Breaking the Habit by Ember Leigh

Author:Ember Leigh [Leigh, Ember]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-06-18T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Three days after the incident, Levi got the notice that the paparazzo was pressing charges against him for vandalism and destruction of property.

Over those three days, he’d had plenty of time to calm down. To realize that breaking a camera guy’s shit because he got too close after Levi asked nicely for him to back the fuck off was not a good idea.

But the deed was done. And it wasn’t the only thing he regretted from that day.

The blowup with Riley haunted him. When he shut his eyes at night, he could still see the hurt slash across her face from when he’d called her a nobody. A nobody. He was the dumbest man alive. It didn’t matter how much he believed in what he was doing or why he was hunting notoriety.

He said the stupidest shit when he was upset. Everyone in his life knew it. Now Riley did too.

Levi needed to make it up to her bigtime. After training that day, he went to the most expensive florist he could find on Google Maps and bought the darkest bouquet they had. Black and mauve roses with gray lilies. Riley would go crazy for that shit. And he could try to make light of his own stupid words. If she’d look him in the eye.

She hadn’t texted over the past three days—not that he’d expected her to—but neither had he. Part of him felt like this was a weaning process. Their sex had been explosive, but it couldn’t go further than that. So why push it?

But his own fuckup made him eager to fix things. They had more practices coming up. More matches. It would be awkward, and he hated awkward. So he loaded up the expensive flowers and headed to her house to surprise her.

Levi knocked on the front door, his entire body clenching as he waited for someone to answer. He had to knock a second and third time before the front door opened. Nikki peered out at him.

“Hello?”

“Hey, uh…Nikki?” He flashed his best smile. “Is Riley home? I really need to see her.”

Nikki blinked at the bouquet in his hands. “Oh, she’s gonna be so fuckin’ happy.”

He liked that little insight. “So, is she here?”

“Sorry. She’s at the studio.” Nikki shook her head, eyes still on the flowers. “Black roses. You really know her already, don’t you?”

Nikki’s words stuck with him as he booked it back across Los Feliz. He pulled up just when the golden hour was in full force. He hid the flowers behind his back as he trotted up to her studio. The door was open, and he pushed inside, the scent of patchouli greeting him. Low music hummed, something blues-y and sad.

Riley twisted toward the door, camera in her hand. She was with a client. Levi stilled, staying near the door.

“Oh,” she said, zero enthusiasm in her voice.

“Hey, Riley.” He kept the flowers behind his back, eyes darting between her and the client—the man—in front of her. He was probably early thirties, with an impeccable finger wave in his longish hair and a tailored suit.

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