Chapter 25
LEVI
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Addison:
I thought you were gonna stop by today
Levi:
Something came up
Addison:
Bullshit
You found out Harper was going to be here
And you’re avoiding
Like usual
Levi:
Or maybe I just didn’t want a lecture from you. Jesus, you’ve gotten self righteous in this pregnancy.
Addison:
That’s a lie and you know it
I’ve ALWAYS been self righteous
Levi:
Can’t argue with that.
Addison:
I gave Harper my hangover cure this morning
Levi:
And?
Addison:
Apparently I didn’t need to
Because someone left all kinds of goodies on her nightstand
Including her exact coffee order
You know anything about that?
Addison:
Hello?
I said DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THAT?
Levi:
And I ignored you. Was that not clear?
Addison:
You’re a dick
Maybe I should ignore you instead of telling you what I know
Levi:
Pretty sure I don’t care.
Addison:
You’re right
You definitely don’t care that your favorite roommate has a full dance card today
Levi:
Wtf does that even mean?
Addison:
It means Harper’s got interviews all day
With one of Stan’s boys
So maybe don’t wait up
But you don’t care
Right?
Harper
I walked toward the apartment, determination in my stride. Clouds had moved in since my time at the resort, and a storm was on the horizon, a low rumble of thunder sounding in the distance. I jolted, my entire body tightening in the same way it had forever, and I quickened my pace to get home faster.
Home.
That thought had me tripping over absolutely nothing, the realization that I wasn’t walking away from the storm but toward Levi hitting me like a wrecking ball.
And just when in the hell had that happened?
At some point between when I’d arrived in town—full of anger and hurt and hostility…all the things that had been masquerading as hate—and now, there’d been a shift.
Maybe it had happened when Levi had made dinner and talked me through that first thunderstorm in town, distracting me from my fears even while he battled his own.
Maybe it had happened when we’d been high, too inebriated to put our guards up, allowing us to be vulnerable and talk like we used to.
Maybe it had happened when we’d kissed on the Ferris wheel. When he’d held my face as if I was precious, even while he ravished my mouth like he couldn’t get enough.
Maybe it had happened when he’d come to pick me up from One Night Stan’s, even though he didn’t have to, just to make sure I got home okay.
Maybe it had happened when he’d given me everything I needed to recover from a hangover. Including my usual coffee order, despite the fact that I’d never drunk it when we were teens and hadn’t done so around him as adults.
Or maybe it had happened when he’d put me to bed last night. The evening as a whole was a blur, but glimpses were seeping in…foggy memories finally beginning to surface. Like him bracing himself on either side of my shoulders and brushing a kiss on my forehead, the scent of him warm and comforting, making me feel safe and secure.
Making me feel like I was finally home.
I had no idea when things had shifted, just that the talk with Chase had shaken something loose inside me. And now, here I was, rushing toward Levi instead of away from him like I’d been doing for more than a decade.
I climbed the stairs to the apartment, another low rumble of thunder quickening my steps. I didn’t even know if Levi was home. Didn’t know if he’d be here to soothe my frayed nerves—both from the impending storm and from the talk I knew we needed to have. But I…actually hoped he was. A sentiment I was finally allowing myself to admit, even just to myself.
I slid my key into the lock and opened the door, listening for movement, but the apartment was still and silent. Trying to rein in my disappointment, I set down my bag before shutting and locking the door behind me, then turned back around just as Levi strode out of the bathroom.
Wearing nothing but a towel.
Water dripped from his nearly black hair onto his bare shoulders, the droplets rolling down along his chest and over every sculpted inch of him. Inches I wasn’t too proud to admit I wanted to trace. With my tongue. I was eager to study this new Levi, the one he’d grown into during our time apart. Figure out what made him tick. Learn him in ways I’d never known before.
“Hi,” I said. Brilliant. I was a journalist who made my living with words, and “hi” was the best I could come up with?
