Chapter 20
Chapter twenty
Levi
Sherly pranced around the living room when she saw me. It wasn’t her I’m happy to see you prance. More like Take me outside before I piss on the rug prance.
“I know,” I said, stepping over the gate.
She hurried to the backdoor. I grabbed her leash from the hook, and she let out a happy snuffle.
The backyard was fenced, so I only used a leash if I was taking her for longer walks on the property.
That might happen, but more importantly, I wanted to reintroduce her to Everly without another headbutt.
I clipped on the leash and opened the back door. “Any time you’re ready,” I said loud enough for Everly to hear me in the hallway.
Sherly snorted, a fair reaction since she’d already yanked me out the door. She made a beeline for her favorite pee boulder. Yes, pee boulder. At some point, she decided the decorative stone in the back garden needed her daily attention.
While Sherly did her business, Everly slipped outside. She stayed on the concrete slab by the door, clearly positioned to retreat from another pig attack.
“Hey, Sherly,” I said when she’d moved on to sniffing a nearby bush. “Come say hi.”
She looked up at me like I’d gone insane, then turned to follow my gaze. As soon as she spotted Everly, Sherly tugged me forward, less than a charge, but more than a gentle walk.
“Hi, Sherly,” Everly said, her hand gripping the doorknob while she kept her eyes locked on the pig. “I have grapes for you.”
Sherly’s ears perked up at the mention of her favorite fruit, and she pulled harder on the leash.
“Breathe, Everly,” I said, hating how terrified she looked. “Pretend she’s the DA.”
That earned me a smile and eased the tension in her shoulders. By the time we reached Everly, she’d kneeled to Sherly’s level and was holding a few grapes in her hand.
Finally acting like the sweet pig she was, Sherly scarfed them down without biting.
“Thanks for not taking my hand off,” Everly said, scratching Sherly’s ears.
“Good girl,” I added, patting Sherly’s sides before opening the backdoor. She looked up at us with her big brown eyes.
Everly grabbed my arm. “What happened? She looks upset.”
“When she’s wearing a leash, it usually means we walk around the property.”
“Well, let’s go then. Otherwise, she’ll associate me with disappointment.”
Sherly let out a snort as if to agree.
“This way, ladies,” I said, walking to the back gate and holding it open for Everly.
Sherly tugged me through after her and set off toward the little creek that trickled through the back of my property. There was a patch of clover she liked, and a view of the mountains I liked.
Everly fell into step beside me, her face relaxed. “She really is like a big dog.”
“Except she’s about to take down whatever clover we have left,” I said as Sherly yanked harder on the leash. “I’m thinking of adding a patch of alfalfa somewhere, so she has some variety.”
“How much land do you have here?” Everly asked as we trudged through the barren field.
“Six acres,” I said. “The property starts in the front yard and ends at the creek, but there’s an acre on either side of the house.
“That’s a lot of space,” Everly said, casting her eyes around the property.
“I figured Sherly would love it,” I said as my pig started in on the last dregs of clover. “She’s kind of it for me now as far as family goes, so I might spoil her a little.”
Everly’s eyes widened. “Wait, you’re an only child, and you don’t have any aunts or uncles or cousins.”
I shook my head. “Everyone at the station was like family to me, but I wanted a clean break. A few people reached out after I left. When I didn’t respond, the texts and calls stopped.”
Everly looked near tears, and I scrambled for something to say that would erase the hurt from her eyes.
I didn’t deserve it. The choice to ghost everyone in my Richmond station had been mine.
Were some of the other officers pissed I’d gone to IA?
Sure. Several others thanked me, like doing the right thing was a hardship.
Even with their reassurance, I questioned their integrity.
The IA investigation discovered questionable activity going back years and involving at least six members of the force.
How many others had suspicions or even evidence of what was happening and chose not to say anything?
I couldn’t help thinking that if someone had, Hayden might still be alive.
Even if cutting ties with everyone didn’t paint me in the best light to Everly, I didn’t regret it.
“I keep in touch with a few high school friends,” I said, so she wouldn’t think I was a complete asshole.
“Has anyone come to visit you since you moved here?”
Leave it to Everly to ask for a single word answer that summed up my relationships since I left Richmond. “No.”
“And you haven’t been back to see anyone?”
“No,” I said, watching her face carefully.
Instead of the sympathy I dreaded, she chuckled. “Sunday Funday is going to be a major adjustment for you.”
I raised my eyebrows and waited. Even Sherly lifted her snout from the clover and quirked her ears toward Everly.
“I grew up next door to Aiden O’Malley,” she said. “Our families get together every Sunday afternoon. It’s gotten bigger and bigger as the O’Malley kids started their own families. It’s complete chaos now, but don’t worry, I won’t subject you to it yet.”
My stomach dropped, the disappointment intense and surprising.
I wanted her to take me tomorrow, which was absurd.
We’d just gotten together and hadn’t officially told our bosses yet.
Not to mention, the last time I saw Aiden O’Malley, he’d made it clear I wasn’t welcomed anywhere near him.
Not that I gave a shit what Aiden thought.
I’d apologized to Theo. I’d maybe even worked things out with Poppy.
Aiden would either forgive me or not. I certainly wouldn’t let him keep me from going anywhere with Everly.
Her face lit up when she talked about her family, and I wanted to see her with them.
I wanted to know every version of Everly Hendricks.
“Aiden will come around,” Everly said, which should have been an accurate interpretation of my silence. “Might help if Theo gives you a tattoo. You know, really mark the forgiveness on your skin.”
