Levi returned before my curiosity could get the best of me. “All right, they’re in. Owen’s going to call Hailey and have her meet us.”
“Where are we going exactly?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“What if I don’t like surprises?” I asked.
“Come on, Al, you like surprises.” Levi leaned over, placing a hand on either side of me on his bed.
“What makes you say that?”
“I just know.” He placed a feather light kiss on my lips. Instead of continuing the kiss as I expected, he straightened up and headed toward his door. He pulled off his t-shirt, throwing it down carelessly before grabbing the hoodie sweatshirt from the floor. “First I can’t get you into my room, and now I can’t get you out of it?”
“Shut up.” I got up and followed him into the hallway, trying to ignore my disappointment at his quick departure.
Owen and Jared were waiting for us by the open front door, also shirtless.
“Put this on.” Levi tossed me the sweatshirt.
“You want me to wear something that was in a ball on the floor?”
“It’s clean. I just did laundry.”
“So why was it on the floor?”
Owen laughed.
“Just put it on. We’re not going high, but it’s a longer flight and it’s going to be cold.”
“No thanks.”
“Fine, suit yourself. But at least bring it with you; you’ll thank me when you’re freezing later.”
“Somehow I doubt that, but I’ll bring it.”
“All right, you ready?” Levi asked.
“Definitely.” I was ready for my adrenaline fix.
Levi chuckled. “Wow, you really are pumped up for this.”
“Why? Do most girls not react this way?”
“Most girls? How many girls do you think I’ve flown before?”
“I’d assume quite a few.”
“Naw, Allie, you’re his first. Isn’t that sweet? Okay, end of story, let’s go,” Jared said impatiently.
“Seriously? Then why’d you take me?” Levi’s decision to let me in on his world now seemed even bigger.
“It felt right. Let’s get out of here. Oh, you might want to hold those flip-flops.”
I followed the guys down the front porch, and around to the side of the house. When Levi stopped, I took off my flip-flops, enfolding them in the sweatshirt I was already holding.
Levi turned me around before wrapping his arms around my waist. “Have fun.”
I stifled a scream as we took off again. I obviously knew he was going to do it, but the sensation was still shocking.
The city moved by in a blur as Levi swept down low enough to keep the skyline in view. With only his arms protecting me, I easily could have fallen, but I knew that Levi wasn’t going to drop me. The feeling of safety in his arms was incredible. Still, flying was a huge adrenaline rush, putting any roller coaster to shame. The city lights started disappearing as the ocean came into view in the distance.
Levi fell back behind the others, likely sensing how much I was enjoying myself. We followed the beach until we landed gently on the sand. I ran my hands down my arms, trying to warm myself up. Levi laughed, giving me a look that said, “I told you so.”
“Why don’t you get cold when you fly?” I asked, admiring his shirtless chest.
“My body’s designed for it, yours isn’t.”
“Oh, I guess that makes sense.”
After taking a moment to regain my balance and warm up, I reveled in the feeling of the sand beneath my toes. We were close enough to the water to hear the waves lapping at the shore. “I can’t believe you brought me to a beach.”
“You like it?”
“I love it. But where are we?”
“Grand Isle.”
“I’ve never heard of it, but it’s nice to know there’s a beach so close.” We walked over to join the others.
Hailey added kindling to a roaring bonfire before turning to smile at me. “I’m so glad you weren’t scared away.”
“Me too.” The fire was the only source of light, and I craned my neck to watch the stars.
“Be honest, you love it.” Levi slipped an arm around my waist. “You’re the one who asked me to take you flying again.”
“Nice, it’s pretty cool right?” Hailey’s face lit up and I realized how worried she must have been. Letting me in on their secret had been a big risk for all of them, and she had every reason to assume I’d freak out.
“Very. It’s, uh, definitely different, but I like different.”
***
After sitting around the fire for at least an hour, Levi leaned in to whisper to me, “Want to take a walk?”
“Sounds good,” I got up, giving a small wave to the others.
We walked off into the darkness, my hand firmly in Levi’s larger one. It’s funny how quickly I got comfortable with it. Tugging on his hand to get him to follow, I headed down closer to the water.
I breathed in a breath of ocean air. “There is nothing like the beach at night.”
“You like it at night, too? I was worried you wouldn’t like it without the sun.”
“I like the beach during the day, but I love it at night. There is just something about listening to the waves in the darkness and the soft glow of the stars reflecting off the water.”
“Yeah. It’s nice.” Levi’s voice came from right behind me, close to my ear. I leaned back into him, and he wrapped his arms around me. We stood that way for a while before he turned me towards him.
In the glimmering of the moonlight Levi studied me, his eyes staring into mine like he was trying to read me. “You’re so beautiful. So unbelievably beautiful...” he trailed off as his lips met mine.
The kiss started off gentle but neither of us could keep it that way for long. It might have been our second kiss, but it was our first real one. I realized quickly that the first time at the bar we had both been holding back. Levi deepened the kiss, his arms tightening around me before lowering me down onto the sand.