“Hey,” he said, his voice just a low rasp. He held the towel closed with one hand, running his other hand through his hair, the muscles in his arm bunching and flexing with the movement. And my God, was there anything about this man’s physique that was fair? He was a Greek god, carved from stone, and here for my viewing pleasure.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him, sucking in a sharp breath as my gaze snagged on the tattoos covering his body. The ink stood out in stark contrast against his skin, especially the few scattered over his chest—an anchor above his heart and a compass rose on his rib cage, details of it I couldn’t quite make out. And then there were his full sleeves, their designs flowing effortlessly into one another, as if they’d all been created to exist together. I ached to reach out and trace along each one with my fingertips, follow every line and curve and ask him to tell me what they meant.
Levi flexed his hand on the towel, drawing my attention there…then lower still. To the unmistakable bulge the flimsy fabric couldn’t hope to hide. A not-so-tiny part of me hoped like hell he’d lose his grip and the towel would go falling to the floor. Pool in a puddle at his feet and give me an unobstructed glimpse of the man I’d been dreaming about since I’d arrived.
Not to mention the years before.
The silence hung heavily in the space between us as we stared at each other, and I felt it like a hum beneath my skin. I swallowed thickly, attempting to ignore the tug low in my belly and the throb between my thighs.
He cleared his throat and lifted his chin toward a tray on the breakfast bar. “Mabel, uh, brought over some more cookies. No pot this time, but they’ll still be fucking delicious. They always are.”
I snapped my gaze to his, my breath catching as his words sank in, unlocking something inside me as a deluge of memories came to the forefront of my mind.
Levi sitting on the edge of my bed, his eyes dark with hunger as he watched me touch myself. As he talked me through it. But his hands had never once settled on my skin, his words the only thing he’d used on me last night.
Look at you. Your needy cunt is dripping, isn’t it? I want to lick it all up. We both know you’d taste fucking delicious. You always were.
My breath caught as more came to me, one after another after another.
Sink those fingers deep. Let me hear how fucking much you need it.
It’s impossible to pretend I haven’t been inside you.
Fuck yourself faster. And rub that pretty little clit while you’re at it.
If I fucked you now, you’d take it. We’d make it fit.
I took a step toward him, my breaths coming too fast, but I gave up trying to act like I had everything under control. I didn’t. Not by a long shot.
I knew we needed to talk. I deserved to know what had really happened that night he’d walked away. Why he’d called things off. A million unsaid things hung in the space between us.
But what was one more night when thousands had already passed us by?
I didn’t want to take the chance that a discussion would scare him off. Not now, when I could hear the rumbling thunder in the distance. And certainly not now that I’d finally allowed myself to admit I wanted him. Desperately. And after the memories I recalled from last night, I had no doubt he felt the same.
“Sparrow?” Levi walked toward me, his brows pinched. “You okay?”
“Fine,” I said. Croaked, really. Because I was anything but fine.
I was strung tight, my body buzzing with awareness, my heart thrumming too loudly in my ears. I was tired of pretending. Tired of fighting this pull that was ever-present between us.
The one that had never actually gone away.
He studied me, sweeping his gaze over me from head to toe, lingering on the low dip of my blouse, the flare of my hips in this fitted skirt, and I felt it as surely as if it had been an actual caress. Finally, he glanced away, his jaw ticking. “I thought you were going to be gone all night for interviews.”
That had been the plan, but I had no idea how he knew that because I never told him. After my interview with Chase, I’d intended to pop over to One Night Stan’s and try my luck again. This time, hopefully with a different—nicer—brother.
Instead, all I’d wanted was to be home. With Levi.
I took another step toward him, settling between him and the breakfast bar, until we were mere inches apart. Close enough I could feel the heat pouring off him, could inhale his warm, fresh scent straight into my lungs, could count the drops of water dotting his skin. “I came to some realizations while I was out and decided I needed to be here instead.”
He swallowed thickly, his gaze dipping to my lips before meeting my eyes again. “What realizations were those?”
“Well, for one thing, we’re not even.”
“What do you mean, we’re not even?”
“Last night… You saw me get mine, but you left before I got to enjoy the show.” I reached out, stopping just before touching his skin, and traced his anchor through the air. “Seems only fair that you return the favor.”
