Even amid the noise Levi heard the door squeak open, and he looked over to see Tara saunter in, holding hands with that Eddie guy. Eddie wore a very impressive chocolate-brown cowboy hat complete with a pair of hand-stitched boots and a belt buckle the diameter of a small grapefruit.

Tara was what Beth would call "high-maintenance." Her bright-red fingernails were expertly manicured, and not a strand of her bleached-blond hair was out of place. Her bright-red shoes had impossibly high heels. Levi had no idea how she walked in them. Not easily, because with them on her feet, she bent forward slightly and sort of waddled like a duck. Levi hadn't really thought before about how ridiculous that looked.

Tara quickly surveyed the bar stools and then, not seeing what she came for, scanned the faces around the room.

Levi wasn't a coward, but he didn't want to talk to her. Two dates with Rebecca were enough to compel him to rethink his choices. He didn't want to get back together with Tara again.

But if he informed Tara of that, she'd make a scene and embarrass herself and then he'd feel guilty and angry and trapped all at the same time. No doubt Eddie's presence was meant to provoke jealousy and pressure Levi to beg Tara to take him back. He felt almost sorry for her. How could she know her strategy wasn't going to work?

Levi recognized the moment when Tara spotted him. Her eyes locked briefly on his and then she immediately looked away as if he wasn't anybody she knew. Dragging Eddie along with her, she strode not toward Levi but to the bar, where she greeted Jason and Dax and visited with exaggerated enthusiasm.

Might as well get it over with. Levi hadn't talked to Tara for three weeks. He hadn't called her as he'd intended, hadn't wanted to. At the time, he had left her with every expectation that they would get back together. Man, how things had changed.

Levi marched to the bar and put a hand on Dax's shoulder. "Hey, Tara," he said.

Tara fixed a look of surprise on her face and threw her arms around Levi. "Levi, hi! How are you?"

Eddie looked confused and uncertain at the same time. Levi could see the wheels turning in his head as he wondered whether he should act jealous or angry or neither that Tara hugged another guy. Eddie opted to appear indifferent to Levi's presence. Levi thought that was a good idea. Tara's power increased when she knew she could manipulate someone's feelings.

Nudging her away, Levi told a small lie. "It's good to see you."

"How was the Sports Expo?" Tara asked. "Jason said you had to work it for like twelve hours a day."

"It was fine. Good overtime pay."

"My brother went, but he didn't see you," Tara said.

Eddie, who stood behind Tara, pulled her a little closer to him and put his hands around her waist. Levi looked at Eddie and nodded. "Hey, Eddie."

"Hey."

"I saw the new hubcaps on your truck. Sweet." Levi said.

Eddie kind of smiled. "Birthday present from my dad." He nuzzled his face into Tara's hair.

She pulled away from him and giggled. "Eddie, stop!"

Levi thumped Dax on the shoulder. "I'm leaving. I've got to get up early tomorrow."

"But we just got here," Jason said.

"You're getting along fine without me," Levi said. "I'll talk to you later."

"Wait," Tara said, grabbing his arm. She quickly ordered a beer and pushed Eddie onto the bar stool between Jason and Dax. "I want to talk to Levi alone for a minute. Okay, Eddie? Wait here."

The look of confusion returned to Eddie's face. Tara picked up her beer and tried to take Levi's hand. He avoided her touch. She pretended not to notice then headed for the nearest empty table.

"I don't have much time," Levi said, preparing her for what he hoped was a gentle letdown.

"You're not drinking?" she said.

"I left my beer at the bar."

"Sit," she said. "Just sit for a minute."

He eased slowly into the chair, hoping to make his lack of enthusiasm blatantly evident.

She took a sip of her beer and leaned closer to Levi. "Eddie wants me to get serious with him."

"From what I've seen, you're pretty serious already." He sounded like a bitter ex-boyfriend. He didn't want to sound bitter. He wanted to be done with Tara.

With cornflake girls.

"That was just playing around, Levi. I don't like him like that."

"I don't want to be with you anymore, Tara."

"That's not what you said when we broke up." She clicked her fingernails against the table as if eager to get this chore over so she could move on to something more important. "I've learned my lesson. I'm sorry, and I want you back."

"I've had time to think things out. I'm not mad anymore, and I think you're better off without me. That's all."

Tara folded her arms. "Do you want me to admit that I'm jealous? Okay, I'm jealous. Megan said you were out with some girl the other night."

"I didn't do that to make you jealous." Not entirely true then, but entirely true now.

Tara's voice rose with her frustration. "Oh, sure you didn't," she said sarcastically. "That's why you took her to our hangout. You knew at least one of my friends would see you."

Levi stood up. "It's over, Tara. Sorry."

The venom shooting out of her eyes could have killed him. "Maybe I should warn this new girl about you. It's not every day you date a guy with a police record."

Tara knew him too well. Pain scrubbed itself over every surface of his body.

She saw his expression and must have realized she'd gone too far. Jumping to her feet, she grabbed his arm with both her hands. "I didn't mean it, Levi. You know I love you. Sometimes I want to hurt you as bad as you've hurt me."

