Page 80 of Between Never and Forever
“I’ll be protected regardless. Signing the NDA just makes this easier for everyone.”
He raises a brow and tilts his head to the side.
“Because the label has done a great job keeping your name out of the tabloids so far, right?”
His implication is like a punch to the gut. I want to gasp. I want to wince. I want to hit back harder. I do none of it. I tilt my head to the opposite side and arch my own brow.
“You want to take that chance?”
We stare at each other for fourteen seconds. I count them out in my head, waiting. I blink once and then I see him give. A flare of his nostrils, an almost imperceptible growl that makes my toes curl, and then he turns to Red.
“Give me a fucking pen.”
Red slaps the papers in his hand, then a pen, and Levi signs without reading anything.
“You can’t t—”
“It’s not a problem.” Levi cuts Red off, then shoves the freshly signed NDA back into his tattooed hands.
Levi turns to leave, and I direct my attention to the little girl in the truck. I force a smile for her sake and wave goodbye, just as a broad chest moves into my view. My head jerks back and my eyes fly up to meet Levi’s. Once again, his are filled with barely restrained anger, and it makes me want to slap some sense into him.
Why in the actual fuck is he treating me this way? If anything, I should be the one giving him attitude. Not the other way around.
“What?” I spit out, and I watch a muscle in his cheek twitch.
“Stay away from my daughter.”
My jaw drops open on a gasp, my eyes flare wide. For a breath, I’m actually speechless. I force a swallow and fist my hands at my sides. There’s no way I heard that correctly.
“I’m sorry, but what did you just say?”
“I said stay away from Brynn. She’s a good kid and unfortunately, she idolizes you.”
I blink, waiting for more, but he says nothing. He doesn’t have to. I recognize that tone. I recognize those words and the sentiment he’s so loudly hurled behind them.
“And you’re worried I’m going to, what, corrupt her? My unsavory ways might rub off on your seven-year-old?”
His face doesn’t change with my statement. He doesn’t even flinch. No remorse or shame. I hit it dead on.
“I don’t want reality to ruin the image she has in her head. She’s too young for that kind of disappointment.”
“Right,” I force out, “because Sav Loveless in reality is so terribly disappointing. You don’t even know me.”
“I know enough.”
“Tabloid fodder?”
He drags his eyes down my body, stopping on my ring, then back to my face.
“So, you’re saying you haven’t been in and out of rehab? Dating half of Hollywood? In a toxic relationship with your trashy bassist? That’s not you? It’s some other Sav Loveless? Some other band?”
His questions are rhetorical, and his voice is damn near mocking, so I don’t say anything. I keep my shoulders straight and my face blank. I could defend myself. I could list all the positive things I’ve done and ramble off my successes. But what’s the point?
“She’s a good kid,” he says again. “She doesn’t need your influence.”
I huff out a laugh and shake my head slowly.
“God. You sound just like your momma, you know that? Guess the apple didn’t fall far after all.”
