by Simone Grey
LEVI
(A Trace Brothers Novel Book 2)
Simone Grey
LEVI (A Trace Brother’s Novel Book 2)
Copyright © 2020 by Simone Grey. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
All character in this book are fiction and figments of the author’s imagination.
Blurb
One moment. One touch. One kiss.
Mia Harris has a secret. It’s a secret she’s been carrying around with her for fifteen years. She’s in love with her best friend. Cliché right? Her feelings don’t feel that way. She’s resigned herself to staying in the friend zone until one moment changes everything. Terrified she’s ruined the best friendship she’s ever had; she retreats.
What she didn’t expect was for him to come after her and flip her world upside down.
Levi Trace is at the height of his career. He has everything he could ever dream of. A great career. A great family. Great friends
Especially Mia
Mia, who has been his best friend since they were ten years old. He’s only ever thought of her as his friend until one encounter changes everything. Now he’s on a mission to show her how great they can be together. But he’s got his work cut out for him. Levi’s never backed down from a challenge. And he’s not about to start now, especially when his future with his girl Mia is on the line.
Chapter One
MIA
10 Years Old
Closing the book in my hands, I let out a deep breath. I place it on the growing pile I’ve already read today and count them.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
I get up from my bed and walk over to the window. Up on the second floor, I have a clear view of the park. We only moved two days ago, and Mommy and Daddy have been busy ever since we moved in. Daddy got a new job as surgeon a few months ago so we left our old house in Arizona and moved to this one in Chicago.
I didn’t mind as much as my sister Mya did. It’s not like I had that many friends back in Arizona anyways. Mya on the other hand, had plenty of friends and activities see was in. When they told us, we were moving she threw a fit and cried.
“But all my friends are here! I don’t wanna move! Please don’t make us move!” she’d cried with big, fat tears rolling down her cheeks. I’d hugged her and told her it would be okay. After Daddy talked to her, she calmed down and agreed that this could be a good thing.
Leaving the pile of books on my bed, I go in search of Mya to see if she wants to play. Her room is down the hall from mines and I find her and Mommy in their trying on dresses.
A stab of loneliness hits me in the chest at seeing them both smiling, laughing and talking.
Having fun.
Without me. They seem to do that often.
As I enter the room, they both look up and over at me.
“Hi,” I say stopping short in the doorway. “Mya do you wanna go play with our dolls?”
Mya opens her mouth to say something but before she can Mommy says, “We don’t have time for that right now Mia. We have to go to the store and pick up the rest of the material for Mya’s pageant dress. Isn’t that right, Mya?”
Mya smiles. “Yes, Mommy.”
I perk up. I don’t really like shopping for clothes but maybe I’ll be able to spend some time with them if I go.
“Can I go too?” I ask.
Mom turns and frowns at me. “Sorry, Mia this is for your sister only. Why don’t you go read a book or something?”
My stomach sinks. “Oh, okay,” I mutter turning my face away so they can’t see the disappointment on it.
“Sorry Mia, maybe we can play later?” Mya says.
I force a smile onto my face before turning back to her and saying, “Yeah, sure.”
I hear their laughter all the way down the hallway as I make my way back to my room. Mya and I are twins. We have the same skin tone, facial features, and hair, but sometimes I feel like an outsider. Sometimes I feel like I don’t belong in this family and I don’t know why.
I feel a tingling in my nose as my eyes start to water. Just as I’m about to go back into my room, I hear a familiar voice behind me.
“Hey baby.”
Wiping at my eyes, I turn around to find my Daddy coming up the stairs dressed in his work clothes. He frowns when he sees my face.
“What’s wrong?” he asks bending down so that he’s at eye level with me.
“Nothing,” I mumble averting my eyes.
He puts a finger under my chin and turns my face back towards his. “Mia, tell me what’s wrong.”
Just then Mya and Mommy come out of her room. Daddy glances at them and then back at me, understanding clear in his eyes.
I turn my face away again, not wanting him or them to see the emotion on my face. Daddy sighs heavily as he gets to his feet.
“Hey girls, where are you headed too?” he asks.
“We need to get some more fabric and clothes for the pageant,” Mommy says.
“Okay be careful.”
I hear the front door slam shut. Daddy bends down again, so that he’s eye level with me.
“Listen Mia, I know your Mom and Mya have been spending a lot of time together lately, but it’s only because of the pageant. They’re not leaving you behind on purpose.”
“Are you sure about that?” I ask.
Daddy doesn’t hesitate. “Of course. Look, I saw some kids playing at the park across the street when I was coming in. Why don’t you go over there and see if you can make some friends?”
“Okay” I say. At this point what could it hurt?
His phone starts beeping, and he glances down at it, a frown pulling at the corners of his mouth.
“I’ve got to make a phone call. Are you going to be alright at the park by yourself?” he asks.
