°19•Lie low

I can’t believe what just happened. Things were going so well up until a few minutes ago. I can’t face him right now, not after what he said to me. Stupid jerk!

Now, where do I go? I don’t want to go home. That’s the first place he’ll look for me. An idea pops into my head, so I grab my cell and start to dial.

“What did my dear brother do this time?”

Was this a good idea? I’m wondering as Lily answers her phone.

“Maybe it was a mistake. I shouldn’t have called.” I’m about to hang up when I hear her speak.

Lily snorts. “Are you kidding me? I love hearing gossip about my brother. It’s refreshing to know he's not perfect.”

She’s funny. I laugh at her comment.

“Come to my place. Charlie just left to run an errand. We can talk more about what an asshole my brother can sometimes be.” She says with a malicious voice. As if I’m ready to reveal his deepest darkest secrets.

She tries to persuade me even more to join her by giving me her home address. I finally cave and begin to head over there.

If he wants to find me, let’s see how much time it takes him, and I'll judge if he’s earned my forgiveness. It may be childish, but right now, I don’t fudging care.

As I pull up in front of a vintage house, I walk to the front door and ring the bell and then I hear a dog barking.

“Tory, I’m so glad you came,” Lily says as she lets me inside.

Then I see a beautiful black pitbull with blue eyes ruining towards us.

“Lady, sit!” Lily orders her dog with a firm voice, and the dog obeys immediately. Lily rewards her for listening.

It’s sad to think that others misunderstand those breeds of dogs. I think with a good trainer and the right environment. They can be wonderful family dogs.

“Go and sit on the sofa. I’ll be right back with the good wine for us to drink while you spill the beans.”

What the fudge am I doing here? It’s his sister, for crying out loud. I don’t have the right to be here. What if he’ll be mad at me for coming to his sister? I think for a while as I sit in the living room.

I hear my ringtone on my cell. I go through my purse and catch it. Surprisingly it’s Judy calling me. I haven’t talked to her since my supposed wedding day. I wonder what she wants. I let it go to voicemail. Now isn’t the time to speak with her. I’ll call her later.

Lady decides to join me and sits right in front of me. I learned that it’s best not to look a dog in the eyes when they don’t know you. I decided to stay still. Not long after, Lady comes closer to me, places her nose on one of my legs and starts to smell my scent as she goes up and down.

“Lady. Carpet. Now!” She obeys immediately without giving Lily any trouble.

“So let’s hear what my stupid brother did this time?” She asks as she pours two glasses of wine and hands me one.

Maybe it’s not as bad as I thought, I think while I taste the first drop in my mouth.

While I’m ready to open my mouth to speak, we hear the door open. For a split second, I think Levi’s at the door who found me.

“Sweetie, I'm home,” Charlie announces himself, and Lady goes to welcome him.

“In here,” Lily responds.

He walks towards us and sits beside Lily, kisses her cheek and wraps his arm around her shoulder.

“Baby, I love you, don’t take this personally, but go play with your computer or something and leave us be. Can you take Lady with you, please?”

He looks at me and then at Lily.

“Levi?” He asks

“Levi.” She replies to confirm why I’m here.

“Tory, how are you?” He asks as he acknowledges my presence.

I smile at him. “Great, you?”

“Can’t complain. Come, girl.” He says to Lady as he walks through the house hallway with Lady on his tail.

“Sorry about that, Tory. You can start talking now.” Lily turns to me once we’re alone again.

As I said, when I first met Lily, I had a good impression of her, so it doesn’t surprise me when I tell her everything that went on between Levi and me. She doesn’t say anything. She waits until I’m done talking.

“Look, I don’t want to tell you what to do, and I know my brother; he didn’t mean what he said to you. It was just in the heat of the moment. You have to know that Darla can bring out the worst in him, and up until now, I was afraid of the oath my brother took after his divorce. All of that changed when he met you, and because of you, he’s becoming the man he was before all of that. Ok, maybe not completely because, let’s face it, he’s damn stubborn sometimes.” Lily shakes her head as she says the last part.

“Tch, look who’s talking,” Levi says as he is suddenly in the same room as us.

Levi? Once again, Levi succeeded in making my heart literally stop. Fudge, I’m in trouble now. No, wait, he’s the one in trouble.

He looks at me as if he sees right through me and can read my mind. He steps closer to me, but before he’s in front of me, I get up from my seat. I’m curious to see what he’ll do next.

“I’m sorry.” He says as he kisses one of my cheeks.

“I’m sorry.” He says as he kisses the other cheek.

“I’m sorry.” This time he kisses my nose. By this point, I’m smiling like a fool. He keeps it up as he kisses my eyes and chin.

“Please forgive me, babe.” He says one last time as he kisses my forehead lightly.

“So you found me,” I reply to him.

“I did.” He then kisses my lips, and I let him. All I needed from him was to find me.

“Now, babe, it’s time for us to go back to my place so I can finally fuck you properly.” He says without blinking an eye.

“Levi!” I shout as I slap his shoulder. As usual, the jerk gives me his signature smirk.

Jerk! Jerk! Jerk!

“Brother, forget what I said earlier. You are still a big slut.” Lily says disgustingly.

He laughs as he takes my hand and drags me with him. I turn my head towards Lily and mouth ‘Sorry’ as Levi leads me to the doors.