. You can stay in the guest bedroom and I won’t bother you as long as I know you’re safe.” My overwhelming instinct to protect her is on overdrive right now, no thanks to what my buddies found out about the neighbor. “Look, you can’t under any circumstances go to your house alone. I need you to promise me you’re coming back here and I’ll give you what you need. Just do this for me so I don’t go back to jail making sure you’re safe from that fucker again.” I’m pulling off my clothes as I wait for her response. One way or another I have to get to her and I’m not going to waste time if she tries to make me work for this.
“All right. I’ll come back, but we need to talk as soon as I get there.” She sounds defeated and sad. It kills me to hear her struggling like she is and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to fix that for her.
“I’ll get in the shower now. Text me when you’re here and I’ll come out to the truck.” She disconnects the call and I rush to take my shower. If I didn’t feel so much like ass, I’d have skipped it, but it seems to help immensely.
I make a mad dash to the kitchen and throw together a sandwich and grab a Gatorade, managing to get it down before she texts that she’s here. Noah hasn’t made another appearance by the time I head out the door to see her.
She looks like hell and I get in slowly as I try to ease into whatever conversation she wants to have. “Thank you for making it easy on me. You know I would’ve driven this entire town looking for you if that’s what it took.”
“Levi, you don’t have to protect me.”
“I know that, but I want to. That guy is bad fucking news and until he’s out of the picture I still want to keep an eye on you. Now, what has you running from my house this morning?” She looks down at the steering wheel instantly.
“I need time to think, like I said.”
“I’ll give you that. I’ll give you whatever you want, just come back inside and I’ll let you come to me when you’re ready to talk.” Her eyes are filled with tears when she looks up at me.
“Levi, I’ve loved Noah for so many years that I don’t know anything different and now you’ve somehow creeped through the cracks of my broken heart.” She pauses and swallows hard before she continues. “And now he’s decided to give in to the supposed feelings he has as well, but I’ve refused him.” I knew this conversation was coming when she left the house in such a hurry this morning. “I refused him because of how I feel about you.” I turn to her with hope, but it’s only heartbreak that’s spread across her face. She’s truly torn about this and that makes me realize what I must do.
I have to leave her alone so she can decide what she wants. She’s held onto the slight chance that Noah would reciprocate her feelings for years now and I can’t be the reason she doesn’t give herself a chance with him. I don’t want her regretting anything if she’s with me and if that means I step back and give her the space she needs, then that’s what I’ll do.
We both sit quietly until I finally respond. “I care about you, Kali. And because of that, I want you to see if there’s anything between you and Noah. I’ve watched the two of you over the years fight the temptations and if you’re both finally on the same page… I could never hold you back from that.” I speak past the lump in my throat and give her what she needs to move forward.
“Levi, I don’t know what I feel. I’m literally all over the place and it’s making me insane.”
“Who says you have to make a decision today? Stay with us at the house and take time until you decide what you want.” It’ll suck if I have to say goodbye to her and out of the slim chance that she’ll realize what we have is the beginning of greatness, I’m pushing to have her stay.
I want Kali in my life. She makes me smile and everything is fun with her. She’s always been different than any other woman, I just didn’t realize how much different she’d be when I really got to know her and how much I’d love that difference.
“I don’t want to hurt you.” She won’t look at me this time, so I reach across the truck and lift her chin until she has no choice.
“Look at me.” I stop a tear from trailing down her cheek. “You won’t hurt me. I want you happy and if that means you’re with Noah, then that’s what I want.” I don’t tell her that it’ll gut me; she doesn’t need that bit of information weighing on her mind.
“Now come inside and I’ll help you get your stuff set up in the spare room.” We both open our doors at the same time and then I let her follow me inside. Noah is in the kitchen when we pass, but neither of us stop to fill him in. I need to have a little one on one talk with him about all of this anyway.
“You know where to find me if you need anything.”
“Thank you, Levi. Here are your keys.” She attempts to hand my truck keys back to me and I don’t reach for them.
“I told you to keep it until you found something to replace your Jeep.”
“I know you did, but I can’t keep getting handouts from you.”
“It’s not a handout; you’re just borrowing it until you get yours.” I walk toward the door, knowing she’s not going to make it easy to reason with her about this. “I have to work tonight at the club; will I see you there for your shift?”