Dance With Me (With Me in Seattle #12)(15)

“What, do you own the joint?” I ask with a laugh.

“No, it’s a non-profit,” Levi says.

“But I’ve made sizeable contributions, and I know the people in charge.” Luke winks. “I’ll leave you to it. Ralph, the evening janitor, is around to turn off the lights and lock the door behind you when you’re done.”

“Thanks, man,” Levi says.

“My pleasure. Enjoy.” He turns to walk away but stops short. “Oh, two more things. Natalie told me to tell you both to come over for dinner tomorrow. She’ll text you the time. And the Nirvana exhibit is down that way.”

“Thanks.” I grin at him and almost melt into a puddle when he winks at me before walking away.

“Do you have a crush on Luke?”

“Don’t you have a crush on Luke?” I counter as we walk down to the Nirvana exhibit. “He’s ridiculously handsome.”

“I’m going to have to kill him,” Levi mutters, making me laugh.

“Nah.” I boost up on my toes to kiss his cheek. “He’s happily married, and I can’t seem to stop thinking about you, so we’re good. Oh, my God.”

I stop cold in the doorway and just look around the room. An interview is playing through the speakers, Kurt’s voice talking about their start in Aberdeen, Washington.

“Look at these photos,” I whisper, pouring over Polaroids in a glass case. The whole band in the late ‘80s is in the photos, young and acting silly. Their eyes are full of cockiness and humor. Hope. Love.

We spend an hour, reading journals and postcards, watching interviews, and I long to reach through the glass to play Kurt’s guitar.

“I met Dave Grohl,” I say as we walk out of the room toward an exhibit about Star Trek. “A couple of times, actually. But at one event in particular, I was able to sit with him and talk about music, how it’s changed over the past thirty years, and thank him for inspiring me as a young woman.”

“That must have been amazing.”

I glance up and smile. “It was the best moment of my life. There are so many musicians that I admire, that inspire me, but Nirvana was special.”

“You were young when they were popular.”

“Very.” I nod thoughtfully. “And I couldn’t get enough of them. Their songs inspired me to write my own.”

“Fascinating,” Levi says. “Your music is so different from theirs.”

“You listen to my music?”

“Of course, I do,” he replies with a shrug. “It’s all over the radio.”

“Give me your phone.” I stop in the middle of the Marvel exhibit, right in front of Iron Man, holding out my hand.

“Why?”

“I want to see something.”

He unlocks his phone and passes it to me, and I immediately open his music app, search my name, and feel my eyes go wide when I see every song I’ve ever released on his device.

“Levi.”

“I guess you’ve poured some of your heart out, so I should do the same.”

He takes his phone back, stuffs it into his back pocket, and holds my hand as we wander around. “I had only heard the music on the radio before our first night together, and if you remember correctly, earlier that day when Jace, Joy, and I all met you at Meredith and Mark’s house, I didn’t recognize who you were.”

“Oh, yeah,” I say, laughing at the memory. “Joy was mortified that you guys didn’t know me, but it was actually really refreshing.”

“I’d heard your music, but no, I didn’t know who you were. After our night together, I downloaded everything I could find.”

“Why?”

“Because I felt closer to you while I was listening to the music, the lyrics. Getting to know you, I guess.”

Levi’s not wrong. I pour everything into my music.

“You’re a sweet man.” I kiss his shoulder. “And I have so many regrets about the days after we were together.”

“Let’s not dwell on regrets,” he says as we make our way through the last exhibit, about ‘80s movies. “Let’s just move on from here. I’m just happy to spend time with you, sweetheart. We’ll take it slow.”

“Maybe we’ll call it going at our own pace, rather than taking it slow.” I grin up at him and sigh when he pulls me to him and kisses me with a passion I haven’t known in five years. I didn’t think I’d ever feel it again, and yet here it is.

I’m enjoying it, and I’m scared of it.

I’m just not willing to let it go.



I’ve decided I’m addicted to swimming. Until my piano gets here, I need a creative outlet, and it seems that means I’m in the water.

It’s mid-morning. I slept like the dead last night and woke up feeling feisty and ready to go. The best part?

No dizziness. None.

It’s amazing how good I feel.

I’m paddling backward, enjoying the way the sunshine feels on my face and listening to the birds singing in the trees. I should use my pool more often in LA. If I were home more.

When I reach the end of the pool, I flip over and do the breaststroke to the other side, then turn onto my back and mosey back the way I came.

All in all, it’s not a bad way to spend the morning.