47. Levi

Soft hairs tickle my chest as a warm floral scent fills my nostrils.

I'm bare-chested still. She's shirtless, too, her supple breasts pressed against my front like she couldn't stand to leave even an inch of space between us.

Awareness sparks through my limbs, and my chest tightens. I rearrange my body carefully so I don't wake her, silently extending my arms and neck, then giving my bad leg a compulsory stretch, too.

It aches this morning. I knew it would after the exertion and the angle of last night, but fuck, was it worth it.

I lower my hands under the covers to massage away the stiffness that settled in my limbs overnight. When I hit a particularly tender spot between my incision and my hip, a low grunt escapes me.

"Are you okay?" Hunter asks softly.

I don't know if I woke her or if she's been awake this whole time, but it's just the two of us now.

I also don't know how to act after what went down last night.

"Just sore," I answer.

In response, she rolls her ass back into my body and pulls my free hand around her midsection.

"Can I ask you something?" I whisper into her hair, holding her tight.

Considering all that's happened over the last twenty-four hours and what's waiting for us on the other side of that door, this may be the only chance we get to have a private conversation.

"You told me at the hospital that Greedy doesn't know… what about your mom?"

She tenses, then shakes her head.She licks her lips and meets my gaze. "I didn't tell anyone before I left town."

A surge of possessiveness shoots through me. I shouldn't feel proud that I bore witness to her darkest moment, but knowing that she trusted me then, and that she still trusts me now, lights up my insides.

I want to be good for her. I want to be more than a friend, more than a best friend, more than she's ever had. I want to be the one she relies on. The one who stays.

But I want her to want me, too.

She intertwines our fingers under the sheets, smoothing our joined hands up and down the tightness of my aching thigh.

"What are we doing, Daisy?" I ask on a whisper.

With a hum, she turns and brushes her lips against the center of my chest and keeps working her fingers into my too-tight quad. As she rubs my leg, her core occasionally comes into contact with my other thigh. Visions of how she writhed and ground against me yesterday in the truck, chasing that orgasm, soaking my arm, swamp me. With each point of contact, she squirms closer, inviting me. Enticing me.

Watching Greedy please her with his mouth lit a fire inside me. I want to be the one making her whimper and moan and beg for more as I fuck her with my tongue. But seeing the two of them together—bearing witness to how their bodies very clearly remember one another—was a wake-up call.

I'm not gonna get in the way of what they could have again. I just want to be factored into the equation, too.

"Half-naked massages aren't on the list of obligations for my fake girlfriend." I cautiously lift her hand and unwind her fingers. This is her out. Her opportunity to clarify her intentions and her feelings. I want her to make this decision now, after she experienced what she did with Greedy last night. If it's going to come down to me or him, she needs him, and I want her to have that.

I haven't even let go of her hand completely before she snatches my wrist and pulls me close again.

"I don't want it to be fake anything with you," she says into the pillow. After a heartbeat, she props her head on her hand and hits me with a sincere look. "Levi… I want this. I want us to be real."

Relief rushes my system, but—

She doesn't even give me time to ask whether she's sure. "You see me, Levi," she urges. "You see all of me, and you're not running. You fight back against my demons. You've always been there for me."

For a moment, neither of us speaks. I'm still absorbing her words, considering their meaning.

"I care about you. I'm deliriously attracted to you." She presses her breasts into me for emphasis. "Do you want me, too?"

I press my morning wood into her thigh in confirmation and kiss the tip of her nose.

"No more faking it," she whispers.

Joy floods my system. I try to temper my reaction, but it's impossible not to be elated. She wants me. She's choosing me.

Except things are so much more complicated now than they were just twenty-four hours ago. Between Greedy and now her mom, I don't see Hunter staying in this house much longer. And after last night, I don't see Greedy letting her go again. Ever.

Before I can ask about any of that, she angles up and smooths her palm down my jaw. "Be my real boyfriend, Levi Moore."

"Yes," I answer without hesitation.

Simultaneous to this euphoria, a niggle of worry worms its way into my mind.

"What about Greedy?"

Hunter sighs, her breath warming my chest as she nuzzles closer. "He's not here this morning, is he?"

He's not. But I reckon it's because he's running interference on their parents. If I know him, he had to fight like hell against his deep-seated desire to stay in bed with us.

"Good things always leave me," she confesses into my chest. "Please don't be another thing that leaves."

Those words land like a physical blow, and at the same time, tug at my heartstrings. My desire to care for this woman is unmatched. There's no denying my need to protect her. To please her the best I can. Fuck it. Greedy and I will figure it out.

If she wants me—if she needs me—who am I to deny her?

"I've got you, Daisy. I'm not going anywhere."