Page 16 of Protecting Tiffani

“None of your fucking business, Levi. What’s going on with me stopped being your business when you ran away,” I say, pushing up off the floor and resuming what I was doing before he broke in. Pulling out a slice of bread, I see mold growing in one corner.Fucking great this is what I get for forgetting to put it in the freezer.I roll my eyes. Motherfucker. I can’t throw this away, but what I can throw away is my pride. Slamming the fridge door, I move to the dish drainer and pull out my only knife. Removing the mold, I throw it in the trash and put the bread in the toaster.

“Tiffani, did you just put moldy bread in the fucking toaster?”

Spinning around, I place my hands on my hips. “Why are you still here? As you can clearly tell, this is my apartment, not the laundry mat. You need to leave now. Go wash your clothes, Sir. I will be back down in a minute.” My customer voice is sickeningly sweet, and I guess he hates it because he screws his face up like he smelt something foul.

“Cut the bullshit act. We both know I’m not going anywhere. Now answer the goddamn question.” He takes a step forward, and my heart leaps in my throat. I can’t speak around the lump to tell him to back off. “Did you put a moldy…”

My voice starts working again. “Shit, Levi. No, I didn’t. I cut the mold off and threw it in the trash. I’m not fucking stupid. But once again, this is none of your business.I’mnone of your business.” He’s standing directly in front of me, and I have to tip my head back to see him. His green eyes are alight with anger, but I don’t care. “Get out.”

“Why is your fridge empty?”

“Don’t worry about it. Get out.”

“Tiffani” His voice holds a warning that I’m pushing him, but once again, I have no fucks to give about that.

“Levi,” I counter his warning.

He puts his arms on either side of me, boxing me in, and pushes me back with his body. I try to school my face to show no emotion at the fact that I can feel how hard he is on my stomach. I learned quickly that Levi loves it when I fight him on things, and he gets off on me being bratty. Even though I’m not trying to be bratty right now, I just want him to get out of here so I can have my meltdown privately. My body has a plan of its own because a new ache forms between my thighs because he’s here, in my space. It’s been a long time since I’ve had sex, and my pussy is reminding me of that fact.He left us, you fucking fool, I remind her.

“Why is your fridge empty?” His breath fans out over my face, and for a brief second, I close my eyes as I fight the urge to lean forward and taste him.

Opening my eyes, I say, “I don’t see how that is any of your business.”

“Everything about you is my business.” Rage floods my veins, making my heart rate spike and my vision tunnel.

“The fuck it is.” I step into him, and he moves back out of surprise. I poke him in the chest and let all the hurt and pain I’ve kept bottled up out. “I stopped being your fucking business when you left me standing in the school crying four fucking years ago. I haven’t been anything to you since I fucking met you. If you recall, I was only a phase, an itch you needed to scratch, or did you forget the words you shattered my world with? What’s going on with me is no one’s business but my own. You don’t get to come back here and demand I start answering your questions. I appreciate you stepping in downstairs but believe me, Levi Hill, I can protect myself. I have been for years, and I sure as shit don’t need you anymore. You never protected me, only hurt me. You gave me two options, well here are yours. Either you turn around and leave through the door you came in, or I call the police for breaking and entering. I’m not yours, never fucking was so…” I pull at my hair and scream at the top of my lungs, “Get the fuck out.”

His mouth drops open as he stares at me like I’ve lost my damn mind, and I guess I have, but he has to leave. Holding his hands up, he backs up. “Fine, Tiffani, I’ll go.” Before he’s out of the door completely, he turns around and whispers, “You’re wrong, though. You never stopped being the most important person to me, and everything I’ve done is to protect you, and I’ll continue to do that.” Then he’s gone.

I refuse to stand here and wallow in my feelings. I grab my now cold toast and scarf it down, along with some water. By the time I get downstairs, he’s gone. The storm passes, and no one comes in for the rest of the afternoon. After Brad leaves for the night, I make my way upstairs and fall into my bed, exhausted.

I didn’t mean to fall asleep, but today’s events sucked all the energy I didn’t have out of me. I jolt awake when a knock comes from my front door. Rubbing my eyes, I listen to the quiet around me. The knocking must have been in my sleep because no one can get up here. After all, the laundry mat doors are locked, and I have no outside door on the second floor. I sit on the edge of my bed, debating on going back to sleep or testing my luck with the beans in my fridge. My heart starts to race, and fear constricts my lungs, when a knock comes from my door again. I wasn’t fucking dreaming. How in the fuck did someone get in?

Is the place being robbed? Thankful that I didn’t turn on the lamp when I came home, I pray that whoever is there takes what they want and goes away. I slowly reach down and grab the wooden baseball bat I keep under my bed for protection. I bring it up in front of me and try to silently make my way to the bathroom. My thinking is that two doors separating me from whoever that is, is better than one. In my haste to escape, I forget about the floorboard that always groans in front of the bathroom door. It’s so quiet that the groan sounds like a fighter jet taking off. I freeze, holding my breath and preparing myself to fight for my life.

“Tiffani, are you in there?” Relief sweeps through me as Emilee’s voice comes through my door. I drop the bat and race to unlock the deadbolt. Once I pull the door open, arms envelop me, and I’m drawn into my best friend’s chest. Of course, standing right behind her is Parker. He keeps looking behind him into the empty room below.

“How did you get in here? Wait, how did you know where I was?” I ask quickly because I’m confused about how they’re standing in front of me.

“The door to the laundry mat was wide open when we pulled up. Was it not supposed to be?” Parker’s deep voice cuts through the silence.

Panic races through me. Did I forget to shut the door? No, I swear I not only shut it, but locked it as well. “No, I shut and locked it hours ago,” I sigh. “I’ll go check it out.”

“No, you will fucking not. Go inside and lock the door. I’ll knock three times, followed by one knock, then two.” He pushes both of us inside before shutting the door. My hands shake as I turn the deadbolt.

“He’s just overreacting, Tiffani. It’s okay,” Emilee’s voice comes behind me.

“What are you guys doing here?” I ask again since she didn’t answer me in the hallway.

“Um…”

“Don’t lie. You know I can tell when you do,” I say, crossing my arms and leaning back on the door. Turning on the overhead light, I see her clearly for the first time since the funeral, and she’s pregnant and I meanreallypregnant. The pain that consumes me is horrible. I’m happy for her, but at the same time, it reminds me of what I don’t have. My hands fly to my mouth, and tears spill out. “Em… you're pregnant?”

She looks down, rubbing her belly. “Yeah, I’m due in September.”

I cross the space pulling her into me. “Congratulations. That’s amazing, sweetie. Now back to what you’re doing here…”

She pulls out the metal chair I use when I don’t want to sit on the bed. “Okay, Levi called me a couple of hours ago. He sounded completely trashed, but I could make out what he was saying. He’s worried about you and said he crossed the line. He told me where you lived and asked if I would come here to check on you.” I glance at the clock on the wall, and a small gasp leaves me.

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