Focus (The Crescent Chronicles, #2) (9 page)

We walked a few blocks down Broadway
with the guys, hoping the party would be at least half decent. We
stopped in front of a house with faded paint and a rickety front
porch. The only thing that marked it as a college student’s house
was the Tulane Green wave sticker on the front window.

I walked up the front steps, hoping
they’d manage to hold all of our weight. This was one of those
non-glamorous parts about college that people never tell you
about—worrying that the dilapidated apartment hosting a party would
fall apart with you in it.

There were only about twenty people
inside when we arrived, so Tiffany, Hailey and I took a seat on a
couch after grabbing some Abita beers. It didn’t take much time in
the city to realize it was a great local beer. Anne continued to
chat with Brandon. There was definitely something going on between
them.

A guy with shaggy, brown hair squeezed
in next to me, pushing me closer to Hailey in the
process.

“
Hey, I’m Nick.” He held
out his hand, shifting his beer to his other hand.

“
Hi, I’m Allie.” I accepted
the handshake. His hand was wet from what I hoped was condensation
from his beer.

“
Cool. I don’t think I’ve
seen you out before.”

“
Probably not. I’m a
freshman.”

“
Really? I wouldn’t have
thought so.”

“
Because I look
old?”
I tried to discretely wipe my hand
on my skirt.

“
No, not at all.” He looked
panicked. “I just mean you seem more mature.”

“
Oh. I’m going to take that
as a compliment.”

He smiled. “You should.”

There was something almost helplessly
nerdy about Nick. He tried to hide it behind a frat boy front, but
it was definitely there. I’d have felt bad for him if he wasn’t
blatantly violating my personal space. I scooted closer to Hailey,
but I couldn’t move far. The couch wasn’t built for
four.

“
Hello, Hailey,” a brunette
said snidely. She was tall. Her long legs exposed in a short, black
dress. A pair of three inch heels only added to the effect. No one
had to tell me she was a Pteron. The confidence she carried
screamed it.

“
Hi, Michelle.” Hailey
almost flinched when she said her name.

“
What are you doing here?”
Michelle didn’t even glance at me.

Hailey played with the clasp of her
purse, obviously flustered. “We were invited.”

“
I didn’t think these guys
had such bad taste.”

“
Excuse me, who are you?” I
asked. The girl was a brat.

She turned to study me, clearly not
impressed by what she saw. “Was I talking to you?”

Hailey laughed. “Do you know who this
is, Michelle?”

“
Should I?”

“
Allie, Allie Davis.”
Hailey grinned.

Michelle coughed, nearly choking on her
beer. “You’re Levi’s Allie?”

I wouldn’t normally want to admit to
it, but I figured this had to be the daughter of the woman I’d met
at Commander’s. “Yes.”

“
Oh, wow, I didn’t know.”
Her cheeks flushed.

I shrugged. “I don’t usually go by
Levi’s Allie. Just Allie is fine.”

She crossed her feet at her ankles in
what I assumed was a nervous motion. “Can I get you something? A
beer or anything?”

“
I’m fine.” I held up my
half full beer in evidence. “You can stop trying to kiss up to me.”
I was still mad about the way she treated Hailey.

Tiffany looked between Michelle,
Hailey, and I trying to figure it out. I was really glad it was
Tiffany with us and not Anne. She didn’t say anything.

Michelle’s eyes suddenly lit up. “Does
Levi know you’re here?”

“
He knows I’m out with my
friends.”

“
He lets you go to parties
without him?”

“
Wow, you need to dump your
boyfriend if he’s that controlling.” Nick leaned closer to
me.

Michelle broke into a smile. “He’s more
than her boyfriend.”

“
Okay… still you need to
ditch him.” Nick put a hand on my arm. I shrugged it
off.

“
It just surprises me he’d
be okay with it. I’d have thought Levi would be more protective.”
Michelle leaned in like she was challenging me. Maybe being rude to
her was a bad idea.

“
I think I know Levi better
than you do.” I stood up. I didn’t like having to look up at her.
If it weren’t for her higher heels, we would have been close to the
same height. “Besides, he doesn’t own me.”

Her eyes darkened, but then she calmed
down. “I guess you would know him better. It just seems odd that
you’d be here flirting with other guys. I can’t imagine Levi, or
his father, would like that.”

“
His father?” Tiffany
asked, talking for the first time.

“
Yes, his father really
wouldn’t like it.” I didn’t like the way Michelle was looking at
me. Warning bells went off. I couldn’t let Robert find out the
truth from Michelle. It was up to Levi to tell him.

“
I’ll be right back,” I
said to Hailey and Tiffany.

I walked out onto the front
porch and texted Levi. I glanced up at the cross streets.
I’m at a party on Broadway and Maple. We planned
to meet here. Come.

I reclaimed my seat on the couch,
knowing he’d be joining me soon.

Nick and Michelle were nowhere in
sight, but I assumed neither had gone very far. “Everything okay?”
Anne asked, abandoning Brandon.

“
Everything’s great.” I
smiled.

Hailey gave me a quizzical look before
continuing to rip the label off her beer. She looked
bored.

We sat for a while before I heard a
very familiar voice. “Hey, I’m just looking for
someone.”

I turned and stood up. I saw Michelle
out of the corner of my eye as I launched myself into Levi’s arms.
“Finally!” As his arms came around me in surprise, I kissed him. He
responded immediately, his arms tightening. I heard Jared and Owen
laughing in the background.

I pulled away in a slight daze—it was
supposed to be just for show, but it didn’t feel that
way.

“
Hey, love, it’s good to
see you too.” I could tell he was trying to figure out what was
going on.

“
I just met a friend of
yours.” I pointed to where Michelle stood with her arms crossed
over her chest.

