Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
ANDY
The next day, I debated whether I should bail on the pumpkin carving event with Levi later. Things had felt a little too personal last night, and though I didn’t hate it, I was worried that maybe I was getting a little too attached. Maybe some space would do both of us some good?
I could tell him I was coming down with something. That would be a good excuse to sleep separately too, but the thought of not having him tucked into my side tonight didn’t appeal to me at all. And whenever Levi dropped by the kitchen when he was free, excitedly chatting about the pumpkins that were just delivered or the fact that all ten rooms at the B&B had signed up for the event tonight, I couldn’t bear to be the one to ruin his mood.
Time slowly ticked down until the evening service was over, and I still couldn’t bring myself to bail on tonight. I cleaned up the kitchen while rattling sounded from the dining room. Levi had popped in to say he was going to set up for the pumpkin carving, which would take place in the dining room since it was the largest room in the B&B .
I quickly finished my task and headed out to help Levi set up. Peter and Henry had taken an early night and went out to town for a date, so Levi was the only one running this event. He’d already set a large tarp on the floor in the middle of the room and pulled the tables together to make one large one.
We carried about thirty pumpkins into the room and lined them up against the back wall for our guests to choose the one they wanted. They ranged from being as big as an Instant Pot to tinier ones that were probably meant for the kids. Afterwards, we readied each spot with the tools needed for tonight.
“Have you carved a pumpkin before?” Levi asked as he set the last station with tools. How they even had this many pumpkin carving utensils was a wonder.
“Nah. My family never really celebrated Halloween.”
Or any holiday, for that matter. But I didn’t tell him that.
Levi’s eyes bugged out at my answer, and I laughed, remembering that he must be fond of this holiday if he thought The Nightmare Before Christmas was a Halloween movie and not a Christmas one.
“We’re definitely going to change that tonight!” he exclaimed, then ran to where the pumpkins were lined up and examined them until he found one he was satisfied with and proudly brought it back over to me.
“I picked the best one out for you. Don’t worry. With me to guide you, you’ll be a pumpkin carving pro in no time,” he said with a confident pat on his chest.
I laughed. “Isn’t it unfair to our guests if I get the first pick?”
“I won’t tell if you don’t,” he replied with a mischievous smile.
I couldn’t help myself and planted a kiss on those sexy lips, right there in the middle of the dining room, where anyone could see us .
Levi was naturally surprised by my sudden action, as was I, but then those brown eyes warmed and melted away all my anxiety.
There wasn’t time to think too deeply about why Levi’s smile had a calming effect on me since the guests started flowing in at that moment. The B&B had been booked completely full for the last couple of weeks, and tonight was no exception. Guests from all ten rooms came in, some with children leading in front of them, filling the room completely.
Everyone chose their pumpkins, and Levi took center stage as he demonstrated how to start the carving process. Apparently, it wasn’t as easy as just taking a knife to the orange squash.
Levi went around the room, giving a hand to anyone who needed a little extra help. He was practically glowing with how animated he was, laughing and chatting with everyone as he helped them with their pumpkin. Some were older guests who visited every year and others were experiencing Wintertown for the first time, but Levi still treated them like old friends.
It was so clear that he loved people. It made sense why he worked so hard for the B&B and put his all into this place. It was because he loved the little community they built here. The guests might change, but the sentiment always stayed the same.
Levi was so popular—even the kids pulled him away to brainstorm what to carve on their pumpkin—that I didn’t get a chance to talk to him again until after I’d finished cleaning out my pumpkin and scooping all the seeds into a container to bake later.
I’d never tried roasting fresh pumpkin seeds before, so it’d be interesting to see how they’d turn out.
“That’s a nice pile of pumpkin guts you have there,” Levi said, popping up beside me holding a mini pumpkin in his hand .
I peered at him as he cut a hole at the top with ease and expertly scooped out the seeds. “Way to make it sound sinister,” I teased.
He turned to me with a goofy grin. His hair was tossed every which way, but on Levi, it looked like it had been meticulously styled on purpose. He looked put together even after running around all day. The only thing that broke his perfect illusion was the stray pumpkin seed that had somehow made its way to his forehead.
