Chapter 3 Tess
Tess
Even though it had been a month since I’d been home, it still felt a little overwhelming to be around everyone at once. Especially now that we were friends with the McLeods again, thanks to Claire falling for Beau. But it had been nice to reconnect with him and his siblings after all this time.
The afternoon air was hot and humid as we all hung out in Colt and his girlfriend, Brittany’s, backyard while he grilled.
It was a ‘just because’ gathering, and something about that I loved.
They had a cute house in town, the kind of place I wanted to get for myself and Luke one day after we survived this nightmare.
Our group of eleven was the kind of village I craved when I lived in Corpus Christi, the kind I wanted Luke to grow up in. One where we were there for each other, no matter what. Where family wasn’t defined by blood, but by love.
And there was a lot of it here.
I was chatting to Brittany when Luke came running up to me.
“Mommy! Me and Henry are pwaying horses,” he panted in my face, his little cheeks rosy with exertion.
He took the water out of my hands, gulping it.
He and Anna’s son were the same age and had become the best of friends, which made me relieved.
“I see that!” I wiped the water off his chin. Before he could run off, I said, “Are you going to say hi to Miss Brittany?” He was a little behind developmentally with socialization, and I knew it was my fault. But we were home now, so I hoped things would be easier for him. For us.
“Hi,” he said quickly, not looking her in the eye, too eager to get back to playing.
Brittany smiled. “Hi, cutie pie. I can’t wait to get my hands on those curls!” We were getting haircuts tomorrow since Luke’s hair was out of control, and my roots were starting to show. It’d be the first time I’d have it professionally done, and I was excited.
“Come on, Luke!” Henry yelled across the yard, a stick in his hand. He gave me a sloppy kiss on my cheek and bolted back to Henry.
“I wish I had their energy,” Brittany sighed, watching as they chased one another.
“Me too.” Since I’d been home, I was sleeping better, but still not enough. But maybe that was just a mom thing to always be tired. “I’d get so much more done.”
Movement on the back deck caught my attention, but the tension in my body relaxed when I realized it was Levi. I was surprised to see him here, but he was Colt’s cousin, so I guess it made sense. I just hadn’t realized they were close like that.
Either way, I couldn’t deny that I was happy to see him.
“Get more done, so you can spend more time salivating over Levi?” Brittany giggled, leaning into my side.
I gasped. “Oh my God! No!” I glanced at Levi again, unable to help it. “He’s my lawyer, Brittany,” I murmured in case he could hear me talking now that he was in the backyard with the rest of us.
“You don’t look at him like he’s your lawyer.”
Only because most lawyers didn’t look like that. At least not the ones I’d been around. Levi was gorgeous, to put it bluntly. Effortlessly so. All the guys here were attractive in their own right. But there was something…extra about Levi. Something that pulled at me like gravity.
Maybe it was because he was so different from them. He wasn’t a cowboy, roughened up and dripping with that certain brand of masculinity. Anna’s husband, Joseph, had the same polished quality as Levi, but he also worked with his hands, training elite racing horses.
Levi worked purely with his mind.
And it was attractive. Incredibly so.
My breath caught in the back of my throat when he looked in my direction. The corner of his mouth tilted up in a tiny smile, and he waved.
I wanted to disintegrate, not knowing how to react. Were we just lawyer and client? Friends? I didn’t know. We didn’t talk about anything other than my case in the week since we got ice cream, so I guess that was my answer.
But I wanted more, even if I knew I couldn’t have it.
For all I knew, he could’ve had a girlfriend.
Someone smart and confident like my sister, Savannah, who he was now talking to.
He’d want someone like her, I bet. Another lawyer he could have intellectual conversations with.
Not a single mom, four years younger than him, who had more baggage than life experience.
Colt stood on a lawn chair, banging a pair of tongs against his beer bottle. “Hey!” he called out.
Brittany stood up next to me, grinning like she had a dirty secret. “That’s my cue.” My brows furrowed, watching as she dug something out of her shorts pocket.
“Show us your tits!” Delilah, Savannah’s best friend and practically my third sister, yelled at him. Colt flipped her off, making me smile.
Levi laughed at her joke, and my stomach sank. Did he like girls like her? Who were loud and hilarious and spoke their minds? Because I could never be like that. Or any of the other women here, for that matter.
I was…damaged goods. Meek. Broken.
