If you don't have plans tonight, make some. Levi sends the text to Beau an hour before he leaves Decades, and then a subsequent follow up of I mean it when he locks eyes with one Kenzie Vaisman on the dance floor. It doesn't matter that he's just your standard white boy, Levi's constantly working on his game. Why else would he have taken secret Saturday salsa classes for eight months several years ago? Or read The Kama Sutra from front to back when he was eighteen? He's no amateur. He only plays to win – no Monday quarterback syndrome here. It's all in the prep work. So when he spots Kenzie looking like, well, Kenzie, he knows what his plan is for the night. Giving a nod to the woman who'd been talking his ear off for some time, he makes his way to the dance floor, white boy hips moving with surprising rhythm as he meets her in the middle, under the flashing lights. "You here with anyone, Kenz?" He's learned that playing coy only works for some women, but Kenzie wasn't some woman. She is the woman tonight. And he doesn't want to waste either of their time.
"Look, just stay for a little," Levi encourages his younger brother, arm slung across Beau's shoulder as they walk through the club to the bar. "You need to get your head outta your own ass, kid. There's plenty of fish in the sea. You just keep getting your dick stuck in the same one. First mistake. Rookie mistake actually. You should know better by now," he all but whacks Beau on the back of the head before waving down the bartender and ordering for the both of them. "That's your problem, actually," Levi continues with his unsolicited advice, "you're too available. Women don't like that. Because the moment she comes calling, you're there. Act like you have options," Levi says definitively, handing Beau his bear, "because you actually do," he affirms, nudging his brother and nodding at a woman a few tables away from the bar and then another closer to the stage. Beau was just too stuck on Tammie Jones to see more than a foot in front of him. @secrettyrant
"Rory, you're a woman," Levi states like he's just realized it as he walks out of the kitchen with beers in hand, "you’ve got some insight into the female psyche," he says, flopping onto the couch languidly as he glances over at her. She'd made it clear that she wasn't interested in more than friends back at the bar that first day he'd met her. Sure, he'd been surprised and maybe a bit disappointed but Levi's never down for long and simply chalked it up to miscommunication of vibes. It's probably better this way too, considering he can always use a bit of insight and who better to get it from than another woman? Genius. Besides, it could've been weird if they'd hooked up and then he offered to let her stay at his (and his brother's) place – would send the wrong message for sure. So, everything works out in the end? He takes a swig from his bottle. "If a woman says her kid is sick and then bolts outta here...is that an excuse or like...a legitimate thing?" @blackheartatl
Paige Sullivan is a saint in Levi’s eyes. His mom wasn’t prepared to raise two kids alone but she worked tirelessly to support her two boys and give them a good life. While there was a part of Levi that wondered about his dad, he was old enough to know that there are some things that didn’t have answers.
They lived outside of Atlanta until he was 16, Levi taking odd jobs to help supplement their mom’s meager income. He’d chip in to help buy Beau birthday and Christmas gifts and he learned to be resourceful over the years.
When she wanted to move back to her hometown, he was apprehensive, finally feeling like he was getting his footing, especially right before junior year. Sure, he might’ve fallen in with a rougher crowd but he was just learning to blend in, to make a bit of extra cash that was used to help their family.
But he knew she felt it was best for their family so despite his own reservations, Levi was right there beside her, helping box up their small apartment. Turns out it still takes a long time to pack, even when you don’t have much.
When they got to Atlanta, he began to understand why she needed to be closer to family. Their grandmother barely recognized Levi with how big he’d grown. Deep down he knew that he couldn’t help the way their grandmother could, and that no matter how responsible he tried to be, he was still part of the burden their mom carried.
Levi threw himself into his final years of school, getting passable grades and enjoying the sporting atmosphere the public school offered. The Sullivan boys became known for having easy-going attitudes (unless you got to know them) and a more or less can-do attitude. They’d had to get by their entire lives that doing hard work wasn’t beneath them.
When it was time to graduate, Levi debated about going to college but even with scholarships and financial aid, it felt like a financial stretch at the time. Still, it’s a good thing he went to the career fair because it was there that the Atlanta Fire Department had a booth there, talking about alternative career paths and that piqued his interest. After graduation, Levi became a firefighter after sailing through the different tests and began a career that helped people (and gave a boost of adrenaline while doing so).
And despite never pressuring him into doing so, when Beau joined a few years later, Levi had never felt prouder to be a Sullivan. And when Beau decided to join the Reapers, he followed suit, not about to let his little brother venture into something like that on his own. Now, years later, Levi has come to appreciate and value the club’s camaraderie and the fact that they’ve become an extended family to both him and his brother.
EXTRA
He fights because he’s good at it and because it gives him an outlet for unbridled aggression that he can’t exercise in his job as a firefighter.
He makes sure to spend time with his mom throughout the month, knowing it can fly by and she won’t bother him or Beau to see them. One of the brothers will pull the other into an impromptu dinner during the week when they can because it makes her week.
He’s got a Ford Bronco from the 70s he’s refurbished over the years as a side project. His friends gave him a hard time about it, asking when it’s gonna be done or if he’s just given up. He’s finally driving it around now though and pays no mind to the naysayers.
He enjoys rock climbing so you’ll sometimes catch him at the Adventure Center on a day off.
