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“Is this okay?” he asks quietly, squeezing my hand.

I swallow hard and give him a nod. “Ye-yeah. It’s fine. If—if you’re okay with it.”

Lev squeezes my hand again and smiles.

The sweet tension of the moment is officially broken, however, when Ryan says “Awwww, look how cute you are!” in a sing-song voice, bumping his front into my back.

I stumble forward a little bit. “Shut up,” I seethe, blushing.

Lev laughs and lets go of my hand to greet Katie and Ryan, a huge smile crossing his lips. “Your costumes are freaking awesome. I love it. Hey, you guys are welcome to come sit over there in our circle if you want.”

“Hey, thanks, man,” Ryan replies, putting his arm around Katie’s waist. “We’re going to go find some of our friends first, though, if that’s okay.”

“Of course, yeah.” Lev turns to me. “Did you want to go with them instead?”

“No way!” I exclaim. “We are on a date!”

He smiles so wide that the skin around his eyes crinkles. I’m making this date as real as I can, and it’s worth it because Lev’s smile blinds me. God, that dimple.

Ryan and Katie wave goodbye, and Lev takes my hand again and leads me over to the Wolf Pack. Everyone stands up and shakes my hand, each one of them dropping their eyes to where Lev and I are holding hands.

Chris smirks and gently taps his wife, and Nolan looks at our hands and then at Lev saying, “Nothing, huh?” It’s said in jest, and Lev just shoots him a glare. Caleb pats my shoulder and tells me he’s happy for me. And then there’s Garrett, who barely gets up to say anything. He just tips his beer to me. I nod back.

“Do you want to go get some food?” Lev asks.

I’m really freaking hungry, so I agree, and he guides us toward the grills. I hear the guys in the circle whistling and howling as we walk away. Lev shakes his head and squeezes my hand. Then, he lets me go so we can make up our plates.

God, this whole thing is surreal. It’s a date. A date with an amazing guy who happens to have been my brother’s best friend.

I look around at all of the families and kids, all the people I went to high school with, and memories rush back. I’ve been coming to the bonfire ever since I was a kid, and even after Nate died, I still came every year. It was always important, maybe because Nate loved it so much.

Yet, for some reason, this year, it’s hitting differently. Not bad by any means. Just . . . different. And maybe that’s because I have Lev here.

I’m brought back to reality again when Lev softly asks, “Are you okay?”

I shake my head to clear my thoughts and then smile at him. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.” I build my plate with a burger and some sides and then grab a drink, greeting and nodding at people as I work my way down the line.

While I’m getting my food, the familiar—and dreaded—thing happens. Some of the people around us give me a friendly greeting, smiling and telling me they’re glad to see me. Other people hide behind their sad faces, giving me an almost pathetic look and pointedly avoiding saying anything to me. One of the older ladies takes my forearm above my leather cuff bracelet and looks me in the eye. “How are you doing, sweetheart?” she asks.

I smile and tell her I’m good. I try not to sound annoyed.

She smiles warmly and walks away. It’s the same everywhere I go.

I take a deep breath and look up to see that Ryan and Katie found a group of friends from high school. I give them a nod. Jenna’s there with them, and she waves at me. I smile back at her. Ryan winks and blows me a kiss. He’s such an ass.

Once both of our plates are full, Lev leads me back to the Wolf Pack. When we get there, there’s only enough seating for all of them and one of us, so Lev sits and pats his thigh.

“I can’t sit on your lap,” I say, shaking my head.

“Why not?” he asks.

I don’t have a strong argument. People have all seen us holding hands, so why not? I take a deep breath and sit down on his thigh, and Lev almost immediately leans into me and whispers quietly into my ear.

“You look so fucking sexy tonight, lycan. The leather and the bracelet and this.” His eyes move down to the harness on my thigh. The leather straps wrap around my upper thigh and are connected with silver rings. Lev grabs one of the leather straps and tugs lightly. “Is that for me?” he asks playfully.

I smirk at him. “Nope. It’s for me.” I wiggle my eyebrows, and he lets out a growly sigh that has me melting.

We eat and join in the conversation with his friends, and eventually, it’s flowing so smoothly that I don’t even realize I’ve put my plate down and Lev’s hand is on the side of my thigh, his thumb hooked through the ring on the harness. It feels so good that it makes me shiver. I do catch Chris and Nolan looking, but they just glance away when they see me notice and then keep talking.