Understanding flashed in Levi’s eyes as
he led us over to her. “Hi, Michelle. So you’ve met
Allie?”

Michelle moved her arms and stood up
straighter. “Yes, and I definitely get why you chose her. She’s
amazing.” She gave me the biggest, fakest smile.

The forced nature of it didn’t go
unnoticed by Levi. “Good. As nice as it is to see you, I’m going to
be taking Allie now. We’ve got some plans of our own.”

I groaned internally. I tried to help
and, of course, he had to take advantage of it. “Before we go, let
me make sure my friends don’t mind.”

“
We don’t mind at all,”
Anne said immediately. “Go have fun.” She winked at me.

“
If you want to go, we
understand.” Tiffany was trying to figure out what I wanted her to
say.

“
Yeah, go ahead.” Hailey
grinned. She was in so much trouble.

“
Bye, Michelle. Great
meeting you.” I let Levi lead me to the front door.

“
You guys staying?” Levi
asked his friends.

“
Yeah.” Jared was eyeing
Tiffany.

“
Okay, but remember the
rules,” I warned him. Tiffany was too sweet of a girl to have to
deal with Jared.

He glared at me. “Yes, how could I
forget?”

Levi led us off the porch and away from
the house.

“
Nice kiss.”

“
You know why I did it.” I
looked up at the perfectly crescent moon.

“
Do I?”

He traced a line down my
arm.

“
Of course. Michelle would
have told your dad if she thought something was up. Why would it
mean anything else?”

“
A chaste kiss could have
accomplished the same thing. That wasn’t chaste—your tongue was in
my mouth, Al.”

“
Are you
complaining?”

“
Hell no. I happen to like
your tongue…and the rest of you.” His eyes let me know exactly what
he was implying.

I stood staring at him for a moment. I
wished he didn’t make my whole body heat up a couple of degrees
every time I was alone with him. “So, was making me leave part of
fooling Michelle, or was there any other reason?”

“
Of course, there were
other reasons. Unlike you, I’m not pretending to want to stay
away.”

“
Where’d you
park?”

“
I didn’t
drive.”

“
So you’re walking me back
to my dorm?” It wasn’t too far, but I was regretting my decision to
wear new shoes. My feet were killing me.

“
Would you rather fly?” He
smiled. “And be honest.”

I probably should have said no, but a
major part of me wanted to say yes and that part won over. “You’ll
fly me home?”

“
You know I’d fly you
anywhere.”

“
Fine.”

He grinned, pulling off his shirt as he
led us further into the shadows. He kissed my neck once before
wrapping his arms around my waist and taking off from the
sidewalk.

It had only been a few weeks since I’d
last flown with Levi, but it felt like forever. The familiar
exhilaration hit me as soon as we were airborne, and I wished my
dorm was further away. Evidently, Levi did too.

“
Where are we going?” I
yelled. I knew he’d be able to hear me over the wind, but I
wouldn’t hear his answer. When the city lights began fading from
view, I had a pretty good idea. After a few minutes, he landed in
the sand.

“
What the hell, Levi? You
were supposed to bring me home!”

“
You didn’t want to go
home, did you?” He pulled me close to him, kissing my ear, before
moving his lips back to my neck. I involuntarily closed my
eyes.

“
Did you?” he
whispered.

Without conscious thought, I answered.
“No.”

“
Good.” He moved his lips
to mine, but surprised me by giving me only the lightest of kisses.
He took my hand and led me for a walk down the beach. “I’ve missed
you so much.”

“
I’ve missed you too,” I
admitted. I looked out at the black water, wishing the moon were
full like the last time we’d gone to Grand Isle.

“
I knew you did.” He
grinned, pulling me down onto the sand with him.

“
Nothing’s changed, Levi.
I’m still mad.”

“
Come on, things have
changed. We spent last night together, and look at us now. Who do
you think you’re fooling?”

“
I’m not just going to go
back to how things were before. I can’t.”

“
As long as the end result
is the two of us together, and you coming home with me tonight, I’m
okay with that.”

“
I’m not going home with
you.”

“
Putting that part aside,
can you at least admit we’re together?” He leaned down over me,
gently stroking my stomach under my tank top, in an all too
familiar way.

“
Only if we move things
slow.”

“
Move things slow?” His
hand stilled.

“
We can date. But it’s
casual, and I am not sleeping with you.”

“
You slept with me last
night.”

I groaned. “Okay, I am not having sex
with you.”

“
But you’ll sleep in my
bed?” His hand moved again, inching even further up my
body.

“
Not a chance.”

“
So, we’re back to couches
only? Good to know.”

“
I’m being serious. The
last time we had sex, I ended up your mate. I’m not doing that
again anytime soon.”

“
What, you think you’ll
become even more than a mate, or that if you let me have you too
many times you’ll be under my mind control?”

I froze.

“
That’s a joke, Al. I
swear, no mind control.”

“
If my terms aren’t
acceptable, I can go back to avoiding you.” We both knew I didn’t
really mean it.

“
You can’t avoid me, but
I’ll accept the terms for now.”

“
Good.”

“
So can I kiss you, or is
that breaking some other term you randomly made up?” He shifted,
his face inches above mine.

I smiled despite the fact that he was
making fun of me. “You can kiss me.”

I closed my eyes, waiting for his lips
to meet mine again. He didn’t disappoint. I would never get enough
of his lips—or any part of him. I’d missed being with him, the way
he set me on fire with the simplest touch.

His hand moved up more, resting on my
breast. I moaned, knowing how good it would feel if his hand
slipped under my bra. He surprised me by not trying it. Evidently,
he did listen. We kissed for a few minutes more before he rolled
away from me slightly, resting on his back. He took my hand, and we
just stared up at the sky for a while. Eventually, my back
protested from lying on the ground, and I stood up.