Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
ANDY
I wasn’t too sure how living with a complete stranger would go—especially after finding out the person I was to stay with was the same man I took care of after finding him drunkenly passed out at the bar—but to my surprise, it wasn’t too bad.
Levi wasn’t what I expected. He looked like one of those dudes who were chill about everything and didn’t take anything too seriously, but that had to be the complete opposite.
In the almost two weeks that I’d been living with him, I barely saw him at home.
I swore he left before the sun came up and had everything set up at the B&B before my shift started. Then he spent the morning doing the daily chores, or if any guests had tours scheduled, he was the one showing them around.
He’d be in the dining area around lunchtime, helping Julie, the B&B’s only waitress, or if most of the guests opted to eat in town, he’d cover his dads so they could have a meal together.
Same went for dinnertime. I’d see him running around, filling any roles that were needed. With the way he seemed to be everywhere all at once, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone told me he’d somehow managed to make multiple copies of himself.
It wasn’t like he got off early either. Sometimes I’d wake up in the middle of the night to find that he’d only just returned. Which made me question when—if ever—the man slept. It was hard to believe we were the same age because we definitely didn’t have the same level of energy.
Wednesday night, I was surprised to find him at home in the kitchen. He was all dressed up in tight jeans and an equally tight T-shirt that accentuated his lean body and compact muscles.
“Going out?” I asked. He looked shocked to see me and almost spilled the glass of water he was drinking.
“Uh, yeah,” he replied and placed the glass safety on the counter. “Sorry. I wasn’t expecting you, though that’s silly since you do live here now.”
I shrugged. “I get it. We’ve barely seen each other in the house. I was starting to think you didn’t actually live here,” I joked.
He smiled at my attempt to lighten the mood, and his entire face lit up. Levi had a cupid’s bow like me, but with his full bottom lip, he had a natural pouty lips thing going on. It looked better on him than it should have.
Sexy, almost.
“What are your plans tonight? I don’t think I’ve seen you do much else besides work since you got here.”
“I visited the town for a bit on my day off yesterday, but I mostly stayed in,” I said with a shrug.
Even when I lived in New York, I wasn’t the kind of person to explore the city. My friends liked to joke that even a tourist knew the city better than me, who was born and raised there. They weren’t wrong.
“Now that won’t do! You can’t just hide here for the rest of your six-month contract. Come on, we’re going out tonight. Go get changed,” he said and started pushing me toward my room.
“You don’t need to play host. Besides, didn’t you already have plans tonight?” I tried to argue, but he didn’t stop until we were in my room.
He waved my words off. “I’m just meeting some friends down at the pub. They won’t mind if I bring you. Now go get changed,” he instructed, leaving no room for argument.
Since the only plan I had for the night was to put on a show to fall asleep to, and I probably shouldn’t be a complete hermit, I changed as instructed.
Twenty minutes later, Levi had driven us to where we first met.
Considering it was a Wednesday night, I was surprised to find Dove’s Fountain to be as packed as it was. Levi must have seen my shock because he turned to me and laughed. “It’s the only establishment in town that serves hard liquor, and there isn’t much to do at night around these parts,” he said with a shrug.
I nodded like I understood when I really didn’t. I was the type of person who’d stay at home if there was nothing to do in town.
Did that make me a homebody?
We waded through a crowd of people who’d made the middle of the pub into a makeshift dance floor. Couples in skimpy clothing danced, grinding against each other like this was a club.
Maybe I was too distracted my first night here, but I didn’t remember the place being this active .
I was surprised to find how many same-sex couples I saw dancing together too. From what I heard, small towns were usually close-minded about homosexuality, but apparently not this one .
“Oh, this is a popular hookup spot too,” Levi mentioned casually. He leaned in close. Hot breath tickled my ear, causing a shiver to go down my spine. It reminded me it’d been a while since I’d last gotten laid.
Maybe it was a good thing I came out tonight, after all. I could relax with some friends, then find someone to release some steam with.
I glanced at the dance floor again and saw a few women who’d caught my eye. They were all dressed up in their club outfits, makeup, and hair done to perfection, and the way they were surveying the floor, I knew they were out on the hunt tonight.
“My friends are over there,” Levi said, tugging my clothes to get my attention.
I followed him to a booth in the back where two men were sitting almost in each other’s lap. They were snuggled against each other, talking and laughing, and their hands all over each other.
“Hey, guys!” Levi called out, and they looked up as we approached the table but made no moves to get off each other. I guessed clinging like this was normal for them.
There must be something in this town’s water for all the couples here to be so damn sweet.
“This is Andy, our new chef. I hope you don’t mind that I brought him,” Levi introduced me as he slid into the booth opposite them.
