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  His arms form a protective circle around me, and I sigh deeper into him, breathing in the smell of grass and sweaty man. I’m going to need a shower after this, but I can’t bring myself to care.

  Slowly, I realize that Levi is shaking. Or, more accurately, his chest is shaking. Pulling back slightly, I look up at him, concerned, only to realize that there’s nothing wrong with him.

  “You asshole! Stop laughing!” I slap his chest, which only sets him off more.

  Gripping me tighter so I can’t break away, Levi says, “I’m sorry. I’m not making fun of you. It’s just that you’re so cute with your red eyes and snotty nose thinkin’ I’m dead.”

  “I can’t believe you’re laughing at me! I was devastated,” I say as he pulls me closer, pushing my face into his chest and kissing the side of my head. I should be mad, but he’s in my arms and he’s okay, and right now, that’s all that matters.

  “You should know you can’t get rid of me that easily, princess.” Drawing back, Levi pinches my chin between his thumb and forefinger, forcing me to look up at him. Sobering, he inspects my face, which must be a total mess. “I’ve never had anyone worry about me before,” he says quietly and with no small amount of wonder.

  His confession strikes something deep inside of me—sympathy, anger, sadness. I feel them in equal measures. No one should know the kind of loneliness that this man has. Now that I know to look for it, I realize that all of Levi’s cockiness and arrogance have been nothing more than a façade designed to protect himself so he could pretend that he isn’t hurting inside.

  I see in his eyes how much me being here—for him—means to him. It’s such a small thing, and yet it’s a big deal. Right here, right now, while staring into his eyes, I make a silent vow that he’ll never have a reason to doubt how much he’s loved.

  Tipping my chin up, I brush a kiss over his lips. “You’d better get used to it then,” I respond. “Because every time you get on that field, I’m going to worry about you until you’re back in my arms.”

  His blue eyes fill with emotion, something that is completely unlike the Levi I’ve come to know, and his lips part, ready to say something. But before he can, a low, rolling sound like distant thunder starts up around us.

  Glancing up, Levi smirks and I stiffen as we realize that the whole stadium is watching us. And they’re chanting.

  “Oh God,” I groan and I feel my face flame red hot when I see the two of us flash up on the video board with kiss, kiss, kiss pulsing in enormous, white letters. I’m more than ready to get the hell out of here.

  Attempting to pull away, Levi’s hand—the one that’s still curled around the back of my neck—clamps down. The firm hold he has on me is enough to get my attention and give me pause. I look up at him, my brows furrowed in question, but the laughter and glimmer of playfulness flashing in his crystal clear eyes answers for him.

  “Levi—”

  “You heard ‘em, princess,” he says, his voice taunting. “You wouldn’t want to disappoint our fans now, would you?”

  My answer is a resounding hell yes. I could give a rat’s ass what a bunch of strangers want, but Levi is clearly having fun with this, and he isn’t about to let me get away without a struggle.

  I don’t want to cause a scene, but this whole situation—my face blasted across a big screen, hundreds of people cheering us on—has my anxiety levels shooting through the roof. The last thing I want to do is indulge them.

  With my hands firmly planted on Levi’s abs, I push him away, but he’s ready for that. Bracing himself, he stands his ground, not budging an inch. And then, without much effort at all, he yanks me in.

  I resist for the barest second, until the moment I feel Levi’s lush mouth pressed against mine. Instantly, I’m lost. The world falls away as my muscles relax and I fall into him. My hands snake around to grip his shoulders and my head tilts to the right as his mouth opens over mine and his tongue slips past my lips.

  He moans into my mouth—or maybe that was me. I taste a hint of cherries from his sports drink and I feel his hardness pressing insistently against my stomach. Lust consumes me until I can hardly remember my own name, let alone where we are.

  Levi is the first to break the kiss, and when he looks down at me, he’s wearing a cocky smile and his eyes are dancing with humor.

  “Damn.” That’s all he says. That’s all he needs to say.

  Slowly, I become aware that the stadium is roaring with applause and catcalls and somewhere in the distance is the announcer’s excitement-filled voice, but I tune them all out.

