Chapter 35
Chapter thirty-five
Levi
Aiden O’Malley was the last person I expected to find at my door.
“Hey,” he said, shifting on his feet.
“Can I help you with something?” I asked.
Sherly let out a squeal behind me.
“What the fuck was that?” Aiden asked, looking genuinely terrified.
“Stay,” I said to Sherly before stepping onto the porch and pulling the door closed behind me.
“Your dog has the weirdest bark I’ve ever heard,” he said, still looking a little shaken.
“That’s because she’s a pig,” I said.
“In the house?” he asked, frowning at my front door. “Most folks around here keep those in a barn.”
“She’s always been an indoor pig. Did you need something?” I asked, tiring of the conversation before it’d even started.
I didn’t have it in me to be polite to a guy who only tolerated me at best. Getting a memorial tattoo for Hayden had started to heal some of my anger, but working through it all after each session with Theo had left me exhausted.
Add to that the soul-crushing heartache of losing Everly, and my energy was gone.
“Just your RSVP. Lauren has to give the caterer the final headcount.”
“You’re serious?” I asked. He wasn’t. Even I knew you didn’t give a caterer a final headcount the night before the event.
“Look, I know we got off on the wrong foot,” he said.
I held up my hand. I didn’t need another apology from the guy. I just wanted him off my porch. “If this is because you feel guilty for how you acted at Church, don’t worry about it. I’d like to punch myself in the face sometimes for how I treated Theo.”
Especially after spending so much time with him the past couple weeks.
When the bandages came off after each session, I had a hard time looking at the new ink.
Now that the piece was finished, I hoped it’d get easier to take in the beauty with the pain it brought to the surface.
Right now, I just felt raw, and the last thing I needed was small talk.
Aiden smirked. “A few months ago, I’d have been happy to help you with that, but I’m pretty sure there’s at least five people who’d punch me on your behalf, one of them being my fiancée.”
“Why are you here, Aiden?”
“I just wanted you to know you’re still welcome at the wedding. The RSVP thing was bullshit. We’ll have enough food to feed half the town and then some.”
We barely knew each other. Suggesting he cared if I didn’t attend his wedding was laughable. “I appreciate it, but I don’t think that’d be a good idea. I’m guessing you heard Everly and I aren’t together anymore. It’d probably make her uncomfortable if I came.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m hoping,” he said with a smirk.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “She made it sound like you were an overprotective older brother to her. Why would you want me to make her uncomfortable? Did you know she lost a client because of me?"
It stung like hell when I learned we’d broken up over someone she no longer represented.
Even worse, her removal from the Wythers case all but confirmed that our relationship had hurt her career.
I’d never felt more guilty in my life. That Bryant kid was exactly the type she’d try to help, and no doubt whatever sentence he got handed, she'd beat herself up thinking she could have argued for less.
“She wouldn’t be this upset over a client,” he said. “Unless it was Theo. She’s miserable, Levi.”
“This town,” I said, rubbing my forehead.
Countless people had told me how Everly was handling the breakup.
Joyce saw her crying on her mom’s shoulder last Sunday and told me all about it.
The week before, Lauren let me know how worried everyone was that Everly wasn’t eating or sleeping well.
Even the cashier at Paradise Unlimited felt the need to tell me how bad he’d heard Everly was doing.
Knowing she was suffering only added to the pain I felt. I should have told everyone to leave me alone, yet the pull to know how she was erased all my self-preservation. “Everyone is always hearing something about someone and acting like everyone should be involved. Why are you telling me this?”
He smiled. “Because it means she’s upset about breaking up with you. Clearly, you’re upset about it too.”
No sense denying how wrecked I was, but just because Bryant wasn’t her client anymore didn’t mean she wanted me back. “Being with me is terrible for her career.”
Aiden shrugged and started down the steps. “Being without you seems to be pretty terrible for her too. Hope to see you tomorrow. Just think about it, will you?”
“I will,” I said. It was an easy promise to make. Not a moment went by that I didn’t think of Everly and how everything went wrong, but facing her with all the hurt, guilt, and longing that kept me company these days sounded like a terrible idea.
I watched Aiden climb into his truck and drive away.
“That was odd,” I said to Sherly when I got back inside. She stared up at me like I was odd before walking back to the kitchen.
The night before his wedding, Aiden should have been at a rehearsal dinner or, at the very least, sharing a couple beers with his best friends.
It didn’t make sense that he’d take the time to drive to my house and follow up on an invitation he’d begrudgingly offered.
Half the town was going to the wedding. I sure as hell wouldn’t be missed in a crowd that size.
At least not by the bride and groom. But if Aiden truly cared for Everly, he might make the effort if he thought she wanted to see me.
“I can’t believe I’m even considering going,” I said, looking down at Sherly. “It’s crazy, right? I know she believes in second chances, but that doesn’t mean she wants one with me. Right?”
Sherly snorted and turned her rump to me. Maybe I should call Wyatt. He knew Aiden well enough that they could have talked about it. Hell, he probably gave the guy my address. I pulled out my phone to call him and paused when I saw the time.
7:57PM. On Friday.
The clock ticked to 7:58PM, and I kept staring. It killed me that Everly was hurting, whether from our breakup or the hit her career took because of me. At the very least, I could apologize if I went to the wedding.
As another minute passed, I thought of the apologies my dad had written in his texts.
How torn up must he be, reaching out week after week for a year, waiting for me to acknowledge I’m alive without giving him an opportunity to speak?
I started to wonder what he’d say to me.
If I wanted Everly to give me a second chance, maybe I needed to learn to give them first.