Page 48 of Breaking the Habit

She giggled. “Bye, Gage. It was nice to meet you.”

Levi shook his head, biting back a grin as they headed for the car.

“I don’t have a problem with the man bun,” Riley said once they were out of the apartment. He slung his arm around her.

“Yeah, well, most people that aren’t sixteen-year-old shitheads don’t have a problem with it.” He paused as he pushed the door to the parking lot open. “I say that with love, of course.”

She grinned up at him. “Oh, I know.”

Once they got to his SUV, Riley pointed at the apparatus attached to the back. “Is that for Gage’s chair?”

Levi nodded before walking around to the driver’s side. Once they were inside, Riley said, “It’s a whole thing, huh?”

“What is?” The engine roared to life.

“Taking care of someone with a disability.”

He laughed, but not because it was funny. “Yeah. That’s an understatement.”

Riley rummaged in her camera bags. “I wanted to take a picture at your place, but I totally forgot. I need to take one now.”

“Why? So you don’t forget my pretty face?”

“Sorta. It’s part of this composite I’m making. Like a 365-day thing, but…a little different.”

“I bet it’ll be cool, whatever it is.”

Riley stopped rummaging abruptly, and he could sense the atmosphere of the car shift. He glanced over at her. “What’s wrong?”

She deflated. “I totally forgot.”

“What is it? Do we need to go back?”

“No, no. It’s just…” She rubbed at her forehead, then pulled a lens out of her bag. “This cracked at the match yesterday. I had a run-in with one of the other photographers.”

Heat licked through his veins. He frowned. “Wait, what? Did someone break your shit?”

“Sorta, yeah.” She held it up. The crack ran jagged across the glass. “He pushed me. Someone also smacked my ass. I think it was the same guy. It was kind of a rough night for sports photography.”

His jaw fell open, and he stared at her long enough that she shouted at him to watch the road.

“Why didn’t you tell me this before?” he demanded. His heart was racing now, and all he wanted to do was find the name of the guy who’d felt her up and show up at his house.

“I didn’t want to spoil your win,” she said. “And then once we got to your house, I honestly forgot. You made me forget,” she said with a little laugh.

“I’m getting you a new lens,” he said, gripping his steering wheel so tightly it made his knuckles hurt. “And I want you to show me who it was.”

“You don’t have to get me a new one. These are expensive.”

“You broke it while taking pictures for an event you wouldn’t have been at if it weren’t for me,” Levi said. “I’m buying you a new one. Send me an invoice or something so I can give it to my accountant.” When he saw her face, he added, “It’s a business expense.”

“Levi—”

“I’m not budging on this. And I’m so fucking mad about this dickhead photographer,” he said, nostrils flaring as the emotion assaulted him again. Who the fuck did shit like this? “Riley, this is not happening again. I promise you. I’m going to take care of it.”

She peeked up at him from beneath her lashes, her lips curved into a tiny smile. “Okay. I appreciate that. And if it makes you feel any better, I jammed my heel into his foot.”

He held up his palm for a high five. “That helps a little.”

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