Page 47 of The Deception You Weave

Luca disappears inside but Leon keeps his eyes trained on mine.

After a second, he moves toward me and allows his eyes to drop.

Right before he comes to a stop, he shakes his head at me, a knowing smirk playing on his lips.

"What? It's just a swimsuit," I say, throwing up my arms. "I'm not dressed any different than any other girl out here."

"I know, Cupcake." He pulls me into his arms and I welcome his support.

"You killed it out there tonight."

"I'm glad it looked easy, truth is, we were missing someone."

My breath catches at his unspoken words.

"Oh?"

"I might hate the dick, but he's fucking good on the field."

"He'll be back soon. He's too stubborn to stay away longer than necessary."

"Cheers, man," Leon says, releasing me and taking two drinks from one of the freshman team members I recognize as one of their personal waiters from their party two weeks ago.

"Thank you," I say, taking the cup from his hand.

"Come on, let's enjoy ourselves."

Taking my hand, Leon guides me toward an empty lounger and after sitting down with my feet still on the ground, he pulls me down to sit between his legs and wraps his arm around my waist so I have no choice but to lean back into him.

He might not have demanded I put my dress back on like his brother, but something tells me that being wrapped in him is having a similar effect.

No guys are now looking at me. As I glance around the backyard, I find that most have actually turned away. It's only the girls who are now staring daggers at me for taking one of their beloved kings away from them.

"I don't need a babysitter, you know."

"I'm just hanging out with my friend, there's nothing wrong with that."

"There is when you've got an ulterior motive."

"I—"

"Don’t," I say, cutting off his argument before he even starts.

They might be a little overbearing but to be honest, I'd rather be sitting here with Leon than being hit on by any of the guys out here.

"Where have you been all week? It's almost like you've been avoiding me." His arms tense around me at the question. "Wait?" I ask, spinning around so I can look at him. "Have you been avoiding me?"

"No, I haven't," he answers honestly, holding my eye contact. "You don't need me to tell you that Luc and I got into it last weekend, I was just giving you guys some space."

"So you were fighting because of me." I sigh, remembering the bruise on Luca's cheek. "Because I kissed you?"

"No, Let," he says, lacing our fingers together. "It had been coming for a while. We just needed to let off steam. You don't need to worry about it."

"But I do. I don't want you guys fighting."

"We're brothers," he states. "It's what we do."

"I remember," I mutter, casting my mind back to all the times they ended up fighting in high school.