4
Levi
* * *
Grabbing my keys, wallet, and phone, I take a deep breath before opening my apartment door and stepping out into the hallway. As I slip the key into the deadbolt, the door across the hall opens and I cringe.
Shit. It’s like she was waiting for me.
“Good morning, Levi,” she purrs, drawing out my name.
Locking my door, I turn to face her. “How’s it going?” I smirk.
She tilts her head and purses her lip. “It’d be better if you’d stop avoiding me.”
I let out a light laugh. “I’m not avoiding you,” I lie. “I’ve just been busy with work.”
Her gaze drops to my chest, staring at the logo for High Caliber Security. “What exactly do you do?”
Until Jay is ready to go back to work, I’m basically her bitch. Mostly, I run errands and work out, though occasionally I’ll catch a few episodes of Vampire Diaries with Jay when she isn’t surfing YouTube for “raw talent.”
I tap my chest with my index finger. “I work in security,” I say with a hint of sarcasm.
She snorts. “Obviously. Do you work security on the island?”
“Something like that.” I grin.
“Well, if you’re not busy later, maybe we could get together,” she suggests, and there she goes biting that bottom lip again.
I school my expression to hide my annoyance.
“Uh….” I run my hand over the scruff of my jaw. “I’m kind of dating someone,” I lie again. Kind of.
I planned on asking Hazel to be my date to the masquerade ball when I stopped by the café this morning, but I have to take Jay to her doctor appointment. I’m hoping to get by there this afternoon though. I need my fix—in more ways than one.
“Seriously?” She scowls. “We hooked up like four days ago. Now all of a sudden you have a girlfriend?”
“She’s not my girlfriend.” Not yet. But if I want to her to be, then I can’t keep hooking up with my neighbor.
Jealousy and something that looks a lot like rage flickers in Christy’s eyes, but she blinks and it’s gone.
She pastes on a smile and gives a careless shrug. “Your loss.” She locks her door and walks off. “See ya, neighbor,” she calls over her shoulder before pushing through the doors and jogging down the steps.
Part of my job is being able to read people and situations, and my gut tells me there’s definitely something off about that woman. Something I can’t quite put my finger on. I make a mental note to have my uncle Jason check her out.
“What’s your problem?” Jay asks as she slips into the back seat and Zach slides in beside her.
“Nothing,” I clip. “I haven’t had my caffeine fix yet today.”
“Meaning you didn’t get your Hazel fix this morning,” she jokes, and Troy chuckles as he climbs into the passenger seat.
Shaking my head, I put the SUV in Drive and head to the Heritage Bay Medical Center.
“Can I ask you something?” I say after a few minutes of silence.
Troy looks over at me. “Who, me?”
“No.” My gaze flicks to the rearview mirror to see Jay’s eyes narrowed on me.
“Are you talking to me?” she asks.
“Yes.”
Her brows pinch in confusion. “What?”
“Why do women always bite their lip when they flirt?”
“It’s sexy,” Zach interjects.
My gaze flicks to Zach in the mirror to see him smiling at Jay.
“I don’t do that,” she tells him.
“You bite your lip when you’re deep in thought or when you’re writing.”
“You think it’s sexy?” she croons.
“I think everything you do is sexy.” He pauses a moment. “Well, not everything,” he drawls. “Like when you—”
“Shut up, Z,” she snaps. “I’m pregnant. For the next five months, my body belongs to these babies. So you can either deal with it or sleep in the guestroom.”
Well, damn. Someone is hormonal.
I stifle a laugh.
“Come here, babe,” Zach says through a laugh. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”
I look over at Troy to see his head is turned toward the window and his shoulders are bouncing with laughter. I just shake my head. These two drive me crazy most of the time, but every day is a new adventure.
“It’s fine, Z.” She brushes him off. “I wanna know who’s flirting with Levi, because Hazel doesn’t strike me as a lip-biting flirt.”
“No one. It was just a general question.”
She purses her lip and rolls her eyes at me in the rearview mirror. “Mmhmm. I call bullshit, but since we’re here, I’ll just have to nag it out of you later.”
I just grin and shake my head. I’m sure you will.
5
Levi
* * *
“We missed you this morning,” Hazel greets as I approach the counter and push my shades up.
Clearing my throat, I flick my gaze to another new barista behind the counter. This one is familiar.
“Hey, Levi,” Jeffrey drawls, giving me a little flirty finger wave.
This fuckin’ guy.
Jeffrey was the manager of the Starbucks where Jay and her friends used to hang out before Hazel opened her café.
“How’s my girl Jayla doin’?” he asks. “I haven’t seen her around lately.”
“She’s been busy,” I tell him.
He purses his lips and crosses his arms over his chest. “Mmmhmm. I’ll bet she is. Busy setting her bedsheets on fire with that fine-ass man of hers.” I just shake my head, and Hazel coughs out a laugh. “Tell her to bring her skinny butt by here and see me,” Jeffrey adds.
I cross my arms, mimicking his pose. “I’ll think about it.”
He pretends to swat at me before turning around to busy himself wiping down the counter.
I turn my attention to Hazel. “Do you have a minute?”
Her gaze flicks between Jeffrey and me. “Uh… yeah, sure.” She looks over at Jeffrey. “We’ll be right back.” She jerks her head toward the hallway leading to the back. “We can talk in my office.”
She leads the way through the kitchen and into a small office. “Have a seat.” She gestures to one of two chairs in front of her desk as she closes the door, then hops up on her desk, her hands gripping the edge and feet crossed at the ankles.
Instead of taking a seat, I lean with my back against the door and cross my arms over my chest. I know she likes me, so I don’t know why I’m suddenly nervous to ask her out.
Clearing my throat, I say, “I know this is late notice, but there’s this charity ball next Friday night, and I was wondering if you’d be interested in going as my date.”
Her eyebrows skyrocket up to her forehead. “You’re asking me out?”
I smirk. “Yeah.”
Her eyes twinkle with excitement. “Really?”