  Huskily, I say, “Let’s get out of here,” and with little more than a sharp nod, Levi takes my hand and practically drags me away.

  24

  I wake up in Levi’s hotel room, in his bed. His heavy, tattooed arm is draped across my hip, his large hand cradling my abdomen, and I can feel his slow, steady breaths on the back of my neck.

  I smile to myself as last night comes back to me. After we fled the stadium, Levi pressed pause on our libido, sighting that it’d been hours since I’d been properly fed. Despite being hungry, I was ravenous for something much more than a burger. But he wouldn’t hear of it. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten so fast in my life.

  Once we got back to his hotel room, there was no stopping us. We were naked and tangled together as soon as the door was closed.

  Something about knowing he feels the same for me as I do for him has released the need to keep him at arm’s length, and from the little bit of talking we managed during our dinner last night, we’ve agreed that neither of us see the point in denying our relationship any longer.

  Especially now that the cat’s out of the bag.

  And our parents are divorcing.

  Why deny our feelings? It seems pointless anyway, considering we have a child on the way. One way or another, news of our baby is going to get out. Levi reasons that we might as well deal with it together, and I agree, convincing myself that together, we can handle whatever comes our way.

  Carefully, I lift Levi’s arm and extract myself. Tiptoeing into the bathroom, I empty my bladder, brush my teeth, and splash water on my face to wake up. When I see myself in the mirror, I pause. The woman looking back at me isn’t someone I recognize. Her skin is flushed, her kiss-bruised lips upturned into a faint smile, and her eyes are filled with happiness.

  This is Levi’s doing. It used to be that when I thought of him, there was no stopping the scowl, no silencing the snarling voice inside my head that wanted nothing more than to burn his memory to the ground and bury it beneath pounds of dirt. All of it was built on nothing more than lies, though. Baseless, teenage lies founded by a hateful man who isn’t happy unless he controls everything and everyone.

  Now, though, those dark memories have been replaced by a hopeful jubilance that makes my heart soar. I can’t contain my smile as I think of all the time we’ve spent together just having fun and enjoying each other’s company. I’ve lived more in the few short weeks I spent with Levi than I have in my entire life. He’s forced me to experience the world, afraid or not. He’s shown me that he’s more than the carefree, reckless playboy the world knows him to be. In fact, he’s proven that he can also be a strong and supportive man just as easily as he can be a playful, full of life boy who knows how to make me smile. Without the dark memories tainting my impression of him, I’ve come to realize that Levi is much more complex than I gave him credit for.

  When I leave the bathroom, Levi is laying on his back with his arms folded behind his head, watching me. My heart stutters as his baby blues follow me across the room, and I don’t think I’m imagining the growing heat lurking in their pale depths.

  “Did I wake you?” I ask as I climb back into bed and curl up on my side facing him.

  Turning so he faces me too, Levi tucks his arm under his pillow and lifts his free hand to brush my hair back over my shoulder. His gaze follows his hand as his fingers trace the curve of my shoulder and down my arm, causing a shiver
to track through me.

  “Nah, I’ve been awake since the sun came up.” My eyes widen and he chuckles. “It was cute watching you try to sneak away though.”

  I mock scowl at him. “Cute, huh?”

  He nods, a wide smile creating creases around his eyes. “Fucking adorable. I especially enjoyed the view,” he drawls as he reaches around and grabs a handful of my ass.

  “Oh yeah?” I challenge. “I thought I had a flat white girl ass.”

  “It’s unfortunate, but you work with what you have.” He shrugs as he says this, as if it’s just a sad fact of life.

  “You’re such a bastard!” Swatting his bare chest, I belt out a laugh that triggers one of his own, and the sound is so deep and smooth that I’m instantly ready for him.

  Snatching my wrist, Levi pushes my arm over my head and twists his body over top of mine, forcing me onto my back. The playful smile is still there as he pins me beneath his solid frame and situates himself between my thighs.

