“Are you happy?” I tilt my head back, so I can look him in the eye.
He looks at me. “I am right now.”
Light slants in across my eyes the next morning, waking me from a deep sleep and the warm, hot body wrapped around me. Levi’s breath dusts across my forehead in short bursts, lifting a section of tangled hair. I lift my lips to the bottom of his jaw and lightly press a lingering kiss against it.
Last night was everything I could have ever wanted, but we agreed it would be a one night, one time thing. With that running through my head, I give myself another minute to enjoy his warmth before I sneak out from under his heavy arm.
Starting today I am moving forward, no looking back. I don’t have any clothes in here because he carried me up from the pool naked. I see a balled-up t-shirt on the floor and pull it over my head. It falls almost to my knees and smells like him. I’m definitely keeping this to sleep in.
I creep across the hall to my room, which is unnecessary. Frank and Mom are away for the weekend, and even if they were home, their room is on the opposite side of the house. I check my phone and see a few missed texts from Oliver and a couple of my friends from boarding school.
I have a few hours before I have to be ready for Oliver to pick me up.
8
LEVI
“You ready?” Con asks from the doorway of my bedroom. “I want to get in and out, putting our appearance in at this shitshow before Margaux shows up and tries molesting me again. I had to bathe in hand sanitizer and rubbing alcohol to remove the stench of her desperation last weekend.”
“Thirsty bitches, man.” I pat his shoulder as I move past him into the hall.
“Is Ivy coming with us?” Griff shoots a look at her door.
“Nah, Oliver picked her up about an hour ago.” I can’t bring myself to tell them about last night. It was so meaningful and special for me that chatting about it would cheapen it.
I stupidly thought that last night changed things for her. Maybe it did, but when I woke up this morning, the bed beside me was cool to the touch. She didn’t have to sneak out, Babs doesn’t even work on weekends when Dad and Jennifer are gone so no one is here. I’ll have to hunt her down tonight after the fights at The Abyss so we can talk.
“You okay with that?” Con asks with a lazy drawl that would fool anyone else into thinking he was completely apathetic. In reality, he would throw down right here if I said the word.
“It’s her life, her choice,” I say with a shrug, “but if he steps out of line, I’m challenging him. No one hurts Ives.” I level a serious look at both of them, so they know how I serious I am right now. I will not allow anyone to harm her, and that isn’t contingent on whatever happens between us going forward. At the very least, she’s my stepsister so it’s my job to protect her.
“Understood,” Griff says while sliding into his Tesla. “What are you going to do with Ferguson and Kent tonight?”
“Beat their punk asses with their lacrosse sticks. Ferguson drugged a few of the cheerleaders last weekend. I’m fucking done with his shit.” The thought of him getting his slimy hands on Ives make me want to vomit. At least I know Oliver hates him as much as I do. They’ve had bad blood since winter formal last year. I don’t know or care what happened, but I know he’ll keep her away from him.
“Want me to do anything?” Griff asks pulling out of our gated community.
“Not yet. Let’s see if he gets the message after this weekend,” Connor says from the backseat.
The drive to Miller’s house is only about twenty minutes. We live outside of Founder’s Ridge, a small enclave of the uber wealthy who want to hide away in the hills of western Massachusetts. It’s close enough to Boston and New York City that commuting via helicopter is possible. My dad takes a town car most weeks though. He’s never been a huge fan of flying. In fact, we’re one of the only families in town who don’t have their own chopper on standby. If Dad needs to use one, he borrows it from Griff or Con’s families.
Our dads are all golfing buddies, so we’ve grown up together. They each run billion-dollar companies. My family has owned a bank and financial firm since right after the Great Depression. My father plans on passing it down to me, as has been the tradition for the previous four generations of the Marsh family.
Connor is one of the heirs to Volkov Industries, one of the largest energy and engineering conglomerates in the world. If that wasn’t enough, his family is sitting on land in Siberia on top of a large oil reserve. There’s tension within family on what to do with that land, but Connor and his dad are surprisingly on the same page with not wanting to drill.
Griffin’s family owns National News Corporation, and he and his older sisters will be taking over when they graduate from college. He also developed and launched an application for journalists to communicate with their anonymous sources securely. There’s a reason he’s our tech and investigative guy; he is hands down the smartest person I know.
“What was up with the stepmonster earlier this week?” Griff asks. “Is she always that awful to Ivy?”