I shrug. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”
He places a kiss on my forehead and then he’s gone disappearing into his office. Blowing out a deep breath, I go into my room and put on my sneakers before grabbing a book and heading downstairs, I try to shake off those bad feelings. Truthfully, I don’t really like going shopping, but I thought it would be something nice I could do with Mommy and Mya.
Our neighborhood is really nice. All the houses are separated by a lot of yard space. I look to my left at our next-door neighbor’s house and see a few boys that look older than me going into the house. I’ve seen them going in and out of that house ever since we moved in.
I get to the end of the driveway and check both ways before crossing the street to the park. There are two swing sets, a slide, a sandbox and a big open grassy area. There are several boys laughing and throwing a football around.
I look around, but don’t see any girls my age. Not knowing what else to do, I take my book over to the bench near the sandbox and curl up on it. I don’t know how long, I sit there reading before suddenly, somebody swipes the book out of my hands.
“Hey!” I gasp looking up to see three boys standing in front of me.
“What kind of loser comes to the park to read,” the one holding my book says. He’s the tallest of the three. The other two boys laugh egging him on. My cheeks redden as embarrassment sweeps through me.
“Give it back,” I say trying to sound strong. My fingers curl into fist as I get to my feet. They tower over me, but I try to stand as tall as I can.
“Give it back,” the ringleader says in a high-pitched voice. They all start laughing again.
Anger rushes through me, my heart is beating so loud I can practically hear
it. Just then the book is swiped out of the boy’s hands. I peek over his shoulder to see another boy standing behind him.
“Leave her alone.”
My attention shifts to the fourth boy and my breath hitches. Up to this point, I haven’t really been interested in boys. At my old school, they were either jerks or they did nasty stuff like pick their noses in front of everybody. But the boy standing in front of me doesn’t remind me of any of those boys from my old school.
Black hair flops over his forehead. He’s tall, taller than any of the other boys standing in front of me and he has the clearest light green eyes I’ve ever seen. He’s the most beautiful boy I’ve ever seen.
“Aw, come on Levi, we’re just having some fun,” the boy that snatched my book from me says.
Levi raises an eyebrow. “You think it’s fun to bother people that are minding their own business? Well I don’t, now beat it.”
And to my shock the three boys grumble something under their breath and leave. My mouth drops open in shock as I watch them walk away. I can’t believe he got them to go away so easily.
“Here you go,” my attention shifts back to Levi and I’m struck stupid by how beautiful his face is.
“This is yours, right?” he asks raising both eyebrows at me. My cheeks grow warm when I realize I’ve been standing here staring at him while he’s holding my book out to me.
“Oh, um yes. Thank you.” I take the book from him.
“No problem, those guys are jerks. If they bother you again let me know.” He shoves his hands into his pockets and he rocks back on his heels.
“Okay. My name is Mia” I blurt out.
A small smile forms on his lips and my heartbeat picks up in response. “I’m Levi. You just moved in across the street, right?”
“Yeah, right there,” I say pointing to our house across the street.
“Yeah, I live next door,” he says pointing to the house that I’ve seen all those other boys coming and going from.
“Do you have a lot of brothers?” I ask.
“Yeah. I have one sister and five brothers.”
““Whoa, that’s a lot. I have one sister, she’s my twin.”
“Yeah? How come she didn’t come to the park with you?”
Instantly my mood deflates as I think about where Mya is right now, without me.
“Oh, um, she had something to do,” I say averting my eyes.
Silence hangs in the air between us and I can feel his eyes on me, studying me.
“My mom just made some cookies. Do you wanna come over and hang out? We can watch a movie.”
I look up at him in surprise, shocked by his offer.
“You wanna hang out with me?” I ask incredulously.
That small smile is back on his face as he stares down at me.
“Yeah, you seem pretty cool. Besides anybody that rocks a Power Rangers T-shirt is cool with me.”
My eyes go to my t-shirt that has a picture of the yellow Power Ranger plastered across the front. It was a Christmas gift from Daddy last year.
“You like the Power Rangers?” I ask.
“I love that show” he says.
I open my mouth to ask him another question when a voice from behind me shouts, “Hey Levi, we’re gonna go throw the football around. Are you coming?”
We both look over my shoulder to see a group of boys waving in this direction. I instantly deflate, figuring that he will want to go play with them.
“Nah, I’m busy. I’ll catch you guys later” he yells back.
Once again, I’m shocked. “D-don’t you want to go hang out with them?”
“Nah,” he says, his eyes scan my face. “I’m good. Are you coming?” he asks walking backwards towards his house.
“Yeah,” I find myself nodding. “I’m coming.”
Chapter Two
MIA
Fifteen Years Later
My fingers fly across the screen trying to get those last few sentences out of my mind and onto the screen. A huge smile crosses my face as I type out ‘the end’ on my fourth novel.
