Page 25 of Hold Me Instead (Elmwood Falls #1)

Charlie

Charlie slammed the door to her flat. Toothless sprinted off the couch and hid under the arm chair, yellow eyes glowing. Once she determined there was no threat, she inched out and rubbed against Charlie’s ankles.

Charlie scooped the cat into her arms and sighed, nuzzling her silky black fur.

“Ughhh, what is wrong with people?” she groaned into Toothless’s back.

Zachary and his hurtful accusations. Loretta and her blatant entitlement. Her ex and his douchey manipulation.

Like a boomerang, Charlie ran into Bobby’s parents often in the Village, never quite escaping that part of her past she so desperately wanted to retire. A past that solidified how much she didn’t fit into the storybook happily ever after.

A sharp knock made Charlie jump. She turned and looked out the peephole.

“Whoops,” she said, the volume of her voice loud enough to be heard through the door.

“I’ve got sustenance.” The gruff reply made Charlie grin .

She opened the door, and her neighbor Levi entered, covered paper plate in hand.

He looked relaxed in worn jeans and a green-and-blue plaid button-down, the sleeves rolled up his forearms to reveal the edge of an intricate tattoo that traveled up his right shoulder.

His dark brown hair was rumpled, with silver strands peppered throughout it and the short beard growing in thick over his olive skin.

He looked ready for a singles ad for people in their thirties, his deep blue eyes adding a layer of mystique many found irresistible.

That was ironically the most Levi thing about him—the man was a vault.

Charlie could talk his ear off for hours, he’d offer a few key, insightful sentences, then return to his apartment, never to bring it up again.

Their friendship formed a flawless system—their opposite traits for communicating was bound by their mutual appreciation for space.

“It fell down, didn’t it?” she asked. Toothless leaped from her arms to follow their guest as he leaned against the arm of the couch.

“Sure did. The glass broke this time.” Levi granted Toothless an awkward pat. Satisfied, she curled at his feet.

Charlie gasped, a small laugh bursting out. “Are you serious?”

The shared wall of their flats mirrored each space, from the front door that opened on the living room and led back to the kitchen.

From time to time, whenever someone closed their door too hard—Levi from a frustrating day, or Charlie from holding too many bags of pet supplies and kicking her door shut—a frame fell off the wall.

“I’ve never closed it that hard before.”

Levi held up the plate. “Figured you must’ve had a fucking bad day.”

“Is that…?” She walked over and pulled back the foil, elated at the reveal of homemade peanut butter chocolate fudge. “Yesss.” The first bite was in her mouth fast, eliciting a chuckle from Levi .

“Paul and the girls were over earlier, and they made sure to bring extra for you. They were disappointed you weren’t home.

Though, I’m not gonna lie, it was probably because they wanted to see Toothless.

” He looked down at the cat, who gave him a throaty meow in reply.

He lifted his rugged waterproof boot closer, and Toothless rubbed her face against it lovingly.

“I don’t care,” Charlie said. “The girls brought me fudge because they know how much I love it.” She reached for another piece, then thought better of it and grabbed the entire plate from Levi and ate over it. “They can see Toothless anytime. I told you, I don’t care if you let them in.”

As owner of the duplex, Levi had a key to Charlie’s place. Actually, as one of the few in his trusted circle, she had a key to his. Still, he took his landlord duties seriously. While Charlie would argue that fudge counted as an emergency worthy of unscheduled entry, he’d disagree.

A slight smile quirked as he shook his head at her obsession with the treat. “Yeah, they’re thoughtful, those two. I’m pretty lucky.”

“Mm,” Charlie said with a sticky mouthful. She swallowed the peanut butter chocolate goodness and grinned. “I want Paul to be my brother.”

“He’d be happy to have you.” Levi thumped his hand lightly against the couch. “He and Damion keep bugging me about dating again. They’re using the girls as an excuse, saying they want an aunt but… Well, guess it’s better than them asking for cousins.”

Mid-chew, Charlie’s shoulders dropped. Levi had been single for as long as she’d known him.

They’d bonded over their shared avoidance of romantic relationships, and over time, she’d slowly gotten him to open up, albeit in tiny increments.

She didn’t have the whole story, but he didn’t have hers either.

He knew nothing of her physical struggles.

However, he’d heard enough about Bobby to earnestly refer to him as her “fucker of an ex.”

Either way, they gelled. They both worked a lot, had their small circles of close friends.

He occasionally shared food with her, and she offered time with animals that he wouldn’t admit to wanting.