“She never spoke of Ivy to me until the day before Ivy moved in. Ivy used to talk about her mom in general as someone completely unsupportive, and they’ve never been close. I talked to Babs earlier this week about not restricting Ivy’s carbs. Jennifer didn’t tell her that Ivy is an upper-level athlete.” Babs felt terrible when I filled her in, and we discussed coming up with a plan for the days when Jennifer is home. I’m hoping that she’ll start going into the city with Dad now that Ives is settled in.
Griff parks right on Miller’s lawn because the driveway is already full. We exit the car together and immediately the noise of girls squealing, music blasting, and splashes of water can be heard. Con stops for a second and glares up at the sky.
“I fucking hate these parties,” he scowls at us and starts walking again, “and these fucking people.”
I get it. Everyone either wants something from us, be it connections, popularity, sex, or they’re afraid of us. I don’t mind the fear or the sex, but everything else, the gold digging and social ladder climbing, sucks.
We round the house and climb the steps of the terrace. Miller’s pool is off to the left, and I do a quick scan for Ives. She’s not in the pool or on the terrace. Con hands me a red solo cup of beer while I continue to scan the yard.
“She just went in the pool house with Oliver and a few of his friends,” Griff says from beside me. How he knew what I was doing when I have mirrored aviators on, I’ll never know, he’s just that good. “Don’t go looking for her, I’m sure she’s fine.”
Easy for him to say, he didn’t just spend the best night of his life with the girl of his dreams who is currently on some other guy’s arm. It’s going to suck to see her with him. Hopefully they just end up being friends and nothing more. I can’t imagine denying us each other after how amazing last night was.
“Levi,” a hand runs up my back.
“Leighton.” I answer without turning around. I know who it is by her nasally voice. “Can I help you with something?”
“I hope so,” she answers suggestively walking around to stand in front of me. “I was thinking I could come over after the party.”
“No.”
“We make sense together. Margaux and Connor will be together soon, so it’s only obvious that you and I should be too.”
“Connor and Margaux will never be together,” I laugh. “You two are delusional if think any of what you just said will ever happen. You are aiming too high.”
“We’ll see about that.”
“Sure, sweetheart. Run along and stay ambitious.”
“What’d she want?” Con asks after she’s walked away.
“To tell me that she and I should date since you and Margaux will be together soon.”
That makes him choke on his beer. “Never gonna happen.”
“I know.”
I’m about to suggest going over to the pool house when I see Ives step out. Sh
e’s wearing a black string bikini with a pink skirt thing tied around her waist. Her hair is piled on top of her head in a messy bun, and she’s rocking oversized Chanel sunglasses. She looks so good. Fuck. I should have given her a hickey or better yet three.
“I got this,” Con mutters watching Oliver lead Ives over to us. He pours a beer into a cup and hands it to her as soon as they join us on the terrace. “Ivy,” he shoulder checks Oliver, “thanks for having me over for dinner this week.”
Oliver’s eyes bounce between the three of us.
“I didn’t have you over.” Ives lowers her sunglasses and gives Connor a look meant to shut up him up. She knows exactly what he’s doing. “Levi invited you and Griff.”
“Yeah, and what an enlightening dinner it was.” He turns to Oliver with an evil smirk, “Oliver did you know that Ivy-”
“I don’t know what you are about to say Connor but stop it,” Ives smacks him in the chest with the back of her hand and everyone in the vicinity turns to gape at her. No one else would dare do that outside of fights at The Abyss. “Oliver, let’s go before they start lying about God knows what.”
I die a little inside when she wraps her arm around his waist and tucks in against him. What in the actual fuck is she doing right now?
“Oliver,” Griff stops him, “drug testing for all athletics is this week, right?”
“Yes,” Oliver answers him with a look of confusion.
“I’ve heard that mix-ups happen.” Griff takes a drink of his beer. “That would be a shame, wouldn’t it? To have your negative result mixed with someone else’s positive. Then your senior season as captain ends up down the drain.”
Ives slides her sunglasses on top of her head and steps away from Oliver. “What is wrong with you three? Threatening him? Fuck you all and your big ass egos.”
“Just making sure everyone knows you aren’t to be messed with, Sis.” I give her a smirk that I don’t feel. I actually want to puke right now. I’m pretty sure between her disappearing act this morning and our not so subtle threats against Oliver, she’s not going to try to give us a chance to make this work.
“It didn’t have to be like this,” the look of disappointment on her face when she looks at me makes my chest tighten.
