“I need a place to stay. Can I crash with you?”
Again with the staring.
“You’re in trouble, aren’t you?”
I shrug. “It’s only for a few days.”
He closes the door. “What did you do?”
“Nothing. It’s just not safe right now to go back to my own dorm. That’s it.”
“You’ve literally never asked me for favors.”
“And the reason is because you ask too many questions.” I fold my arms. “Can’t you just say yes for once without making a fuss?”
I need him to be here for me right now, but he always wants me to give more than I’m willing to give. But he’s all I got rightnow. I don’t dare to sleep at the Tartarus House with Xavier and Orion, because that’s the first place the cops will go looking, after someone there watched them sneak out a goddamn body in their car. My parents are a no-go as well. They would not stop questioning me until I spilled the beans, and my other brothers … those simps wouldn’t be able to protect me from a fly, let alone Atreus Foley.
I need someone equally unhinged, and that is Levi to a T.
He sighs out loud and rubs his eyes. “Okay, fine. Whatever. I have an extra mattress in the closet.”
Smiling, I jump down onto his bed and rub the pillow. “Thanks for your sacrifice.”
He narrows his eyes. “I didn’t mean for me.”
“Oh, c’mon.” I roll onto my back. “You have such a soft bed, how am I supposed to lie on the floor? I’m a lady.”
“A serial killer lady, yeah, who’s trying to mooch off her brother because she doesn’t wanna face the consequences of her actions.”
“Oh, spare me the consequences story, Mr. ‘I stalked my childhood crush because we both couldn’t admit we liked each other.’” I make quotation marks with my fingers.
His jaw clenches. “If you don’t get your ass off my bed within a second, I will flip the entire thing over onto the floor.”
Grumbling, I climb off his bed. “Okay, fine.”
He pulls the extra mattress from his closet. “A thank you would suffice, you know.”
“Thank you, dearest brother, for your brotherly love,” I say in the most sarcastic tone I can muster.
“You’re welcome,” he replies. “But after you’re done with whatever the fuck it is you’re doing, you’re going to explain everything to me. In detail. Because I’m not dealing with your ass for nothing. Got it?”
“Such a protective little brother,” I say, throwing him a cheeky smile. “Love ya.”
A few dayslater
I knockon the dean’s office door and sigh out loud when he finally says, “Come in.”
I step inside. “You wanted to see me?”
“Yes. Sit down, please.”
I close the door and clear my throat before I sit down in the seat opposite his desk.
“How are you?” he asks.
“Do you care?”
His brow twitches. “Of course, I do. You’re my niece.”
