Page 45 of Another Postcard

Sasha laughed and threw up her hands. “Exactly!” I couldn’t help giggling and when Matteo deftly avoided Cooper’s fist flying at his shoulder, I laughed harder.

“Watch it,” Levi snapped as he and Noah walked up to us. “You accidentally hurt my woman, I hurt you on purpose.”

Cooper nodded. “Fair enough.”

I rotated the stool to the side and Levi’s arm wrapped around my middle, his scent washing over me when he leaned over to give the bartender his order.

“B,” Matteo called to me. “I forgot that your sister is your doppelgänger with short hair. That could seriously be you walking in the door.”

I followed his gaze to see Baylee and Cecily just entering the low-lit room and scanning it for us. Raising my hand, I waved to get their attention and smiled when they saw me.

I laughed. “It’s uncanny, right?”

“Or creepy.”

I slugged his arm. “What?”

He grinned and looked between my sister and me again. “I just keep picturing you two as the twins fromThe Shining.” I went for another punch and he reared back, chuckling. “But sexier,” he amended. Levi landed a punch that time. “Ow!” he grunted glaring at Levi. “Sexy and creepy. It works.”

“That makes no sense whatsoever, Teo,” I snickered.

“Sure it does, it’s like the crazy vs. hotness scale.” I was about to ask what the hell he was talking about but then Baylee and Cecily reached us.

“Hey, sweet girl,” I greeted Baylee softly. Levi let me go so I could put my arm around her in a sideways hug.

“Hi, Brooklee,” she answered somewhat cheerfully. She seemed in better spirits than she had earlier though. Cecily gave a little wave at everyone, then blushed and giggled like a schoolgirl when she got to Levi. He smiled his, “fan smile,” and turned to talk to Baylee. She blushed too, but it was way more adorable.

Simon, Kristi, and Jonas weren’t far behind the girls, completing our group for the night. A lot of the crew and production staff were meeting us at the restaurant. We left the bar and, since we were far more recognizable as a group, took a back exit out of the hotel. A black stretch limo, the only way we could all go in one vehicle, was waiting to take us to the restaurant. Baylee lit up like a Christmas tree, shrieking with delight. “This is so cool!” She practically bounced inside and I couldn’t help smiling hugely to see her so happy. Levi helped me in and then slid in next to me, with Cecily on his other side, and everyone else piled into the other seats.

None of us had ever been to Montreal, so we had the concierge direct us to a place to eat. He sent us to Dunn’s Famous, a smoked meat restaurant. The location we were at was all dark wood and leather, giving it an almost historic feel. They set us up with a whole bunch of tables stuck together, which was pretty much all of them, spilling over into their booths, because by the time everyone arrived, there wasn’t much room for anyone but our gang.

It was loud and boisterous, fun and so delicious. I kept a close eye on Baylee to make sure she didn’t get overwhelmed, but she was eating up the attention being poured on her. She scooted a little closer to Levi, searching for the comfort of someone she felt comfortable with, making her feel safe despite being surrounded by strangers. I was on her other side and was a little disappointed that she’d turned to Levi over me, but it made perfect sense, so I had to get over myself. Between me and Levi, who was more likely to be able to protect her? He put his arm across the back of her chair and winked at me before giving her a quick hug. Then he stretched it out again, this time reaching my chair where he started to toy with the ends of my hair.

Cecily was next to me and kept straining her neck to see around me and stare at Levi. Her lack of attentiveness toward Baylee was starting to irk me, even though I knew that it was probably because I was there, so she didn’t have to be as vigilant as usual. Still, her star struck fangirling was fraying my nerves a little.

“So, you guys are dating?” she whispered. I glanced at her and nodded with a smile. “Wow, you’re so lucky,” she sighed. “I bet he’s totally packing, right? Like an animal in bed?”

I frowned and shook my head. Cecily was like family, but she was stepping over lines I wouldn’t want even Baylee crossing. “Not appropriate, Cecily,” I snapped quietly.

My tone seemed to shake her out of her head a little and despite her mocha skin, her cheeks turned bright red. “You’re right I’m so sorry, Brooklynn.” Her eyes strayed to Levi and then back to me. “Do you worry about all the women throwing themselves at him? I mean, I think I’d be a little frightened about how much they’d hate me for taking him away from them, you know?”

I was taken aback by her question and sputtered, not really knowing how to answer. Hadn’t I thought about it? About the girls sleeping on his face, the women throwing themselves at him, even the guys who were in love with him. Levi had been very protective, but he couldn’t keep every single negative post or comment from touching me. I’d seen some of the Twitter posts before he forced me to delete it from my phone for a while. I was the most hated woman in America at the moment. I hadn’t let it get to me though. Levi had put permanent security on me since the Portland concert and they were following me fucking everywhere when he wasn’t with me. And, I do meaneverywhere. Cameron was usually my shadow, but I also had a woman, Lindsay, and she stayed on my heels all the way into the damn bathroom. But, I wasn’t stupid. Until the hype died down, I figured, better safe than sorry.

“Um, no. I guess I haven’t really thought about it,” I mumbled.

“Wow. I totally would,” she breathed. “I mean, the odds are that a crazy fan will get by the security one day, right? I’d almost be afraid to date him.”

“Well, I’m not. So, what adventures have you and Baylee been up to?” I asked, changing the subject. I talked to them at least every other night and knew all about what was going on with them, but I couldn’t think of anything better to steer her in a different direction right that minute.

“Just the usual stuff. Not much new. She did well on the plane though, you’d have been proud of her…”

Success, I thought as she prattled on about Baylee and their trip. Sasha had started humming and Matteo started to tap out a rhythm with her. She switched to words, except she was making a hilarious parody of one of our songs. Simon started making guitar noises and we laughed at the dramatic faces he was making while he rocked out on his air guitar. Levi, Kristi, and I started to back her up like the Supremes backing up Diana Ross. Eventually, it morphed into another of our songs, with the correct lyrics that time. By that point, most of the restaurant was singing along with us. Baylee had tentatively joined in but with a little encouragement, I got her to join in with gusto. It warmed my heart to see her so happy, having so much fun. I still worried about being away from her, especially when we were headed to Europe where it would be a hell of a lot harder to drop everything and get back to her. But, this trip helped me feel more confident in her adjustment to a little extra chaos in her life.

Levi winked at me and mouthed, “I love you,” over Baylee’s head. I was so head over heels for that man, I mouthed it back, then blew him a kiss. Our merriment only died down when the manager of the restaurant apologized profusely at having to kick us out, but they’d already stayed open an hour past closing time and he had to get home. We thanked him for everything and gave him a signed Stone Butterfly photo to hang on his wall. He beamed and told us to come back anytime.

Baylee’s eyes were drooping in the car and I pulled her close so she could rest her head on my shoulder. It wasn’t long before she was sound asleep. I glanced up and saw Levi watching me with a soft expression before leaning over Baylee to give me a tender kiss. “You’re amazing. You know that, right?” he whispered so he wouldn’t disturb Baylee.

“Kinda,” I quipped. He chuckled and kissed me again before sitting back. When we arrived at the hotel, Levi lifted Baylee into his arms and carried her to her room. As he laid her down on the bed, her eyes fluttered and a dreamy look crossed her face.

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