Chapter 6
Chapter Six
STEVIE
Good Lord Almighty, what did I get myself into?
We reach the door of King’s Wolf, and I hand my ID to the bouncer, who looks at me quickly and motions, inviting me inside.
Levi is right behind me showing his fake ID, and as soon as we enter the bar, the aroma of beer and lemon cleaner fills my nostrils.
The song “Boyfriend” by Dove Cameron plays loudly overhead from the multiple speakers around the place, but not as loud as the rowdy group of idiotic frat boys bypassing us to get to the mahogany bar on the left.
One of them bumps into me, and I’m mentally flipping him off before losing my balance for a second.
Well, shit. Levi’s hands grab me around the waist, stopping me from falling.
“Whoa, you okay there, Bambi?” His eyes do a quick body scan, his hands still on me—
Wait, Bambi?
I look at him with wide eyes. He wouldn’t.
Levi shakes his head and wears a panty-melting smile. “Well, would you look at that? Only took a couple of days—”
Shoving him away before he can repeat it, I hear him chuckle but he lets go.
It’s my fault for saying Hotshot, again.
I have to admit, Levi is entertaining and more fun than I thought he would be.
I’m glad he invited me, even if I am slightly nauseous over meeting his friends.
I’m not a huge fan of meeting new people, and it’s my first time here, even if I have passed by it before.
Andrew always said he never liked going to the bars or wanted me to get a fake ID.
“I won’t get one if you don’t. I don’t want either one of us to get in trouble over something as stupid as pretending to be twenty-one and partying with strangers who are always drunk. Besides, what if a guy tries to roofie you?”
At least he was responsible and truthful when it came to that. However, now I’m twenty-one and need to start acting like it. Besides, if Levi’s friends are as nice as he is, we’ll get along fine.
I’m admiring the random sports paraphernalia when Levi’s hand shoots up and his mouth widens into a grin.
“They’re all in a corner booth. It seems like they brought some friends, but don’t worry, they’re cool.”
He places his large hand on my lower back against the T-shirt he chose for me to wear. Looking around, I see girls sporting cute dresses, skirts, and crop tops, but I also find some wearing casual outfits like I am, which is making me feel more comfortable already.
We’re a couple of steps away from the booth that holds seven of his friends in total. My stomach dips, and butterflies start to pile up at the number of people I’m about to meet.
A tall and very hot blond man stands, reaching Levi’s height, clapping him on the shoulder in greeting. Once he’s done saying hi to his friend, he faces me.
“And who might you be?” His hazel eyes do an appreciative sweep of me, and I try to contain my blush by introducing myself with an awkward wave.
“You’re Levi’s new girlfriend, I’m assuming.
He’s told us all about you. You met this summer, right?
Kind of a Grease romance type deal? All those long summer nights. ” He wiggles his brows.
My eyes widen, and I turn to Levi, looking at him like he’s a lunatic. Is that what he told everyone? Is the guy I’m living with actually batshit crazy?
A snort comes from someone at the table when Levi smacks his friend on the head.
“Shut the fuck up, Jake. You know exactly who she is.” He sighs, but then smirks at him.
“She knows a lot about you, too.” Levi’s gaze catches mine.
There’s a twinkle of mischief there I hadn’t seen before, and I know that he’s hinting at the tabloids my moms looked into that led me to believe he was gay.
“Stevie, this is my douche of a friend, Jake. Jake, this is my wonderfully sweet roommate who makes killer pancakes, and who I’d very much appreciate that you wouldn’t scare off. ”
Introducing me as “wonderfully sweet” makes me sound boring, but I’m sure Levi didn’t mean it that way.
Once I spot Jake’s narrowed gaze on Levi, a laugh creeps up my throat.
He quickly turns my way and bows his head in greeting.
Jonathan Jacob Greymoore III is probably accustomed to receiving a lot of attention due to his father’s media company, although I don’t know much about it.
I only learned about him through Levi’s background check, and even then, I didn’t get much information.
And tabloids are full of lies, meaning I know zilch.
In return, I give him a dip of my chin and turn to face the rest of the table.
A gorgeous girl with black hair, golden tawny skin, and amber eyes waves at me with an extremely warm and inviting smile. Next to her is a petite blonde, equally beautiful as her friend, giving me the same inviting grin.
“Hey, I’m Kamila, but you can call me Kami,” the golden-eyed girl says.
“I’m Emma, but you can call me Em,” the blonde follows.