“You got a little something,” I commented and gestured to where the pale-yellow seed still covered in orange flesh stuck proudly on his skin. He used the back of his hand to wipe the area, completely missing the seed.
I laughed and wiped my hands with a towel before stepping closer to him and reaching up.
“Here,” I said and took the seed off. My thumb rubbed against his forehead.
I didn’t know if it was intentional or not, but Levi’s eyes fluttered closed for the briefest second as he rubbed up against my palm. The action made it feel like time had stopped. Then his lids opened again, eyes focused on me, and the chatter and sound of excited kids starting their carvings faded away.
Nothing else existed but Levi and me…and there was a sinking feeling that I was well and truly fucked for this man. No matter how much I tried to deny it, I’d already done the one thing I said I wouldn’t do.
I’d gotten attached.
Then a kid tugged at Levi’s clothes, bright-eyed as he asked for help with carving a dinosaur, and breaking the spell that Levi always managed to cast over me. I pulled my hand back, mostly shocked by the child’s interruption more than anything else.
Levi shot me an apologetic look before leaving with the child to his station. The child had picked a pumpkin twice the size of his head, but it seemed his parents were working on it together with him.
They placed the squash on the ground, so the kid had easier access to it. Levi squatted and took a marker to quickly sketch out a T-Rex’s head. It was my first time seeing his artistic abilities, and I was surprised at how quickly the image appeared. It wasn’t too detailed, which would make it hard to carve, but the image was definitely recognizable as the roaring dinosaur with its little arms.
Levi bent over at the knees to get up butt first. I tried really hard not to stare at that ass, but it was really hard with how his jeans curved around that butt so deliciously. It was like every piece of clothing the man owned was tailor-made to fit him.
The kid practically squealed when he saw the finished product and jumped into Levi’s arms for a hug before tugging at his mom’s shirt to show off his new design. Levi chatted with the parents for a while, smiling affectionately as the child ran to the other kids with a goofy smile to show off his new pumpkin.
Of course, that led to the other kids requesting Levi’s help too. He nodded patiently as he went to each child’s station and drew their requested image. He left behind a group of happily laughing kids as he walked back to me with the brightest smile on his face and picked up his own tiny pumpkin.
I had finished scooping out the rest of the seeds and cleaned the inside so it was ready to be carved. When Levi noticed, he bumped my hip with his. There was a shy smile on his face as he thanked me.
“Sorry. I invited you, but I’ve barely had any time to spend with you,” he murmured. He was focused on his pumpkin, hand moving quickly as he drew an outline for his carving.
“It’s okay. I’m enjoying myself,” I replied, realizing that I meant it. This wasn’t how I imagined my first carving experience, but I had fun watching Levi interact with everyone like old friends. I didn’t get to spend a bunch of time with him, but I got to see another side of him, and that felt big.
Levi smiled, shy but dimply, as he capped the marker he was using. I took a glance at his pumpkin and shouldn’t have been surprised to see two doves with their beaks touching, as if kissing.
The Doves of Destiny, who ambushed me everywhere I went and signified Levi’s hope to find the person who was meant to be his. I didn’t know if the birds were real and actually blessed people’s love lives, but at that moment, I hoped it was, and that Levi would find someone who deserved him.
And a little part of me whispered that person was me.
I laughed, thinking how silly this all was. At the club, I’d listed all those reasons, telling Levi that I was going to leave eventually so that he wouldn’t get involved with me and risk his heart. But it looked like Levi wasn’t the one I should have been worried about.
“What?” Levi asked with a small smile and curious glance.
“Nothing. It’s just…you’re amazing, you know that?” I answered, and that earned me an almost blinding beam from him.
He stepped closer, all the way into my space, and leaned in to whisper so that only I could hear, “I can show you just how amazing I am later tonight when I have all the time in the world to teach you new skills to make up for neglecting you on your first pumpkin-carving experience.”
My heart skipped a beat at his implication. Or at least what I thought he was implying, because the only thing we hadn’t done in the bedroom yet was penetrative sex.
The words got stuck in my throat, and all I could do was nod and pretend like I wasn’t hard just thinking about having anal sex with Levi .
