Page 55 of Between Never and Forever
My chest tightens, but I don’t let myself get excited. I keep cool and smile.
“Yeah. Of course. We can keep in touch.”
“No, Sav. I don’t want to just keep in touch. I want to be together.”
Butterflies swarm my belly as his words sink in. Together. He wants to betogether. Excitement and uncertainty battle inside my head.
“Like, you want to, what, date me? Be my boyfriend?”
I raise an eyebrow and purse my lips. He gives me a lop-sided grin in response.
“Yeah, I guess. I want to talk to you every day. I want to see you as much as possible. I definitely want to dothisagain—” he gestures to our naked bodies “—so yeah, I want to date you. I want to be your boyfriend.”
I don’t even bother trying to fight my smile. I just let it take over my face and giggle when he does the same.
“But how? You’re in North Carolina, and I’m here.”
“We’ll make it work. We can talk on the phone, and I can come visit and you can come visit. We can do it. We’ll just be one of those long-distance couples.”
He looks so hopeful and excited, and I feel the same. I’m two seconds away from agreeing when I remember how hectic and unpredictable my next three months will be. I groan.
“Shit. Tour.”
“Tour?”
“Yeah, we’re going on tour,” I say tentatively. I’m excited, but I’m terrified this will ruin everything. “We leave next week, actually. Three months up the coast and ending in NYC. Playing dive bars, probably, but it’s something.”
Instead of getting angry or telling me he’s changed his mind about dating me, Levi just looks at me. He bounces his eyes between mine, drops his gaze to my lips, then back, and his brow furrows.
“Is Sean going? Torren?”
My spine goes ramrod straight and I grit my teeth, but I don’t back down. I should have expected this.
“Yes.”
“Savannah—”
“Don’t,” I cut him off. “Whatever you’re going to warn me of or scold me for, just don’t. I already know.” I close my eyes and breathe through my nose. “I talked to Torren. Things aren’t fixed by any means, but I talked to him. I’ll talk to Sean. Jonah kicked his ass. Mabel’s on my side—”
“So then find a new fucking keyboard player and bassist.”
“I can’t just replace half the band,” I snap. “Torren and Sean are the ones with the connection to this guy with the money who is funding our tour.”
He sits up abruptly and rakes his hands through his hair. I feel cold without him beside me, even though it’s 80 degrees outside. I sit up and drape the bedsheet over my shoulders. Levi shakes his head and hits me with an exasperated glare.
“That’s bullshit, Sav. You’re the talent. You’re the one people will pay to see. No one gives two shits about who’s standing behind you.”
“Yes, they do. The guy with the money does. And that’s the only person whose opinion matters right now.”
He stares at me, and I stare back, neither of us willing to back down. When he opens his mouth to argue, I press my fingers to his lips, silencing him.
“This could be the break I need, Levi. This tour is going to change everything. I can feel it. I can taste it, even. Is it ideal? No. But it never fucking will be ideal. Nothing ever is for me. Fuck, man, I had to pickpocket and busk just to get out of a house where I was abused. Then I had to leave Nashville because fucking Oscar kept trying to get handsy with me. Nothingeverworks out for me, Levi. Ever. But I think this might. So just...can’t you just be happy for me? Please? I need you to be happy for me.”
We stay silent a moment longer. His eyes stay hard, and his eyebrows stay harshly slanted, but he nods and presses a kiss to my fingers. He reaches up and grips my wrist lightly and brings my hand to his chest.
“Iamhappy for you. I’m so damn proud I could burst, and I would never want to hold you back from something like this. I hate that you have to do this with that skeezy asshole, but I’m happy for you. You’re seriously so damn talented, and I’m going to be at every show I can be. I’ll even pretend to be your roadie if you want me to.”
“Really?”
