3. Levi

Chapter 3

Levi

now

I fetch three mugs and force myself to focus on the task at hand, though I can't stop myself from shuffling from foot to foot, despite how badly my thighs ache. I'm itching to check on Greedy, to plead my case, to comfort him if he'll let me.

Only, Hunter needs me too. Maybe more?

Hell if I know.

She's sitting at the kitchen island while her friend leans against the marble counter, all broad-shouldered and broody. He hasn't taken his eyes off her since he arrived. I don't know what he's looking for. What he thinks he might find.

The way he just showed up, along with all the trouble he caused? Fuck, I dislike him. Strongly. How could I not, when he so blatantly and disrespectfully shared a truth that wasn't his to reveal?

I pull open the microwave and set the first mug inside with a loud clank .

Gritting through the frustration, I set the microwave for ninety seconds and hit start. That should do it. Now to find some tea…

I pull open one drawer: spoons and utensils. Then another: a grill spatula, meat thermometer, a few lighters, a random pot holder. Hunter told her friend we live here—the both of us—yet I'm nothing more than a houseguest. That's obvious by my inability to find anything in this stupid kitchen.

I doubt I'll be a houseguest much longer. Now that Greedy knows Daisy's secret, now that he knows that I was privy to details that she should have shared with him instead, it's only a matter of time before I'm kicked out.

It's probably for the best.

Hunter won't want to stay much longer anyway. Not now that her mom is here. Not under a cloud of Greedy's anger and bitterness. If she stays, it'll be because of me. If she stays, she'll be stuck. Because of me.

I shove both drawers closed, rattling the contents.

"Duke," Hunter hedges from behind me.

Panting and fuming, I turn to face her, hands on my hips.

Straightening, her friend regards me, scanning from my bare feet to the ballcap on my head.

"You're a duke?" he asks, a brow raised, his expression somewhere between confused and impressed.

For fuck's sake.

The urge to laugh is just as potent as the urge to scream.

Hunter wraps one hand around Kabir's forearm, the touch easy, familiar. They're very clearly physically acquainted. I hate him even more now.

"Levi doesn't have a title," Hunter clarifies. "Duke is a nickname."

The microwave dings, so I snag the mug and gingerly carry it over to the island.

Kabir scowls at the hot water, the expression full of disdain. "What's this?"

"You said you wanted tea. "

Hunter snorts, and Kabir scoffs, his face twisted in disgust.

"Bloody hell. One does not microwave water and call it tea. What sort of deplorable conditions have you been living in, Firecracker?"

His words are in jest—I think—but I'm done.

"Make your own bloody hell tea, then," I murmur, weighed down by defeat. "I'm out."

Intent on finding Greedy, I turn to leave the kitchen. What awaits me there likely isn't any better than this, but I might as well get it over with.

"Levi."

The sound of my name on her lips hits at the same moment she grasps my hand.

"Don't leave me," she whispers.

That's all it fucking takes to lower the defenses I've erected over the last several minutes.

Halting in my tracks, I pivot and assess the girl before me.

The girl who rode me in the front seat of the truck yesterday. The girl who came to me at her most vulnerable. The girl who made me see stars not once, but twice in the last twenty-four hours.

"I'm not leaving." I survey Kabir, who's watching us intently from his perch against the island. "I thought you could use some alone time to catch up."

She smooths her fingers over my knuckles, and then she's taking my hand. Interlacing our fingers. Shaking her head ever so slightly. "Stay with me."

I gulp past the trepidation brewing in my gut. Her request is simple, but it feels like we're on the precipice of so much more than me being present in the kitchen.

"Okay." I nod without taking my eyes off her.

Her expression softens, and her lips tip up in a hint of a smile—a hard-earned smile that hits me straight in the solar plexus.

"So you two are together?"

The question is even, cool, offered up in a smooth accent.

I swallow, prepared to come to Hunter's defense .

But she beats me to the punch.

"Levi is my boyfriend." She pulls gently on my arm, guiding me back to the barstool she was just occupying.

"Boyfriend?" Kabir smirks, giving me a once-over so intense it makes me itch to shift my weight or turn away.

"It's new," Hunter offers, hopping back up on the barstool. She drops my hand as she situates herself—but then pulls me closer and interlaces our fingers again.

Kabir catches the movement, his blue-gray eyes homing in on our touch, then searching Hunter's face.

"Right. Okay, then," he says, his tone full of wild amusement. "I'm here because I thought you needed me." He trails off, tracing the natural veins of the marble countertop with one finger. "Once I'm sure you're all right, I can be on my way."

Rolling her lips, Hunter side-eyes me, then regards Kabir.

After a few seconds, she lets out a long breath. "I'd like you to stay. If it's okay with Levi."

I'm unsure what she's actually asking. Does she want him to stay at the house? Is she asking that I be okay with whatever exists between them? Ultimately, it doesn't matter. When it comes to Hunter, it's always yes.

"That's fine."

She nods and gives me another small smile, but it slips away the moment she focuses on Kabir again. "To answer your question, no, I'm not okay. My mom showed up unannounced yesterday." With a thick swallow, she lowers her head a fraction. "She's never actually lived in this house, yet she's here. And now Greedy knows, and—" She cuts herself off, but not before her voice trembles and her lip quivers, giving away the hurt plaguing her.

"We've got you, Daisy," I promise, slinging one arm around her and pulling her into a hug.

For a long moment, Kabir is silent, but eventually, he gives me a subtle nod, then turns to Hunter and lifts her chin with two fingers. "I'm here. I'll stay. There's nowhere else I'd rather be. "

Hunter licks her lips, her pupils dilating. The tension and heat between them are palpable. It's clear they were so much more than friends. Maybe even more than lovers.

He knows her. He sees her.

But to what end? Why aren't they together now? How did he even find her?

His appearance brings more questions than answers.

Answers I'll have to wait for.

She wants him here, and she wants me to stay.

That'll have to be good enough for now.

Hunter leans forward—away from me, toward this man.

I hold my breath as her tongue darts out to moisten her bottom lip.

Commotion in the hall off the kitchen startles us all, and her eyes go wide.

"We're home!" cries a voice coated with sticky sweetness and inauthenticity.

Magnolia .

"Ah, good. You're still here." She breezes into the kitchen.

Dr. F trails behind her, wearing a bright smile and carrying multiple shopping bags.

"Hunter, darling, we were hoping you and your brother would join us at the club tonight. A family dinner, if you will."

Under her breath, Hunter mutters, "He's not my brother."

"It would mean a lot to me," Dr. F adds, stepping up beside Magnolia.

Hunter deflates, her hackles lowering. She has such a soft spot for him. I get it. Dr. F is a genuinely good guy.

"Be ready to leave by five," Magnolia calls as she saunters toward the primary bedroom on the first floor.

It's then that Dr. F catches sight of what Magnolia failed to see. We have a guest.

Kabir introduces himself and shakes hands with Dr. F, casually mentioning he was in the area and thought he'd pop in .

Hunter snorts at his smoothness, leaning back into my arms as Kabir continues to interact with her stepfather.

"I don't want to go to dinner," she whispers, the confession only loud enough to reach my ears.

"I know, Daisy. I know."

As the two men carry on, we stay locked in this embrace. She's just as lost in thought as I am. Likely concerned about the same thing. What happens now?