Chapter 14 Levi
Levi
Four days. That’s how long I’d been living with Tess—my wife.
Four days since I’d kissed her with all the pent-up feelings I’d been carrying for the last month.
I couldn’t get it out of my head. The soft glide of her lips against mine, the way she tasted, the way she clung to me at the reception… it rewired my brain chemistry, my body.
Before my heart went tha-thump…tha-thump…tha-thump…
But now, it sounded like Tess…Tess…Tess…
She and Luke had only been here four days, and this house didn’t feel like mine anymore. It felt like ours.
Luke’s toys were scattered across the floor, and Tess’s makeup was sitting on the bathroom counter next to my shaving stuff.
Luke’s little light-up shoes sat by the door, right next to Tess’s bubblegum-pink running shoes and my black ones.
Their snacks were in the pantry next to mine.
Tess’s clothes were hung up next to mine.
Luke’s spot on the couch was next to mine.
It was a complete intermeshing of three people—a family unit.
And God help me, I loved it. Every single part of it.
I actually used my house now instead of just moving between my bedroom and my office.
Our nights were spent having dinner at the table and then watching movies Luke picked out, while having a “sweet treat,” as Tess called it.
And in the rare moments when Luke fell asleep before Tess was ready for bed, she’d sneak him into bed, and we’d open a bottle of wine.
She’d read on her Kindle while I pretended to review cases, sneaking glances at her like a lovesick idiot, until Luke noticed she wasn’t there.
But I was lovesick, and I was an idiot. My pulse would trip over itself when she’d walk into a room.
Every time she laughed with Luke, I couldn’t help but laugh too.
Whenever I saw my ring on her finger, a swell of possessive pride ran through me.
It was stupid of me to think I could have her here, pretend to be her husband, and not fall for her more. Not fall for both of them, honestly.
She was just so…Tess. I loved everything about her.
She was neat and tidy. She was fun and played games with Luke.
She tiptoed around early in the morning, trying not to wake me up while I slept on the couch.
When she’d make her coffee, she’d make a second one for me.
I even loved the fact that she snored like a freight train.
It should’ve annoyed me, and I think if it were anyone else, it would. But not her. If anything, I found the wall-rattling sound almost comforting at this point.
Today was the first time I’d been up before her, so I decided to make her coffee for a change. While the espresso beans were grinding, I heard small footsteps creep into the kitchen. Tess shuffled in wearing a tank top and baby pink shorts with Valentine’s Day candy hearts on them.
“Morning,” I said over the whirring of the coffee maker while she went to the freezer.
She bent over, and I couldn’t help but notice the yellow heart on her ass that said kiss me.
I looked at the counter, clenching my teeth.
It was like the universe was plotting against me.
Daring me to push the boundaries of this fake marriage as far as I could.
“Hi,” she grumbled and slumped down on a barstool. She shivered as she ran the ice roller over her face, eyes shut like she was still struggling to wake up.
“Sleep okay?” I asked, looking at her while she couldn’t see. I loved seeing this side of her. The raw and real side that wasn’t done up first thing in the morning. I finished making her coffee and slid it towards her.
“Thank you,” she rasped and brought the glass to her lips. She licked the cold foam off her top lip quickly, and I was jealous that I couldn’t. “Slept terribly,” she sighed.
I chuckled, starting on my own coffee, my back to her.
“Really? The way you were snoring all night says different.” When she didn’t say anything, I turned around and knew instantly I’d screwed up.
She was staring at the counter, but wasn’t looking at it.
Her mind was somewhere else, the ice roller and coffee long forgotten. “Tess?”
“Sorry,” she whispered.
“Don’t be sorry,” I said, rounding the counter. “I was just teasing. I’m sorry. I really don’t mind it.” I loved it. It meant she was here…with me…where I was starting to think she belonged.
She blinked hard, shaking her head. “No, I know it’s annoying, but I can’t help it,” her voice cracked right along with my heart.
I leaned against the counter, trying to see her face, but she had it turned away from me.
“My nose was broken three years ago. It didn’t heal right, and I’ve snored ever since. ”
My eyes drifted shut, and I wrenched my jaw. If I ever saw Jeremy…no, I didn’t even want to think about it.
Tess sniffled, and she wiped her eyes. “I can try the strips again,” she offered weakly.
I tipped her head back, making her look at me. “No. You aren’t going to change a thing, you’re perfect,” I said, looking into her bloodshot eyes. “I meant what I said. I don’t mind it.” I swiped a falling tear off her cheek. “I think it’s cute.”
She swallowed, her eyes searching mine. “Really?” I hated the uncertainty in her voice.
“Yes, sweetheart, really,” I whispered, tucking her hair behind her ear.
