Page 12

Skimming the last chapter of my assigned reading, I'm glad I chose the courtyard over the library as I originally planned. The warmth on my back feels good, and I’m soaking up every bit of the sun before the cooler weather sets in.

When a shadow falls over the textbook in my lap, I glance up to see a familiar face smiling down at me.

“Finn, hey.” I smile a little too brightly, hoping it covers some of the awkwardness I feel at seeing him.

“Hey, yourself. How have you been?”

“Pretty good, thanks. You?”

“Not too bad.” He grins and shrugs. “Busy with classes and stuff.”

“Yeah, they aren’t being lenient with us just because it’s the first week back,” I say, hoping that if we stick to neutral topics, he won’t mention that I never texted him.

That hope is short-lived when the next words out of his mouth are, “So, I never got a text from you.”

I resist squirming under his gaze, hoping he doesn’t notice the flush creeping up my face. “Well, there hasn’t exactly been anything to catch up on in Professor Brinks’ class.”

“You’re right, it’s still early days.” He chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck. “Listen, if you want, I can put my number in your phone, you know, in case anything comes up or you lose the paper I gave you.”

“Okay,” I find myself saying, despite my reluctance.

And sure, I could tell him I’m not looking for anything, but the words won’t leave my mouth because I feel bad that I’m not interested in him like that.

Levi is the only person I’ve been able to stand up to without hesitation. And seeing how I haven’t seen him since that night at Static, those muscles haven’t been flexed in a few days—two days, to be exact.

So here I am, handing my phone over regardless of my feelings.

Once Finn hands my phone back, I notice he sent himself a bear emoji text. When I give him a questioning look, he gestures to his phone.

“Now I have your number, too,” he says with a sheepish grin.

“Oh, right.”

I’m about to tell him I need to get to my next class, even though it doesn’t start for another twenty minutes, but the words die on my tongue for an entirely different reason.

Behind Finn, one of the cafeteria doors swings open abruptly. My eyes widen, and my mouth falls open when Levi emerges.

Judging by the murderous expression on his face, he’s not happy. I try to convince myself he’s not coming toward us, but with every step he takes, it’s obvious we’re his targets.

Even now, as he barrels closer, there’s no denying how attractive he is. And I don’t fail to notice a few girls glancing his way, either.

His fists are clenched, the muscles in his forearms flexing. Rage contorts his face. Even when he looks like he’s about to rip someone apart, the area between my thighs throbs.

I thought I liked sweet boys who whisper pretty things in my ear, but apparently, I don’t know myself very well.

Finn glances over his shoulder, noticing my attention has shifted. The moment he spots Levi, he stiffens as if bracing for impact.

Me too, Finn. Me too.

When Levi reaches us, he glares at Finn. As he drops onto the bench next to me, I turn and shoot him a glare of my own.

Unfazed by my annoyance, he leans back and rests his arm behind me on the bench.

His fingers brush against my shoulder, and I shiver involuntarily. My heart speeds up, and adrenaline surges through me from being this close to him. Still, I try hard to act unaffected, but judging from the smirk he throws my way, I don’t think it worked.

He knows exactly what he’s doing to me, and the cocky asshole likes it.

Finn swings a suspicious gaze between Levi and me, and I swing a worried glance between him and Levi. Meanwhile, Levi’s attention stays locked on Finn.

Since Levi started running his fingers across my shoulder, the anger radiating from him has simmered considerably. Without thinking, I lean into his touch. That realization makes me sit up straighter, but his hold tightens just a fraction, leaving me no choice but to settle back into his side.

For what feels like forever, no one says anything. The longer the silence stretches, the thicker the cloud of tension over us grows.

Finn is the first to break the tense silence. “What are you doing here?”

“The real question is, what are you doing here?” Levi growls.

“None of your business.”

Levi scoffs, and I wish Finn would walk away. The more he pushes, the worse this is going to get. I can feel Levi vibrating with annoyance at Finn’s words.

“What’s your name?” Levi all but demands.

“Finn.”

“Haven’t seen you around before, Finn .”

“We don’t run in the same circle, Marino.”

“But you know who I am.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard of you before.”

As they go back and forth, my eyes ping-pong between them. I have to hand it to Finn— his voice is steady, and he holds his own under Levi’s scrutiny.

Levi cocks his head. “What exactly have you heard?”

“Nothing worth repeating,” Finn says flatly.

“Right,” Levi says dryly. “What are you doing out here with Bear?”

“We were talking.”

“Mm. So if I were to, I don’t know, take her phone and check her contacts, your name wouldn’t be there, now would it?”

What the hell is going on?

Finn swings his gaze toward me, the first flicker of panic visible on his face. He doesn’t look nearly as sure of himself as he did a minute ago, and I can’t help but feel bad for him.

Pit these two up against each other, and Levi has a height and muscle advantage.

“What the hell is your problem?” I hiss between clenched teeth at Levi.

I’ll probably only make things worse by coming to Finn’s rescue, but this has gone too far. And I feel a weird sense of obligation toward Finn. Something tells me the only reason he’s even dealing with Levi’s wrath is because of me and my stupid inability to be honest.

Levi stares down at me, his eyes tracing every inch of my face. Despite my irritation, my cheeks warm under his sharp gaze. When his eyes find my lips, they linger momentarily, and his Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows.

“He’s my problem,” Levi grumbles after a beat.

