Chapter 39 Allie
THIRTY-NINE
ALLIE
WHAT IS HAPPENING?
Clint hung up his jeans on a hanger in the closet and then his navy suit. He had enough clothes to stay through the entire Colorado thing.
I didn’t think I liked that. Or did I? My life was currently going at 13 WTF’s a minute.
“I still can’t believe you’re here.” I sat on the edge of the bed.
He zipped up his empty suitcase and set it on the floor of the closet and turned to me.
“Royce and I touch base now and then, and when I found out you were here, I wanted to be also.”
“But when I left, we kind of let everything go.” Yes, I took the new job and left because I have trouble when things get to a certain level. If you’d like to see me do a beautiful swan dive out the window, say Allie, should we move in together?
She’s outta here!
He walked over and pulled me to my feet. “It took letting it go for me to see how much I need you.”
I stood silently looking up at his handsome face awaiting feelings of some sort to follow his utterly romantic statement. Helllooo? Swooing…are you in the house? Take-my-breath-away…anywhere?
Crickets.
Clint grinned and a panic shot through my veins as he was about to kiss me. The last lips on mine were Levi’s. I quickly jumped back. “Oh my gosh, ten minutes have already passed? They’re waiting for us to paintball.”
His hands grabbed my waist. “Maybe we skip the paintball and stay here.”
“Oh, uh, well, it’s kind of planned. Yeah, before you arrived.” I shuffled to the door and pulled it open. “You know, magical friend time.”
* * *
“Let’s fuckin’ go!” Lexi shouted as “magical time” wasn’t really her thing. Yeah, some girls may be a delicate flower, but she’s like the claw end of a hammer.
We’d all jumped into our white coveralls which were big enough to fit right over our coats and approached the forest beside the house while I kept my eyes peeled for the crazed wild turkeys that were gobbling in my mind.
Evan yelled. “Okay, here’s how this is going to go!” We all gathered around. “I loaded everybody’s guns with jelly balls so it won’t hurt. Every man and woman for themselves. You can get hit five times before you’re dead.”
Levi, who stood across from Clint and I, narrowed his eyes at Clint. “Dead.”
Clint looked around as if to see if anyone else heard the comment as I scolded Levi with my eyes, but the glimmer in his sent a little tingle cartwheeling down my spine.
Evan waved his gun in the air. “Okay, when I say go, everybody gets five minutes to hide, and when you hear me yell, it’s on!”
Rachel grabbed his arm. “Damn straight it’s on, you sexy son of a bitch!”
Kristina giggled as she scurried into the forest. “I’m going to shoot all y’all up, watch out mother hubbards!”
Clint gave me the thumbs up sign. “You know how to work the gun okay?”
While Levi was out of sight, his deep voice bounced around us. “Bet your ass she can work a fuckin’ gun!”
Clint’s eyes locked on me as I shrugged. “I think I’m good.”
I jogged through the crunchy white beneath my feet into the forest where the snow-covered trees glimmered in the sunlight. I kept going until I heard no other running close by. I hid behind a huge oak tree and looked at my gun.
“Hey.”
I spun around to see Levi behind me.
“You scared me, I didn’t hear you coming.”
His brow popped up. “You never will. You remember hunting with me?”
“You track like no other.”
He took a step closer. “While I hunted because my old man wasn’t one to ensure we had food in the house, I knew I could get what I needed.”
I nodded as he stepped beside me, then paused and leaned against a tree.
“What do you need, Allie?”
My temperature shot up five degrees and he leaned in closer, so close his lips were just inches from mine and his breath was on my face. I opened my mouth but only an odd little squeak came out. Yup, that was all I had.
“I can almost feel your heart beating right now.” I stood frozen as his lips brushed against mine. “What I can do to you with a few words, nobody else can.”
With Clint here and Levi saying words that were burning my skin, I was attempting to figure out my mood about any of this. Happy? Sad? Ready to bolt? Yeah, my moods don’t just swing anymore, they appeared to bounce, recoil, pivot, fluctuate, oscillate, and occasionally pirouette.
I was almost in a trance as he continued to speak in a husky whisper. “I don’t give a fuck who’s in that house. I’m coming to you tonight.”
His gun dropped to the ground before his hands went to the base of my neck. He tilted my head up before his lips were so tenderly on mine the forest melted away leaving me soupy.
Could he be thinking of more, like after Colorado? Sure, we’d agreed to closure and that was where it ended, but was there a possibility of more?
He pulled away and rested his forehead against mine for a moment when Evan’s voice rang out in the distance. “Everybody, go!”
He picked up his gun, gave me a nod, and walked off as I stood with WTH running through my mind like the two-hundred-meter dash at the Olympics.
As I leaned my head against the tree in front of me with a swirly brain, I didn’t think I could take the past out of the past. That was where it was supposed to be forever. The untamed and wild Levi and Allie love story had to stay buried; it couldn’t be anything but in the review mirror.
Right?
