I try to pull my hand away, but Levi’s grip tightens. There’s a part of me screaming that I knew there was more to him and Holly when I met her, and the other part is telling me not to be stupid, that Levi is not Van.

The woman from the other night, I vaguely remember her from the bonfire. Holly I definitely remembered because I’ve seen the way she was staring at Levi before when women would stare at Van. Shit, even thinking about Van right now has me wondering if he was sleeping with those women too.

“Huh,” Levi says as he adjusts his stance. He’s not rigid. He looks confident. When he smiles, my confusion grows. Instead, he cocks his head to the side and rubs his thumb over his lower lip causing my insides to quiver. “So let me get this straight, and maybe you can help me out, Chet. Y’all came over to my house after I got back from California and introduced me to Holly, yet I somehow knew her before I started dating Zara?”

Oh, I like this question. Not only does it tell me if Levi was honest about knowing Holly, not that I doubt him, but it puts his friend in the hot seat. Chet’s mouth opens and closes a few times before he backs away with his hands up. Levi turns his penetrating gaze onto Sarah, who seems smug and ready for battle.

“I know what I know, Levi.”

“You don’t know shit, Sarah, and let me tell you why. You see, since I came back, Zara has been at my house and in my bed. There ain’t no way in hell I’m interested in anyone but her, and you can bet your ass it won’t be your skanky ass cousin.”

Mouths drop open all around us, but it’s the gasp that catches my attention. Holly was standing on the cusp of the crowd. I want to fist pump and show her that I won, but the look on her face keeps my reactions more reserved. She either really wants to date Levi or she genuinely likes him. I’m going with the dating part because according to him, they just met.

“Levi, I don’t know what’s gotten into you,” Sarah says.

“What’s gotten into you, Sarah? I don’t understand why you’re disrespecting my girlfriend.?”

On the inside, I’m smiling like a girl with a fresh bag of pink cotton candy right now. I like that Levi is referring to me as his girlfriend. As childish as it sounds, it makes us official, especially with his friends.

“Levi, you can’t be serious?”

His eyes widen, as do mine. “You know there’s a reason Iris stopped talkin' to you, Sarah, maybe I should revisit my memory and see why that was.”

“You wouldn’t,” she says in a voice barely above a whisper, and if I’m not mistaken, there are unshed tears pooling in her eyes.

“I would,” he says, shrugging. “Zara is my girlfriend and if you can’t accept that then you don’t need to come around anymore.” He pulls me to him and kisses me square on, in front of everyone to see. This will be on social media before his lips leave mine.

When I look back at Sarah, she’s crying and throwing daggers at me. It’s not my fault I met Levi at the right time or that she can’t grasp that he’s happy with me.

“Chet,” Levi says as he reaches for his friend’s hand. “Tell Lori I said hi.”

“You leavin’?”

“Yeah, man. This ain’t my thing. If my girlfriend ain’t accepted than I have no place here.”

Levi places his hand on the small of my back and points to the door that we came through as our exit. A few people mumble incoherently as we leave, but it’s Sarah who follows us out, begging Levi to stay.

Not me.

Just Levi.

He ignores her and helps me climb into the truck, then runs around front and hops in. Levi reaches for my hand and pulls me until I’m sitting next to him. He places my hand on his thigh, making me smile.

“Sorry about that,” he says as he pulls onto the street.

“I would never blame you for the actions of your friends.” Just like I hope he never blames me for the shit that Darian, Rusty, or Gabe might say to him when they meet. “Can I ask you one question, though?”

He nods. “I didn’t sleep with her,” he says before I can ask. I love how he knew that was on my mind. “The night everyone came over is the first night I met her. She was comin' on pretty strong, but that didn’t matter because I was already interested in someone else.” He looks at me and winks before turning back toward the road.

I lean into him and kiss his shoulder, leaving my nose pressed there so I can inhale his cologne. Every so often he tilts his head enough so he can kiss me on the top of my head, and for some reason it makes me feel warm on the inside. He makes me feel loved.

Considering I have only been out of the house once, I have no idea where we’re going, but I get the sense we aren’t going in the direction of his house.

“Where are we going?”

“Well, I promised you a night out, and that is what I’m going to do. Besides,” he says as he comes to a stoplight. He looks down at me and grins. “You’re smokin’ hot in that dress, and I want to show you off.”

I sit up so I can see his expression better. There’s a glint in his eyes; it’s almost mischievous and daring. “What about ending up on social media?”

