WHEN ROBBIE arrived at school, he wasn’t expecting anything less than a typical day of boredom. He knew he wouldn’t get that when he saw the squad cars parked in front of the school. A shame-faced Hudson stood with the coach and the sheriff, who appeared to be chewing Hudson out. Hudson caught sight of Robbie and blanched.
The sheriff turned and saw Robbie. He marched toward him, and Robbie had to fight the urge to run. “Robbie Kaine, you’re under arrest….”
LEVI HAD heard that they’d been renewed for a second season, but hadn’t heard anything from his agent on his continued role. He’d not even thought about it. He gave in to his anxiety as they filmed the scene, and Xara complimented him on a job well done. Yeah, Robbie was a mess just like Levi was. He didn’t have to act to get into character at the moment.
He took off for the wardrobe room the moment they’d finished filming, only to find it locked. Whitney had gone to ship the boxes. He’d told Levi that earlier. Fortunately, Amy wandered by, and she was one of the few with the coveted keys. After exacting a promise from him not to take anything from the room—as if he’d face Whitney’s wrath again—she opened the door for him.
He changed clothes before he settled down in one of the armchairs in his room to read the final script more carefully.
The news wasn’t good. They’d ended on a cliffhanger, with Robbie being arrested. And Levi had no idea whether he’d be coming back.
By the time Whitney returned, Levi was pacing the room restlessly.
“What’s wrong?” Whitney asked as he hurried in.
“Got the script for the season finale today.”
Whitney’s breath caught in his chest. “And?”
“Not sure I’m going to be back next season.”
“No.” Whitney walked into his arms and wrapped him up in a hug.
Levi pulled Whitney closer, and they clung together for a long moment.
“Okay, we’re being ridiculous. Come on.” Whitney pulled away and grabbed Levi’s hand. He jerked his arm until Levi began to follow him.
Whitney was a man with a mission. He dragged Levi to the opposite end of the building before stopping in front of the head writer’s door. He banged his fist against it until he heard Dakota’s voice on the other side.
“I’m coming. Hold on.”
Whitney threaded their fingers together and tapped his foot impatiently.
Dakota opened the door and blinked at them for a moment. “Uh, Whit? Something I can do for you?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, there is. You can tell me if you’re planning on writing my boyfriend off the show so I will know if I have to start looking for another job as well.”
“Your boyfriend?” Dakota asked.
“Your boyfriend.” Levi grinned. Then the rest of Whitney’s words caught up with him. “Whit, no.”
“Don’t start with me.” He glared at Levi before turning his attention back to the writer. “Well? I’m waiting.”
“Uh, well, no. That’s not the plan.”
“Good. Thank you. Now go write something really great for Robbie.”
“Well, actually—”
“Bye.” Whitney pulled Levi back down the hall with a quick wave at Dakota. “Now we have two reasons to celebrate.”
“Two?”
“Yes, we both have a job next season, and it’s our anniversary.”
“It is?”
“Okay, I made that up, but it sounded good.”
Levi laughed and pulled Whitney into his arms. “What did I do without you?”
“Well, you didn’t dress very well, that’s one thing.”
“Hey, I dressed fine.”
Whitney smirked. “If you say so.”
“So we haven’t really talked about it, but what are you going to do on hiatus?”
“Well, I was hoping to spend it with my boyfriend.”
Levi grinned. “I was hoping that too. I was thinking, if you wanted, you could come home with me. Meet my family.”
“We’re already at the meet-the-family stage, huh?”
“Hell, Whit. They know all about you. My mom and Gran want to meet you so bad.”
“I want to meet them too. I’d love to go home with you. But you have to do something for me.”
“What’s that?”
“We have to do some shopping.”
“Uh, wait. I think I just remembered I have something—”
Whitney slapped his hand over Levi’s mouth. “Don’t even.”
Levi licked his palm, causing Whitney to grimace and jerk his hand away. “That’s disgusting. You have no idea where my hand has been.”
“Well, I have a pretty good idea.”
“Ugh. I have to go sanitize my hands now. And don’t even think of kissing me with cootie mouth.”
“Aww, come on, Whit.”
“Nope. Do you even want to know how many germs could be on the counter of the post office? Gross.”
“I didn’t know you were such a germophobe.”
“I’m not a germophobe, asshole. But there are lines even I will not cross. Now, go use mouthwash or something.”
Levi cracked up. “Yessir.”
“I’ll be back in time for the party.”
“Oh right. That’s tonight.”
“How could you forget the season’s wrap party?”
Levi shrugged. “’Cause I’m thinking about other things.”