Chapter Nine Blake
Chapter Nine
Blake
A pile of books dropped beside me on the table.
I jumped from the suddenness of it, and at the same time two chairs pulled out from the table.
My guy roommates both dropped down into the chairs.
I still hadn’t met the girl who lived on the main floor of the townhouse.
Niko. That was her name, but Marshall and Heath, I’d met them my second day there.
They’d originally met each other because they came from the same fraternity, which was also how they met Palma because she was in the sorority that they partied with a lot.
Marshall beamed at me while Heath glowered from across the table. And this summed up how they viewed me.
Marshall liked me.
Heath very much did not. I didn’t know what his problem was. I thought maybe that was his default setting.
It wasn’t.
He was gentle with Palma.
He was friendly with Marshall.
I hadn’t witnessed him with anyone else, so as far as I could tell he had a problem with me.
Or maybe new people? I hadn’t spent a lot of time with my roommates because turns out, being graduate students, they were busy.
They were really busy. Between my own studies and looking for a job, the time when I’d been at the house had been spent alone.
I heard Palma come home a couple times, but our paths rarely crossed during the day.
And none of them had been around last weekend.
“So.” Marshall whistled. “I think we need a housemate hangout. You’ve been living with us for two weeks now, and we’ve barely seen you. Come out with us tonight.”
“I don’t know,” I started to say.
He added, “It’s Palma’s birthday.”
Well. Fuck.
“Palma said you’re cool. You look cool. I’m thinking you’re cool.
Come out with us tonight.” He flicked a finger under my book, shutting it.
“You’re in college. You got your whole life to study.
It’s Palma’s birthday. Eh? Eh? You’re coming out, aren’t you?
I can see the wheels turning. You’re totally coming. ”
Going out with people?
I used to daydream about what it would be like to be normal. It never happened for me because I was a foster kid first. Then I was Creighton’s, just . . . Creighton’s. When I came to New York, there’d been a time period where I’d just been Blake Green. No Creighton shadow over me.
I loved it. It’d been glorious, and I tried having the normal friend thing.
It hadn’t worked out.
I wish there wasn’t a flutter of anxiety in my chest. I really did, but there was.
Creighton’s watchdog was sitting at a table a few over.
He didn’t quite have his back to me. His clothes blended.
He had a backpack. A coffee. A textbook and notebook spread out on the table.
He looked like a college student. Except he wasn’t.
And suddenly I was pissed off because fuck Creighton.
If I wanted to try and be normal, and going out with college friends was almost as normal as I could imagine, then I was going to do it.
“You know what. Yeah. Let’s go out tonight.”
The guy lifted his head, his eyes flicking to me. He reached for his phone, and I wanted to jump up, grab that phone, and bash it to pieces because I knew who he was notifying.
There’d been a line outside the club where Marshall told me to head.
I needed to study, and they went ahead to pick up some of Palma’s friends, so I arrived later.
Nightclub 1. It was a new club that Palma wanted to check out.
I laughed a little at the name of the club, seeing the owners had put a lot of thought into it.
I didn’t see Palma or anyone else in line that I knew, so I bypassed it for the door. I didn’t know if this would work, but they might’ve given my name to the bouncer. I was right. He whisked open the door almost right away, nodding to me. “Go right in, Miss Green.”
A few people grumbled that were still waiting to get inside, but the other guard raised his voice, “Shut it!”
The first guy nodded again to me, reassuring. “Go ahead. Go on inside.”
Loud hip hop dance music blasted me as soon as I stepped inside.
The place was packed, but I weaved through the crowd, seeing Palma at the edge of the dance floor.
Their group had claimed two tables. I skimmed over the others but only recognized Palma and Marshall.
I didn’t know the others. I’m sure Heath was there, but I couldn’t see him.
I wasn’t exactly going to go looking for him.
Nearing the group, Palma saw me coming. She squealed, ran over, and wound her arms around my neck. “Ahh! You came. I’m so happy.”
Her cheeks were rosy. She looked happy.
A couple of her friends came up, asking her a question. As she let go of me to answer, I caught a flash of movement against the far wall of the club. A certain head of dirty-blond hair that was moving fast along the periphery of the bar, and my heart stopped.
No.
I considered the possibility, but no. No way.
The guy was gone now, disappearing past a door, but how he moved, the side profile of his face—he looked like someone I’d grown up with. Lassiter. But there was no way. Last (what we called him for a nickname) wouldn’t be here.
