Page 99 of Breaking the Habit

“I’m sure Travis would love to hear all of them.”

Levi set his jaw. “I have all this coffee at my house that I need to make for you.”

The thought of his horrible coffee combined with this hangover sent nausea crashing through her. “I swear to God, Levi, if you don’t leave now—”

“Okay. I’m out.” He headed toward the door, pausing to look back at her. “I’ll call you later.”

She waited until she heard his footsteps go downstairs, followed by the click of the front door before she let herself unravel. The tears came, and they didn’t stop, not for a long time.

She cried more than she thought possible for her dehydrated body, and then she cried some more.

It had to all come out. Because once she was done, she was going to make some decisions.

Chapter 33

Three days later, Riley was at the studio as usual—editing pictures with coffee at her side, visiting the bon-bon shop next door on breaks, receiving the occasional surprise visitor who was curious about what she did.

Life went on despite heartbreak. Despite celebrity notoriety in the rag mags for the second time.

And that was the surprising part.

She kept waiting for her world to bottom out, like it had the first time. The sickening lurch and sweep of losing everything all at once—boyfriend, privacy, dignity. But it didn’t come. Maybe being off most of social media helped. Maybe she’d finally grown a thick skin. She wasn’t sure.

She was still on the hook for turning over all of Levi’s completed images from the tied match, which she was putting the final touches on. The fight had been gruesome. Something both awful and fascinating. She’d never seen Levi fight like that. Not in any practice and never on a fight night. It was like he’d mentally checked out. Mind everywhere but the fight.

And she felt partially responsible for that. She hadn’t done a good enough job keeping her anger under wraps. She knew he’d picked up on the fact thatshe’d found out. And that itself was damning evidence that what they had was special. Intense. Rare, even.

She didn’t like admitting how relieved she’d been to find him in her bedroom on Sunday morning. Every part of her wanted to believe him. She was just awaiting the final verdict.

Her father’s take on the NDA.

She’d sent it to him Monday morning, wanting his honest feedback about where the document fell on a scale of one to bullshit. Nobody was better equipped to answer this question than him.

Which was why she was checking her phone like a maniac every ten minutes. He’d be responding soon. He’d promised to do it by lunch. And it was 11:25.

When her phone buzzed with a new text, she jolted and scrambled to swipe it open.

DAD: Contract looks good. Very standard for that company. Have worked with (and against) them many times before. They luv finding up-n-comers to exploit like ur friend.

She reread his text a hundred times, each time her smile growing a little bigger. Something about daddy’s seal of approval made her feel less crazy for believing Levi.

RILEY: Thanks dad. Really appreciate it. He’s actually more than my friend. You’ll have to meet him sometime.

Her hands shook as she set the phone down, relief trickling through her. She and Nikki had pored over the contract multiple times together—swearing her to secrecy first, of course—and even she’d been swayed by the legitimacy of the document.

Now it was Riley’s turn to be swayed.

She planned on getting the pictures one hundred percent completed before she did anything else, like head over to Holt or throw herself at Levi demanding that they talk more about the “head over heels” part. Maybe she had some apologizing to do, too. She’d been a drunk asshole with him, and she didn’t like that a twisted side of her had come out like that, even under the pretense of heartbreak.

But still, there was one last elephant in the room to address. Levi’s notoriety would always be at the forefront of their relationship. Maybe he wouldn’t always be the MMA bad boy. But he’d always bepresentin the public eye.

Which meant that loving him would come at a high price: the final shreds of her privacy.

As she clicked through photos of his last match, her stomach alternately wrenched and tightened, reliving the brutal display. But seeing his bloodied face only reminded her of the brightness that seeped out of him. His sharp quips and the never-ending jokes. The unwavering love and attention he showered on Gage.

Levi made it hard to walk away from him.

And the prospect of a future without his messy man bun and stupid jokes and every last ridge on those abs? Not one she wanted to entertain for too long.

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