Chapter 39
THIRTY-NINE
My eyes open to the sound of my alarm, but I don’t move to turn it off. Because I can’t. Winston is sprawled out next to me on my arm, and my phone sits on the table on the other side of the bed, out of reach.
“Turn it off,” Levi mumbles from somewhere beneath blankets and fur on Winston’s other side.
“It’s beside you,” I say, gently trying to tug my arm out from under Winston. But he doesn’t budge, continuing to snore in a deep sleep.
“Ugh.”
Levi’s hand emerges from the blankets as a vague shape in the dim early light filtering through the window, and the alarm stops. A second later, the phone drops back onto the table with a solid thud, which still doesn’t wake Winston.
“Silas.”
I look at Levi over Winston’s head, just making out the shape of him in the dark.
“It’s four fucking AM,” he says flatly.
“Mm-hm,” I answer. “Time to get up.”
Silence stretches between us, and a small smile spreads over my lips.
He never was a morning person.
A breath leaves his side of the bed in a long, annoyed exhale. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
A laugh escapes me as I finally work my arm free from under Winston, and he wakes with a snort.
“You work on a farm now. What do you expect?” I ask Levi as I sit up, and Winston immediately jumps to his feet with his tail wagging.
“I work in the office on a farm,” he shoots back, dragging a pillow over his face while Winston steps right over him to jump off the bed and follow me to the door.
“Ok, then,” I say with a chuckle, and I pull the door shut as I leave, expecting Levi to fall back asleep.
I flick on a lamp and let Winston outside, leaving the door open for him, and to let the fresh, cool, early summer air in. As I set the coffee to brew, I lean back against the counter and let my gaze drift across the living room where our clothes are still scattered around the couch.
I was not expecting that to happen last night. But… I fucking liked it. A lot.
I don’t have much experience with any of this, but nothing has ever felt like that before. I didn’t know what I was doing, but it didn’t matter. It was just… comfortable and easy. Even when I was nervous.
It felt… completely natural.
The coffee finishes brewing, and I turn and pour a cup. But when I turn around to go check on Winston, I immediately laugh.
Levi stands at the entrance to the kitchen in just his boxers, squinting at the dim light like even that’s too much for him right now. His dark hair sticks out in every direction, and he looks like just being upright right now is a significant challenge.
“Fuck off,” he mutters, rolling his eyes before rubbing a hand over them.
“You can go back to sleep,” I say, lifting the mug to my lips as I watch him glance over his shoulder towards the bedroom, clearly considering it.
But he just sighs and shakes his head. “I’m up now.”
I tilt my head towards the coffee pot. “Coffee?”
Levi glances at it as he steps closer, but instead of reaching for a mug, his hands slide around my waist, pulling me in as his lips meet mine.
I set my cup down and wrap my arms around him, pulling him closer and feeling the warmth of his body against mine as everything in me melts into him.
He exhales softly as we pull apart with a faint smile touching his lips. “I like waking up here.” Then he huffs. “Well. Not at four fucking AM, but… with you.”
A smile tugs at my lips as I look up at his hair and lift a hand to run my fingers through it to tame it a bit. Although… I like it messy like this. “Get used to it then.”
Levi groans, reaching for my coffee and taking a drink just as Winston bursts through the door.
“He likes it,” I say, nodding towards him as I take my mug back.
“He likes everything,” Levi replies, turning towards the living room. He starts picking up his clothes and pulling them on while he grumbles about how early it is.
I lean back against the counter for a moment, watching him with a smile.
Of course, this all feels natural.
It’s Levi. There’s no way it couldn’t.
Once we’re both dressed, I pour myself another coffee to take with me, and we head down the driveway.
Winston trots ahead with his nose to the ground, sniffing everything along the way and glancing back every few steps to make sure we’re following.
“Oh,” I say, slowing to a stop as my gaze lands on my grandparents’ house, where soft light spills through the windows, and Papa sits on the porch.
Levi follows my gaze, then looks back at me. “What?”
I pull in a breath and start walking again. “Mama gives me breakfast every morning.”
Levi smiles. “That’s nice.”
I nod, but worry rises. “They’re going to wonder why you’re here with me.”
“Well!” Papa pushes to his feet with a wide grin as we reach the bottom of the steps. “Isn’t this a nice surprise!”
“Morning,” Levi says, looking up the steps at him with a smile of his own.
