Focus (The Crescent Chronicles, #2) (6 page)

Hailey and I walked further inside but
before we could get too far, a tall guy stopped us. He blatantly
checked me out before his eyes settled on my face and he grinned.
He reached for my hand. “Bryant Florence. I’m sure I haven’t had
the pleasure of meeting you before, because there is no way I’d
forget you.” He shook my hand, holding it for longer than socially
appropriate.

I stole a glance at Hailey. “Florence?
So you’re related to Jared?”

“
You know my brother?” He
watched me, like he was trying to reevaluate me.

“
Yeah, I know your
brother.”

“
It’s unfortunate you met
him first. I assure you he doesn’t represent the
family.”

I felt a surprising offense at the way
he talked about Jared, almost protective.

Hailey jumped in before I could say
anything. “Bryant, do you know who this is?”

“
No, I’m still waiting for
her to give me her name.”

“
Her name’s
Allie
. Allie
Davis.”

A look of shock crossed his face. “Oh
shit. I’m sorry, I had no idea—”

“
No harm done.” I took a
step back.

“
Tell that to Levi,” Hailey
mumbled.

She took my hand and led us away. “He’s
worse than Jared. He’s been in Paris for a few years. I have no
idea why he’s back.”

I looked over my shoulder, and he was
still watching me.

I saw Helen, Levi’s mom, and decided we
should head over. I glanced at Hailey and she nodded.

“
Hi, Helen.”

She turned, pausing in her
conversation. “Allie.” She immediately pulled me into a hug. “How
are you doing? How have your first few days been?”

“
Pretty good. I have an
awesome roommate.” I smiled at Hailey.

“
I bet. It’s wonderful you
girls are so close. I’m sure it’s made the transition easier. And
Hailey, we’re so glad you were able to make it tonight. Have you
talked to your parents today? I invited them as well.”

“
My parents? They’re
here?”

“
They should
be.”

“
Well that was really
generous.” Hailey was already looking around the room.

“
We really do appreciate
everything you and your brother have done to help the
family.”

Hailey beamed, her attention returning
to Helen. Sometimes I forgot how important The Society was to
Hailey, but it was obviously huge.

One of the women Helen had been talking
to moved to join us. She edged Hailey out of the way in the
process. “Hi, Allie. I didn’t get a chance to meet you at your
party. I’m Missy, and it’s an honor to meet you.”

An honor? This was all so weird. I just
smiled awkwardly. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

“
You know, I have a
daughter just a few years older than you. She’s at Tulane, too. Let
me give you her number so you girls can meet up and get coffee or
something.”

Annoyed at the way she treated Hailey,
I cut her off. “That sounds nice, but I’m just getting settled.
Hopefully, I’ll meet her sometime soon.”

I nervously looked toward Helen, hoping
I hadn’t just committed some huge social faux pas, but she smiled.
I really loved Levi’s mom.

We told Helen we’d talk more later, and
headed over to grab something to drink. “Thanks,” Hailey said as
soon as we were out of earshot.

I took a sip of my champagne. “That was
obnoxious.”

“
Yeah, her daughter’s
worse. There aren’t many girls our age, and she always treated me
like garbage.”

“
I definitely don’t need to
meet her then.”

“
You rock.” Hailey
smiled.

“
So do you.”

“
Hello ladies.” Jared
sauntered over.

I waved with my free hand. Any familiar
face was welcome that night. “Hey. I just met your
brother.”

“
Yeah? Did he talk your ear
off?”

“
No, he tried to pick Allie
up.” Hailey took a sip from her glass.

“
No way.” Jared laughed.
“Is she being serious?” He turned toward me.

“
Yeah. It was pretty
awkward.” I didn’t mention the way Bryant had talked about
him.

“
I’ll have to remember that
the next time he goes off on me. Dad would kill him for
that.”

“
In his defense, he didn’t
know.”

Jared reached over me to grab a glass
for himself. “He should have figured it out. He’s supposed to be so
incredible at security. He should at least know what our princess
looks like.”

“
Oh, there are my parents.”
I followed Hailey’s gaze across the room and saw an attractive,
middle aged couple. “Do you want to meet them?”

“
Sure, that would be
nice.”

I said goodbye to Jared and followed
Hailey over to them. “Hey guys, this is Allie.”

“
Allie, hello. It’s
wonderful to meet you finally.” Hailey’s mom smiled warmly and
shook my hand.

“
It’s nice to finally meet
you, too.”

Her dad shook my hand as well. “It
really is a pleasure.”

I didn’t miss the way they beamed at
Hailey and how happy she looked.

“
It’s just been so nice to
have Hailey around. It’s only been a few days, but she’s the best
roommate.”

“
We’re glad to hear that.
She hasn’t had to share a room before, but I’m sure she’ll be a
very thoughtful roommate.”

“
I’m not too worried. As
long as she keeps her mess to her side, we’re fine.”

“
Mess? Hailey—” The
mortification on her mother’s face had me jumping in
immediately.

“
I’m joking.”

“
Oh, good.” Her mom’s
shoulders relaxed. “Oh wait, we never introduced ourselves. I’m Jan
and this is Timothy.”

“
Great, it’s nice to have
names other than Hailey’s mom and dad.”

It could have gotten awkward, but Owen
joined us.

“
Hey.”

“
Hey.” I smiled. I hadn’t
seen Owen since French.

“
Levi was looking for you,
Allie.”

“
Oh? Where is he?” I
started scanning the room.

“
He was heading toward the
dining room when I saw him.”

“
I should find him. I’ll
catch up with you in a few, Hailey.”

