Page 80 of Sidelined Love

Levi shakes his head and I stare at him for a moment to see if he'll prove himself to be a liar about this. When he doesn't, I turn to Asher and ask, “Can you help me get him to my car?”

Asher walks over to us and together he and I help Levi to his feet. His body leans heavily against mine, although he tries to support more of his own weight.

As he moves his body closer to mine, I worry he might lose his balance and fall. If that happens, Asher and I will have a bigger problem on our hands.

Instead, he tells me, “Thank you.”

Thankfully, everything is okay. Although we have to take our time, soon we have Levi in the passenger’s seat of my car, and I turn to Asher after I've closed the door behind him.

“Why didn't you let him sleep it off here?”

Asher shrugs. “He asked specifically for you and kept making demands to go and find you. I've been drinking too and didn't want to have to chase him down, and the other guys all left and headed to the bar.”

That makes some sense, but I've also now chalked this up to this being the result of everyone involved outside of me drinking too much. “I'll get him home safely.”

“He's lucky to have you, you know,” he says quietly. “Not many people would have come to his rescue.”

“I know,” I find myself saying without thinking about it.

With a small nod, Asher walks away, returning to his house and leaving me alone to care for Levi.

Once I walk around the car, get into the driver's seat, and start the engine, I glance at Levi. His eyes are half closed, but he manages to give me a weak smile. I take it as a reassurance that everything is going to be fine, and we'll make it to our destination unscathed.

The drive to Levi's apartment is quick and mostly silent outside of the soft music I have playing in the background. I park as close as I can to his apartment building and help him out of the car. We make it up to his apartment without incident, and I lead him inside. Once there, I guide him over to the sofa and help him sit down gently. He looks up at me and I'm shaken by what I see in his eyes.

Vulnerability.

The typical golden boy façade is gone, replaced by something that is much more raw. Whatever has driven him to this moment has hurt him deeply, and to say I'm concerned is an understatement.

“I'll get you some water and an aspirin to take. Are you hungry? I can throw something together if you have some ingredients in the fridge?”

What the hell am I doing? I barely know the layout of his apartment and now I'm having to navigate it as if I'm here daily and not just here when we fuck.

Levi winces before he responds. “Sure, that'd be great.”

I head for the kitchen, switching on lights as I go. I rummage through his cabinets and fridge, finding ingredients that can help me throw together a simple omelet with some toast. Before I start cooking, I fill a glass with water and grab some aspirin from the bathroom. Once I've handed those things to Levi, I get back to fixing him a quick meal that will help him deal with the alcohol flowing through his system.

When I've finished cooking, I walk back into the living room with the food and find him sitting up on the couch looking down at his hands. Him being able to do that gives me hope that he is starting to sober up.

I place the plate of food on the coffee table in front of him, along with a fork. He looks at it for a long moment before picking up the utensil and starting to eat. I watch him for what feels like eternity before sitting down next to him.

“You want to talk about it?” I offer gently. I'm not sure what else to say.

He shakes his head. “Not tonight,” he says.

“Okay,” I reply, knowing that pushing him isn't the way to deal with this. Plus, given the state of whatever this is that is going on between us, we probably shouldn't be having this type of conversation anyway.

We sit in silence, the only sounds in the room coming from the occasional clink of the fork against the plate as he scarfs the food down. To be honest, I prefer it because it gives me an opportunity to start thinking about how I feel about all of this.

“Thanks for doing this,” Levi's words break through the silence. His voice is stronger now. He doesn't look at me as he speaks, instead concentrating on a small piece of egg he's chasing around his plate with his fork.

“It's no big deal,” I reply softly, though it feels like I'm lying to both of us.

He finally looks up at me and I swear my heart stops beating. “No, Hailey, it is a big deal. You didn't have to come.”

I brush off his gratitude with a shrug. “Well, someone had to make sure you got home safe.”

I decide not to mention that he could have easily stayed with Asher. What's done is done, and now we're at his place. Speaking of, since he's doing better, it's time for me to head back to my home.

---