“A friend of yours is a friend of ours,” the bigger man stated. “The name’s Jim. And this is my boyfriend, Austin.”
The smaller of the two nodded at me and gave me a soft smile. “You must be the one from New York,” he said, then waved down the passing waiter for another glass.
“News travels fast around here,” I commented and accepted the glass of beer he poured for me .
“Not many secrets around these parts. Plus, my job is basically just listening to gossip,” Austin said with a chuckle.
I stared at him blankly, not sure what kind of job that was.
“He’s a taxi driver,” Jim supplied. “And you’ll be surprised to know the kinds of secrets his passengers spill.”
I leaned closer to the table. “Do tell,” I said with a curious smirk.
Laughter came from beside me as an arm landed around my shoulders.
“I didn’t know you were the type interested in town gossip. You’ll fit right in,” Levi joked and brought his beer up for a cheer. I clinked glasses with him and took a swig of the alcohol.
The conversation moved to talking about everyone’s day. Jim worked at a local farm and animatedly told us about the antics one of their roosters was getting up to.
“I swear Big Boss is getting beakier each day. Used to be he’d only peck at me if I went near him. Now he’s scouring the farm just to attack me! Fucking asshole,” Jim complained, but his lips curved up in a smile. He might grumble about the rooster, but he obviously had a soft spot for him.
“Enough about him. He’ll probably perk up his tail feathers if he knew he was the lead role in our topic of conversation. He’s such an attention whore,” Jim said with a shake of his head.
Austin chuckled and patted his boyfriend on the chest in an almost comforting gesture. He then leaned against the table and turned toward Levi. “Guess who I dropped off at the airport today?”
Levi raised a brow in question. “Who? Someone I know?”
Austin nodded. He paused to take a sip of his drink, then said, “I debated on whether I should tell you, but I thought it might help you move on. It was Jack. He said he’s moving to the city. ”
I could physically see Levi freeze. He digested the news, then let out a mocking laugh. “Wow, was I so bad that I’d run him out of town? Did he think I was going to bug him or something? Beg him to get back with me? Well, fuck him! He’s Jack Shit !”
He finished his rant by draining the rest of his glass. Austin and Jim watched him with concern.
“Sorry. I probably shouldn’t have brought it up,” Austin said.
Levi shook his head. “It’s fine, and you’re right. I do need to move on. There’s plenty of fish in the sea!” He waved across the pub to where people were mingling, probably looking for hookups.
Levi looked dejected again and reached to refill his drink. Austin held up a hand to stop him. “Maybe you should slow down? You don’t want a repeat of last time,” he said and glanced at me.
“Am I missing something?” I asked with a brow raised.
Levi let out the loudest sigh in the history of sighs. He put his whole body into it and slumped down back into his seat. “The night I met you, I was dumped.” Then softer like he hadn’t meant for me to hear, he muttered, “I always get dumped.”
With all that bitterness in his tone, there was definitely a story there. “Hey, like Marta said last week, men are meant to be used, then thrown away,” I joked and clapped him on the shoulder.
My attempt to comfort him seemed to work since he barked out a laugh that had the other two asking for context.
We told them about the group of snarky and hilarious old women who’d stayed at the B&B last week. The place was noticeably more quiet now that they’d left .
Levi seemed less tense as he relayed the story about how those ladies tried to match him up with one of their grandsons.
“I think they have the right idea. You have to keep putting yourself out there until you find the right man,” Jim stated.
“Easy for you to say,” Levi muttered. “You hit the jackpot for your soulmate to be the first man you were ever with.”
Jim laughed and scooped Austin into his arms. There was a gentle look in his eyes as he held his boyfriend close. “Yeah, I am lucky.”
Austin gazed back at him with so much love in his eyes. It was obvious these two were head over heels for each other.
“But it wasn’t always this easy. Before we got together, there was a whole lot of pining, especially on my part,” Austin said, clearing his throat as he spun back to look at Levi. “So what if you have to kiss a ton of frogs before you find your Prince Charming? Your perfect guy is out there somewhere.”
Levi wrinkled his nose. “I hope not. Frogs aren’t really my thing. Silver foxes, on the other hand…” His words trailed off, then he suddenly sprawled on the table with a plop. “Finding someone isn’t the issue. It’s the ‘keeping them’ part I need help on.”
“I’ll help you,” I blurted out before I had time to think it through. Which was very stupid of me.
I didn’t have time for this. I should be focusing on making the B&B menu better or honing my skills, literally anything besides helping Levi date.
I was just about to take back my offer and play it off as a slip of the tongue, but then Levi turned his big eyes to me.
“Really? How can you help?” He sounded skeptical but hopeful. I couldn’t let him down after that.
Curse me and my big mouth.