“Oh God,” I groan and I feel my face flame red hot when I see the two of us flash up on the video board with kiss, kiss, kiss pulsing in enormous, white letters. I’m more than ready to get the hell out of here.

Attempting to pull away, Levi’s hand—the one that’s still curled around the back of my neck—clamps down. The firm hold he has on me is enough to get my attention and give me pause. I look up at him, my brows furrowed in question, but the laughter and glimmer of playfulness flashing in his crystal clear eyes answers for him.

“Levi—”

“You heard ‘em, princess,” he says, his voice taunting. “You wouldn’t want to disappoint our fans now, would you?”

My answer is a resounding hell yes. I could give a rat’s ass what a bunch of strangers want, but Levi is clearly having fun with this, and he isn’t about to let me get away without a struggle.

I don’t want to cause a scene, but this whole situation—my face blasted across a big screen, hundreds of people cheering us on—has my anxiety levels shooting through the roof. The last thing I want to do is indulge them.

With my hands firmly planted on Levi’s abs, I push him away, but he’s ready for that. Bracing himself, he stands his ground, not budging an inch. And then, without much effort at all, he yanks me in.

I resist for the barest second, until the moment I feel Levi’s lush mouth pressed against mine. Instantly, I’m lost. The world falls away as my muscles relax and I fall into him. My hands snake around to grip his shoulders and my head tilts to the right as his mouth opens over mine and his tongue slips past my lips.

He moans into my mouth—or maybe that was me. I taste a hint of cherries from his sports drink and I feel his hardness pressing insistently against my stomach. Lust consumes me until I can hardly remember my own name, let alone where we are.

Levi is the first to break the kiss, and when he looks down at me, he’s wearing a cocky smile and his eyes are dancing with humor.

“Damn.” That’s all he says. That’s all he needs to say.

Slowly, I become aware that the stadium is roaring with applause and catcalls and somewhere in the distance is the announcer’s excitement-filled voice, but I tune them all out.

Huskily, I say, “Let’s get out of here,” and with little more than a sharp nod, Levi takes my hand and practically drags me away.

24

I wake up in Levi’s hotel room, in his bed. His heavy, tattooed arm is draped across my hip, his large hand cradling my abdomen, and I can feel his slow, steady breaths on the back of my neck.

I smile to myself as last night comes back to me. After we fled the stadium, Levi pressed pause on our libido, sighting that it’d been hours since I’d been properly fed. Despite being hungry, I was ravenous for something much more than a burger. But he wouldn’t hear of it. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten so fast in my life.

Once we got back to his hotel room, there was no stopping us. We were naked and tangled together as soon as the door was closed.

Something about knowing he feels the same for me as I do for him has released the need to keep him at arm’s length, and from the little bit of talking we managed during our dinner last night, we’ve agreed that neither of us see the point in denying our relationship any longer.

Especially now that the cat’s out of the bag.

And our parents are divorcing.

Why deny our feelings? It seems pointless anyway, considering we have a child on the way. One way or another, news of our baby is going to get out. Levi reasons that we might as well deal with it together, and I agree, convincing myself that together, we can handle whatever comes our way.

Carefully, I lift Levi’s arm and extract myself. Tiptoeing into the bathroom, I empty my bladder, brush my teeth, and splash water on my face to wake up. When I see myself in the mirror, I pause. The woman looking back at me isn’t someone I recognize. Her skin is flushed, her kiss-bruised lips upturned into a faint smile, and her eyes are filled with happiness.

This is Levi’s doing. It used to be that when I thought of him, there was no stopping the scowl, no silencing the snarling voice inside my head that wanted nothing more than to burn his memory to the ground and bury it beneath pounds of dirt. All of it was built on nothing more than lies, though. Baseless, teenage lies founded by a hateful man who isn’t happy unless he controls everything and everyone.

Now, though, those dark memories have been replaced by a hopeful jubilance that makes my heart soar. I can’t contain my smile as I think of all the time we’ve spent together just having fun and enjoying each other’s company. I’ve lived more in the few short weeks I spent with Levi than I have in my entire life. He’s forced me to experience the world, afraid or not. He’s shown me that he’s more than the carefree, reckless playboy the world knows him to be. In fact, he’s proven that he can also be a strong and supportive man just as easily as he can be a playful, full of life boy who knows how to make me smile. Without the dark memories tainting my impression of him, I’ve come to realize that Levi is much more complex than I gave him credit for.

When I leave the bathroom, Levi is laying on his back with his arms folded behind his head, watching me. My heart stutters as his baby blues follow me across the room, and I don’t think I’m imagining the growing heat lurking in their pale depths.

“Did I wake you?” I ask as I climb back into bed and curl up on my side facing him.

Turning so he faces me too, Levi tucks his arm under his pillow and lifts his free hand to brush my hair back over my shoulder. His gaze follows his hand as his fingers trace the curve of my shoulder and down my arm, causing a shiver to track through me.

“Nah, I’ve been awake since the sun came up.” My eyes widen and he chuckles. “It was cute watching you try to sneak away though.”

I mock scowl at him. “Cute, huh?”

He nods, a wide smile creating creases around his eyes. “Fucking adorable. I especially enjoyed the view,” he drawls as he reaches around and grabs a handful of my ass.

“Oh yeah?” I challenge. “I thought I had a flat white girl ass.”

“It’s unfortunate, but you work with what you have.” He shrugs as he says this, as if it’s just a sad fact of life.

“You’re such a bastard!” Swatting his bare chest, I belt out a laugh that triggers one of his own, and the sound is so deep and smooth that I’m instantly ready for him.

Snatching my wrist, Levi pushes my arm over my head and twists his body over top of mine, forcing me onto my back. The playful smile is still there as he pins me beneath his solid frame and situates himself between my thighs.

“I thought I was a son of a bitch.” The glittering of mischief mixed with heat in his aquamarine eyes drains all the playfulness right out of me and instantly sends coils of heat through my veins.

“You can be both,” I say, breathless as I stare up at him.

Narrowing his eyes, Levi’s jaw clenches. It’s the slightest movement, but it informs me that he’s thinking hard about something. Whatever that is, he doesn’t say it. Instead, he lowers his head and plants the sweetest kiss on me that I’ve ever felt. It’s slow and soft, his lips moving over mine unhurried. When his tongue seeks entrance, I open to him easily. The muscles in my legs contract, drawing him closer, wordlessly demanding more.

I’m ready for so much more that when Levi pulls away, I release a groan of displeasure before peeling my eyes open.

“What—” The tenderness in his eyes stops my protest.

Releasing his hold on my wrists, Levi wordlessly moves down my body. His lips touch my chin, my jaw, the base of my neck as he places sweet kisses on my skin. He works his way lower, paying extra attention to my naked breasts, licking and sucking each nipple into his mouth, before moving lower once again.