8. Bay
EIGHT
bay
“Need a ten millimeter.” Levi extends his hand out of my peripheral, but I’m too busy texting Ellie back about being home by seven so that I can feed everyone dinner at the same time. “ Bay. ”
“Yeah?”
“Woman, are you listening to me?” He pivots and turns to face me, those green eyes narrowed and annoyed that I’m obviously not paying attention.
“Sorry. I was texting Ellie to be home?—”
“Hey”—he rocks his head back and forth at me—“you don’t have to play mom, too, Astor.”
I know.
However, I can’t seem to help it. Ever since Mom committed suicide like the selfish ass she was, I don’t want my sister to lack in anything.
In someone who gives a viable shit about them. Someone they can come to when they’re having issues or feeling down. Mom was never those things for me, Levi was, and I just want to make sure that Ellie and Mae know I’m readily available for them whenever they need me.
That I’m not going anywhere like Mom did.
“You need to stop,” my best friend lightly chides, pushing the phone downward to get it out of my face. “You’re going to run yourself into the ground, and I’m gonna need to scrape you up. It’s going to be a thing…”
I sigh, trying to exhale all the negative energy that seems to consume me lately because, I’ll admit, I do have a huge load on my plate, and I’m overwhelmed.
“How are we with the bills?”
“Doing okay,” I mutter. “I still have the electricity and water.”
“Mortgage paid?” I nod. “How many months are we behind?”
“Levi—” He cups the back of my head and pulls me to him. My chest meets his as he pulls me in for a hug.
And, normally, I like hugging him. It’s safe and my peace, but not when he’s trying to calm me down and attempting to make me forget every lingering thing that hovers over my head.
“Listen,” he starts, about to go on his soap box. “I’m here. We got this shit. Stop worrying about it all the time, because you’re starting to make me anxious.”
“Shut up,” I grind out, pushing off his hard torso to get him to let me go.
He doesn’t.
No, Levi makes sure that I hear him when he’s telling me something important.
“I’m serious,” he retorts, giving me a little yank on my hair so that I’m forced to look up at him. Those green eyes—not to sound corny or anything—are so beautiful. Everything about him is just undeniably unfair to the female and male race. “You’re fucking up my vibe, and I need you on the same page with me.”
“Did you say you needed a ten-millimeter?”
Levi smirks at me. “Yeah. But just acknowledge that you heard me.”
“I heard you.”
“That’s my girl.” He releases me and turns back to his black 1981 Chevy Malibu. His most prized possession. “You wanna come out with me Friday night?”
“Where?”
“A little college party.” I amble toward his toolbox and begin searching for his desired socket. “I got some pills I’m looking to sell.”
“Levi,” I scold over my shoulder. “We don’t sell pills.”
“We do to college students.” He doesn’t bother to look over at me, and I chuck a pencil at his back, which does nothing. “They’re grown as fuck, Bay. We’re not the drug or pill police. They’re going to buy it somewhere anyway, so why not from us?”
“Are we talkin’ about Oceanview?”
Levi doesn’t answer me right away, because that’s the college I go to. “Would that deter you?”
“I don’t want to be known as the girl who passes out pills on the side.”
“Good thing we’re going to that fancy prep school then,” he offers up. “Saint Augustine.”
It’s smart-ish.
Saint Augustine isn’t in any rival territories, and we’d be safe there. Plus, Muncy doesn’t have any pull over there in Brighdale. It’s literally a few cities over, where all the rich folks live and try to forget that the ghetto isn’t too far away.
Wealthy kids mean they’ll pay more for their non-prescribed pill of choice and move on with their lives. We could charge double what we could get anywhere else.
“I could get Nessa to watch Dad and the girls,” I reply, not a huge fan of this idea, but Levi needs the help. “And?—”
“She’s coming with,” my best friend retorts. “I need the extra sway. Juice and Hot Rod will look over the fam.”
I nod, locating the socket that he needs, and bringing it over to him. “You had it all planned out, didn’t you?”
“Sure did. It’s time to start getting ahead.”
It is.
And I’m excited to be able to have the opportunity to do it.
“What happened to those guns?”
Levi steals a glance at me, eyebrows perked that I’m even asking about it. “Why?”
“Curious.” I extend my palm with the ten-millimeter. “Torin obviously went out of his way to get them.”
“Because the little bitch was going to steal them for himself.”
Now I’m confused.
“What?”
Levi plucks the tool from my hand and returns back underneath his hood. “Little lesson on the Wildes boys, Bay. Ramsey and Torin, not huge fans of each other.”
“No shit…”
“Torin gets to stay back and watch The Landings while Ramsey and Daddy Wildes go fuck around somewhere. I wouldn’t say Torin minds it, because who wouldn’t, but I’m sure they come back and try to play leader again.”
Alright, enough of Pretty Boy, because I don’t care.
“Did you at least make any money off them?”
“Enough to put another payment on the house.” He turns and winks at me. “You’re welcome.”
Without thinking, I’m wrapping my arms around Levi’s broad back and resting my cheek along his warm skin through his white t-shirt.
“Aw, Astor…are you getting soft on me?”
“Just shut up, Levi, and let me hug you.”
He chuckles and reaches behind me with his hand, patting my back while returning to his water pump. “South Shore was supposed to keep you tough. Not soft.”
“Well, my best friend spoils me too much, so what did you think was going to happen?”
“I dunno,” he replies placidly. “Maybe I’ve been too easy on you lately.”
I tsk and pry away from him, leaning against his fender to see what he’s doing. “You’re a chump.”
“A chump who’s always got your back.”
“Mhm.”
“Wear something sexy Friday, but nothing too revealing. I don’t have time to be fighting off half the male population when I’m trying to make a sale.”
I smile. “I don’t need you to fight them off for me. Let me live my best life.”
“Go fuck yourself,” he grumbles out. “We’re not getting into that, Astor.”
“What?” I ask innocently. “Do you think I’m going to date some entitled rich kid and forget all about you?”
“I know you won’t forget about me, because I’m unforgettable.”
True.
I’d never be able to deny the fact that Levi has always been my rock throughout a lot of my life.
For as long as I can remember.
“I’ll keep it rated PG-13.”
“Thank you,” he emits. “Please pass the message along to Nessa.”
“If I do, she’ll just do the opposite.”
Levi rocks his head back and forth, causing the black ink along his neck to do the same. “I don’t know how you deal with that chick. She purposely tries to piss everyone off.”
“Especially you,” I state with a smile. “It’s easy.”
“Don’t allow her to rub off on you. I’m not dealing with a brat on top of another brat.”
“I’m not a brat,” I protest, rising on my toes. “I’m just misunderstood.”
“You’re not that hard to read, Astor.”
I actually take a bit of offense to that.
“Are you trying to say that I’m easy?”
“Easy to piss off, yeah.” He sneaks a look at me with a smirk. “Not that fun, is it?”
I roll my eyes and shove off the side of the car. “You’re a prick.”
“Hey, turn on my music so I can finish this up and we can eat.”
“You’re buying.”
“I sure as fuck am not .”
He is.
Levi always pays. He just loves me like that.
Setting up my Spotify app and Bluetooth, I play the specific playlist that I made for Levi so he can jam out and get what he needs to be done.
Hanging out in his garage that he shares with the guys has always been one of my favorite pastimes. I could stay here for hours and just watch or help him work on whatever car he’s got to get things done with. Levi is always looking for an opportunity, and with Dad, they both taught me how to work on race cars and race.
And this place is where I hide from Mom and my getting over my ex a long time ago. It always just stayed that way for me.