her.
“You better catch the...” It came up short against the bolt lock and stayed open.
“No one else is here now,” he said, almost pleading with her to let her guard down, to be vulnerable, to show him some sign of the friend he’d known. His dark, penetrating eyes burrowed into hers, looking for any sign of the friendship they’d once had. “You can talk to me.”
“I’m fine, Levi. I don’t need to talk. I’ve moved on.” Denial, refusal to acknowledge the pain was a way of moving on... Wallowing in the past wasn’t her way of dealing with things.
“Well, then, you’re going to have to tell me how,” he said, his tone slightly desperate. “Because I’m still not okay. I was supposed to be the best man at my best friend’s wedding and instead, a week later, I’m wearing the same damn suit carrying his coffin.”
Leslie winced. This was exactly why she’d avoided talking to him. There was no way he’d just leave the past in the past, where she needed it to stay. Levi was the kind of person who needed to fix things, solve things by addressing issues head on...but he couldn’t fix this, damn it, and talking about how they were both living with holes in their hearts where their best friend used to be wouldn’t help. Nothing—no amount of talking—could bring Dawson back. “Look, Levi, if you’re struggling, maybe you need to talk to someone...”
“I’m trying to talk to someone right now. My best friend.” He searched her face, obviously looking for that person but she knew he wouldn’t find her. “I’m not okay and I know you aren’t either.” He took a step closer and touched her shoulder.
The contact weakened her resolve far too much and she stepped back and folded her arms, desperate to hold the emotions in. If she broke even a little, she’d crack wide open. “We used to be best friends, but I haven’t been here in years. We haven’t even spoken in years.” Surely, he couldn’t still believe they were as close as before...or that she wanted to be. Why was he pressing the issue?
“That’s exactly how I know you’re still processing and mourning,” he said. “You avoid any reminder of him—including me. On the surface anyway.” His sympathetic expression only angered her. Why couldn’t he just accept that she was fine burying things and moving forward? Why was he looking at her like it was okay to break, like he wanted her to break, maybe even needed her to as some sort of self-validation?
She should not respond and walk away, but he’d hit a nerve assuming he knew what she was feeling. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked.
“Just that I bet you still have that message.”
Her stomach turned as though she’d been kicked. This was too much. He had no right to do this. She didn’t ask for his help or for him to hang around town. She wanted nothing from him, so how dare he try to make her feel bad for surviving the only way she knew how.
And he wasn’t letting up. “The phone message from him—the last one before he died. You can’t bring yourself to erase it, can you? Because that would mean he’s really gone,” he said softly but with determination.
Angry tears were too close and there was no way in hell she’d allow him to see her cry or know how close to the truth his words were. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Levi, so please just stay out of my business.”
She stalked away and punched the button for the elevator.
Levi stood there in the hallway, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his jeans.
That damn elevator could hurry the hell up. The lump in her throat threatened to choke her and her exterior felt ready to crumble.
It chimed and the doors opened and she disappeared inside before her best friend could see the scar he’d torn wide open.
* * *
STAYING IN WILD RIVER had been a bad decision. Leslie wanted nothing to do with him. It broke his heart that he couldn’t get through her defenses. She was still hurting despite the brave face. People who’d moved on could face their past. Leslie was still running from it.
He’d thought maybe her coming back home when she’d needed somewhere safe to go had been a sign that this was still that safe place for her. But maybe she’d just been trying to get Selena as far away from California as