Her pupils expanded, and I realized then what I’d done. What I called her. Fuck. I forced my hand away from her face, flexing my fingers at my side.
“You think I’m perfect?” Her voice was breathy, the sound wrapped itself around my heart like a vice.
My heart pounded with indecision. I couldn’t lie and say no, that’d break her heart.
But if I told her the truth, there was no going back from it.
It could change everything and ruin this happy little bubble we’d created with Luke these last few days.
I didn’t want to risk that, but I also refused to hurt her.
“Remember at Colt’s wedding, you asked me what flustered me, and I said typos?”
Her brows pulled together, confused. “Yeah?”
I took a deep, steadying breath. It didn’t work, but this ball was rolling now, so I had to keep going. “Well, that was a lie. It’s you. You fluster me, Tess.”
Her eyes widened, her whole body freezing. I wasn’t even sure she was breathing. “W-What?” she rasped, blinking quickly.
My head tilted while I took in the sheer confusion on her face. Had she really never noticed? I thought I’d been so obvious…but maybe not if she really had no clue.
“You’re all I think about, Tess,” I admitted. My throat felt tight. “I wonder what you’re doing, if you’re happy. If you ever…think of me, too.”
I forced myself to keep going. “I find myself randomly smiling throughout the day because I’m thinking of you.
Your laugh, your smile, how amazing you are with Luke…
” My gaze slid up to meet hers. “How gorgeous I think you are,” I continued, my voice deeper, softer.
Her breath caught. It was the smallest sound, but loud enough to wreck me.
“I want to be your safe place, the person you run to during hard times; I want to be that for both of you.”
She shifted closer, her knee brushing my thigh. The tiny movement made my heart stutter. “You are,” she said softly, her voice thick with emotion. Her hand wrapped around mine. It was shaking. “You know you are, Levi.”
My eyes darted all over her face, taking in every detail. My pulse was hammering. My mouth was dry. “That kiss at the courthouse… It wasn’t fake. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. Not for a single second.”
A shaky breath left me when she bit her bottom lip, and my body leaned in towards hers as if she were my center of gravity. “Levi…” she said softly, like a plea.
My eyes searched hers, lost in that sky blue filled with desire. She tilted her head back as I leaned in, sliding my hand into her messy hair. “This marriage might be fake, babygirl, but nothing about my feelings for you are,” I murmured, my voice rough like gravel.
A shudder rolled through me when her hand met my hip. Her quick breaths fanned across my lips. “Neither are mine,” she whispered, breathless.
My chest was heaving, my heart pounding. She smelled like me, like this house, like herself, all mixed together into one, like it was meant to be. Like we were meant to be this whole time, and we were just too clueless to do anything about it until now.
“I want you,” I breathed, dragging my thumb across her bottom lip. She whimpered, her grip on me tightening. “So much.”
Her teeth scraped against the pad of my thumb. “Then take me. I’m yours. I have been this entire time.” I didn’t think I could get any harder, and then she went and said that.
My eyes fell shut, my forehead dropped to hers, and for one perfect moment, it was just us, our breaths tangled, our lips a whisper apart. Then Luke’s voice cut through, shattering it. “Mommy!”
Tess’s hands slipped from me, leaving my skin cold.
I forced myself to back away quickly when Luke’s feet started padding down the hall in a little run.
I dared a glance at her as I rounded the kitchen island, and I nearly tripped over my own feet.
She was already looking at me wide-eyed, her chest rising and falling as fast as mine.
I knew she felt it too. The tension that had always been there, crackling like static.
“Good morning!” Luke cheered, his wild curls bouncing as he skipped into the kitchen, oblivious that he just ruined probably what would’ve been the most earth-shattering, life-changing kiss of my life.
“Good morning,” Tess cooed, scooping him up in her arms. They sat together on a stool in front of me.
“You hungry?” He nodded. “Maybe if you ask nicely, Levi will make you pancakes,” she whispered to him.
She looked up at me through her lashes with a playful smile, and I knew then I’d do anything she asked, looking at me like that.
Luke threw his top half over the counter dramatically, clasping his hands together. “Can you make me pancakes, Wevi? Pweaseeee?”
Tess and I laughed at his theatrics, and I started gathering the ingredients from the cabinet. I was just as whipped for him as I was for his mom. “What kind do you want, buddy?”
“Sprinks!” he said, grinning like a little devil.
“I like the way you think,” I said, smiling. I grabbed the rainbow sprinkles and got to work with a lightness in my chest that hadn’t been there a month ago.
My chest was tight, like the love I felt for them was overflowing and was too big to fit inside me anymore. It was almost painful to hold this much feeling for them. And to know that Tess had feelings for me, too? I felt like I was walking on air, like the luckiest man in the world.