I felt my phone vibrating but didn’t
want to check to see who it was in the middle of the room. I turned
down a corridor. It was a text from Jess checking in. I’d have to
call back. It had taken weeks for things to feel normal between us
again after she left New Orleans suddenly. Even though she told me
not to, I still blamed Jared for making her leave. Maybe it was for
the best in the end though. She was head over heels for Emmett, and
from what I knew, she was loving NYU.

I was about to look for Levi again when
I heard a few voices. “You better not screw anything up. I know
you’re Levi’s favorite pet but if you upset his girl, you’re going
to be in a world of trouble.” I peeked over and saw Jared and
Bryant talking to an older man who shared their black hair. I
assumed he was their father, Jett. Had he seriously called Jared
Levi’s pet?

“
You should talk? You—”
Jared started.

Jett Florence spoke and it gave me
chills. “You can’t rely on Levi’s friendship. He can change his
mind and pick someone else. Don’t mess this up, as usual, for the
family.”

I quietly slipped back out into the
room. I noticed Levi talking to a man and went right over. I put a
hand on his arm to get his attention.

Levi wrapped his arm around my waist.
“Hey, sweetie, I was just looking for you.”

“
Owen told me.”

“
Allie, I don’t believe
you’ve met Mark yet. He’s one of Dad’s advisors.”

“
It’s nice to meet
you.”

“
The pleasure is mine.” He
shook my hand.

“
You ready to find our
seats?” Levi asked.

“
Sure.”

He led us into the dining room we were
using.

Unsurprisingly, Levi was seated at the
head of one of the tables. He pulled out the chair directly next to
his, and I took a seat. Robert was already seated at the other end
with Helen at his side. I watched as others filed in, taking seats
around us.

I leaned over to whisper in Levi’s ear.
“We eat before the meeting?”

“
Yes. We used to do it the
other way around, but somehow it goes smoother when people are
already fed.”

I laughed. “I think that’s the case
with most things.”

“
Hello again, Allie.” I
turned away from Levi and saw Bryant sitting next to me.

“
Hi.”

I heard laughter and looked across from
me in time to catch Jared’s eye. Owen was seated next to him with
Hailey a few seats further down. I wished Hailey were sitting
closer to me, but I assumed it was a hierarchy thing.

“
Is something funny,
Jared?” Bryant said snidely.

I really didn’t like Bryant.

A waiter came over and poured me a
glass of red wine. I noticed no one was drinking it, so I waited
for the toast that had to be coming.

Robert stood up. “Welcome to the Autumn
meeting. It’s nice to see you all here tonight. We have a lot to
discuss, but first let us enjoy our meal.”

He sat down and immediately a bowl of
soup was placed in front of me. It smelled good, but I had no idea
what it was.

“
It’s turtle soup,” Levi
explained.

“
Turtle? Oh.” It smelled
good, but it was definitely a first for me.

“
It’s good, trust
me.”

I nodded. Levi definitely had good
taste when it came to food.

I took a small spoonful, and Levi was
right. It was fantastic.

“
Like it?” he
asked.

“
Yeah.” The soup was rich
and warm.

“
Good.”

I knew that proper dinner party
etiquette demanded I talk to Bryant, but I resisted until he spoke
to me again. “What do you think of college so far? Is it what you
expected?”

“
It’s been
interesting.”

“
A good
interesting?”

“
Mostly.” I savored the
final spoonful of the soup.

“
I heard you are living on
campus. I’m sure Levi doesn’t like that.” He moved, and his leg
brushed against mine. I scooted over in my seat just a
little.

Was he seriously talking about this
with Levi sitting next to me?

“
I’m sure a few more nights
of dorm life will have you moving in with him. It makes more sense
that way.”

He had to know that Levi could hear, so
he must have thought this would somehow make him look good in
Levi’s eyes.

“
I’m happy on campus. I
miss Levi, but it’s important to me. Luckily, Levi is really
understanding and doesn’t mind.” I turned toward Levi with a
smile.

“
I never said I didn’t
mind. But as long as you keep spending nights with me, I’m fine
with it until the wedding.”

I swallowed down the response I wanted
to give, and played along. “You know I’ll keep spending nights with
you. How could I resist?”

Levi put a hand on my leg. “I’m just
glad I get to take you home tonight.” His hand slid up my leg,
right below my thigh.

“
I can’t wait.” I looked
across the table and was met with Jared’s smirk.

I was saved from more embarrassing
conversation, or Levi’s hand doing anything else, when our steak
arrived. Thankfully, Levi needed both hands to cut it.

I glanced at Hailey. She looked at me
sympathetically.

I finished my first glass of wine but
declined a refill. With all of Levi’s talk, I couldn’t afford to
get drunk around him.

I thought I was too stuffed to eat
anything else until dessert came out. I jumped a little in surprise
when the waiter set it on fire.

Levi touched my hand to get my
attention. “Bananas foster.”

I turned back to the cart with the
dessert. “Nice presentation.”

It was delicious—bananas, caramel and
vanilla ice cream. I literally ate every bite.

“
I see you like things
sweet,” Bryant said, barely audible above the voices around us. I
looked over and he had a hungry look in his eyes, and it wasn’t for
more dessert. I turned toward Levi, but he hadn’t heard. Was he
seriously hitting on me again?

I could feel Bryant’s eyes still on me.
“I like dessert, yes. What girl doesn’t?”

I didn’t wait for his response before I
scooted closer to Levi. Levi felt me shift. “Is everything
okay?”

Either I was showing my emotions more
than I thought, or Levi really knew me. I hoped it was the first.
“Everything’s fine.”