20. Levi
LEVI
I can’t explain it. It’s like I come alive when she’s near.
She makes me think all kinds of crazy shit, I shouldn’t.
Like how I can convince her to give herself over to me completely.
Get her to agree to come to my cabin and never leave.
Let me spend the rest of my days worshiping her in every way possible.
Then I give myself a reality check.
Ava is a passing fantasy. It’s exciting because for the first time in a long time, she’s different. She’s not throwing herself at me. She’s using me to get what she wants. It’s fucking exhilarating.
Soon, I’ll get bored and give her up. Until then, she gets to deal with the monster she created when she invited me to chase her through the woods.
Silly girl. She had to know it wouldn’t end there. Hunters don’t stop hunting just because they caught their prey.
“Where did you bring me?” Ava asks when I pull to a stop at the diner that sits on the outskirts of the city.
I cock a brow at her.
“You didn’t get out much as a kid, did you?”
She fixes me with a look, but I don’t give her time to respond before I climb out. She doesn’t move from the door when I come to her side, eyeing me warily.
“It’s a diner, Ava. Not a sex club.”
“I know that,” she snaps.
“Then let’s go. Unless you’d prefer to sit out here by yourself?”
“Fine,” she grumbles, and without thinking, I take her hand in mine. It’s a big fucking mistake because once I do, I don’t want to let it go.
The papers in my pocket threaten to burn a hole in my leather jacket the moment her soft hand fits into mine. Her skin is smooth and perfect, and so fucking tempting, I drop it the moment she’s out of the car.
She follows me up the front sidewalk and inside, where the air smells like it always used to. Like fried food, butter, and everything the media swears is bad for you.
“Take a seat wherever you’d like,” the nice, older woman on shift smiles at us, and I give her a nod, leading Ava to a booth near the back of the room.
What I want to discuss with her isn’t something I want everyone to hear.
“Cold?” I ask when Ava shivers, slipping into the seat opposite me.
“No,” she lies, and before I have a chance to call her on it, the waitress comes to take our order.
“Waffle sundae, please,” I answer before Ava can even get her mouth open.
She looks across the booth at me like I’ve grown an extra head.
“Good choice,” the woman smiles. “Anything else?”
Ava shakes her head, and she walks away with a smile.
“What the hell is a waffle sundae?” Ava asks the moment she’s out of earshot.
“You’ll see.”
“You brought me here for ice cream?”
“Who says it’s ice cream?”
“God, you’re impossible,” she rolls her eyes.
“I’m not the one who asked to be hunted down and fucked in the woods like an animal. Then pretended like I was too high and mighty to say I enjoyed it.”
Our waitress returns before Ava can answer, and she glowers at me over the plate as it’s lowered to the table between us with two spoons.
“You kids enjoy.”
“Thank you,” Ava says, ever polite, even when plotting my death. “It was a lapse in judgment,” she says, snatching the spoon out of my hand when I hold it out to her.
“Must have been a pretty good one. Considering how many times you came.”
She rolls her eyes, her cheeks flaming a thousand degrees.
“What are we eating?” she huffs, staring at the monstrosity on the plate. I get the feeling she’s desperately trying to change the subject. It’s fine. We’ll be circling back to her “lapse in judgment” later.
“A waffle sundae,” I answer.
“You eat this?”
I shrug. “I thought we’d just stare at it.”
I take a bite, and it’s like the last twenty years didn’t happen. Like Mom’s sitting here with us and cracking jokes. Smiling and happy and not bones in a grave that I haven’t visited in entirely too fucking long.
“It’s delicious,” Ava muses, taking a bite.
“Have I lied to you yet?”
Heat bristles up my spine at the dry look she gives me.
I guess I deserve that .
“Why did you really bring me here? I know it’s not just so we could get ice cream.”
I cock a brow at her.
Inquisitive little brat.
“And if it is?”
“Then I’d say you’ve fallen and hit your head.”
“Can’t a man take his employee out for a treat every now and then?”
“You wanted to talk, so talk. Enough of this taunting crap,” she snaps quietly, and I refrain from chuckling, my cock hardening at the bite in her voice.
I’ve always known I enjoyed her fire. Now, I’m finding it fucking addicting.
“You and I both know why you brought me here. I told you everything I know.”
“Oh, I believe you.”
“And if you’re expecting me to beg or grovel—wait, what?”
“Just what I said. I believe you don’t know anything more than you’ve already told me.”
