In Bloom: A Small Town Romance (Seasons of Highland Lakes Book 1) by Nikki Blythe

Author:Nikki Blythe [Blythe, Nikki]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Bragi Publishing
Published: 2020-06-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Neville

Later that day, I walked into the tattoo parlor, searching for Levi. We weren’t open yet, and wouldn’t be for at least a half an hour, so I figured I’d find him in the back pulling tools from the autoclave. I walked towards the back of the parlor and entered the break room. Levi looked up from his task, eyebrow raised. I realized I must have looked pretty harried as I rushed into the room.

“What's up?” He asked, concerned.

“I think I fucked up,” I admitted.

“Care to elaborate?” He asked, carefully putting the various tools and implements down on a sterile sheet on top of a rolling cart.

Instead of answering right away, I walked to my booth. Levi followed me in silence, still with his concerned expression planted firmly on his face. I set my bag down and took a few steadying breaths, pacing in the small space my booth provided. I didn’t know where to begin telling him all that had happened. I was sleep deprived, but I was exhausted for so many reasons.

After I left Cedar earlier in the afternoon, I went home to find that Faith hadn’t gone to work again. She flew off the handle when I told her I went back to class. She threw things and screamed, and it got to the point that I was afraid the police would be called. We had a neighbor who shared our kitchen wall, and they had called the police before. When they first moved in, they though I had been the volatile one in the relationship, until the day they saw the physical evidence of Faith’s abuse on my face, anyway. It was humiliating, because they constantly asked if I wanted help getting out. I was a man. I should have been able to handle the whole situation, but instead, I was left feeling emasculated and foolish because my tiny girlfriend often got the better of me.

I barely gotten any sleep after the fight, before I had to head into work, so my brain was foggy, and I felt disoriented.

I was also berating myself, as I didn't know why I continued to be so damn honest with her. It wasn't as if she gave me the same courtesy.

“Neville, dude,” came Levi's stern reminder to answer him.

“I slept with Cedar,” I whispered.

“Wait, what? Dude, that's awesome!” Levi clapped me on the shoulder, and I tossed him a glare.

“How is this awesome? I cheated on Faith, and I'm sure she'll find out somehow.”

I plopped myself down in my chair and put my elbows on my work table, head in hand.

“Fuck Faith, but also, don't. She's evil. How was it with Cedar?”

“It was amazing,” I said as I brought my eyes up to meet his. “Seriously, it wasn't just like some one-night stand, club bathroom fuck. I felt an enormous connection with her as we... well, it sounds corny, but I swear we made love.”

“That's not corny at all,” Levi retorted. “It sounds like it was a good time, though.

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