  “I thought I was a son of a bitch.” The glittering of mischief mixed with heat in his aquamarine eyes drains all the playfulness right out of me and instantly sends coils of heat through my veins.

  “You can be both,” I say, breathless as I stare up at him.

  Narrowing his eyes, Levi’s jaw clenches. It’s the slightest movement, but it informs me that he’s thinking hard about something. Whatever that is, he doesn’t say it. Instead, he lowers his head and plants the sweetest kiss on me that I’ve ever felt. It’s slow and soft, his lips moving over mine unhurried. When his tongue seeks entrance, I open to him easily. The muscles in my legs contract, drawing him closer, wordlessly demanding more.

  I’m ready for so much more that when Levi pulls away, I release a groan of displeasure before peeling my eyes open.

  “What—” The tenderness in his eyes stops my protest.

  Releasing his hold on my wrists, Levi wordlessly moves down my body. His lips touch my chin, my jaw, the base of my neck as he places sweet kisses on my skin. He works his way lower, paying extra attention to my naked breasts, licking and sucking each nipple into his mouth, before moving lower once again.

  By the time he’s reached his destination, my body is a live wire, ready to be detonated with the slightest touch.

  But Levi pauses, his face suspended over the swell of my belly. I say nothing as I watch him, waiting for whatever it is that he’s about to do.

  With more care that I thought him possible of, Levi frames my stomach with his large hands and rests the side of his face on my stomach. His eyes slip closed and he just lays there, still as ever.

  Sensing this is an important moment, I bite my lip and settle in, holding my breath as I wait. Then in a soft voice, Levi starts talking.

  “Hey, baby. It’s me, your daddy. I just wanted to say hello and tell you that me and mommy can’t wait to meet you. But until then, I want to apologize if the ride gets a little rough, because mommy is too sexy to resist and sometimes daddy gets carried away.”

  “Levi!” I bite back my laugh as Levi looks up at me from beneath a thick fringe of dark lashes and grins shamelessly.

  “What? I’m just stating facts here,” he defends. “I don’t want to start his life out with lies.”

  Tilting my head, one eyebrow arches. “I think he can wait a few years before you give him the birds and bees talk.”

  “It’s never too early to learn,” he responds matter of fact. Smoothing his hand over my stomach, he kisses it just above my belly button and then moves back up until his chest touches mine and I’m secured in his embrace. “I just want to make sure that he knows everything he needs to know about life.”

  Looking into his eyes, I see the sincerity burning in them. I see his doubt, his nervous energy, and I see desire, too. Desire to do well in this new role that is terrifying for both of us because neither of us knows what the hell we’re doing.

  Combing my fingers through his soft, wavy hair, I say, “You’re going to be a good daddy, Levi.” The words are sincere. The way my chest tightened as I watched him speak to our baby and kiss him like that gives me hope that this future we’ve decided to build together just might work out after all.

  Pain or doubt, I don’t know which, flash across Levi’s face, tightening the skin around his eyes and setting his mouth into a firm line. Wiggling in closer, fitting every hard line of his body against mine so that we’re as close as two people can possibly be, he holds my face between his hands and says in a guttural rasp, “You really think so?”

  Doubt. That’s what that look was. It pains me to see how much damage David has inflicted on this man. He’s never had a chance to prove himself. Until now. “Baby, I know so,” I say fiercely.

  “But my father—”

  “Is an asshole who doesn’t know the first thing about being a dad,” I say, cutting him off. “But you’re nothing like him.”

  “I’m everything like him,” Levi argues. “I’m arrogant, cocky, stubborn, demanding. I don’t know the first thing about being a parent other than the example he set.”

  “And that’s why you’re already a better parent than he’ll ever hope to be,” I say softly. “Being able to recognize your faults, to question them and worry about being good enough is what makes you better. It’s because of that, that you’ll try, every day, to be nothing like David. If anything, it’s because of his example that you’ll be a great dad.”

  His gaze is steady on mine, his doubts and insecurities plain to see. But as he continues to stare me down, I see the battle of wills he’s waged begin retreating, leaving behind stark realization. Of what, I don’t know, but I hope it’s that he knows I’m right. That he’s more than capable, more than worthy, because I know he is.

