“Sounds like his life’s kind of a hot mess,” Lake said.
“That’s why he needs me,” Levi said. “I can protect him. He just doesn’t believe me.”
“Why would he? You’re a stranger and he tried to kill you?” Nico reminded.
Cree shook his head. “It’s better he stays away. But I don’t think he will.”
Levi frowned. “What the fuck? Why is that better?”
Cree turned his dark eyes to Levi. “Because it’s pretty obvious your boy is a spy.”
Levi’s anger was instantaneous. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
Nico hopped to his feet. His ADHD clearly had its claws in him today. “Yeah, how is he a spy?”
“Think about it,” Cree said. “Did you find him?”
Levi frowned. “No. He was outside my job when I got off last night. He said he needed his brother’s gun back.”
“So, he put himself in your way and then made an excuse for you to have to take him to your house. Which you did.”
“It isn’t like that,” Levi grumbled.
Cree wasn’t done. “Then you had sex and he split while you were sleeping?”
“There was no…sex,” Levi muttered.
“Not for lack of trying,” Seven said. “On Shiloh’s part, anyways.”
“On both our parts,” Levi insisted, even as Shiloh’s words replayed in his head.“You don’t have to be nice to me.”
“You did say he was really insistent on having sex with you even though he seemed conflicted. That is kind of sus, right?” Ever said.
Levi’s lips twitched at Ever’s use ofsus. It was so funny how quickly he’d adapted to pop culture and slang after spending most of his life in a literal closet. He was such a fast learner. But he was right. It was sus.
Fuck.
Levi didn’t want to believe it. “If he’s a spy, then why did he leave? Wouldn’t he have accepted my offer to stay so he could, like, get information?”
“If he had, would you be sitting here pining over him?” Cree asked, folding his arms over his chest. “Leaving just keeps you on his hook.”
“You’re making a lot of assumptions,” Lake said.
Nico winced. “Maybe Cree’s right.”
“Why would you say that?” Felix asked.
Nico looked at Levi then winced. “Don’t get mad but…I followed him.”
“You what?” Lake asked.
“I followed him,” he said loudly, like the problem was volume.
Arsen wandered up to the group, plopping his coverall-covered ass on the arm of the chair, pecking Ever twice on the lips.
“Ugh, can you two have some respect for the single people in the room,” Seven moaned.
“Followed him where?” Arsen asked.
