Page 73 of What Are The Odds?
Whoa. The nerve. And the hypocrisy. My cheeks heated from anger.
“Relax, Holloway,” Ryker calmly said. “Grace and I were just talking.”
My eyes nervously bounced between the two of them. Levi didn’t seem to be buying the explanation. After what felt like a lifetime, he finally looked at me.
“We need to talk.”
“Um. Okay. Where?”
There was nowhere private at this party. Every area was full of drunk people. Even the staircase had people sitting on the steps.
Ryker sighed heavily. “By all means, in you come, Holloway.”
Ryker stepped to the side, opening the door wider. I reluctantly walked back into the room, entirely unsure what was about to go down. A stare down was happening between Ryker and Levi. Now I could see why people were afraid of the hockey team. Levi’s glare was terrifying. Ryker on the other hand appeared unfazed by it. I guess he was used to walls of muscle laser focussed on taking him out.
“Lock the door on your way out,” he said simply before stepping around Levi and leaving the room.
The second the door shut, I rounded on Levi.
“What the hell was that?” I snapped.
He had the audacity to look surprised.
“I should be saying the same to you.” His shoulders and chest expanded as he inhaled deeply. “Imagine my surprise when Morrison came to warn me you had gone upstairs with Richardson.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. Dumb move. Levi’s gaze fell to my cleavage.
“Was that in between sucking the vodka from the cowgirl’s pistol?”
Damn. I didn’t mean to let that slip. I was trying to play it cool. Guilt flashed across Levi’s face.
“Nothing happened.”
“And it didn’t for me either,” I exasperatedly stated. “I needed the bathroom. Ryker let me use his, then we talked for like, two minutes.”
“Talked about what?”
“I don’t know, the bloody weather. What does it matter?”
Levi’s lips pressed into a firm line. Realisation hit me like a large wave, the type of wave that threw you off your board and kept you submerged. He didn’t trust me, which was infuriating. I’d never given him a reason not to. And despite his reputation, he hadn’t either. Which is why I hadn’t stormed over to the cowgirl and yanked the pistol from her manicured fingers. I’d kept my emotions in check. Given him the benefit of the doubt.
"The thought of you with another guy, particularly Richardson, makes me see red, Grace.”
“That doesn’t mean you have the right to act like a Neanderthal,” I told him. “If we both behaved like that, I–”
I stopped, reminding myself that Levi’s past was his past. I couldn’t hold it against him. But hell, sometimes I wish it didn’t exist. I wish he wasn’t the type of guy girls literally stumbled over their words in front of. And I wish I had a reason to be mad. But I didn’t. We weren’t together. Which is why I’d let it go.
“It’s different, Grace. Ryker’s into you. You realise that, right?”
Levi stared at me, dumfounded, like I’d missed the fact the sun came out each day or that the sky was blue.
“And Harley Quinn and the cowgirl aren’t into you?”
“Veronica and Summer are–”
“Meaningless hook-ups? Part of the roster? Now I’m the next one? I get it, Levi. Clear as mud.”
“No, Grace,” Levi roared. “You don’t get it.”
