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Chapter One

Scarlett - Seven Years Ago

I lay on the lounge, staring up at the sky. I’d always loved watching the clouds drift overhead as the sun beat down on me, and now was no different. I could hear the traffic of New York city in the distance, which I found oddly relaxing.

I inhaled deeply, trying to focus on the moment and not think about the fact that soon I’d be back at school for my last semester of college.

Nerves and anxiety would build, and all the fun of this past summer would be behind me, but for now, I needed to remind myself to just enjoy the present moment.

I spent most of my summer travelling with my parents and my brother Scott.

Probably the last family vacation we’d take, since Scottie was now engaged to be married to his high school sweetheart, Monica.

I’d soon be permanently living in New York, especially once I graduated from school in six months, as that was where all the jobs were.

Levi was my brother’s best friend. He was also the man I’d planned to spend the rest of my life with when I was only thirteen, and it still held true today—for me anyway.

Levi wouldn’t date me because he’d made some silly promise to my brother that he wouldn’t lay a finger on me until I graduated school.

He valued his friendship with my brother, but he’d also told him once graduation day came, I was fair game, and that there would be no more bro code shit.

Over the years we’d flirt, we’d kiss, and we’d dance around one another, even while we both dated other people.

Most of the time I focused my time trying to get his attention, but no matter what I did, the man wouldn’t crack.

That was okay though, because when it came down to it, we both knew we were the one for each other.

Levi had just signed a five-year contract with the New York Predators, and he’d just purchased a new condo in one of the newest high-rises in the Upper East Side this spring.

I could still remember the day he called to tell me and Scottie the news, he sounded like a little kid at Christmas, but once he got me on the phone alone, that’s when things changed.

His voice went from that giddy child’s voice to that deep, sexy voice I loved.

“Now we can proceed as planned. Once you’re done with school, we’ll find you a job close to the condo, and you can just move in.”

“Here you go, my sun goddess.” Levi said, interrupting my thoughts.

I looked over and shaded my eyes from the sun to see him standing there shirtless, holding out a glass of iced tea.

The moment I returned, I came out here so I could spend my last week of summer vacation with Levi as I had done every summer .

I smiled and sat up and took the glass from him while he straddled the lounger I was lying on and sat down behind me.

“Thank you.” I softly smiled and took a sip of the perfectly sweetened iced tea.

When I sat back, Levi wrapped his arms around my waist and placed a kiss on the side of my neck.

I closed my eyes and relished the warmth of his touch. I loved the way it felt to be in his arms and could only imagine how much better it would feel once things were out in the open and I was finally his.

I’d just placed my glass down on the table when he started kissing my neck. Only when his lips hit the spot just below my ear, I couldn’t help but laugh.

“God, I love how ticklish you are,” he whispered, his breath causing me to laugh more as he kissed that spot again.

I shifted on the seat and turned, moving to meet his lips, but he placed his forefinger on them, stopping me.

“You know we can’t do anything yet. I made a promise.”

I rolled my eyes. How I hated that stupid promise he’d made to my brother.

“You’re seriously going to wait?” I questioned, my voice cracking. “It’s six more months.”

“I am. I made a promise to your brother. What kind of friend would I be if I went back on my word?” He leaned back against the chair, looking at me with his gorgeous baby blues.

“This is so stupid. Levi, you’re a grown man, and I’m a grown woman. We are both capable of making our own decisions.”

“You don’t need to remind me,” he said, his eyes skimming down my bikini-clad body. “I’ll be just as happy to rip this off you when the time comes as you’ll be to have it ripped off.” He smiled, running his finger under the shoulder strap of my bathing suit.

He didn’t know just how happy I’d be to have that happen. I’d only been dreaming of it for what felt like forever, wondering what it would be like to feel the weight of him on top of me.

“It’s six more months, Levi. I don’t think that’s going to make a difference. Let’s just start seeing one another now. Scottie doesn’t need to know. We’re all the way out here. He’s all the way back home. Plus, Monica has him consumed with wedding plans.”

Levi met my eyes, a small smile on his lips, but then shook his head. “I’ll know.”

“You’re turning me down?” I questioned.

