“You love causing chaos, huh?” I jab Elijah with my elbow as we make our way downstairs to the bar.
“You may now call me shit disturber.” With one hand, he pats his chest like a caveman, and he places the other on my shoulder, guiding us through the thick crowd.
“I think I’ll stick with weirdo, doofus, idiot … donkey.”
“That’s rude, especially the last one,” he whines before we arrive at the bar, where he orders us a drink.
The bartender’s eyes linger at the sight of us before he hurries along and makes our drinks. Everyone stares at us in shock, and some brave souls even start recording us.
I hate being famous.
“Don’t turn now, but look who’s sitting at the bar,” Elijah whispers as the bartender hands us our drinks.
I feel extremely stupid because as soon as the wordsdon’t turnleave Elijah’s mouth, I can’t help but turn, earning a discreet protest from my brother.
I glance quickly to my left and find my favorite people in the world … Triple Threat. They’re sitting a couple of stools over from us, talking casually with one another as they sip their drinks. But as I look closely, I watch Levi. The only one out of the three who doesn’t look approachable. He looks dangerous. He sits there with his empty glass and stares into it. With tired-looking eyes, he waves the bartender toward him, ignoring all the phones pointed his way.
Since he walked into our studio, he’s the only one I’ve stalked several times on Instagram. There’s just something about him I can’t quite understand. He looks like he’s carrying the weight of the entire world.
My body freezes, and my heart quickens as he meets my eyes. I immediately snap out of my day dreaming.Shit.
His dark green eyes bore into mine, and his frown only worsens. Giving my body a once-over, he picks up his now-refilled drink to his lips. Gulping down a sip, he extends his middle finger in the air. All while not breaking his gaze from my own.
I drop my mouth in shock as I stare, dumbfounded, at my rude rival.
What in the world? The audacity this man has …
Elijah sees the entire thing and grunts low, “I would love to punch him in the face. He didn’t just do that.”
“I would be right behind you,” I mutter back to my frustrated brother.
He’s the peacemaker, always trying to make people smile. So, it’s weird, seeing him angry.
“I wanna say something—”
I interrupt him before he can go any further, “Don’t bother. He’s a jerk. He doesn’t deserve our energy, let alone our attention.”
“He can’t just be disrespectful to my sister—”
I cut him off once again, “Elijah, I love you. But we don’t want to cause a scene.” I nod to all the gawking people surrounding us.
Elijah sees the determined look on my face and sighs. “Fine, let’s head back upstairs before I do something stupid. Leonidas can’t know about this.”
Nodding, I follow him toward the stairs. Not peeking a glance toward the devil himself even though it takes everything in me not to give in to my curiosity.
CHAPTER6
LEVI
Athick layer of sweat forms on my forehead as I toss and turn for what feels like hours. My lips turn as dry as Axel’s humor, and my bedsheets feel like hundreds of pounds weighing me down. I try to fight back the chills that run throughout my body, but it’s getting too intense.
I throw off my sheets and stagger my way through the hallway. I know I shouldn’t want or need what my body craves, but everything tells me I do.
You didn’t drink tonight, Levi, for a reason. Fight what you crave. Fight it. Fight it.
I can’t depend on this anymore.
I would just become a duplicate of my mother. I wouldn’t be able to give Stella the life she deserves. And what if someone found out? Would she be taken away from me?