“You think?”
“No,” she said, laughing.
Sherly let out a squeal.
“That’s her happy squeal,” I said when Everly tensed beside me. “She likes hearing you laugh.” And so did I. Everly’s laughter was quickly becoming my favorite sound.
“I had no idea pigs were so—emotive,” Everly said with a small smile.
“Pigs have a lot of emotional intelligence. Intelligence in general, really. Not that I knew that when I adopted her. It still shocks me sometimes how well she understands me.”
“You’re not guarded around her,” Everly said, slipping her hand into mine. “You’re surprisingly expressive when you want to be.”
It was the first sign of affection since she’d come outside, almost as if she was testing how far she could go before Sherly lost her mind. I brought her hand to my mouth and kissed it. Everly eyed Sherly before giving me a smile.
“It feels like a gift,” she said softly. “To be someone you let in.”
“It takes a lot for me to open up to people now.” Understatement of the year.
“Do you miss them?” she asked. “Your dad or your friends in Richmond?”
“I’d be lying if I said I never thought of them, especially my dad.” I wasn’t about to tell Everly that the man still called me every week. Knowing her view on second chances, she’d probably encourage me to answer. “What I really miss is the person I was before everything happened.”
“I know what you mean,” she said, her voice sad. “Losing Logan changed everything. There was life before and life after. I sometimes wonder what we’d all be doing now if it hadn’t happened.”
That hit me like a punch to the stomach. If Hayden hadn’t ODed, would I have ever realized the truth about my unit? Would I still be a detective in Richmond, playing league darts with Hayden and cooking my dad Sunday dinner? “Maybe not standing here watching my pig hunt for clover.”
She smiled at me. “Probably not. I had no clue what I wanted to be before Theo’s trial.”
I’d never sat across from a lawyer like Everly.
I’d known several attorneys who believed in their work, though more often than not, they were devoted to their paychecks, not their clients.
Everly fought each case like it was personal.
With Theo it was, yet she battled just as hard for dipshits like Bryant Wythers.
She’d only been practicing a few years and could become more guarded over time, but for now, every case was deeply personal.
Which could be a huge problem for us. “I know how passionate you are about the work you do,” I said.
“It won’t be easy for either of us, career-wise, but I want to give this a shot. ”
The pause that followed felt like years rather than seconds.
“Do you think you could kiss me in front of Sherly?” she asked. “Because I really want you to kiss me, and she’s on a leash, so I have a good chance of not getting taken out if she goes attack pig.”
“I think it’s now or never,” I said, fighting the urge to haul her into my arms and kiss her breathless, no matter how my attack pig responded. Instead, I kept a firm hold on Sherly with one hand while I cradled Everly’s face with the other. Our lips met in a soft kiss.
Sherly let out a squeal, and Everly jumped back. I almost laughed when I looked down and found Sherly sniffing at a ladybug. She either hadn’t noticed the kiss or hadn’t cared.
“Maybe I should leave while I’m ahead,” Everly said.
“I think we need to test her a little more,” I said, stepping closer. “Let me cook for you. Do you like bucatini cacio d pepe?”
“What’s that?” she asked, her eyes glued to my lips.
“Pasta with cheese and pepper.”
Sherly let out another happy squeal at the word pasta.
“That sounds simple enough,” Everly said, smiling down at her.
It was, though making the pasta from scratch would give me at least another hour with Everly, maybe more.
I’d take whatever time I could get. We walked back to the house, and I got started.
While I mixed and kneaded the dough, Everly told me more about her family’s Sunday Funday tradition.
Watching her light up made me smile, yet a tiny ache bloomed as well, grief for the life I no longer had.
Nights out with friends. Watching my mother cook.
Long talks with my dad while we cleaned the kitchen after one of her meals.
Hayden’s stupid victory dance every time one of us got a black hat.
It’d embarrassed the hell out of me whenever he did it, but now I’d give anything for a video of it.
I pushed down the surge of sadness and focused on the present.
Everly Hendricks was in my kitchen, her hair slightly mussed from my hands.
I’d much rather touch her again than fester in memories.
“And now it rests,” I said, putting a towel over the dough.
“For how long?” she asked.
“Thirty minutes at least.”
She smirked at me. “What if I had somewhere to be?”
“I’d break open a package of dried bucatini and get to work.”
“Levi,” she said, giving my chest a gentle smack. Her eyes widened, and she looked down at Sherly, who looked up at her without moving or making a sound.
“I admit, I wasn’t ready for the date to end,” I said, wrapping my arms around Everly. She fit perfectly against me. I usually had to hunch to get close to a woman. Everly’s height made kissing her easy. Everything seemed easy with her. Somehow, despite all our differences, we just fit.
She laughed. “Are we still calling this a date? It’s been over four hours, and we’ve gotten naked and dressed again.”
“We have at least thirty minutes if you want to repeat the process.”
Her cheeks flushed.
“Should I try really kissing you now?” I asked, backing her against the counter. I stood between her and Sherly in case the pig got protective again.
Everly nodded, and I kissed her until we were both breathless. By the time we pulled apart, Sherly had gotten bored and settled down for a nap by the fridge.
“Now I just need to tell my bosses,” Everly said. The light dimmed in her eyes, and I hoped like hell she wouldn’t have to fight for us as hard as she fought for her clients. Though if any lawyer could convince her bosses that dating a cop wasn’t a problem, it’d be Everly.