Honestly, I didn’t even know how I got through the rest of the pumpkin event. I was in a daze until I realized Levi and I were the only ones left in the dining room, and the fucking Doves of Destiny had been carved on the pumpkin I’d been working on too.
I had some awareness of carving my pumpkin, but didn’t realize what the design was until now. I tried to hide the pumpkin among the few that were left in the room when Levi wasn’t looking. Some guests took theirs with them while others couldn’t since they had flown here.
I thought I’d gotten away with the perfect crime, and if Levi saw the doves on the pumpkins, he’d think it was a tourist who’d copied the town’s motif instead of pinning the work on me, because I surely couldn’t explain why I’d carved the stupid doves when I made such a big deal about their lore being a scam.
Levi grinned at me, and the twinkle in his eyes told me he knew. But at least he didn’t bring it up, so I was very happy to keep pretending too. We cleaned up the stations and set the tables back where they belonged. After removing the tarp from the ground, we picked up the carved pumpkins to line them by the front door on our way out.
Once home, I couldn’t spin around and pin Levi to the door fast enough. He kissed me back but mostly laughed at my eagerness.
“Wait. I’m covered in pumpkin guts,” he moaned when I kissed down his chin to the sweet pulse by his neck. I’d learned over the weeks that he didn’t use any cologne, and the smell of pine and sunshine was purely him. I couldn’t get enough of it.
“I don’t mind,” I said. In fact, the slightly sweet and earthy pumpkin scent mixed nicely with his. He smelled good enough to gobble right up.
Levi apparently had much better control of his desires, because he calmly pushed me back a few steps. “Let’s wash up quickly, and I’ll meet you in my room, okay?”
I let out a huff of air, pouting in case that would serve to convince him that falling in bed right now was very crucial to my dick. Levi only laughed and pressed a soft kiss to my cheek. “You better hurry,” he shot over his shoulder before sidestepping me and disappearing into his room.
That shot me into action as I took the fastest shower in my life. I used both hands, foaming myself up until my entire body was like a giant bubble of soap, and scrubbed every single possible crevice.
It wasn’t until I was rinsing myself off that I felt silly for how impatient I was being. If my best friend saw me, he’d tease me for acting like an inexperienced virgin, and sex was anything but new for me.
Then I thought about how I was going to get to experience it all with Levi, and it did feel new. I’d never been this excited to have sex with someone, even as a teen. So forgive me if I’d padded to Levi’s room, hair still dripping wet, and in nothing but the towel that did a poor job covering the boner between my legs.
I knocked on his door, just in case Levi needed more time for himself but was never more glad when I heard him calling for me to enter. Opening the door, I stopped breathing at the sight that greeted me.
Levi was fully naked, chest pressed against his bed, ass in the air facing the door and giving me the full view. He looked over his shoulder, the movement jiggling his ass so seductively that it felt like a sudden force of air pushed right through me again.
“You’re finally joining the party?” he purred. He slid his hand around himself, finger landing on his thigh, then slowly dragging it up the delicious smooth skin, past his butt cheek, and down his crack to his pink hole.
It was only then that I realized he was already lubed up. A tiny bit of the slippery lubricant oozed out as he slipped a finger inside. The way his hole swallowed it up, as if seeking something more, had me feeling feral.
A deep rumble went through me as I strode to him and grabbed hold of his hand to stop him.
“That’s mine,” I said as I pulled his finger out of his hole. “You’re supposed to be teaching me, not taking away my learning opportunity.”
Levi grinned over his shoulder but didn’t protest. He used his other hand to toss me the bottle of lube that was beside him. “Okay, student. I guess the first step of any teacher’s job is to gather what level said student is at. So…”—he peered at me with a questioning glance—“have you done anal before?”
I quickly lubed up two fingers, impatient to get my fingers inside of him. “I’ve done anal before, but never with a man,” I stated as I slipped a finger inside slowly, so I didn’t hurt him.
Levi didn’t even react when I slipped in past the knuckle. He’d definitely gotten the party started before me and that had me feeling so jealous I was pushing in my second digit without giving him time to adjust.