“I’m Cameron, but you can call me Cam,” the man next to Kami mimics her, tipping his beer in my direction with a tattooed arm.
Em rolls her eyes. “Okay, we could be doing this all night.” The blonde takes over and introduces the rest of the people at the table, who I learn are Will, Zoey, and Luna.
How is everybody here so attractive?
“Everyone, this is Stevie, my roommate,” Levi announces. “Please don’t be too weird,” he adds quickly.
After all the greetings, Jake invites me to sit next to Em and tells Levi he’s getting a drink. Levi seems to hesitate before deciding to tag along. Just as he’s about to leave, he leans down to speak to me.
“Do you want anything from the bar?”
Since Levi knows about my condition, I feel comfortable enough to tell him the truth. “I don’t drink anymore.”
“Soda? Juice? They serve great mocktails here, or so Kami says. She knows the bartender and works here, so I’d take her word for it,” he responds without hesitation as though he was expecting my response.
Smiling, I ask him for something simple to keep me going for the rest of the night. “A bottle of water is fine for now. Thanks, Levi.” He stands to leave, and I grab his hand to stop him. He looks down at where our hands connect, and I quickly pull away. “Let me give you some money.”
Once I get the ten-dollar bill in hand from my purse, he’s disappeared into the crowd. Sighing, I stuff the money away. I’ll sneak it into his coat pocket one of these days.
“So, Stevie,” Em says from my side. “Where are you from?”
Small talk. Not a fan, but she seems genuinely interested. “Woodstock, born and raised.”
Em’s face brightens. “Oh my God, I love Woodstock! The town is so cute.” She grabs Kamila’s hand. “There’s a great little cupcake bakery there that’s to die for.”
“I’ve never been,” Kami says.
She and Em look at each other and then point at me. “Road trip!”
I jump a little at the volume in their voices, but laugh at their enthusiasm. “Sure, I can show you guys around. Although I do recommend waiting until it gets a little warmer, when everything is open.”
“It’s a done deal.” Em sticks her pinkie out toward me and Kami.
Kami intertwines hers and waits for me to join.
Finally, I put mine in, and both give me approving nods.
And just like that, I know we’ll get along at least for the meantime.
I’ve been nervous as hell about making new girlfriends since Tiffany, not that we were as close as she and Andrew were, even before sleeping together, but I can’t keep comparing others to her and Andrew.
Everyone continues speaking while the girls attempt to keep me looped into the conversation.
Ten minutes or so must pass before Levi makes it back to the table while Cam finishes catching everyone up on his and his cousin’s tattoo shop opening early next year in Brooklyn.
He also manages to keep eye contact with everyone, nobody keeping me out of any conversation.
It’s a nice change of pace compared to how Andrew’s friends treated me, and why am I comparing everyone and everything to Andrew and his friends, again? I need to stop doing that.
Levi sits in the tiny space left next to me and hands me my bottle of water.
I try sticking my ten-dollar bill into his hand in exchange, but he puts it back in mine.
Narrowing my eyes at him, we do a little back-and-forth until he relents, finally grabs my purse, and unzips the small pocket inside.
No, not that one.
His hand stills for a second before stuffing the bill next to my daily pills and emergency meds. He puts my bag back down between us and takes a swig of his beer.
“Next time we go out, you can pay for my drink,” he states calmly, and winks at me.
Breathing out the tension in my shoulders, I nod, relieved at his easygoing nature.
He leans closer to me while everyone else talks amongst themselves. “Okay, what do you want to know about them?”
I look at him, surprised. “What?”
Another sip. “Now, I won’t tell you everything, Stevie, but you have to be curious about some of them.”
Of course I’m curious about them, especially since one is practically a billionaire and Emma comes from money too, but it’s not fair to ask about that when they know nothing about me.
“Tell you what. If I get close to them and tell them about myself a little more, that’s when I’ll ask, okay?”
Levi bites his lip and tilts his head in contemplation. “Fair enough.” He takes another swig of his beer. “I do have one more question for you, Bambi.”
“Yes?” I ask skeptically, annoyed at the use of the pet name. I’ll have to ask him for his reasoning later.
“Do you know how to dance? Because I can guarantee you that in less than five minutes, Kamila and Emma here will be pressuring everyone to go out onto that dance floor whether they like it or not.”
Crap. No, I do not know how to dance. Sing? Yes. Act? Pretty decently. But the one thing I am terrible at is dancing.
“No—”