He stiffened, his entire body going rigid. “What do you remember about last night?”
“Not a lot.” It wasn’t entirely a lie. While I’d been flooded with glimpses, I still didn’t have the whole picture. But I had enough to know he’d said some filthy things to me, all while keeping his hands to himself. That impeccable restraint, hard at work.
“Harper,” he said, his voice low and rough. He finally dropped the grip he had on his towel to clutch the edge of the counter on either side of my hips, his knuckles white from the effort of holding himself back.
“You want to know what I think?”
“I’m sure you’re going to tell me either way.”
I flashed him a smile. “I think you’ve spent all these years perfecting your restraint.” It was written in every rigid line of his body. How he held himself back when he was around me. Not allowing himself to cross the threshold of my bedroom when I got off with the toy, and not allowing himself to touch me last night. “But I also think you’ve had twelve years to fantasize about everything you want to do to me.”
He locked his eyes on mine. “And what makes you think you wouldn’t be horrified by those fantasies?”
This time when I reached out, I allowed my fingertip to touch his skin as I traced the design inked over his heart, too preoccupied by his closeness to pay it much attention. “What makes you think I would be?”
He huffed out a breath and shook his head, dragging his gaze down my body in a way that wasn’t at all respectful. “Because you might be the one who hates me, but I’d fuck you like I did.”
A shiver stole over me, skating down my spine, as my nipples tightened and my panties grew wet. Just from his fucking words. He had the power to turn me inside out, and he was clueless about that fact.
“You have no idea what I’d like.” I ran my hand down the front of him, over the carved muscles of his chest and abdomen, finally stopping at his low-slung towel. “I know what I’m getting into. So what’s it going to take for you to give in?”
He stared at me for long moments. We stood so close, I could feel his breath ghosting over my lips, the scent of him surrounding me and making me forget anything outside our little bubble existed.
“You don’t know what you’re asking,” he finally said.
“No? Why don’t you enlighten me, then? What would it be like between us?”
He huffed out a laugh and shook his head. “It wouldn’t be soft and sweet like it used to be.”
I thought back to every time we’d had sex as teens. Back then, we’d been on everyone else’s timetable, sneaking around so no one would see, and we’d gotten very creative. I wouldn’t say any of our times were particularly soft or sweet. They were fast and frantic, both of us too hungry for each other for anything else.
“I know exactly what you’re thinking,” he said and shook his head. “But even in the car or on the cliffs or behind the cove, I still fucked you nice and easy. Still made it sweet for you.”
He slid his gaze down my body, a filthy caress, and my entire being perked up at the attention.
“But I wouldn’t take you to bed, sparrow. I wouldn’t lay you out on the sheets and whisper how beautiful you are. It wouldn’t be lights out, missionary until you came once and I followed.” Still gripping the countertop, he moved his hands closer to me until his wrists pressed against my hips, the heat of them sending a delicious zing through my body. Then he leaned forward, his lips brushing my ear. “It’d be rough and dirty. I’d make you show me how much you want it, make you fucking beg for it. And then I’d give it to you. Over and over again, until you couldn’t take it anymore. Your body would be so wrung out, you’d cry with every release. But instead of stopping, I’d lick up your tears and make you come again, just because I could.” He pulled back enough to meet my gaze. “And even when I made it hurt a little, you’d still want more.”
His words swept through me, stoking that low, simmering fire already inside me. Instead of turning me off, he’d only ignited an inferno. One that burned solely for him.
I rested my hands on his shoulders, dragging my thumbs up the column of his neck. “What are you waiting for?”
That clearly wasn’t the answer he’d been expecting. His brows rose the tiniest fraction as he stared at me, and I wondered if this had all been for nothing. If, despite everything I’d said, his restraint was strong enough to hold him back. If, maybe, he just wasn’t as drawn to me as I’d assumed. Wasn’t as drawn to me as I was to him.
And then, before I could step away, before I could slink off to my room and try to forget making an ass of myself, everything changed. The air in the room shifted as Levi’s restraint finally snapped.
“Fuck it,” he muttered before wrapping his hand around my nape and tugging my face down to his.