She didn’t judge his no-strings approach to hooking up with women, and he didn’t judge her limited interest in the dating arena.

For two people not in committed relationships, they didn’t feel lacking, especially when their families seemed so focused on it being the key to happiness. They both knew it had the equal ability to cause heartbreak.

“They only bring it up ‘because they love you,’” she parroted.

“You bet.” He cleared his throat and stood, crossing his arms over his chest. “So the door slam. Want to talk about it?”

By saying what he already had, he’d reached his threshold for the day. Maybe even the month. Yet, she wasn’t in the mood to share either.

“Nothing this delicious fudge can’t fix,” she said.

He gave her a smile, a bigger one this time—no teeth, but it actually produced the little crinkle at his eyes, which was a plus.

Another knock at the door had them both staring at it.

“Who in the world is that?” Charlie mumbled.

She opened it without looking, something she rarely did, perhaps comforted with Levi standing there.

Or maybe she sensed who was on the other side.

Zachary searched her face, lingering on her mouth, then jumping back to her eyes. His brow was creased, his hair mussed from the wind, strands falling freely on his forehead .

She shivered, a little weirded out that he knew where she lived and simultaneously happy he’d found her. Sensing Levi standing up behind her, she asked the question that should’ve popped out immediately. “What are you doing here?”

He held up a to-go box— ah , leftovers —and then lifted the other hand, holding a bag from Dorothy’s. “Peace offering?”

Charlie bit her lip, trying to quickly sort through her feelings. Levi’s hand on her shoulder pulled her attention to him.

“You good, Charlie?” he asked.

“Oh. Yes.” She looked at Zachary, whose hands had dropped slightly at the sight of Levi. “This is Zachary Lee. Zachary, this is Levi.”

Levi held out his hand, waiting as Zachary piled the Dorothy’s bag on top of the to-go box so he could shake it.

“Hey,” was all Levi said. Then he leaned over to Charlie’s ear and whispered, “Got some chocolate on your upper lip.”

Her eyes widened, remembering Zachary zeroing in on that exact spot , as she wiped furiously at her mouth.

“I…sorry, Harris. I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Zachary said, his eyes darting from Levi down to Charlie’s hand clutching the plate of fudge.

“I was just leaving.” Levi stepped into the shared mini alcove and went to the door across from hers. “Talk to you later, Charlie.” He gave Zachary a nod as he stepped into his flat.

“Thank the girls for me, Levi!” Charlie called out, getting a small wave of acknowledgment from him before his door closed.

Leaving her and Zachary alone. At her apartment.

Silent.

Zachary gestured with the bag over his shoulder. “Close neighbor.”

“I knocked his frame off the wall,” she blurted .

Zachary looked rightfully confused. “Okay.” He cleared his throat. “I reached out to Maura for your address, I hope that’s alright. You forgot your leftovers. And this, though maybe I’m too late.” He gestured to her hands, one with the plate and the other smudged with fudge.

“No! No. I never turn down Dorothy’s. You owe me, remember?” Charlie snatched the bag from his hand and peered inside at a pile of snickerdoodles. “If this is how you handle arguments, you alone could keep them in business.”

“Now, hang on, I don’t think what we had necessarily qualifies as an argument.”

“Mm…”

“Misunderstanding, maybe.”

She squinted at him. “No denying there will be more arguments in the future.”

Zachary took a deep breath. “Look, I need to clear the air on something.”

His serious tone threw her. She stepped back reluctantly and gestured him inside.

She could at least hear him out while she ate.

“Okay, come in.” She settled on her couch and shoved aside a stack of mail on the wooden coffee table, making room for the fudge.

She waved the bag of cookies at him to continue. “You can sit if you want.”

“Um…” He looked around her living room and frowned at the blanket crumpled at one end of the couch, then quickly returned focus to her. “Do you want some dinner?”

“This’ll do,” she said, already digging into a cookie.

“You hardly ate— ”

“Zachary.”

He was nervous. Still, she couldn’t let his sweetness overwhelm her or him being in her home soften her anger. Her favorite fuzzy blanket was right there and perfect for two people.

Crap .

“Why would you bring me cookies and then tell me not to eat them?” she challenged.

He scratched his head, fighting a smile. She knew he wanted to let it free, to acknowledge what she was saying.

“Actually, you know what.” She wiggled her fingers for the to-go box and snagged two fries before setting the container by the fudge. “There. My Nana always encouraged a good salt and sweet combo.”