Page 33 of Resisting Your Love

"You have yourself a deal."

I beamed, ready to go home to cook for my man. There was no telling how long we would be out today, but I didn't care. Whenever I was with Levi, I felt protected and safe.

Later that night, I was in the kitchen cooking when my phone rang. I paused in cutting the bell peppers and went to the sink to wash my hands. Once I dried them, I went to the phone to see who it was. It was a number I didn't recognize, so I sent it to voicemail. As I continued to cook, the same number kept repeatedly calling. I grew uneasy, feeling I knew who it was. I wish he'd leave me the hell alone.

Just as I was about to turn the phone all the way off, Levi stepped foot into the kitchen. Damn, this wasn't good at all. There was no way I could turn back the hands of time and tell him about Joel calling me from the start.

"Someone is blowing you up, I see," he voiced.

My heart hammered as I stared at the expression on Levi's face. His eyes were cold and hard as veins popped out of his neck. I wanted to go to him and grasp his face in my hand and kiss the look away.

I laughed shakily. "It's no one important. Trust me."

He folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the kitchen wall. "You want me to trust you..." He dropped his arms at his side and lifted an eyebrow. "...When you can't tell me who it is that's calling you." He scoffed and commenced pacing. He was like a lion, pacing from one end of the kitchen to the other. "Start fucking talking, man. The longer you keep your mouth shut, the more pissed I get."

I jumped from the thundering tone he spat at me. My heart was breaking in two at the thought of what was about to takeplace. "It was Joel," I rushed to say. "I don't know why he's still calling me."

Levi stopped his pacing long enough to shoot me a furious look. His nose flared as he balled his fists at his side. I took a step back, and my heart was beating so hard. It felt like it was going to come out of my chest.

He dropped his head and bitterly chuckled. "Of course, it's him, and you're not answering."

I could feel the fury rolling off of him and wanted to run for cover, but I stayed put. I had to get through to him.

I gulped, trying to swallow the lump that was clogging my throat. "I have no reason to answer Joel's calls. He's dead to me." With my shoulder slouched, I bowed my head to my chest.Why won't he believe me?

"If he was dead to you, you would've answered the phone and let him know that."

I bit down on my bottom lip, not knowing how to answer that. I felt him recoiling himself from me and didn't like it. Tears brimmed my eyes as my nose burned. My face grew heated as my lips trembled. This was crushing my soul.

"Man, this isn't getting anywhere." I heard the sadness in Levi's voice mixed with the anger that was still consuming him.

My eyes bucked out of my head as my mouth moved, but no words came out of it. "Wh-what do you mean?" I stammered over my words. "What about the contract?" I wanted to add, what about me? I couldn't care less about the contract or even the arrangement. Levi couldn't walk away from me like this when I didn't do anything.

He laughed humorlessly, turning his cold eyes on me. From the look alone, I took a step back as if he struck me. "Damn, the arrangement, and damn you, too. The only thing that's between us is the contract." With that, he turned and walked out of the kitchen.

I stood there stunned again as a sob slipped from my mouth. I buried my face in my hands and gave in to the tears that wrecked my body. What the hell was I going to do now? Levi wasn't trying to hear anything I had to say. I was being truthful with him, and he still didn't care. Did he really just break up with me? Tear after tear escaped my eyes one by one. I tried to muffle my crying, but it was hard. My heart had shattered into a million pieces. The man I loved had walked out on me and our relationship.

It wasn'tmy intention to get drunk, but the way I felt was an excuse to do so. It had been a minute since I actually consumed as much liquor as I had so fast. With a grimace, I downed yet another shot of tequila. I was feeling that one tenfold, but I had to shake it off and keep going. I knew I needed to stop, but I didn't want to. I wanted to be numb to the agony that throbbed through my broken heart. My heart felt like it had repeatedly broken into a million pieces. For the first time, I thought I had something real, but it should've stayed how it was, which was by contract. I shouldn't have given Amryn a part of me. I screwed up when I did that.

I never thought Amryn would have hurt me the way that she did. It was the fact that she was keeping things from me that hurtthe most. I hadn't laid eyes on her in two days, and that felt like a lifetime to me. I knew where she was staying due to me having her location. If she hadn't left, there was no telling how we'd behave around each other.

Not even being at the club made me feel any better when it was my idea to come out. It was an escape I needed from being in the house without Amryn there. I picked up another shot of tequila and down that, nearly bringing that one back up. I felt River and Zyanna's eyes on me, but I paid them no mind. Until I was ready to talk, they'd have to sit and watch me down these shots. We had our own section at the club. A bottle sat on ice with shot glasses around the table. I was the only one drinking, but I didn't give a damn. The club was a vibe for real, but I wasn't in a partying mood. I merely came to drink and drown in my sorrow. I was glad to have them there with me.

"Man, damn. How many shots were you planning to down in a matter of minutes? We just got here, and you downing these shots like water," River pointed out.

He didn't know what the hell I was going through. Therefore, he shouldn't speak on anything right now.

"Hush, River. You don't know what's going on with Levi," Zyanna stated.

"Well, if he stopped taking shots, maybe we can ask him," he countered.

Zyanna sighed deeply. "Obviously, it has something to do with Amryn. Why else would he be drinking like this? It's stressing me out."

They were talking about me as if I weren't here with them, and it pissed me off. I should've stayed home, but I knew I needed to talk to them.

"Levi, what happened between Amryn and you?" Zyanna asked.

"She's still stuck on her ex," I replied.

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