She snaked her arms around his neck. He was too stunned from her first blow to resist. Pulling him close with amazing strength, she kissed him hard on the mouth.

To avoid touching her, he held up his hands like a bank robber in the sights of a policeman's gun.

When he didn't kiss her back, she took her lips off his but still clung tightly to his neck with her tentacle-like grip. "Come on, Levi."

Levi felt, rather than saw, Eddie behind him. He might have heard Tara scream. Eddie yanked Levi's shoulder and spun him around violently then swung his fist and caught Levi hard in the nose. That was Eddie's first mistake. He should have known that Levi didn't take crap from anybody.

Levi snatched the collar of Eddie's mighty fine Western-style shirt and half-dragged, half-pushed him to the far wall. All it took was one punch to the jaw to lay Eddie flat. Levi had a good right hook.

He shook his hand to drive away the pain and looked down at Eddie on the floor. "You can have her," he said. "But leave me alone."

He grabbed some napkins from the nearest table to soak up the blood pouring from his nose. It stung something awful.

As Levi would have expected, the bartender wasted no time in throwing both of them out of his bar. He dragged Eddie from the floor with one hand and grasped Levi's arm with the other. "No fighting," was all he said as he escorted both men to the door and pushed them out into the night.

As the door slammed behind them, Eddie gave Levi a halfhearted shove before weaving unsteadily to his truck, getting in, and speeding away-his souped-up engine rumbling all the way into the next county. He apparently didn't care that he had brought Tara with him or how she would get home.

"You okay, man?"

Levi turned. He hadn't even heard Jason come out. "Yeah, I'm okay."

Jason already possessed that glassy stare that indicated he wouldn't remember much of anything that happened tonight. "Oh, man. Your nose is bleeding, man. Come in and get some ice or something."

"They won't let me back in," Levi said.

"Oh."

Levi opened the door for Jason and pushed him toward the inside. "I'm good," he said. "Go back inside. I'll call my sister to come get me."

"Okay, man. Take care. We'll see you tomorrow."

Levi sat down on the curb, leaned his head forward, and pinched the bridge of his nose. His blood dripped into the gutter as he peeked through his fingers to dial his sister's cell. He'd sunk pretty low, being forced to call his sister to pick him up like some sixth grader after a playground fight.

His only prayer was that Rebecca wouldn't suddenly decide to drive by in her buggy and see him sitting there.

"Hello, Beth. I'm an idiot. Could you come and get me?"

In less time than Levi would have thought possible, Beth pulled up to Tequilita's Bar and unlocked the passenger door. His nose had stopped bleeding, but he held the napkins to his face so he wouldn't drip on the seats in case it started up again.

Patient, reliable Beth didn't utter a word on the ride home, and Levi didn't volunteer any information. He felt ashamed enough without having to recount every detail to his sister.

She parked the car, and they trudged up the three flights of poorly lit stairs to the apartment. Unlocking the door, she glanced at Levi. "You're lucky Mom had to pull an extra shift."

They walked into the kitchen and Beth turned on the light. "Let me see," she said.

Levi pulled the napkins away from his face.

Grimacing, Beth ran her finger along the bridge of Levi's nose. "You did yourself up a good one."

"You should see the other guy."

"I'll get some ice."

Beth filled a plastic bag with ice cubes, laid it on the counter, and pulverized it with the thick end of a butter knife. She handed it to Levi. "I'm afraid Mom's going to notice this with or without the ice. What are you going to tell her?"

Levi wrapped the ice bag in a towel and laid it gingerly on his nose. "I've never lied to Mom."

"I know. What are you going to tell her?"

"Tara wanted to get back together." Holding the bag carefully, he stretched out on the sofa. His legs hung twelve inches over the side.

"And she hit you?"

"Her boyfriend did. After she kissed me."

Beth sat on the floor next to the couch. "You let her kiss you?"

"She kind of surprised me."

Beth crossed her ankles and leaned back on her hands. "Does this mean you're getting back together?"

"No," Levi said. He went quiet and listened to his own breathing.

Beth threw her head back and looked at the ceiling. "Thanks for all the info."

"You're nosy."

"I'm never nosy."

He glanced at his sister. "You're going to think this is dumb."

"Probably."

"It doesn't seem honorable to go out with Tara anymore. Whether she agrees or not, I've been using her. It's not right. It doesn't feel right."

Beth peered at Levi. "That's not dumb. That's the smartest thing I've heard you say in ages."

"I met somebody," Levi said.

Beth gave him all her attention. "Somebody new?"

"A nice girl."

Struck dumb, Beth stared at Levi for a long time. "Not the type you usually date?"

"Yeah."

"Why are you interested?"

Levi cleared his throat. "At first I felt sorry for her. She crashed a skateboard in front of the store, and I gave her a bandage."

"So, a clutzy, nice girl who rides a skateboard."

Levi lifted the bag of ice off his nose and sat up. "She's different from the other girls. She couldn't care less how good-looking I am."

"That is different." Beth grinned. "What else?"

"She doesn't flirt or try to impress me. She's just herself."

"And you probably find that behavior surprisingly refreshing and a bit unnerving at the same time."