“I have something to say,” Colt started, pulling me out of my thoughts. “We asked you all here because…” He looked down at Brittany, his smile widening. “Because I asked the love of my life to marry me and she said yes.”
I gasped, my hands flying to my mouth, while I looked around. Everyone seemed just as shocked as me, and something about that made me feel better. There had been a lot I felt like I was playing catch-up on this past month I’d been home, but with this, we were on equal footing.
We all rushed towards them to give our congratulations. “You didn’t say anything!” I laughed, hugging Brittany.
“You were off in la la lawyer land anyway,” she teased quietly, waggling her brows.
I rolled my eyes, brushing her comment off. “Let me see the ring!” The marquise diamond sparkled in the sunlight. “Oh, Brittany, it’s gorgeous.”
“It is. Congrats, Brittany,” a smooth voice said from behind me. Levi. I hadn’t even noticed he was standing right behind me. Normally, I was more observant than that.
I turned around, unable to stop my smile when I tilted my head back to look at him. “Hi.”
Another thing I liked about Levi? The height difference. He was tall, but not so tall that he towered over me like Jeremy did. It was enough to make me feel safe, but not intimidated.
Nothing about Levi intimidated me. Nothing except for the feelings I had for him. It didn’t seem to matter how many times I reminded myself it was inappropriate; they stayed and continued to grow.
“Hi, Tess,” he said softly, looking at me with those kind eyes that made my insides feel like freshly poured champagne.
My smile grew. “Hi.” My voice betrayed me. It was too soft. Too warm.
One of his dimples popped out. “You said that already,” he chuckled.
Heat crept up my neck, and I giggled. “Sorry. Wasn’t thinking.” Yeah, not thinking because you can’t stop looking at his eyes! I scolded myself. “How are you?”
His amusement faded to something softer. “Better now.”
The champagne feeling inside me overflowed until my whole body was buzzing with it. Did he mean better now because he was talking to me? There was no way.
“That’s good!” My voice was too chipper, suddenly feeling exposed under his stare. It was only the third time I’d seen him, and yet it felt like he was peeling back all my layers and seeing what lay beneath.
He took a sip of his beer, glancing over at where Luke and Henry were playing. “How’s Luke?” It warmed my heart to know he was asking because he cared, not just to be polite.
“Great,” I said honestly, watching him squeal with laughter. My heart could’ve burst at the sight.
“And you?” His voice was softer, lower.
I took a deep breath, needing to steady myself. I kept my eyes on Luke even though I could feel Levi’s on the side of my face. “I’m alright.”
“Any more messages?”
The warm, fuzzy feeling left me in an instant.
“They pretty much come nonstop,” I said, looking down at the ground.
“Nothing he hasn’t said before, though, so…
” I shrugged a shoulder. When I turned towards him, he didn’t seem to have the same ‘bury my head under the sand’ attitude I did.
He looked pissed. “It’s not a big deal, Levi. ”
“It’s a big deal to me. I don’t want you constantly looking over your shoulder or feeling threatened. You don’t deserve that. You deserve to feel safe. You and Luke.”
If only he knew I was starting to feel safest when he was around.
The sun was long gone, and we were now circled around a small fire, even though it was too hot for it.
Luke was lying between my legs, munching on a s’more.
Levi was beside me in a chair of his own, both of us a couple of beers deep.
Weston, Savannah’s kind of boyfriend, convinced me to have one, and I had to admit I was feeling a little more relaxed because of it.
Or maybe that had been because ever since Colt announced his engagement, Levi hadn’t strayed more than ten feet from my side.
Delilah scrambled to stand on her chair.
“We should go out!” she yelled, her words a little slurred.
“To celebrate Colt and Britt and get our minds off those Hollis pricks.” Preston had just sent Savannah a notice that he and Sterling were suing Beau and Claire.
I didn’t really understand all the details.
“Delilah!” I gasped. I couldn’t believe she said that with Levi right here! I glanced over at him, and he was grinning, completely unfazed. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered, mortified.
I nearly exploded when his hand landed gently on my knee. It was gentle, like he hadn’t realized what he was doing until it was too late. “It’s okay,” he murmured. And just as quickly, he pulled away, flexing his fingers in his lap like they’d burned him.
I was too stunned to hear what anyone was saying after that, still staring at the spot on my knee. The spot that burned with the remnants of his touch.