Page 6 of The Stone Initiation
“And then he kissed my feet!” Teri finished with a snort. “I mean, no. Just no.”
Fuck, I’d totally zoned out, and now Teri was looking at me, waiting for a response.
Think, think. “I need to pee.”
I slid out of the booth and headed to the washroom. Once I got there, I found that I did, in fact, need to pee. One less lie, I guess.
I washed and dried my hands while staring at my reflection in the mirror above the sink. “You’re a coward and a liar.” I closed my eyes. “If they’re your friends, they won’t care what you are. If he cares about you,hewon’t care…”
There was a knock on the door.
“Cam?” Levi knocked again.
Fuck. “Coming.” I opened the door to find him leaning up against the wall opposite the washroom, his eyes dark with concern.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
“You’re lying.”
He had no idea. “I’m fine. Honestly.” The words tasted bitter on my tongue.
He held out his arms and I stepped into them, laid my head on his chest, and closed my eyes. The steady beat of his heart soothed away some of the conflict in mine.
This was a side of him not everyone got to see. The caring, nurturing side that he reserved for me. For our time alone. To the others he was sarcastic and cocky, but to me he was just…my Levi.
“You know you can always talk to me, princess.”
I swallowed past the lump in my throat, past all the things I’d love to say but was too afraid to reveal.
“I know there’s stuff,” Levi said. “Like why we’ve never hung out at your place…”
My expensive apartment in the fancy side of town would pose questions about my finances and my family. Things I couldn’t…wouldn’t talk about without the risk of revealing my nature and heritage.
I’d have to lie again. “You know I’m a slob.”
He sighed and stroked my hair. “No, Cam, I don’t know that. Because you’ve never invited me over.”
“The others—”
“Need to know that we’re seeing each other.” His tone was firm.
Panic seized me. I pulled away to look up at him, scanning his face to gauge the seriousness of his suggestion. “What? No. We agreed that we’d keep it a secret.”
“That was six months ago, Cam.” He sounded almost weary. “That was before I fell in love with you.”
My heart stalled in my chest. “What…”
He cupped my face. “I’m fucking head over heels in love with you, Cam.”
No, no, no. Why was he doing this? Why was he saying those words and making my heart beat so hard and fast that I was afraid it might burst from my chest?
“I don’t expect you to feel the same way, but I need you to know that I’m in this for the long haul. This isn’t just a fling for me anymore, Cam. I love you and I want everyone to know.”
I hadn’t realized how much I’d wanted this until this moment. Hadn’t realized how deep my feelings for Levi had grown until now, and the fear of losing this…Losing us, swept over me in an icy wave. I pushed up on tiptoe and crushed my mouth to his, sinking my fingers into his dark, silken hair and breathing in his vanilla scent.
Why couldn’t time stand still here? Why couldn’t we just stop right here?
