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“I’ll call, and I’m getting you in. You’re getting taken care of, darling.”
“Thank you,” I managed to say. “For everything.”
“I’d do that and more. Anytime and any day.”
My hands gripped his shirt. I didn’t know why he was doing all of this for me, but I knew I couldn’t tell him to stop. I would take every second of this care and attention up until he decided he was done.
“I want to sleep next to you tonight. I won’t touch you without permission, but I want to be there in case you need me.”
“And if I don’t need you?”
“Then I get to be next to you anyway.”
Chapter Twenty
When I openedmy eyes the next morning, I felt more like myself. I knew not to go back to normal activity, for I’d done that many times before and wound up right where I’d started.
But the relief was palpable.
Levi’s arm was slung around me loosely, keeping me close. I could only stare at him for a second and take in all he’d done in the last twenty-four hours. He wasn’t going anywhere. He helped me through my migraine.
And I’d gotten him all wrong.
If he truly didn’t care, he would have let me suffer. There was no one else watching, meaning he truly did it forme.
He may have hated Calvin, but at least a part of him cared about me. I wasn’t sure which one he felt more strongly about, but I could hold on to the fact that I didn’t mean nothing to him.
My mouth was dry and I was sticky in all the wrong ways. I slowly got up and went to get water and take a shower. I even had the energy to make decaf coffee.
I sat on the couch, determined to take it easy for the day. I opened my Kindle to read for a while, and found myself lost in my book. I had to take breaks to give my eyes a rest, but I was lucky that this one had retreated so quickly.
After getting to a scene that made me smile, I flipped to Discord to tell V about it out of habit.
But then I stopped when I saw the message where we’d said goodbye. I wanted to tell him about my book, about mylife,but I knew I couldn’t go against his wishes.
I sighed and closed my phone, losing all motivation to read. Instead, I slowly moved to open my blinds, wincing when I saw the bright weather.
Spring had officially sprung, and despite my lingering pain, I wanted to be out in it.
I went outside, feeling the sun on my skin. The porch was one of my favorite places to sit and I loved watching things after I’d been down-and-out for a few days. The house Calvin bought still had the note on the door and Mr. Buford was outside dumping mulch on the ground.
Wait a second.
“What are you doing?” I called over to him. “Aren’t you supposed to leave the gardening to me?”
“And what, sit inside all day? I’m old, but I’m not completely decrepit.”
“Let me help.”
“Your hair is in atowel. I’ve got this.”
I blew out a breath. “Fine.”
Levi would kill me if I did anything physical anyway.
“Thank you,” he said. “You know, I saw your husband’s fancy car speed out of here yesterday. Is everything okay?”
I cringed. At least he hadn’t seen him carrying me to it.