Riches Get Stitches

What Now?

We sat in the candle lit room, just staring at each other. I've never kissed anyone before, and I didn't plan for Levi to be my first kiss. I mean I had feelings for him, but I didn't expect him to have them for me. He held my face in his hand, and I found my hand on his knee. I quickly removed it and got off the bed. I started looking for my shoes.

"Ronnie, what are you doing?" he asks. I didn't answer him. I find my shoes and sit on the bed, trying to put them on. I had to get to the house. It's only across the street, and it seemed like it settled down. I knew it didn't because the wind was harsh against the trees and the streets were flooded. "Ronnie." Levi says. "Ronnie!" he says again. I struggle to untie the tight knot in the shoe laces, my hands shaking and hands trembling. "RONNIE!" he shouts. He grabs my hands and I look up instantly. His eyes look worried and his words did too. "What are doing? What happened?" he asked. This time I answered.

"You kissed me." I say. I don't look away from him and he doesn't take his eyes off me either. "I've never kissed anyone before, and I'm your trainer and we're friends, and—" I start, but Levi cuts me off. He grabs my face in his hands and looks me in the eyes, his hands are warm and strong.

"Ronnie. It's okay. I kissed you. I didn't mean to put you in this position." he says. "And yeah, you're my trainer, and yeah we're friends, but that doesn't matter to me. I care about you, Ronnie. Ever since you walked into the gym the day you arrived, I knew you were different from the other girls." I don't say anything to him, but I try to keep from crying by biting my lip. I don't know why I wanted to cry, but I just did. I hated crying so much. It makes me look weak, and I was supposed to stay strong. "Hey, hey, hey, it's okay." he says. He pulls me to his chest and wraps his arms around me. I don't know what to do, so I just bring my arms around him too. I let my tears disappear into his chest.

I'm sorry." I say. I pull back and wipe my wet eyes, and start to blush at my ears again. "I hate crying." I say. I take a deep breath and try to avoid Levi's stare. He rubs my knee in an attempt to comfort me, and honestly it's working.

"I know it's been hard for you, and I didn't mean to do that to you. I really do care about you Ronnie, and I promise to always be there for you." He says. I look at him, and the look on his face tells me that he's serious.

"You don't even know me." I say, shaking my head. "I come from a life of crime and debt. You come from a life of luxury and millionaires. We just don't fit." I say. It was true. We'd never work, he wouldn't understand me enough.

"I could care less. It's not about the material things. I just want to make sure you're happy." he says. He leans in and kissed me again. His lips are warm and soft. The smell of his cologne had worn off, but I could still smell his body wash. When breaks the kiss, he looks at me with a reassuring stare. "Do you want to try and make this work? With us?" he asks. I think for a minute. I really wanted too, but what if it didn't work. Something inside me, I don't know what, made me nod yes though. "Okay." he kisses my forehead.