His movements draw my attention to his biceps as they work his hair off his shoulders. They flex when his arms widen, exposing a tattoo I can’t make out from this distance. My gaze travels down his body, and like a perv, I stare at the bulge in his lounge pants.Lord, he’s not even hard.
Lev clears his throat, snapping my focus back up to his face. I can feel the heat growing against my skin. Lev’s once timid smile is now cocky.
“Wy’s running late.” He begins walking toward me. “We should get started on the outline until he arrives,” he suggests, taking his seat.
Nodding in agreement, I start back in on my work, trying and failing to ignore his proximity. I squirm when his hand accidentally brushes mine as he pulls his books out.
Shaking off the feeling, I refocus on my research. That lasts about twenty minutes. I can feel Lev’s eyes boring into me. Tilting my head, I peer over at him and confirm he is indeed studying me, his brows furrowed in contemplation as he bites his lush bottom lip.Fuck.Why do they look so inviting?
“I-I need to get something off my chest.” His words pull my attention from his delectable mouth to his gold-flecked eyes.
“Go ahead. I’m listening,” I encourage, halting my typing.
He coughs, clearing his throat before he speaks. “I need to apologize.”
I sit back, ensuring I don’t cross my arms and making sure I don’t appear like I’m being defensive or dismissive because he does need to apologize. He and Wes both do, but I don’t want to be a bitch about it and refuse to hear them out. Especially if I end up having to marry these fools.
“That day. Actually, both of those days. I…” He pauses, trying to collect himself, then takes a deep breath and continues. “The night of the party, I was out of line. I shouldn’t have said what I did. I won’t give you any excuses, but I’d like to explain thewhy. It will also explain that day in the hallway.”
I clench my jaw at the memory. One minute I was grabbing his shoulder, and the next, he had me by the throat. I dick-punched him for that bullshit.
“That night. After we made our Selections, I was so suspicious of you. Everything I dug up led to nothing, but our dads wanted you as part of the process. It made no sense to me, and because of that, you were a great unknown, and I needed to be the level-headed one. Wyatt and Owen are gone for you, and Wes is pigheaded, which leads him to be impulsive. I needed to protect my family,” he explains.
I can understand his apprehension. New girl moves to some exclusive town and becomes part of some exclusive bullshit practice. I’d have questions too. However, it still didn’t give him the right to be a fucking tool. I want to say that, instead, I wait for him to continue.
“When we were ten, Owen and I were kidnapped. Well, Owen was successfully kidnapped, but I was able to get away.”
My body freezes to the spot. I don’t even blink as I work to process his words.
“The same organization that took you, they took us too,” Lev continues, and my gut twists.
Fucking Elise!Guilt at my mother being the reason they were taken gnaws at me. I bite the inside of my cheek, drawing blood in an attempt to stay my knee-jerk visceral reaction. I want to jump from this chair and throw something. No, I want to find the bitch who birthed me and kill her. Instead, I count and focus on Lev as he details what happened.
“I can’t tell you all the details. Ever since the day I was snatched, I don’t react well to people sneaking up on me or grabbing me from behind. It triggers something, and I’m catapulted back to that day.” His usually smooth voice sounds choppy.
Lev lifts his shirt, exposing another tattoo.It looks like it connects to the body of armor I saw on his arm, but that’s not what captures my attention. As I look closer, like Owen, he’s covering scarring. My hand raises to touch him, but I stop myself. He reaches out, taking hold of my hand and gently bringing it to the raised flesh.I want to cry for him. I want to rage for them both.I feel the tears before I know I’m crying. My heart breaks even more for what they both had to endure. The unspeakable things Owen went through and the undeniable guilt Lev carries around for what happened to his best friend.
“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry,” I croak.
Lev raises his other hand to my face, brushing away the free-flowing stream of tears leaking from my eyes. “Shh, it wasn’t your fault,” he whispers, cupping my cheek, and I lean into his palm, soaking in the heat of his comfort.
Isn’t it, though? Isn’t all of this my fault? I’m a Bradford. The one my evil mother has been working to place at the helm so she can take over.
“Stop,” he grabs my chin, letting go of the hand touching his side, and lifts my gaze to his, “I can see it on your face that you’re blaming yourself. You didn’t do this.Elisedid it.”
I try to accept his comfort, but then I replay his words,‘someone grabbed me from behind.’My mind reels. I did that. The day in the hallway, when he turned away. I gripped his shoulder and pulled.
“The day in the hall. You-you were having a flashback, weren’t you? And I triggered it, didn’t I?” I mumble between breaths. I can feel my body trying to lock me out as I feel the anxiety building in my chest and my airways constricting.
My heart is ricocheting out of my body as lips press against mine, pulling me from my mounting panic. I gasp, permitting his tongue to find mine. My hands begin to glide up his stomach, and he stiffens, causing me to halt my perusal. I start to pull away, but his hand grips the back of my neck, pressing his mouth more firmly to mine.
“Please,” he begs between kisses, urging me to touch him.
Encouraged by his plea, I slide my palm to his chest, holding my hand against his warm skin, feeling the skittering of his heart beating. He groans, a noise between a moan and a cry. I can feel the tears building before they fall, the saltiness mixing between our joint lips. Neither one of us is deterred. Instead, our hunger for one another becomes more ravenous. My hands move to his hair, yanking it from its bun and tugging him deeper as our tongues delve into each other’s mouths, exploring, searching… yearning for more.
“Well, this isn’t what I had in mind when you said ‘preparing for our presentation on women’s suffrage’,” Wyatt’s voice shocks us apart.
Both our heavy breaths are audible when I turn to see the shit-eating grin on Wyatt’s face.
