Lev kept his hands shoved in his pockets, the collar of his jacket turned up against the cold. Tiny snowflakes swirled around him, buffeted by the winds of the small squall. He glanced up as he approached Tay’s dorm to see someone unlocking the doors with their ID. He broke into a jog, hoping to catch the doors before they closed behind the girl.
She glanced back when she heard him coming and gave him a smile. Lev recognized Beth, one of the girls who lived on Tay’s floor.
“If it isn’t Apollo himself!” she called, holding the door for him.
Lev cocked an eyebrow at her, pulling a hand from his pocket to reach for the door. “Apollo? Last time I was here it was Prince Charming.”
Beth shrugged, leading him inside and to the elevator. “I’m still trying out names. I haven’t found one that fits you yet.”
He snorted. “You’ve had an entire semester. How long is it gonna take? We graduate in May, you know.”
Beth shot him a dirty look but Lev just grinned. He’d met Beth not long after Tay moved into the dorms and they’d always bantered like this. She’d been trying to come up with some sort of name for him from the moment she found out he was dating Tay.
“Very funny. Maybe I should just call you Smart Ass.”
The elevator doors slid open and he followed her on with a shrug. “Nothing I haven’t heard before.” He glanced over at her as the doors shut and the elevator started its ascent. “You could just call me Levi. It is my name, after all.”
Beth wrinkled her nose. “Too boring. When the sweetest girl on my floor turns out to be dating a gorgeous bad ass like you, I’ve gotta come up with a good name.”
Lev couldn’t help but laugh. He was even farther from a bad ass than he’d been when he’d first met Tay, but that didn’t mean he’d changed much about his appearance. He didn’t want to and Tay wouldn’t let him anyway. She liked him exactly as he was.
“When you figure it out, let me know. I’ll make sure they put it on my diploma.”
Beth shot him another glare as the elevator slid to a stop. “I’m not sure why she puts up with you, other than the good looks.” Then she stepped from the elevator with a huff.
Lev rolled his eyes but couldn’t keep from grinning as he followed her down the hall. The silence on the floor felt strange and he guessed most of the girls had left for the Christmas holiday. Tay’s last final had been days ago but she wasn’t going home, instead spending Christmas with him at the Chambers’ cabin. She’d visited her parents the previous weekend, thinking that would be her celebration with them. Little did she know they would also be at the cabin for the holiday.
Lev’s smile grew bigger as he thought about the ring tucked securely in his jean’s pocket. The Thomases had learned of his plan to propose weeks ago when he’d gone to them in person to formally ask her dad for permission to marry Tay.
To their credit, they’d never blinked an eye when they’d met him. After everything Tay had put them through, he’d expected to jump through hoops to prove his worthiness. The Thomases proved to be just as accepting as Tay, waiting to learn more about him before passing judgment. He’d seen tears in her dad’s eyes when Lev had thanked him for saving Tay’s life, because in turn, she’d saved his. They hadn’t hesitated to give him their blessing and when he’d invited them to the cabin for Christmas they had eagerly accepted.
Tay, however, had no clue. Not about the ring or about her parents. They were her first Christmas gifts.
Beth stopped at her door, a few before Tay’s, and gave him a smirk. “Have a good Christmas Apollo. Maybe by the time we come back, I’ll have the perfect name.”
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the Broken Road
العاطفيةTate has a tainted past, saved only by the grace of God and her best friend Alex. After three years apart she's ready to answer the what-ifs of their relationship. Lev is a rebel, the black sheep of the family, carrying around twelve years worth of...