I mean I had loved Clint. Maybe I still did a little? He was a steady guy. He had his future all figured out and now he realized he wanted me in it. If I had to trust someone again, he was a fairly safe bet, right?
Well, that is true for the most part. Clint wanted to move things forward, but when things move forward, it means throwing all your trust into the hands of one person.
And that’s like bungy jumping off a bridge with only that little cord keeping you from being squished and dead.
Logically you know there’s an overwhelming good chance it will keep you safe, but what if it doesn’t?
It would be impossible to live through that shit.
I peeked around the enormous tree in front of me and saw nobody. I moved to the right as Rachel tore through the trees after Kristina. I put my gun up and got Rach in the back and a second later hit Kristina in the arm.
This was a little more fun that I’d anticipated.
I jogged through some evergreen trees before I was pelleted twice in the back.
I whipped around to see Royce take off, but Lexi was in my sights.
I aimed, fired, and got her right in the ass while she let out a scream.
Once she saw me, she waved her weapon in the air.
“I’m gonna kill you, Allison!”
“Clearly not with a gun!” I had to admit she was a scary bitch at times. You couldn’t let her cute look fool you. She may appear like a lady, but she could fight, pull hair, and break bones. She’s like the total package that got fucked up through shipping and handling.
I trudged through the snow and hid behind some thick shrubs as quiet as a frickin mouse. I held my breath until she passed.
“Pppst.”
I looked up to see a rugged smile looking down at me while he extended his hand. I bit my lip to conceal my smile as hunting memories filtered in.
In high school I’d gone deer hunting with him multiple times.
While “normal” deer hunters had tree stands, Levi lacked the funds for that.
So in the summer he got some plywood from the Surburban True Value Hardware Store on Robert Street’s dumpster, and we dragged it into the woods where he screwed it to a solid branch and that was where we’d sit in silence for hours.
I’d read a book or just stare at him as his eyes awaited any movement in front of us.
Did I mention we never once left the forest without a deer? The boy had mad skills.
I climbed up a few branches when he reached down, got my hand, and pulled me up beside him. While there was no plywood for our asses today, the branch was big enough to be fairly comfortable. From our high perch we had a wonderful view, and I already saw Evan and Kristina sneaking around.
Levi pointed, and I took two shots and got them both as he chuckled.
From our location above, we pulled a full-fledged jelly ball attack on our housemates for ten minutes while colorful language and frustration floated through the forest like fairy dust.
“Allie! Where are you?”
Lexi’s voice bounced around me.
“I better go.” I dropped my gun to the ground and started down the tree.
Once on solid ground I picked up my weapon to hear pops from above as he pelleted my bottom.
“Levi!” I whisper yelled.
He shrugged. “You know I can’t resist.
I whisper yelled, “You’re a handful, and I don’t like it!”
“I know I’m a handful. That’s why you have two hands.”
I shot him a dramatic eyeroll before I took a few steps.
“Allie Motherfuckin’ Langley.”
I spun back toward him, and he shot me in the left boob leaving a purple streak.
I whispered yelled. “You stop that Levi Motherfuckin’ Dawson!”
With that he shot my other boob. While annoyed, it did even out my look.
* * *
Twenty brisk minutes later Royce’s voice floated through the forest. “Is this thing over? Is everybody dead?”
One by one we all appeared with our white coveralls now rainbowed up a bit. A few moments later my heart skipped a beat as I realized Levi and Clint had not appeared yet. I knew Levi could easily stage a horrific accident, but of course he wouldn’t.
A minute ticked by and Clint came into sight as gasps from all cut through the air. His white coveralls were not white. At all. Every inch of him had been assaulted with jelly balls, including his blond hair that was now purple and green.
Rachel laughed. “Holy shit, Clint.”
He flashed a tense smile as he rolled over to me.
That’s when Levi walked out of the forest in his white coveralls.
Completely white. Not hit once. He shot me a wink as the rest of the group was silent.
My eyes met Lexi’s and there was still pissiness there, but underneath I could see she was impressed; even she couldn’t resist a badass who could shoot shit up.
Once back at the house and after Clint took a quick shower, Kristina clapped her hands. “Alrighty y’all, I thought since we’re in a ski town, maybe we should hit the bunny hills this afternoon?” She put her arm around Clint. “I haven’t been on a pair of skis ever, but when in Rome, right?”
I stood at the kitchen counter and Clint made his way over to me as everyone was grabbing snacks.
“Hey.” He nudged my shoulder with his. “Maybe we hang back here while they hit the slopes? Have some time to talk?”
I went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water, opened it, and held my finger out as I took a long drink while trying to gather my thoughts. He came here, I should stay and talk.
“You’re really thirsty.”
I put my bottle down. “Yes, this air is, uh, dry.”
He took my hand in is. “So, we’re staying?”
“Well, I really think we should go with everybody. I mean, it’s a ski town, we should probably ski for a bit. Right?” My armpits were sticky.