A tiny gasp escaped him at the sudden action, but his hole quickly sucked me in, still greedy for me as he tried to swallow my fingers as deeply as he could. He was so soft but also gripped me so tightly that I knew he’d feel like heaven around my cock.
“Seems like you know the basics,” Levi said with a chuckle. “But there’s one important difference between a man and a woman.”
“You mean this?” I commented and gave him a hard stroke down his hard cock .
Levi’s cock was a thing of beauty, and I never imagined I’d use that adjective for a dick. But his was a blush pink that turned a deep, erotic color when he was turned on like he was now.
A bead of precum stained my skin when I rubbed my thumb over his head, but I didn’t linger there long and stroked down again. He shivered when I fondled his heavy balls. They were so full I knew he’d come hard later.
Another delicious sound escaped Levi’s lips as he watched my action. He reached his hand through between his legs until he touched mine. “Well, yes, obviously. But that isn’t what I was talking about. You see, men have this wonderful thing called a prostate.”
He placed his hand over mine and slipped two fingers inside his ass along my own. I could barely breathe at how his pucker swallowed up the four digits, the edges slightly puffy from the stretch, but he was taking it so good.
When he was in the correct position, he used his finger to bend mine down, searching for something. I knew exactly what he wanted to show me when the tips of my fingers bumped against something smooth and rubbery and had him shaking on impact.
He used his fingers again to guide me, to quirk mine, to hit that spot once more, and a bit harder this time. The shiver that ran through his body was accompanied by a throaty moan. His balls felt tighter inside my hand, more full, if that was even possible.
His legs became unsteady as I continued hitting that beautiful spot inside of him, and Levi had turned into a blubbering mess. His fingers had slipped out of his ass at some point, and he was now pressing both hands beside himself to keep in position.
“Andy… ”
He whimpered a needy sound that had the last thin thread of my self-control breaking.
“Fuck,” I said. My fingers slipped out of him with a pop as I flipped him over and crashed our mouths together. “I. Need. You,” I demanded between messy kisses.
“Yes. Fuck yes. Condom’s over there,” he breathed against my neck. Hot breaths tickled my skin as he gently mouthed my pulse.
“Fuck,” I cursed again when his legs wrapped around my waist and he started grinding his erection against my stomach. I quickly tore the condom packet and suited myself up before Levi wanted to end this party all on his own.
He only stopped moving when he saw me lubing up. His eyes burned hot as he watched me. His chest heaved with each of his deep breaths, and his damp hair clung to his forehead.
This was the first time he didn’t look perfectly put together, and he was fucking beautiful. He couldn’t get any more beautiful than this, was what I thought, but then he crooked his leg outward, raising it in invitation.
“You’re gonna kill me, you know that?” I rasped out and spread his cheek out so I could get a good look at my target. His hole twitched as if calling for me, and who was I to deny it what it wanted?
“Well, let’s see what we can do about reviving you then,” he said and scooted his ass to the head of my dick. I groaned when he shook his hips, teasing me like the little cocktease he was.
A smirk lined his face as he watched me but was quickly wiped away when I spread his legs wider apart for me. I steadied my base and looked at him for permission, hoping to god that he was ready because my body was begging to be inside him.
The heavens answered my prayers when he nodded. It was all the permission I needed as I started the sweet slide inside of him. Our eyes locked, never once breaking, as I entered him all the way to the hilt. There was an emotion in those browns that looked a little too familiar. An emotion that was feeling a little too overwhelming and demanded attention no matter how much I tried to ignore it.
Right now, I didn’t worry about stuffing those emotions into a tidy box and used my body to show him how I felt instead.
“You feel so good,” I breathed, rocking my hips experimentally. Levi hummed in appreciation. His hips bounced up to meet me, pushing me deeper inside of him.
My lids closed at the overwhelming sensation. He felt so much like heaven that literal stars were shining under my lids. Then he was pulling me closer and bringing our lips together again.
I kissed him with everything I had, savoring his taste and the perfection of this moment. When the kiss broke, our eyes met again, and we went quiet. Our eyes did the talking. His browns sparkled with the same emotions that must have shone in mine.
Care. Tenderness. Affection. And maybe something more.