Leaning back against the couch, I breathe a huge sigh of relief. The feeling of finishing the first draft of a new manuscript is always indescribable. Of course, at least half of what I’ve just written is probably crap, but in this moment it doesn’t matter. The relief of just getting all the words out that first go around feels like a weight being lifted off my shoulders.
I’ve only been self-publishing for a little over a year now but each book that I’ve written so far has been harder than the last. Maybe it’s because I’ve been pushing myself harder in order to prove that I made the right decision to pursue my dream as an indie author instead of applying for a job at a publishing house. Maybe it’s because more people have started to notice my books and I’m gaining a following. Regardless, after my last release I’ve finally started to feel like I made the right decision and it feels good.
My buzzing phone pulls me from my thoughts. Grabbing it from beside me, Imani’s name flashes across the screen.
“Hello?”
I barely get the word out before she is shrieking unintelligible words into my ear. I pull the phone away before my ear drums burst.
“Mia! Did you hear me?” she shouts so loudly that even with the phone a good distance away from my face I can still hear her clearly. I bring the phone back to my ear cautiously.
“I can hear you yelling, I just can’t understand what you’re saying. What’s going on?”
“Something major just happened! Guess what I’m looking at right now?” The excitement in her voice is so palpable that it causes my heartbeat to increase.
“What is it?”
“I’m currently looking at you book sitting in the top ten of the entire Amazon store!” she finishes with a squeal.
My jaw drops. “You’re kidding!”
“Nope! I’m staring at it right now. Are you on your computer?”
“Yeah.” My hand shakes slightly as my fingers fly across the keyboard and before I know it, I pull up the Amazon Top 100 page and my latest novel is sitting at number eight in the entire store.
“Holy crap,” I mutter shocked to my core. I know how hard it is to even crack the top ten thousand on Amazon for most authors, but to make it into the top ten in the entire store? It’s something I never could have dreamed of when I started this journey.
“I know right! It’s so freaking exciting!” Imani says.
My shock starts to shift to the same kind of excitement Imani is displaying. Her happiness is real and one of the reasons I love her so much. She’s not only my best friend, she’s also my business partner in a lot of ways. She keeps me on tracks in all aspects of my writing career, whether it’s keeping up with deadlines, reading rough drafts of my work or contacting cover designers; she does it all.
Anything I need she does it, no questions asked. And the fact that she does these things because she wants to is an added bonus. Imani comes from money. And when I say money, I mean old money. Her parents are billionaires. She’s had a trust fund set up from the time she was a baby and when she turned twenty-two, she received half of it. The other half will be given to her once she turns thirty. Technically she doesn’t have to work a day in her life if she doesn’t want to, but that’s just not the way she is. She is easily one of the best and most hardworking people I know.
“I’m so proud of you Mimi,” she says using the nickname she gave me during our freshman year of college. We met during orientation and then ended up becoming roommates and staying roommates during over the course of those next four years.
“Thanks Imani,” I murmur my throat getting tight.
When I started this journey, I never imagined that I would get to this point. I’ve always loved to read and then I started getting ideas for my own stories. Once I started writing, it felt like the words were pouring out of me and I never wanted to stop.
“We have to go out and celebrate. Oh! I know, let’s go to Temptation tonight,”
she says.
“I thought you had plans with Max,” I say referring to her longtime boyfriend. They’ve been together since our sophomore year of college.
“Oh, he had to go out of town for work.”
I frown. The tone of her voice changed quickly.
“Is everything alright?” I ask cautiously.
“Yep, everything’s fine,” she chirps.
To somebody that doesn’t know her that well, those words coming from her would be easy to believe. Imani has always been incredibly good at hiding her true feelings behind a mask. I’ve always thought it stems from how rich her family is. People have befriended her for no reason other than that they thought they could get money out of her. Hell, I’ve seen it with my own eyes.
Initially, when we became friends, it took her a while to open up. But once she did, our friendship grew stronger and stronger.
“Imani,” I say drawing her name out, so she knows I’m this close to pouncing.
She sighs heavily. “Everything is fine.”
She’s lying. I know she is, but it’s obvious that she doesn’t want to talk about whatever may be going on with her and Max. I know she’ll tell me when she’s ready, so I’ll let it go.
“Alright, I’ll be ready at seven,” I say.
“Perfect, I’ll come to your place, and invite Mya too if she’s not too busy.”
“Okay, I’ll see you later.”
We say our goodbyes and hang up. The only other person that I initially told about my dream to self-publish was Levi. At first, I didn’t want him to read any of my words. I was afraid of what he would think of the story and me, especially after reading the sex scenes. But he never batted an eye. In fact, he gave me some really constructive criticism on how to improve certain aspects of my story. From that point on whenever, I’ve written a book that includes the man’s perspective, I always ask him to read it.
There is no better person to get the male perspective from than him, in my opinion. Before I know it, I’m dialing his number. He answers on the second ring.
“Hey, baby girl.”