Confirming my suspicions, Levee said, “How long have you and Sam been together, Lexi?”

“Levee, give me the phone.” I pushed up to my feet, but she ducked under my arm and headed to my kitchen.

Oh, this is going to be bad.

Lexi was in-fucking-sane, especially if she thought I was seeing someone new. I couldn’t even imagine the amount of bullshit she was firing at Levee.

“What a prick!” Levee yelled from the other room as I hurriedly tugged a pair of boxers on and following her.

Shit shit shit.

“He told me he loved me,” Levee whined as I cautiously made my way towards her.

Fuck my life.

The moment I rounded the corner, I found Levee in my discarded T-shirt that hadn’t even made it to the bedroom when we’d gotten home. She was bent over, searching the refrigerator with the phone stuck to her ear. Placing her hand over the speaker, she whispered, “Do you have any beer?”

My mouth fell open as she casually went back to talking to Lexi, whimpering, “I can’t believe he would do this to me.”

“Ummm…bottom drawer,” I mumbled, dumbstruck.

She tossed me a wink and pulled out two before passing me one. She clinked the neck of her beer against mine and then tipped it to her lips. I watched in a weird combination of astonishment and confusion.

Shit. Maybe Levee is insane too.

Placing my bottle on the counter, I closed the distance and attempted to take the phone from her hand. Levee laughed, backing away.

“Stop,” she mouthed.

“She’s not my girlfriend. I swear—” I explained, but she silenced me with a finger over my lips.

Pulling the phone from her ear, she pressed the speaker button and dropped it on the counter. Lexi was talking a million miles a minutes and using present tense in reference to our relationship.

I opened my mouth to object when Levee covered it with her palm and wrapped her other arm around my waist, sliding it down into the back of my boxers. Raking her teeth over my earlobe, she whispered, “Is she the one your mom called a bitch?”

A relieved breath rushed from my lungs. Levee was, in fact, insane, but at that moment, it was working in my favor. I nodded, and she leaned away long enough to taunt, “Wait, Lexi, was this before or after he got my name tattooed…” She trailed off while inspecting the ink on my torso. Finding an empty space, she finished with, “On his left side.”

“What?” Lexi screamed.

I attempted to stifle a laugh, only barely keeping it packed down because Levee began dragging openmouthed kisses over my neck.

She paused to say, “Yeah, it’s huge. You definitely would’ve noticed it. I can send you a picture later if you’d like?”

My eyebrows popped up in question before she whispered into my ear, “You can Photoshop that, right?”

I shook my head. Then I shrugged and nodded.

I wouldn’t…but I totally could.

After lifting her to sit on the edge of the counter, I nabbed the phone and handed it to Levee. Whispering, I said, “You are an evil, evil woman. I wasn’t sure I could fall in love with you more. But stop giving her more fuel to be a bitch and hang up.” I gently glided my thumb over her peaked nipple, causing her to gasp.

She smiled, placing a lingering kiss on my lips as she took the phone from my hand and blindly pressed the end button. Locking her legs around my hips, she stated, “You really traded up for me. You know that, right?”

I laughed. “Yeah, I know. Although I figured you’d be serving up my balls as sashimi right about now.”

She laughed. “Why? Because you have a crazy ex?” Wrapping her arms around my neck, she nuzzled her cheek against the scruff on my jaw.

“No, because most women would have bought into all of that shit she was spouting.”

She sighed and leaned away to catch my eye. “I trust you, Sam. And, as hard as it may be, you’re going to have to trust me too.”

I twisted my lips in annoyance. “It’s not hard to trust you.”

“It will be when a magazine publishes pictures of me hugging some guy with the headline that he’s my new boyfriend. You would be amazed at the shit they find to publish about me. Every picture snapped, no matter how innocent, is fair game for them to manipulate.”

“Yeah, I heard you were pregnant with Henry’s love child last month. I’ve been waiting for you to tell me,” I teased, rubbing her stomach.

She slapped my hand away. “One baggy shirt and suddenly I’m knocked up by my best friend.” She groaned and then whined, “It was my favorite shirt, too.”

I chuckled, tucking a curl behind her ear. “I trust you, Levee.”

“That’s easy to say now—”

I cut her off by teetering her on the edge of the counter. “It’s easy to say, period. Give me a little credit here.”

Her shoulders fell as she dropped her forehead head against my chest. “I know. It’s just that I’ve never dated someone who wasn’t in the public eye before. I don’t want to lose you over a tabloid headline you pick up at the grocery store.”

“No, I’m not famous, but I’m not stupid either. Let’s make a deal. You deal with my crazy ex for me, and I’ll deal with the entire fucking world for you.”

Her head popped up with a smile. “Wow! That makes me seem really high maintenance.”

I exaggerated a sigh. “You really are. But I promise you, if the world ever becomes too much and I get jealous over pictures of you dry-humping small-cocked Thomas Reigns”—she laughed, slapping my chest—“I promise I’ll talk to you first, okay?”

Her whole body melted into my arms. “I love you, even when TMZ says otherwise.”

I kissed her neck and teased back, “I love you too, Lexi…I mean, Levee.”

She barked a loud laugh. “Hilarious.”

“I thought so.”

“So, why’d you two lovebirds break up anyway? She seems like such a delightful young lady.” Her voice was thick with sarcasm.

Shrugging, I replied, “She was sleeping with her personal trainer. Showed up two hours late to Anne’s funeral because of it.”

Levee’s eyes flared wide, and her mouth gaped for only a second before she shrieked, “That bitch!”

“She’s nice enough, just—”

“Nice enough?” she asked, incredulously. “I’m gonna put a hit out on her!”

“Okay, hold on there, Tony Soprano. No one’s putting a hit on anyone.” I paused. “Just to be clear, you don’t have those kind of connections, right?”

“No, but I have money! I’m sure I can buy some connections,” she answered in all seriousness.

I fucking love her.

Dipping down, I folded her over my shoulder.

“What kind of person does that? Your sister had just died!” She continued to rant as I carried her back to the bedroom.

“Let it go,” I said, tossing her on the bed.

“I can’t let that go!” she replied, lifting her arms so I could tear the shirt over her head.

“Okay, then don’t. But can you open your legs so I can eat your pussy while you mentally defend my honor?” I smirked, crawling up the bed after her.

“Such a bitch,” she mumbled, dropping her legs open wide.

They were the last audible words I heard from her before my mouth sealed over her clit. A long, garbled moan escaped her throat as her hand snaked into my hair. I’d fucked her twice already, but my cock instantly became hard beneath me.

She writhed against me as I dipped a finger inside her, curling it before twisting the way I’d learned set her ablaze. This time was no different. Circling her hips off the bed, she fisted the back of my hair.

“Roll over,” she ordered.

Levee was like that. As much as I loved licking her pussy, she loved my cock. She was never able to wait long before pleading for it. And, more often than not, I was more than willing to give it to her.

But not this time.

After prying her hand from my hair, I pinned it to the bed at her side. I alternated between sucking and nipping at her clit and thrusting my tongue in and out of her wet opening. Her other hand found my hair as she continued to beg me to roll over. My only response was to pin her other hand to the bed as well.