We were just close enough to the surf that the sand was damp beneath the bare skin of my shoulders and legs, but it didn’t matter—all thoughts were on Levi. With ragged breaths, he kept his weight braced while leaning down over me. He traced his fingers over my stomach, pushing up the bottom of my tank top. I couldn’t get enough of his touch.
Closing my eyes, I melted into him, oblivious to any thoughts of what I was doing. Running my fingers down his muscular back, I paused on the two tiny lines. I moved my exploration further down his back and he groaned.
He shifted me slightly, pulling away briefly to remove my tank. He came back, trailing kisses from my ear to my neck, his fingers on the straps of my bra.
I didn’t hear the approaching footsteps.
“Are you guys ever coming back? Oh wow, leaving now,” Hailey stammered.
Crossing my arms across my chest, I sat up snapping out of my daze.
“Wait, no Hailey. It’s not what you think.” Pulling my tank over my head, I got up to follow her as she hurried away.
I turned to glance back at Levi, sitting completely unapologetically on the sand. “If it wasn’t what she thought, then what was it?”
“Almost a mistake,” I mumbled before hurrying after Hailey.
“It didn’t seem like you were worried about that a minute ago!” he shouted after me.
“I’m really sorry you had to see that.” Catching up to Hailey, I decided to assess the damage. I didn’t want her to think I was just some groupie girl, willing to hook up with Levi now that I knew what he was.
“You don’t have to explain. I actually think it’s kind of cute.”
“Cute?”
“Yeah… I don’t know, I think you guys work together…” Hailey trailed off as we joined Jared and Owen by the fire. After giving us a few feet of space Levi caught up as well. It was funny; Jess had also described us as “working.”
“Nice of you two t
o join us,” Owen jested.
“It would have been nicer had we not, but what can you do.” Levi shrugged, the frustrated expression on his face contradicting his nonchalant tone.
I groaned, eliciting laughter from everyone else.
“Relax, no one cares that you are finally done playing hard to get.” Jared had to open his mouth again.
“Oh, I wasn’t playing at anything.” He was seriously getting on my nerves. “What’s your problem?”
“My problem?” he asked with mock innocence.
“Yeah. Why can’t you go five minutes without saying something obnoxious to me?”
Owen snorted.
I glanced at Levi to make sure he wasn’t going to try to get involved. Thankfully, he just stood crossing his arms with an amused expression.
“Like you’re any better. You can’t even look me in the eye tonight.”
“Yes, I can.” I walked over to him, stopping only inches away, and stared him down. “See. I can look you in the eye.”
“Levi, can you tell your girl to heel?” Jared said dryly before turning away and disappearing down the beach.
“Arggh! What the hell is his problem?” I yelled to no one in particular.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Owen answered.
I turned to look at him. “What’s obvious?”
“You took his wing man away.”
“Oh, please!” Hailey laughed. “Jared is just being his annoying self.”
I looked over at Levi to get his take, but he just shrugged. “I’ll talk to him if you want, but you seem perfectly capable of handling it yourself.”
“Yes, I am. And anyway, I should really be getting back.”
“Already?” Levi asked watching me.
“Yeah, it’s getting late. I have something called work tomorrow. Ever heard of it?” I snapped, still angry with Jared.
“What, you think I don’t have a job?”
I realized I had no idea whether he did or not. “Do you?”
“I work for my father too.”
“Oh.”
“See, we have even more in common than you thought.” He smiled.
The smile was enough to curb my anger and move my thoughts to happier places, like what almost happened on the sand. I suppressed a smile of my own.
“All right, I’ll take you home.”
“Good seeing you.” Hailey tossed my flip-flops over to me from where I’d dropped them in the sand. I caught them before pulling the hoodie over my head, this time heeding Levi’s advice.
“You look too good in that,” Levi said, taking me in wearing his oversized sweatshirt. He moved behind me and pulled me into his arms.
“Bye!” I called to Hailey and Owen just as Levi took off.
As weird as it sounds, I was slowly getting used to flying. It was definitely one of those things that didn’t lose its appeal the more you did it. Instead, any fear disappeared and the intensity increased.
Landing on my balcony, Levi jimmied the door open. “This was an interesting night.”
“Did you just break into my room?” I asked as he opened the door.
“Yeah, but the lock will still work, I promise.”
“Except for one key problem.”
“Which is?” he asked.
“It won’t keep you out.”
“Like you want that, babe.”
I groaned. “Do you realize how frustrating you are?”
“Of course I do, but I like you all flustered and hot.”
“Okay, shut up and get out of here.”
“No goodnight kiss? Maybe a night cap?” he teased.
As badly as I wanted to feel his lips on mine again, if I planned to spend the night alone I needed him to leave—immediately.
“Goodnight, Levi.”
He shrugged. “Oh well, see you in your dreams.”
Before I could come up with a snappy retort, he was gone.
“So much for swearing off men,” I said quietly as I closed the balcony door behind me.
Chapter Ten
Morning came entirely too soon. I hit snooze on my alarm twice before dragging myself out of bed and into the shower. Thankfully, the hot water did the trick and after a quick breakfast, I made it down before my 9:00 a.m. shift.