And my heart thumps hard as I wonder how we’re going to explain this.
“Levi!” Mama beams as she steps out of the house with a paper bag in her hand and her housecoat wrapped snuggly around her. “Good to see you here this morning!”
“You too,” Levi says, heading up the stairs into her open arms for a hug.
I stay where I am, my eyes flicking between everyone, as this apparently doesn’t seem to faze any of them.
“If you’ll just wait,” Mama says, patting Levi’s chest as she starts to turn towards the door, “I’ll make another breakfast. I’ll be quick.”
“No, no,” Levi says, taking the paper bag from her. “That’s alright. I’m heading home anyway.” He then looks at me and holds the bag out with a smirk. “Might even get a couple more hours of sleep before my work starts.”
I huff a breath through my nose as I climb the steps to take it, and glance between my grandparents again.
Mama squeezes my arm, smiling up at me. “Morning, honey.”
“Morning,” I say, trying hard not to look confused.
Winston bounds up the steps, happily wagging his tail as he weaves between Papa and Mama, earning smiles and pats from both.
“So,” Papa says, slipping his hands into his pockets as he lifts his chin, settling into his typical stance when he talks business. “What’s the moisture management plan for this field?”
My pulse jumps as my gaze darts across the farm. We have our irrigation plan for each zone, and I know it’s a good one to manage levels in the way each zone needs.
But I completely forgot it rained last night. I scan the ground, but as I see everything has already dried up overnight, some of my worry eases, knowing that this means the stress zone likely didn’t absorb too much.
“We’re using a zone-based irrigation and moisture control strategy to adjust irrigation timing and volume per zone to keep soil moisture consistent across the entire field,” Levi says easily, and I look back at him as those words slowly pull together in my mind to make sense of what we’ve talked about.
Then I pull in a breath and slowly release it, fully trusting that Levi has this all figured out.
Papa smiles with an approving nod, looking between us. “Good stuff.”
I shift towards the steps, looking back at Papa. “You coming?”
But he just looks at me like I have three heads as he lowers himself back into his chair. “I’m retired, Silas. Why would I do such a thing?”
For fuck’s sake.
He’s fully dressed.
Levi smiles at me, and I roll my eyes, nudging him towards the steps.
“Have a good day!” Mama says as we head down them, and Winston takes off ahead of us, once again sniffing everything in his path.
“Thanks, Mama.” I smile back at her over my shoulder.
But as we head down the driveway towards the farm, I can’t help but cast another nervous glance back at them.
“What?” Levi asks.
I meet his eyes, and he gives me nothing but his relaxed, easy expression.
“You’re not worried about what they think of you staying the night in my cabin?” Then my eyes widen at another thought. “Do your parents know where you were?”
Levi just laughs. Fucking laughs.
“It’s funny how this entire thing is making me feel like a teenager again,” Levi says easily. “Just with dick. My first time sucking a dick, staying over at said dick’s house and telling my parents he’s just a friend…”
“Levi.” I stop where the driveway splits, one path heading to the farm, the other to the road. I stare right at him and wait for him to take this seriously.
His smile softens, and he nods. “My parents know where I was.”
My heart thrashes.
“And they don’t think anything of it. Just like your grandparents don’t.” He shrugs. “How many times have we slept at each other’s houses before, unplanned?”
I nod slowly. “A lot…”
He nods as well. “So, we’re just… hanging out, like we always have.”
The corner of my lips twitch and he smiles widely.
“I like this version of hanging out quite a bit better, though, I must say,” he says as his eyes fall down my body, then back up to meet mine.
A quiet chuckle escapes me. “Can’t argue that.”
Levi runs his fingers through his hair and glances at the rising sun. “Alright, it’s way too fucking early for me to still be awake. Winston, come on,” he calls to his dog, who simply lifts his head from where he was sniffing the grass, almost halfway to the farm.
But Winston doesn’t move and just stands as still as a statue.
I’ve never seen him do that before.
Levi just stares at him for a moment, then sighs and flicks his hand in the air, turning to head down the driveway towards his house. “I’ll bring his food over later.”
I smile as I watch him walk away, the early morning glow of the rising sun landing on him and spreading over his shoulders, while the world around him still sits in shadow.
Of all the beauty in this world… The sun found the most beautiful part of it first.
The light in my darkness.