Finn mutters something under his breath, causing us both to look away from the other. Giving me no time to react, Levi plucks my phone from my hand, lifts it to my face, and unlocks it. I watch him scroll down my contact list until he finds Finn's name.

Levi’s attention snaps back to Finn when he says, “Oh, would you look here? There you are.” The laugh he lets out has no humor behind it.

“We share a class,” Finn says quickly, shifting from one foot to another.

I’m surprised he hasn’t walked away yet, but he’s probably trying to prove a point by standing his ground. Though I wish he wouldn’t.

“She doesn’t need your number for that.”

There’s a dose of possessiveness in his voice that I don’t understand. Actually, I don’t understand where any of this is coming from. Last I checked, I’m allowed to give my number to whoever I want, whenever I want. Even if I don’t want to, it’s still my choice.

Levi’s fingers move across my phone. When I lean closer to see what he’s doing, I find that he’s not only deleting Finn’s number but blocking his contact information entirely.

“There, that’s better. Blocked and deleted.” Levi says matter-of-factly, pinning his gaze on Finn.

“Seriously, Bear? You’re just going to let him do that?” Finn rounds on me, his body taunt with tension.

I blink up at him. He’s staring at me expectantly, waiting for me to back him up.

“Finn…I…um, maybe it’s best if you go.” I stammer out.

Truthfully, I’m secretly grateful Levi stepped in and did what I obviously couldn’t do. Would I have gone about it in such an abrupt, direct way? No, but I didn’t go about it at all, and that might’ve had a worse outcome.

I would have only strung Finn along by responding to his text. Leading someone on is sometimes worse than shutting them down from the start.

Realizing I won’t be defending him, Finn rolls his eyes. “Whatever, I’m out of here.”

As he walks away, Levi shouts, “Delete her number from your phone.”

His loud voice causes a few heads to swing in our direction, and I cringe inwardly, wanting to be anywhere but here, where he’s causing a scene.

“Thank fuck that’s taken care of,” Levi mutters, sounding way too pleased with himself.

I push up off the bench, needing space. It’s hard to think clearly with Levi’s fingers trailing over my shoulder. Every nerve ending in my body feels on fire when he’s around.

With my back to him, I close my eyes and focus on taking calming breaths.

In through my nose, out through my mouth.

That was intense, uncomfortable, and awkward—everything I tried to avoid the first time I spoke to Finn. I don’t know how Finn is feeling, but if I had to guess, probably not great.

And as much as I’d love to pin it all on Levi, I share some of the blame. But that doesn’t mean he’s off the hook.

Swinging toward him, I stab an accusing finger into his chest—and hate that I notice how solid it feels under my touch.

“Are you insane?” I whisper sharply.

He stares down at my finger before lifting his gaze.

“You looked uncomfortable talking to him,” he mumbles, frowning.

Dropping my arm to my side, I stare at him.

I didn’t expect that to be the reason he came out here.

Levi hardly knows me, yet he picked up on my body language.

On the other hand, Hunter had known me for years and never once seemed to notice when I was uncomfortable.

Maybe he just never cared enough to think about how I felt.

He always brushed it off as me being too shy around new people and said that I “just needed to lighten up. "

“I had it handled,” I mumble, my voice losing some of its edge.

He cocks his head. “Him giving you his number was you handling it?”

I roll my eyes, annoyed at how easily he calls me out. “What does it matter to you?”

Without skipping a beat, he says, “You matter to me.”

Throwing my hands up, I shake my head. “You don’t even know me!”

I sound as exasperated as I feel. I’m so tired of not knowing what’s going on with him—his behavior, my feelings… all of it.

One minute, he’s kicking me out of his apartment, and the next, he's coming to my rescue. It’s giving me a severe case of whiplash, leaving me rattled—and oddly hot and bothered at the same time.

“I’m trying to, but you keep shutting me down,” he says.

“So, your solution is what? Barge your way into my life?”

He cocks his head as if genuinely thinking it over. “If that’s what it takes.”

“You’re unbelievable,” I groan.

I step toward the bench, intending to grab my stuff and leave, but Levi picks that moment to stand.

We’re barely an inch apart, and I swallow, suddenly losing my bravado. He stares at me with the same intensity as earlier, like he’s committing every feature, every line of my face to memory.

When his hand cups my cheek, I squeeze my eyes shut, fighting to maintain some semblance of control. Desire floods through me at the feel of his skin on mine. His thumb strokes my cheek, and I let out a soft whimper. I’m losing my ability to act sensibly and it’s all because of him .

“Teddy Bear.” Levi’s voice is a whisper, caressing my skin, and I bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from reacting further.

“Stop.” The word carries no weight, even to my own ears.

“You can’t deny—”

Those words have me snapping my eyes open, and reality comes crashing down.

“Don’t, Levi. Please, just don’t.” There’s a subtle warning in my tone, even though my insides feel like goo.

It’s enough for him to drop his hand back to his side, and I step around him, avoiding eye contact.

Grabbing my tote bag and textbook, I decide I’m done. I need to leave. Walking away is harder than I care to admit.

Whatever weird attraction, chemistry, or voodoo magic exists between us will fade—it has to.

Levi calls out my name, but I force myself to ignore it.

Don’t turn around. Don’t look at him.

Whatever he has to say, I don’t want to hear it. Because when things get spoken out loud, they become real. And real things have the potential to break. And when they break, good people get hurt.

And I’m tired of hurting.