Page 65 of Levi

“He’ll definitely have the right contacts,” Rod agrees.

“Fast forward. One thing led to another, and we ended up at Dark Compulsion.”

“So you weren’t lost in space. You were flashbacking to last night,” he says with a shit-eating grin.

“Idiot,” I chuckle. “She had questions about my tattoos.”

He considers me for a beat. “I’m guessing you didn’t give her a generic answer.”

“I didn’t.”

“What’s different about her?” he asks point-blank.

“Everything,” I state.

His eyebrows shoot to his forehead and he rests his back against the seat. “That’s quite telling, Levi.”

“From the moment I saw her sashaying towards us, there was this crazy, intense connection,” I tell him. “I didn’t think twice last night. I wanted her again. I can count on one hand the number of club conquests I wanted to get to know more. Once we both come, I don’t climb into bed with a woman afterward for a round of Twenty Questions. I’m not an animal. It’s not like I’d kick a woman out right after coming inside her, but I don’t hang out afterwards—”

“Jesus, no,” Rod mutters. He contorts his face in a grimace. “After a courtesy cuddle, I’m out of there.”

“Exactly. I never have a conversation that doesn’t revolve around the sex or mundane things. And I certainly never delve into anything personal.”

“I hear you.”

“It was different with Jules,” I say. “She’s working her way into my head...”And into my heart.

“In what sense?” Rod asks.

“After I was done making her scream out my name God knows how many times, I just laid in bed with her in my arms. Time passed, and I was unrushed to leave.”

Rod’s brown eyes widen. “Whoa.”

“I don’t know who the fuck I am around her, man,” I admit. “Instinct, logic, and self-preservation want to push her away. Why the fuck would I go down that road again? But as much as I know I should back away, I want more of her.”

Rod’s expression is unreadable.

I keep talking.

“She was curious about my tattoo,” I continue. “I opened up. A part of me was compelled to do so because she understands what it’s like to lose a mother and the pain that ensues. I can’t remember the last time I talked about Mom or Annmarie to anyone that isn’t in my circle.” For so long, grief stole my breath and tore me apart. Most times, I felt like a drowning man fighting to remain afloat in the middle of a riptide. “After driving Jules to her house, I went back to mine and just sat in the dark for hours, reliving it all, whiskey as my only companion. Eventually, I dragged myself up to bed, but I couldn’t sleep a wink. I stared at the ceiling for a while until I gave up. I jumped into my workout clothes and headed to my home gym in the hopes of exorcising the ghosts. I guess at some point I must’ve sat on the floor because the next thing I knew, I woke up face flat against the floor.”

“Why didn’t you call your dad or your brother?” Rod asks. “Heck, why didn’t you call me?”

“It was late. Chances are, I was going to end up waking them up. The same applies to you.”

“Fair enough.”

“I’m torn.”

“About what?”

“Dark Compulsion makes it convenient to avoid intimacy––”

“Who the hell needs intimacy when you can have a good time, no strings attached?” he states. “The only drama I want in my life is the one attached to the plot of a music video.”

I chuckle.

Rod had a really rough beginning in life. He doesn’t trust very many people, and you’re lucky if he considers you a friend. As far as I know, the only woman he’s close to is his best friend, Dominika. All the other women come and go, but she’s his pillar.