Kindred Spirit - Noah Harris Page 0,6

silence, and his presence became muted. Levi had only been awake for it a handful of times, but he’d been able to sense Louis’ presence grow faint and quiet. It wasn’t quite the same as being without him, but they were strangely unnerving times all the same. For all the hassle of having Lou around him constantly, Levi had found those small moments of almost complete absence to be the loneliest moments of his life.

I’ll get it.

Levi waved his coffee cup in a gesture of thanks as he walked to the bathroom instead. Flipping on the light, he heard the click of the answering machine’s button, followed by the faint robotic voice telling him there was one message. Levi opened his mouth to call out and tell Lou to turn it up, but he could already hear the machine getting louder.

“Hey,” came a bright, chipper, and very human voice. “It’s Laura! I don’t know when you’re going to come in, but uh, we’ve got a leak in the roof of the store, so uh, I would really appreciate it if you could come and take a look at it. I know you’re supposed to be doing the James’ front porch sometime this week, but I’d really appreciate it if you could come in. Just let me know, hopefully before we open!”

Levi sighed. “Damn.”

They opened ten minutes ago.

“Yes, thank you, Captain Obvious, I know that.”

She’s going to be so disappointed. And after she worked so hard to get you a date.

“Oh, shut the hell up, do not remind me.”

Aw, but he loved your bright eyes and your smile!

“I swear to God, Lou, I will find a priest and have you exorcised.”

The last thing he needed was to be reminded of Laura’s well-meaning but horrible attempt at matchmaking. Bless the woman, but she could not choose a good man to save her life. Eric might have looked like a strapping young man with work-roughened hands, but Levi had been on the receiving end of the not so gentle manhandling the guy had tried to force on him while they were driving to the next town over for dinner. It hadn’t got any better after Levi had covertly pushed Eric’s hand away and tried to steer the conversation toward something interesting.

I never thought I’d see the day where you would turn someone down for being forward.

“That wasn’t ‘forward’ that was molestation. Jesus, it was supposed to be a date, and the guy couldn’t stop looking at me like I was his last meal for the next three days,” Levi grumbled.

He was all for getting laid, but for fuck’s sake, he at least expected people to try and seduce him first. If he wanted to be manhandled by someone he barely knew in a clumsy attempt to get in his pants, he’d drive himself back to LA and go to any number of clubs that dotted the streets.

Ignoring Lou’s delighted laughter, Levi looked himself over in the mirror. It wasn’t like anyone was going to care what he looked like, but he could at least not look like he just rolled out of bed. That was easier said than done when his hair, which he’d let grow way too long, was splayed all over the place, a veritable blond disaster. Running water through his hair, he tried to contain the mess. He splashed the cool water over his face, hoping the dark circles from having only recently woken would be gone by the time he showed up at the general store. Dark circles were stark on his fair skin, though they at least made his green eyes pop, or so people liked to tell him.

Sighing, he drained the last of his coffee and made his way into the bedroom. What few clothes he’d collected during his year in Gilcreek hung in the closet. Pulling out a shirt, he tugged it over his broad shoulders, though it hung loosely over his midsection. His mother had once found him frowning at his reflection when he’d been fourteen. He could still remember her knowing smile and how she told him he’d be tall like his father, but the skinniness would pass, and he’d fill out. She’d died a year later, and Levi had never had the chance to tell her that she’d be wrong. He’d grown into a lanky adult, not at all the tall brute his father had been.

You’ve got that look on your face.

Levi jerked. “Jesus, Lou.”

What?

“I just...nothing.”

You were looking sad again. Distant. I hate