“Not turning you down. I’m keeping my word to someone who means a lot to me. Plus, it’s six months. We’ve waited this long. Another six months won’t kill us.”

“Easy for you to say.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” he asked, placing his finger under my chin and lifting my head so I could look at him.

“It means I’m dying here, Levi. I’m seriously dying. I want to be with you.”

“And you will be.”

I crossed my arms and let out a sigh. “Okay, well, what happens if I meet someone this year, and he sweeps me right off my feet? Then, because of that, we never have the chance to be together because I am head over heels in love with him.”

“Not going to happen.”

“How are you so sure? It could happen.”

“Scarlett, let’s be real. You only have eyes for me.

I know it, you know it. It’s not like you haven’t dated others.

If we weren’t meant to be, you’d have met someone by now and would have run away with him already.

A few more months will hurt nothing.” He winked, then placed a kiss on the top of my head and got up off the lounger.

“What do you want on your pizza? Same as always?”

I lay back and watched as he walked across the patio, picking up his phone. My eyes washed over his body and travelled back up in time to meet his eyes as he turned around. I softly smiled. “You know me too well,” I answered, taking another drink of my iced tea.

I closed my eyes just as the credits rolled. I lay on the couch, Levi lay behind me, a blanket thrown across our legs, while his arms wrapped around me. He smells so good, I thought to myself as I took a deep breath.

“What did you want to watch now, or did you want to hit the hay?” he asked.

I rubbed my eyes. I didn’t want to go to sleep because sleep meant that I’d have to move to the guest bedroom. Yep, he refused to even share a bed with me.

“Why don’t we watch something scary?” I questioned.

“Something scary? Don’t you remember the last time we watched something scary?”

I shook my head, knowing full well what had happened the last time.

It was the night of my sixteenth birthday, and I’d been so frightened in the middle of the night I’d gotten up, rushed across the hall to our spare bedroom where I knew Levi was sleeping.

I’d thrown open his bedroom door, fully prepared to crawl into bed with him like I’d done many times before, only to find him…

God the memory flooded my body with heat.

It had been the first time I’d ever seen a man naked.

My cheeks flooded with heat, and for the first time, I was thankful I wasn’t facing him.

“That was different. I was only in my teens. God, I’m a grown woman now.”

“I’ll never forget the way your eyes washed over my body that night…the color of your cheeks…the shock on your face…” he muttered.

“Well, it’s not every day a fifteen-year-old walks in on her older brother’s best friend to find him…indisposed.”

He let out a throaty chuckle, and then I felt him shift away from me for a moment, turning onto his back and pulling the covers off me a little.

“What are you doing?

“Covering myself,” he said, adjusting the blanket over himself.

“Well, I’m cold. Probably had too much sun today,” I said, reaching behind me and pulling the blanket back over my legs.

“Scarlett, stop fucking around,” he said as he pulled the blanket back on top of him. “You don’t want to know what I have under this blanket.”

I shifted myself so I was now facing him and propped myself up on my elbow, a playful grin coming to my lips.

“Maybe I do…” I said, twirling my hair around my finger.

He looked into my eyes, his face serious as the heat built between us like it had frequently before. It was always this way between us. He’d test me, I’d test him. It was the way we worked. It was the way we’d always worked, but in the end, his promise to my brother always won.

As our eyes remained locked, I felt his hand grab mine and before I could pull it away, he’d placed it on his hardened cock, holding it there, and closed his eyes.

Shock travelled up my arm, and I swallowed hard as my body heated while my hand cupped his shaft through the blanket, through his jeans, my memory flashing back to that night all those years ago.

I’d seen him. I’d barged into his room after that stupid scary movie they’d forced me to watch and seen his cock in his hand as he stroked himself while laying naked on the bed, covers off to the side.

It had only been a glimpse, and I jumped as he shouted and covered himself up, causing me to slam the door shut and leave his room. I’d never really realized how big he was until this moment.

My mouth was dry, and I could feel my heart beating in my ears as I watched him bite his lower lip, his eyes closed while his hand was still resting on top of mine, holding it hostage. I licked my lips, and without barely making any movement, I slowly leaned down and pressed my lips to his.