Levi’s eyes went wide. “Rick?”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Levi
“Rick?”
Fuck. What where the chances? I’d been in Laurelsburg for weeks now and hadn’t seen him a single time. I had kind of figured that Ralph or Jess must have warned him off coming back into Bold Brew because he never once showed up on any of my shifts. But here he was now, on a random path at this music festival thing.
In my imaginings about running into Rick again, I’d been smooth, all hot and unattainable, not sweaty and hungry after a day in the sun, with my mouth hanging open at the shock of seeing him again.
Beside me, Joe tensed, looking bigger and scarier than usual. Good. At least one of us could be attractive and fierce.
“What are you doing here?” Rick asked me with the barest of nods for Joe.
“Living.” I kept my tone defiant. He didn’t deserve my small talk. “I got a job.”
“Ah. Yeah.” Rubbing his chin, he didn’t seem particularly startled to hear that, giving support to my idea that someone had warned him off Bold Brew. “Good. Good for you. And you’re looking well.”
Actually, I wasn’t. I could clean up far better than this, but I continued to stare Rick down, without letting myself crack a smile. “I am well.”
“You can drop the attitude, Levi.” Rick shifted into stern Daddy voice.
Beside me, Joe bristled. That perked me up. And I almost laughed because Joe did that same voice so much better. Not that I wanted a showdown with punches between the two, but I also wasn’t mad when Joe stepped in front of me.
“You don’t get to talk to him like that.” Yup. Joe’s commanding voice was so much more real.
“Ah. I see. Got yourself a new…friend?” Rick’s smile was both forced and more than a little slimy.
“Yup.” I couldn’t help being a little gleeful.
Rick gave an elegant shrug. “Not exactly your usual type.”
“You wouldn’t know,” I shot back as Joe growled.
“I know you plenty.” Rick’s voice was sickly sweet. How had I ever found him so hot? He reached for my arm, and Joe swatted his hand.
“You don’t get to touch him.” Joe’s glower was a thing of beauty.
“Levi. Call off your prison guard boyfriend here.” Rick managed to seem both bored and alarmed at the same time.
“Nope.” I shook my head.
“Whatever. I only wanted to tell you that Stan and I broke up. I mean, technically, it’s a separation, but we both know where it’s headed.”
“Do you? Do both of you know this time?”
“Levi. Marriage is complicated.” Rick sighed like I was eight, and I had no clue what I’d ever seen in the guy. Joe never patronized me or made me feel immature the way that Rick did. “Anyway, we split, and I’ve been missing you.”
He gave me a seductive smile, the one that used to unleash a million butterflies in my belly. But now it simply made me nauseous.
“Not interested.” I grabbed Joe’s hand, almost like the referee in a boxing match. Winner! But Joe seemed less than thrilled at the gesture. He didn’t drop my hand, but he also didn’t stop glaring, even after Rick moved along.
Expression still near murderous, Joe headed right for a clump of trees beyond the main stage and set apart from foot traffic. When we were as alone as we were going to get in a crowded park, he whirled on me. “What the heck, Levi?”
“What?”
“Did you actually want to start a fight? Like, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you…gloating like that before.”
“It was awesome the way you glowered at him.” I nodded, which only seemed to make Joe more upset. “Were you not into it?” Another possibility entered my head, one which made my jaw clench. “Are you mad because he called you my boyfriend?”
Joe’s face softened as he reached for my arm. “No, of course not.”
“Then what gives? Why be mad that I told Rick where to shove it?” In the distance, the crowd roared as a new act was introduced, matching the hum inside my brain.
“He’s very…fancy.” Sighing, Joe looked away, out at the people dancing near picnic blankets and beyond that at the ring of food tents.
“He is.” I couldn’t disagree with the assessment, and I kicked at the dirt, frustrated with the whole damn situation. “I was probably more than a little blinded by his glitz, initially.”
“But he was your type? Like that was what you were looking for? A Daddy Dom like him?” Stepping away from me, Joe paced farther into the group of trees.
“You’re jealous.” I didn’t bother phrasing it as a question.
“No.”
“Come on.” I gave a bitter laugh.
“I’m serious. It’s not exactly jealousy. Like I don’t want to be him. But that’s the thing. I can’t be him or be like him. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to compete with all his…trappings.”
“You can’t,” I snapped.
“Exactly,” Joe said before I could explain more. “I can’t. Which means this is a sort of revenge fuck for you? I could lay the guy out with a single punch and that’s the appeal for you? I can’t be your heavy, Levi."
“I know that.” Now I was more angry than frustrated. I stalked over to where he’d ended up. “All you can do is be you. Be Joe. And you are more than enough, but you keep refusing to see it.”
“Eventually, you’re going to get tired of a guy like me. You’re going to want fancy again. Or you’re going to want some muscle top who truly is okay with punching douchebags for you. I’m just not sure I can be what you need.”
I groaned because it didn’t matter how prettily I phrased my praise of Joe. He was refusing to see his own worth, and I was still all worked up about seeing Rick, and not in the most patient of moods.
“Eventually, I might want to try for a spot on a mission to Mars. Come on, Joe. Tell me how you really feel. Ask me to apply for that job.”
“What?” Joe’s befuddlement would be adorable if I weren’t so frustrated.
“You’ve been working up to saying something ever since Inez mentioned it earlier.”
It had been almost comical, watching the wheels turn in Joe’s head. I’d been curious as to how long it would take him to arrive at a way to slip it into conversation when we were alone. “But that might mean admitting feelings, which you’re not going to do because you’ve already decided what I do and do not need in my life.”
“Hey.” Joe pursed his mouth, his confusion giving way to what looked like irritation. “You don’t tell me your feelings either. You were worried about bills and told Inez, not me.”
“That’s different.” I made a dismissive gesture. “I didn’t want to worry you. I knew you’d offer to help, and I didn’t want that.”
“Well, okay then.” Joe recoiled like I’d slapped him. “So I’m supposed to lay everything out there while you get to pick and choose what you share. Got it.”