Chapter 14
Chapter fourteen
Levi
Sherly sensed something was off. Instead of scurrying in the other direction when I flipped on the vacuum cleaner, she stayed glued to my heels.
When I moved from the hall to the living room, she retreated to the safety of her bed and tracked my every move.
Once I’d finished sweeping, I grabbed a pillow from the sectional and gave it a fluff and a chop.
Apparently, that was one odd action too many because Sherly shot from her bed with a squeal and ran to me.
“Hey,” I said, kneeling to scratch her ears. “It’s OK.”
She squealed until I sat on the floor so she could snuffle against my neck and rest her head on my shoulder.
“Everything’s all right,” I said, giving her back a rub.
She lifted her head and snorted.
“Fine, I’m nervous,” I said, scratching behind her ears again.
She snorted softer as if to mumble No shit.
“Everly is just so—” Captivating. Sexy. Off limits. “Everything.”
Sherly looked up at me with her big brown eyes full of sympathy. Yes, pigs could be sympathetic. I’d seen the look before when I burned my hand in the kitchen.
“Thanks for putting up with me,” I said, tickling her snout.
She shuffled from side to side in a happy dance. The doorbell rang, and all my nerves came slamming back. I clamored to my feet and grabbed the vacuum, Sherly hot on my heels. After stopping to shove the machine in the hall closet, I took a deep breath and opened the front door.
Everly smiled, and I froze as usual. She was in leggings and a loose top that slipped from one shoulder, showing an expanse of golden skin my fingers ached to touch. Her hair was down in gentle waves, and she’d done something with her makeup that made her eyes look even more striking.
“Hi,” she said with a little wave.
Before I could answer, Sherly pushed past me with the squeal she reserved for scaring squirrels from the yard and rammed her snout into Everly’s legs.
“Sherly,” I said, stepping between my pig and Everly, who gripped my shoulders, her front pressed to my back like I was her human shield.
Fuck, this was not going well.
“Sorry about that,” I said, giving Sherly a nudge back into the house. “Sherly, bed.”
Instead of listening, my sweet pig turned and nipped at the air.
“What’s gotten into you?” I asked.
“You have a guard pig,” Everly said, her eyes wide as she stepped into the house. She kept close to my side, her arm brushing mine.
Sherly lowered her head like she intended to charge Everly again.
I pulled Everly behind me and pointed at my pig. “Behave, Sherly, or no pizza toppings.”
Her ears perked up at the word pizza, and she spun on her hooves and clicked toward the kitchen.
“I’m so sorry,” I said, running my hand through my hair. “She’s never done that before.”
“Really?” Everly asked, her eyes glued to Sherly’s rump like she expected her to turn and charge. After there was enough distance between them, Everly took a hesitant step from behind me. “How’s she with other people?”
“Nothing like she just acted.” Since I was the only grumpy bastard she saw regularly, Sherly lit up whenever I’d introduced her to anyone new. “She loved Tristan’s niece when she visited a couple weeks ago. Tristan too.”
“How about women?” Everly asked, a small smile on her face.
“Well, I guess the only one she’s been around recently was Tristan’s niece,” I said before I considered how pathetic that sounded.
“She’s five,” Everly said with a nod, as if that explained Sherly’s bizarre behavior. “Your pig’s territorial. Of you, not the house.”
I opened my mouth to argue but closed it. It made sense, I guess. Either that or Sherly made the connection between my nerves and Everly’s arrival and decided she was a threat. “Why don’t you have a seat on the sofa, and I’ll make sure Sherly isn’t having a hissy fit and tearing something up.”
I led Everly to the living room, both of us scanning like we’d been tasked to clear the area of threats. Her gaze eventually lifted from the floor but continued to bounce from one thing to the next.
“Did you decorate yourself?” she asked, sounding surprised.
“My mom helped me furnish my condo in Richmond. I just repainted the walls in here to match what I had and added a couple armchairs and an ottoman since the room is bigger. I grabbed that from a shop downtown,” I said, pointing to the abstract painting above the fireplace.
“Well, you did a great job finding pieces that work together. It looks really nice.”
“Thanks,” I said, shoving my hands into my pockets. “Sherly isn’t allowed upstairs, so we spend a lot of time in here. I’m planning to add a sleeping pen there,” I said, pointing to the corner.
Everly’s sharp eyes followed my hand to where Sherly’s bed lay half-shredded by the window.
“Something a little more durable,” I added.
Everly nodded as she studied the carnage from Sherly’s rooting.
