Beating in Time by M.J. Schiller

Author:M.J. Schiller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kissmet Publishing
Published: 2023-02-05T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

Levi

Our gazes connected across the fire, and we froze for a moment. Then we quickly moved toward each other on the outer edges of the ring formed by the others. When we met, we threw our arms around each other and she clung to me. I’d lifted her off the sand a couple of inches and I rocked from side-to-side a little as I held her. Slowly I eased the tension of our embrace and set her on her feet. She drew apart, keeping her hands locked behind my neck. She searched my face.

“Why, Levi? All those years ago, why did you sacrifice yourself for Wyatt?”

I smiled. “I didn’t. I sacrificed myself for you.”

She stared at me, blinking back tears, apparently at a loss for words.

“Should we take a walk?”

She nodded. “I need to let Skip and Tyler know I’m leaving, though.”

She rushed off and talked to two guys in polos with the Sands logo on them—an hourglass with a shell at its base. They followed her with their eyes as she left, giving me the once-over. Returning to me, she slipped her arm in mine. I waved at the guys with my opposite hand, and they suddenly became really interested in a clipboard they held between them.

We strolled in silence for a stretch. It was a perfect night—temperature in the mid-seventies, a nearly full moon making the waves sparkle, and just the kiss of a breeze. We left the Sands property and kept going until we ran into a rise that would have taken a bit of climbing to cross.

“Do you want to sit?”

She nodded and we took a seat on the sand next to each other.

She started in like she’d been considering what I’d said the entire time since. “Levi, did I make you feel like you had to—” She paled. “Oh, God. I didn’t ask you to do it, did I? Some things are kind of fuzzy about that night.”

“No, you didn’t ask me to. In fact, you kind of made it hard for me to make my noble gesture by telling the police I was lying.”

She looked down. “I should have done more. I should have not let them take you away.”

“You were in no shape to do that.”

She frowned, peering at me again. “But why would you do that? You lost months of school, got kicked off the football team...not to mention the fact that you were saddled with a criminal record... Why would you do that for some annoying brat that constantly followed you around?”

“I didn’t think of you that way.” I stared at the ocean, and a thought occurred to me. “Remi, did Wyatt ever tell you how we got the name Steel for the band?”

“No. I don’t think so.”

“Well, he told everyone that he came up with it, but he didn’t. I did.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. Do you remember what your mom told you about how you got your name?”

“Yeah.” Her lips quirked. “She named me after some hottie TV detective, Remington...Steel.” Her eyes widened.

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