The desk was relatively quiet at first, and I took the chance to talk to Natalie about Jess’s sudden departure. I hoped it wouldn’t mess up the schedule too much. Prepared to offer to pick up extra shifts, I filled her in.
“It’s fine. You two were doubling up all the time anyway, so the only difference now is that we won’t be paying two people to do the same job.”
“Oh.” I hadn’t thought about how inefficient it was to have Jess and I working together all the time. I guess I took it for granted.
“Is everything okay though? It seemed like she was enjoying it here up until the past few days.”
I hesitated, contemplating my answer. “Yeah, I think she just needed to get home.”
“I see. Well, I hope you still manage to have fun without her. I know the two of you are close.”
“I’ll be fine. I’m sure my dad will be back soon anyway.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” Natalie agreed even though she probably knew just how unlikely that was.
I walked back to the main desk where a small line of irritated guests waited to be helped. I put on a smile and helped check out the first couple. The one nice thing about how busy we were is that the morning moved quickly. Later on, Billy came over to hang out at the desk. He was definitely still disappointed about Jess leaving.
“She’s definitely not coming back?” he asked.
“No, I think she’s planning to just stay home until school starts.”
“That’s too bad. Tell her I said hi if you talk to her. Okay?”
“Sure.” As I agreed I thought about what it would it be like when I finally saw Jess again. It’s not like she left because of me, but somehow I knew that our friendship would never be the same. I only hoped it survived. As imperfect as our friendship was, I didn’t want to lose it.
“Oh, look it’s your friend.” Billy’s sarcastic remark brought me out of my thoughts.
I looked across the lobby to glimpse Levi flanked on either side by guys in suits. He glanced up at me but didn’t acknowledge me at all. I watched as he headed to the elevator, trying to quell my annoyance that he hadn’t even smiled. I reminded myself that I had no reason to expect more from him than some fun nights out. Besides, I was the one to rebuff him the night before. Maybe I had denied him one too many times.
Evidently noticing my disappointment, Billy awkwardly patted my shoulder. “Ouch. Sorry about that, Allie.”
“Oh, I don’t care. It’s not like we’re really together or anything.”
“Who aren’t you really together with?” Alex strolled in and I realized it was already time for the bar to open.
“Oh, no one important.”
“Allie’s been hanging out with one of them, you know that all important one, and he just snubbed her,” Billy explained.
“Well, it’s better that way. I already told you to stay away from those guys; really there is something so off about them.”
In all of the craziness of the past week, I had pushed Alex’s warning out of my head, even if I had thought about the basement once or twice. “There you go, lecturing me again.”
“I’m just looking out for you.”
“Sure you are,” I smiled before excusing myself to go through some papers. I made sure to stay busy the rest of the morning.
By lunchtime, I decided that as much fun as I had hanging out with Levi, I needed to take a break. The hurt I felt at his remoteness made me realize that I was moving into caring too much territory. The whole reason I had sworn off men was to avoid that kind of drama.
Natalie came out of her office around noon. “Hey, you want to grab some lunch?”
“Yeah, sure.” I jumped at the opportunity. I needed to cool my thoughts, and s
ome lunch conversation sounded like a good cure.
We decided to eat right at the hotel restaurant to save time. Over Cajun chicken salads, we shared some small talk.
“Are you from around here?” I asked.
“I’m originally from Baton Rouge. I moved to New Orleans after college and never left.”
“Do you have any family around here?”
“I have some cousins in the city, but my parents and brothers are still in Baton Rouge.”
“Oh, okay, at least that’s not so far.”
“Very true. Do you miss your mom?” she asked.
“Yeah, definitely. But this is good practice for starting school in the fall. Even though I’m only going to be about two hours away, I don’t want to be that girl who goes home all the time.”
“Hey, I went to college in the same city I’m from and it was still a hard adjustment. There is nothing wrong with needing to see your mom once in a while.”
“I know; it’s more the principle.”
Natalie paused, like she was choosing her words carefully. “If I can give you any advice about starting college, it’s that you need to do what’s right for you and ignore what anyone else thinks, because in the end you are the only one who has to live your life.”
I thought over her words. “Thanks Natalie, I’ll keep that in mind.”
“And if you ever need someone to talk to, feel free to call. It hasn’t been that long since I was in your shoes.”
“Thanks, that’s really nice of you to offer.”
“You ready to get back to work?”
“Sure. Thanks for lunch, it was fun.”
“We need to do this more often.” She smiled.
After lunch, the afternoon crawled. Waiting for the clock to hit five signaling the end of my workday, I happened to be staring at the elevators when Levi walked back into the lobby, this time alone. Noticing my gaze, he smiled and waved in greeting before heading over. As tempted as I was to disappear into the back office and avoid him, I wasn’t going to run.
“Hello there, beautiful. How was your day?” Levi leaned an elbow against the counter directly in front of me. I glanced across the way to see Alex staring at us from the bar.
“It was work; I had a nice lunch though.”
“Did you have company for this nice lunch or was it solo?
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