She sinks back in the seat, utterly confused.
“Then, what do you want?” she hisses, fear shining in those pretty green eyes.
Pulling the papers out of my jacket, I toss them onto the table in front of her.
She pauses, looking from the contract that landed dangerously close to a drop of ice cream on the table, back to me.
“What is this?”
I lean back in the booth. This is the part where she either tells me I’ve lost my mind, or she finds out just how fucking crazy I am.
“It’s a contract.”
“For?”
I brush back the smirk on my lips, keeping my gaze indifferent.
“For you.”
I’m not even sure if Ava breathes when her gaze roams over the front page.
Poor thing looks like she might pass out. I don’t blame her. I’m sure it’s a lot to process, but then again, she’s the one who got herself into this mess. I’m simply giving her the only real option she has.
“This . . . this is . . . are you crazy ?”
I can’t help but grin. She has no fucking idea.
“Think of this as a gift.”
“A gift,” she scoffs, crossing her arms over her chest. “You’re asking me to be your sex slave.”
“It’s not a question. It’s a choice. You either agree to the contract, or you’re free to deal with whoever’s stalking you on your own. Your piece of shit car. Grandma’s medical bills . . . The choice is yours.”
“How do you know about that?” she snaps.
“Funny what you can find when you go through someone’s room.”
She looks like she might try to stab me with her spoon.
“This has to be a fever dream.”
“The terms are simple. You want to take care of your grandmother. I want to fuck you without worrying about you growing attached.” She glares at me, her cheeks burning brighter than the sun.
“You will be available to me whenever and wherever I want. In return, I will make sure you’re both protected, take care of the bills at the nursing home, and you’ll receive an allowance. ”
“Like a child?”
“Like a woman in my bed.”
She blushes a deep shade of scarlet, peeking up at me through her lashes. “You say a woman. As if there will be multiple.”
I hadn’t given it much thought. Of course, there would only be Ava because once she’s mine to use, there would be no room for anyone else in my head. Fuck, there hasn’t been for months. Every woman I bring home is just a reminder of the thing I can’t have, sleeping right across the damn hall.
With this contract, that becomes null and void.
“We would be exclusive.”
“But not dating.”
“No dating.”
“So, we’d be exclusive fuck buddies without the buddy part?”
I ignore her little jab and point to a new line in the contract.
“When we’re done, the contract will be terminated, and you’ll receive a hefty severance package.” I point to a line at the bottom of the contract, and her eyes go wide.
“One million and one dollar?”
I smirk and shrug. “You said one million wouldn’t be enough.”
She rolls her eyes and shakes her head, her cheeks darkening.
“When this ends, I’ll let you go, and you’re free to move on with your life.
You don’t say a word to anyone, and I’ll make it worth your while.
” I force her to meet my gaze, though hers are greener than I’ve ever seen them before.
Like the inside of a gemstone. Oddly enough, my chest aches.
“When the time comes . . . you won’t fight me on it. ”
“So basically, you can throw me to the side whenever you feel like it, and I don’t get a say in my life being completely uprooted?”
Fair point.
“You have the liberty of ending the contract whenever you see fit. Though the moment you develop feelings, the deal is off. I’ll end it immediately.”
She studies me for a moment. Probably trying to figure out what’s going through my head.
Good luck, because even I can’t figure that shit out.
“So, you wrote up a contract because you want to have sex with me without your conscience getting in the way?”
“Incorrect. I wrote up a contract because I want to fuck you without your conscience getting in the way.”
“Sounds like prostitution.”
“Think of it more as friends with benefits.”
“But we aren’t friends,” she points out.
Ouch .
“Then just benefits.”
She sits forward and lets out a huff, angrily scooping ice cream into her mouth. My gaze lingers on the way her tongue slips along the spoon, and instantly, visions of her on her knees, doing nearly that exact same motion with my cock flash through my mind.
“And whoever this Mr. Black is? What do you plan to do about him?”
“He won’t come near you again.”
“Bull,” she grumbles with a roll of her eyes. I swear I’m ready to bend her over this worn leather seat if she doesn’t fucking stop licking her spoon. “A whole contract. I guess I should feel special.”
“Wrong. Nothing about our arrangement will change, other than when I want you, you’re mine.
When it’s over, as I stated, you’ll be released with the severance listed at the bottom.
I don’t want any feelings. No fighting. No strings.
The moment you try to demand more of me than what I’m willing to offer, the deal is off, you’ll be let go without your severance package. ”