He shrugs and turns his gaze back to the road. “Are you ashamed to be seen with me?

There’s a hint of sadness in his voice, and I don’t like that. If we weren’t in a moving vehicle being commanded by him, I’d straddle his lap and show him exactly how not ashamed I am of him.

“Levi, I’d be seen with you anywhere, any day of the week.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh, yeah. So where ya takin’ me?” I purposely drop my “g” to sound like him.

Levi chuckles. “I know a place, darlin’.”

Between his usage of darling and his southern accent, I’m a mess on the inside. If someone had told me that when I went through a major life changing event I would fall for someone like Levi so quickly, I would’ve laughed and called them a fool. But here I am, sitting next to a man who is offering me everything and has asked for nothing in return. He’s let me set the pace on our relationship, making sure that I am comfortable with everything and anything that we’re doing.

It’s not long until he’s parking his truck and rushing around to the passenger side to let me out. It seems silly, honestly, that I didn’t just slide out the driver’s side door since I was closer. He pulls me into his arms. His hand cups my cheek, and his thumb brushes against my bottom lip.

“You’re so beautiful, Zara. I’m the luckiest man in the world right now.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because you chose me,” he says, making my knees weak. If he didn’t have his arm around me, I’d be on the ground by now. “You could’ve had any man, beggin' you for a date, but here you are.”

“And yet, here I am, with the one man that didn’t beg. He didn’t even make a move out of respect for my situation. He didn’t pressure me to do anything that I didn’t want to do. And here I am, happy and falling in love.” If I expected the L word to throw Levi back, I would’ve been burnt. But instead, he smiles. It’s wide and beaming, and perfect.

“Yeah?” he asks.

“Yeah,” I tell him, not needing to know what he’s referring too.

“Keep falling, baby because I’ll be there to catch you.” Levi cradles my head between his hands and kisses me right there, on the street with people passing by and cars honking. Someone yells for us to get a room, but we ignore them and continue to make out. When he pulls away, I want to tell him to get back into the truck and drive us to some backwoods area where I can have my way with him, but I don’t. Being out tonight is important to us as a couple. It may not seem that way now, but it will be. Together, we need to be able to handle the scrutiny of the media and our fans.

When he finally pulls way, he continues to pepper small kisses on my lips until he rests his forehead on mine. “Do you want to go dancin'?”

“What kind?”

“It’s country, but I’ll teach you. I won’t let you fail, Zara.”

I smile while my head moves up and down almost frantically. “With you, I feel like I can do anything.”

Levi winks, causing yet another round of fluttering to occur and motions for me to follow him. As if I wouldn’t. By now he should know I’ll go anywhere he asks simply because that means I get to be with him.

We walk down two blocks, which in heels is tricky. It makes me wish for valet, but this is where the action is, Music Row. He leads us into a bar, passing everyone on the street. His name is called, and subsequently mine as well. Out of my peripheral, I see the flashes from their cameras trying to get our picture.

Levi stops to have a word with the bouncer who seems excited to see him. They shake hands and hug, and when I pass by, he calls me by name and tells me to have fun. Fun is what I’m going to have despite being wrongly dressed. All the women are in jeans or short dresses that aren’t skin tight, with cowboy boots. My deadly heels do not belong in a place like this, but I don’t care. I’m with my man.

The band on stage is singing their hearts out. The dance floor is jam packed with bodies. Some are moving to the music, and others are off in their own little world, not paying attention to anyone other than the person in their arms.

My concerts aren’t like this, even when we played in bars. People jump around, bob their heads up and down, but don’t dance. The more I think about what I’m going through, the more I’m wondering if it’s me that needs the change. Maybe the signs have all been there, but I’ve been ignoring them. Maybe I’m the one who drifted away from the life Van and I were living but was just too blind to see it or too afraid to recognize I failed at my marriage.

Levi doesn’t waste any time and leads us out onto the dance floor. The second my feet touch the hardwood he pushes me into a full spin, ending up right back in his arms. It’s when I look into his eyes that I can see how happy he is, and that sends me over the moon. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that I’m meant to be in Levi Austin’s life, and fully intend to stay there until he tells me that I’m no longer welcomed.

Thing is, though, we’ve both been hurt by our exes, and I can’t fathom he would do anything to hurt me, and I know damn well that hurting Levi is the last thing I would ever do.

Now if I could convince Stormy and Barbara that I’m here to stay, I’d be all set.

One day at a time, Zara. One day at a time.