  His hands already framing my head, edge in to hold it, cupping my face firmly. Levi’s stare grows intense and he drags the pads of his thumbs across my cheeks and over my bottom lip.

  “Damn, princess,” he rasps. “You fucking slay me.”

  Well, as compliments go, that one was pretty damn good considering whose mouth it came from. Levi may not be the most poetic, but his words are effective. My insides twist with need and butterflies tickle my stomach as he dives in for a kiss.

  When his lips crash into mine, taking what he wants and giving back nothing short of one hundred percent, I feel the depth of his passion all the way to my toes.

  His guttural moans fill my mouth and my lungs as Levi tilts my head for deeper access. His tongue plunges deep as his hips rock against mine in an erotic dance that makes my pussy ache.

  Still naked from last night’s impassioned romp makes it simple for Levi to push into me, and he does with one agonizingly slow move that is in complete juxtaposition with the aggressive way he takes my mouth.

  “Levi,” I breathe against his questing lips.

  “Yeah, princess?”

  No words leave my lips. His name is a plea for mercy, for more, for…I don’t know what, and his answering smirk says he knows this.

  Wrapping my hands around his back, I cling to him as he starts up a slow, tortuous pace that allows me to feel every. Single. Inch. I swear, if he keeps this up, I might literally combust.

  Reaching between our sweat dampened skin, Levi pinches my clit, sending a bolt of electricity shooting up my spine. “Ahhh!” My back arches, pressing my breasts into his chest. My nipples scrape across his heated flesh, creating a delicious friction that ramps up my need to impressive levels. My head is spinning, my heart racing. I can’t seem to find my breath, but the feel of Levi’s hard, unforgiving body pressing me into the mattress is all the grounding—and leverage—I need.

  Without warning, my orgasm slams into me.

  “Oh fuuuuuck!” Levi shouts. Dropping his head down, he buries his face in the crook of my neck, his breaths gusting out of him as his hips pump harder, extending my orgasm. As the waves continue rippling through me, I feel Levi’s cock thicken inside me.

  He begins chanting oh fuck in my ear as his own
orgasm rushes up to claim him. As his hips slam into mine I turn my head and skim my lips over his ear and whisper, “Come for me, baby.”

  That’s all the coaxing he needs. With a violent shudder, Levi’s whole body tenses and he groans long and low as he spills inside of me.

  His hips continue to move in long, lazy strokes, milking the last of his orgasm, until Levi pushes his knees up higher under my thighs to ensure he won’t put pressure on my stomach before collapsing on top of me.

  “God, that was amazing,” he pants.

  I stroke my fingertips up and down his spine, causing a shiver to wrack him and he chuckles under his breath.

  The moment is perfect. Quiet. Serene. Just the two of us, cradling each other. I’d lie like this forever, but the pounding on the door shatters the moment like glass.

  Levi grunts his displeasure and I ask, “Expecting someone?”

  His head moves side to side against my chest. “Probably just one of the guys wanting to go out and celebrate.”

  I sigh internally, not wanting to give up a single moment with him. But I know we can’t live in this hotel room forever. The real world is calling.

  Bang! Bang! Bang!

  Lifting up, Levi’s scowl is dark, dangerous. Throwing the blankets off, he leaps out of the bed and reaches for his boxers lying on the floor. “Give me a minute and I’ll get rid of them.”

  “If you want to go out, you can. You had a big win. You deserve to celebrate,” I assure him.

  His gaze cuts to me and he clips out, “You think I’d choose getting wasted over spending the day inside you? Not a fucking chance.”

  Cheeks hot, I draw the blankets back up, covering myself as he storms across the room. I feel sorry for whoever is on the other side of that door, because Levi looks ready to kill.

  The pounding starts up again just as Levi reaches the door. “What the fuck is it!” he shouts as he rips the door open. Then he freezes. The whole world comes to a standstill as I look over his shoulder to see the last person I ever expected.