He never left Cincinnati.
He was Creighton’s number two.
But if it was him . . . The only reason he’d be here would be—my stomach dipped again.
No.
No, no, no.
My vision grew blurry at the edges. I tried to shove down my alarm, scanning the room.
If that was Lassiter, and that was a big if, then the reason he’d be here was if he were here to see Creighton. And if Creighton was here, he would’ve already known I was as well, and—horror started to creep inside of me.
I . . .
My stomach was a mess.
Palma was still talking to her friends. I put my hand on her arm, interrupting her. “Hey. Uh.” The room began to sway around me. “Did you leave my name at the door?”
She leaned in closer to hear better. “What?”
“When I got here, the men at the door let me in right away. Did you leave my name?”
She blinked, her head lifting up. “I—no. Unless Heath did?” She began to turn, looking for him.
No. Not Heath. I put my hand on her arm. “Never mind. That’s okay.”
Heath wouldn’t have given the bouncers my name. He didn’t want me here.
And just then, the door where I thought Lassiter had gone through opened again. This time, a different guy stepped out. It wasn’t Lassiter, but the sight of this new guy still made my stomach drop altogether.
God. No.
I stepped from Palma, my hand falling away.
The guy was looking right at me, and there was an added kick to my stomach because there was no surprise on his face.
He knew I was here. He was staring at me, guarded, which I didn’t like because I knew this guy.
I’d grown up with this guy, too, and he never used to look at me as if he were waiting for me to hate him.
I didn’t know what excuse I said to Palma and her friends. It must’ve been fine because no one gave me an odd look when I made my excuses. I was only aware of pushing through the crowd until I stood in front of him.
“Levi.”
His gaze fell to me as mine tipped up to his. We stood there, a moment, taking each other in.
He was here because of Creighton, which I hated, but a sudden well of fondness surged in me.
I flung myself at his chest, wrapping my arms around him and squeezing with all I could.
He was so big and so tall, my arms didn’t fit around him.
I was nearly five seven and I wasn’t slim.
I was still smaller than what was considered a normal size now for a woman, but I was strong.
That’s all I cared about. I was toned, but Levi always made me feel like a little girl next to him.
He hesitated a moment before lifting his big beefy arms to hold me back. He squeezed me, too, but a lot gentler.
My throat swelled up. Stepping away, I blinked back some tears and pretended to swipe some dust off his shirt.
My voice came out hoarse. “Did you start eating people since I last saw you? I swear you’ve doubled in size.
Is there another man inside of your tummy?
” I poked it. It was firm, like the rest of him, which didn’t surprise me.
For a moment, I just saw the sweet little boy I remembered, who I shared my potato chips with when we got them for a treat.
And popcorn. He was always so shy, scared to talk when he first came to the house.
I took him under my wing, in a way pretending I finally got a little brother, except Levi was technically older than me.
In Miss Marcie’s house, it was different.
I had seniority over him, so in my eyes, he was always going to be younger than me.
“No people. Rocks. Boulders, maybe. No people.” He winked. “I’d remember.”
We shared a grin for the moment until my gaze trailed to the door behind him. To who I was assuming was somewhere on the other side.
His grin fell away. “Blake—”
I began to step around him, reaching for the door, but paused at my name.
He didn’t say anything more. The slight flash of the little boy I used to share chips with was gone, and he had a stark expression over his face now.
I didn’t know what that meant, seeing that starkness on him. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, but I shook my head. “I know.”
He quieted.
I touched his arm, feeling how rigid he was. “He puts his office in the same location no matter where he is. I know where I’m going. You can stay here. Those are my new roommates and friends over there. I don’t want anything to happen to them.”
I heard his swift intake of breath.
If Creighton wanted one of them hurt, Levi would be the one he’d send.
I just put Levi on notice. He’d have to choose whose orders to follow.
Creighton’s or mine. Most of the time he would adhere to Creighton, but there had been moments when he chose me.
The real secret was that Creighton secretly loved when Levi chose me over him, though he never let anyone know.
Levi dipped his head down in an acknowledgment, stepping back and letting the door shut between us.
I headed upstairs, not needing to focus on finding his office.
If Creighton was within the same vicinity, I always knew where he was. I could feel him. And like those times, I let my body follow the internal beacon inside of me.
It led me straight to him.