“Yeah, go ahead.” Hailey grinned. She was in so much trouble.
“Bye, Michelle. Great meeting you.” I let Levi lead me to the front door.
“You guys staying?” Levi asked his friends.
“Yeah.” Jared was eyeing Tiffany.
“Okay, but remember the rules,” I warned him. Tiffany was too sweet of a girl to have to deal with Jared.
He glared at me. “Yes, how could I forget?”
Levi led us off the porch and away from the house.
“Nice kiss.”
“You know why I did it.” I looked up at the perfectly crescent moon.
“Do I?”
He traced a line down my arm.
“Of course. Michelle would have told your dad if she thought something was up. Why would it mean anything else?”
“A chaste kiss could have accomplished the same thing. That wasn’t chaste—your tongue was in my mouth, Al.”
“Are you complaining?”
“Hell no. I happen to like your tongue…and the rest of you.” His eyes let me know exactly what he was implying.
I stood staring at him for a moment. I wished he didn’t make my whole body heat up a couple of degrees every time I was alone with him. “So, was making me leave part of fooling Michelle, or was there any other reason?”
“Of course, there were other reasons. Unlike you, I’m not pretending to want to stay away.”
“Where’d you park?”
“I didn’t drive.”
“So you’re walking me back to my dorm?” It wasn’t too far, but I was regretting my decision to wear new shoes. My feet were killing me.
“Would you rather fly?” He smiled. “And be honest.”
I probably should have said no, but a major part of me wanted to say yes and that part won over. “You’ll fly me home?”
“You know I’d fly you anywhere.”
“Fine.”
He grinned, pulling off his shirt as he led us further into the shadows. He kissed my neck once before wrapping his arms around my waist and taking off from the sidewalk.
It had only been a few weeks since I’d last flown with Levi, but it felt like forever. The familiar exhilaration hit me as soon as we were airborne, and I wished my dorm was further away. Evidently, Levi did too.
“Where are we going?” I yelled. I knew he’d be able to hear me over the wind, but I wouldn’t hear his answer. When the city lights began fading from view, I had a pretty good idea. After a few minutes, he landed in the sand.
“What the hell, Levi? You were supposed to bring me home!”
“You didn’t want to go home, did you?” He pulled me close to him, kissing my ear, before moving his lips back to my neck. I involuntarily closed my eyes.
“Did you?” he whispered.
Without conscious thought, I answered. “No.”
“Good.” He moved his lips to mine, but surprised me by giving me only the lightest of kisses. He took my hand and led me for a walk down the beach. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“I’ve missed you too,” I admitted. I looked out at the black water, wishing the moon were full like the last time we’d gone to Grand Isle.
“I knew you did.” He grinned, pulling me down onto the sand with him.
“Nothing’s changed, Levi. I’m still mad.”
“Come on, things have changed. We spent last night together, and look at us now. Who do you think you’re fooling?”
“I’m not just going to go back to how things were before. I can’t.”
“As long as the end result is the two of us together, and you coming home with me tonight, I’m okay with that.”
“I’m not going home with you.”
“Putting that part aside, can you at least admit we’re together?” He leaned down over me, gently stroking my stomach under my tank top, in an all too familiar way.
“Only if we move things slow.”
“Move things slow?” His hand stilled.
“We can date. But it’s casual, and I am not sleeping with you.”
“You slept with me last night.”
I groaned. “Okay, I am not having sex with you.”
“But you’ll sleep in my bed?” His hand moved again, inching even further up my body.
“Not a chance.”
“So, we’re back to couches only? Good to know.”
“I’m being serious. The last time we had sex, I ended up your mate. I’m not doing that again anytime soon.”
“What, you think you’ll become even more than a mate, or that if you let me have you too many times you’ll be under my mind control?”
I froze.
“That’s a joke, Al. I swear, no mind control.”
“If my terms aren’t acceptable, I can go back to avoiding you.” We both knew I didn’t really mean it.
“You can’t avoid me, but I’ll accept the terms for now.”
“Good.”
“So can I kiss you, or is that breaking some other term you randomly made up?” He shifted, his face inches above mine.
I smiled despite the fact that he was making fun of me. “You can kiss me.”
I closed my eyes, waiting for his lips to meet mine again. He didn’t disappoint. I would never get enough of his lips—or any part of him. I’d missed being with him, the way he set me on fire with the simplest touch.
His hand moved up more, resting on my breast. I moaned, knowing how good it would feel if his hand slipped under my bra. He surprised me by not trying it. Evidently, he did listen. We kissed for a few minutes more before he rolled away from me slightly, resting on his back. He took my hand, and we just stared up at the sky for a while. Eventually, my back protested from lying on the ground, and I stood up.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go home with me?” Levi helped me brush sand off my skirt. His hands were wandering more than they needed to, and I knew before looking up just how heated a look he’d give me.
“Yes. I’m sure.”
“Fine, but I know you’re going to dream about me.”
“You wish.” I tried to shake the sand out of my hair.
“No. I know.” He kissed me again before taking off toward home.
He landed right near my dorm. “I’ll pick you up at nine o’clock tomorrow night.”
“I never agreed.”
“You will now. Hailey’s invited too. I think it’s time I showed you some more of my, uh, hangouts.”