“Make yourself comfortable,” I said, heading toward the kitchen. “I’ll just be a minute.”
As soon as I was out of sight, I wanted to bang my head against the wall. It’s incredible Everly hadn’t turned and ran with that welcome. I found Sherly in the kitchen, staring at the fridge for the promised pizza toppings.
“What was that?” I whispered.
I swear, she rolled her eyes.
“No more headbutting people,” I said.
Sherly snorted.
Well, there was one sure way to make her behave. I opened the fridge and grabbed the bowl of red and green peppers I’d prepped earlier. Sherly squealed and clipped after me back to the living room.
Everly sat as far as possible from Sherly’s bed.
She’d kicked off her shoes and pulled her legs onto the couch, tucking them beneath her.
It made her look enticingly at home, though I had a feeling she was protecting herself from any future attacks rather than getting comfortable.
Her eyes widened slightly when Sherly and I crossed the room to her.
“Here,” I said, handing Everly the bowl. “Feed Sherly a few of these, and she’ll love you forever.”
Everly peeled the reusable wax paper back and eyed the peppers. “You sure?” she asked, her voice filled with fear.
I didn’t like it. Everly was a force of nature who never backed down. Sometimes I took the brunt of her force. However, even if we were on opposite sides of an issue, I respected the hell out of her strength. Her fear felt wrong, and I wanted to do whatever I could to ease it.
“Here,” I said, sitting beside her, “hand me one.”
She plucked a red pepper slice from the bowl and passed it to me. When I held it in the air, Sherly squealed. I gave her the hand signal for sit, and she plopped on her butt beside my feet.
“Good girl,” I said, tossing her the pepper. Sherly jumped up and caught it in her mouth. “Want to try?” I asked Everly.
“Um, sure,” she said. She held up a green pepper and then froze. “I don’t know the signal.”
“Sit,” I said as I made the command.
Sherly plopped down again, and Everly dropped the pepper before yanking her hand into her lap. “Nice pig,” she said.
Sherly looked at Everly and waited.
“She’ll eat from your hand if you want.”
“Will she bite me?” Everly asked with such a frightened expression I wanted to wrap her in my arms.
“She’s never bitten anyone before,” I said.
Everly frowned. “That’s not very reassuring since she’d never tried to knock anyone over before either.”
“I can feed her with you,” I said.
She nodded.
I grabbed another pepper and took Everly’s hand in mine.
Her fingers tensed, and I realized I hadn’t asked to touch her.
“Like this,” I said as I gently twisted her palm up.
I wrapped my hand around her fingers and used my thumb to cover the tips.
“Just press your thumb to your palm. If she bites, she’ll get my hand, not yours. ”
Everly’s entire body stiffened, but she nodded. I placed the pepper in her palm and lowered our joined hands. It brought her even closer, and her delicate floral scent wrapped around me like when I positioned her to throw darts at Church.
Sherly gently took the pepper from our hands with a happy snuffle.
“Want to try it on your own?” I asked.
Everly nodded and pulled her hand from mine. I missed the feel of her soft skin, yet watching her feed Sherly another pepper without hesitating filled my chest with something warm.
“That’s probably enough treats, but you can pet her.”
“Like a dog?” Everly whispered as if she feared raising her voice would set off Sherly’s attack mode.
“Exactly like a dog,” I said.
Everly gave Sherly a gentle pet on the head, and the pig leaned into her hand.
“She wants you to scratch behind her ears,” I said.
Everly tried it, and Sherly made her happy snuffle sound.
“How long have you had her?” Everly asked, taking her eyes from Sherly for the first time since she’d started touching her.
“I got her four months before I moved to Peace Falls.”
“You kept a pig in Richmond?” Everly asked, her brow scrunching with confusion.
“She was a lot smaller then,” I said. “Someone left her in the station’s safe haven baby box as a prank.”
Everly’s eyes widened. “That’s—”
“Hilarious and awful,” I said. “Let me put the food back in the kitchen, so she doesn’t start begging.”
Everly handed me the bowl and continued scratching Sherly, who leaned against the couch, granting Everly access to both ears.
“I figured we could make pizza while we rehearse the pitch,” I said as I stood. “The rest of the toppings are prepped and ready to go. The dough just needs another half hour to rise.”
“You didn’t need to go to all that trouble,” she said, her voice gentle.
“It’s no trouble,” I said, heading for the kitchen. “I like to cook.”
When I returned, Everly was on the floor, rubbing Sherly’s belly.