This feels like a make or break moment for us. For a moment, I let myself wallow in gravity of my miscalculation. Did I lose her before I even had her? Did she not enjoy last night? No, she did. She enjoyed it four times over. I decide to pull her aside after she calms down and when fucking Oliver isn’t attached to her like a leech.
Griff and I run interference between Con and Margaux while he gets everything set for the fights tonight. Once we have her and her pack of bitches muzzled for the day, I start looking for an opportunity to pull Ivy aside. That moment comes when Oliver heads off to play a pickup game of soccer on the side lawn.
Ives is standing on the edge of the terrace, sipping her drink and watching the soccer game when I walk up behind her.
“He’s good, I’ll give him that.” The compliment directed at Oliver is genuine. He’s probably the best soccer player FPA has ever had.
Her response is nothing but an annoyed grunt while she continues to watch.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“You are talking to me,” she replies deadpan.
“Privately?” She doesn’t move a muscle at my plea. “Please?”
“Oh, did the mighty Titan Levi Marsh deign ask me politely?” she says with her voice dripping sarcasm so thick you could cut it with a knife.
“I did. I’ll drop to my knees, too, if you don’t come with me now.” I lean in and whisper in her ear, “You would definitely like that.” I let my lips brush the shell of her ear and give myself a mental fist bump when I notice the little shiver she does. She still wants me. I can work with that.
She stares me down for another minute, but when I start to bend my knees, she grabs me by the arm and yanks me toward the pool house. “Fine. You win, come on.”
We walk around the back where we’re blocked on three sides by the pool house and a row of hedges.
“What?” She spins and slaps her hands on her hips, tilting her head back because I have a solid foot on her and I’m standing close.
“You snuck out this morning and avoided me all day.”
“I wasn’t avoiding you,” she rolls her eyes. “We agreed it was a one-night thing one time, scratching an itch.”
“Ummm, no.” I shake my head. “I said give me one night. At no point did I say it would be a one-time thing.”
“Semantics.” She takes a step away from me. I’m not having that, so I wrap one of my hands around her waist. “Don’t touch me, someone might see us.”
“No one can see us, and even if they did, it’s none of their business.” I pull her sunglasses off, so I can see her eyes. “Did you not like last night?”
“Obviously.” Her eyes get watery, and she blinks the tears away. “It doesn’t matter though. I have enough to deal with when Mom is on me about everything I do, everything I eat, everything I wear. I cannot risk this happening and her finding out. Or worse, my dad who would freak the fuck out and probably send me to boarding school in a different country or something.”
“I’ll be your buffer.”
“You can’t be.” A tear slips free from her pretty eyes, and I wipe it with my thumb. She gives in for a second and rests her cheek in my palm. “It’s friends or nothing right now.”
The only thing holding my heart together is her addition of ‘right now’ to that statement. “Then I’ll take you however I can get you. For now.”
She wraps her arms around my waist and holds me tight. “Thank you.”
“You really like Oliver?”
“I could, maybe. He’s been kind so far.” She says while we’re still holding each other.
“If that changes, I want you to tell me, okay?” I will kick his ass. “And I want twice-a-month movie nights with you. They don’t have to end like last night, but I want that time with you. And you wear my jersey for every game.”
“I can do that.”
“One last kiss?”
She nods after a quick scan to make sure we’re still alone and rises onto her toes. Her lips meet mine and immediately part. I bend and lift her by the thighs because if this is the last taste of her I’m going to get, for now, it’s going to be the only thing she thinks about. Every time she kisses Oliver, I want her to think about me, my hands on her body, my tongue gliding against hers, my teeth sinking into her lips, and my dick grinding against her perfect little pussy. I lock this feeling, this memory, away, so I can reach it for it whenever I need. We stay connected, feeding off each other until a crash inside the pool house startles us, and she pulls away.
Her eyes are a dark, swirling steel gray with the pupils blown out with desire. I’m sure I look just as intense. She swipes her thumb against my lips to remove her lip gloss and then does her own. She starts to walk away but stops when I call out to her.
“Ives,” I adjust my cock, “we’re not over. Not even close.”
She nods and walks around the corner, without looking back.
9
IVY
Age 17
“Ashes” by Claire Guerreso blasts out the speakers of my convertible as I drive the final few miles before I get back to the Marsh mansion. I have the roof down and strands of my straightened brown hair fly around my face. I stop on the shoulder just before the gated entrance of the community we live in.
It’s been eleven weeks since I left, and I haven’t talked to Levi once. I spent the summer in London with Oliver and training with some of the Olympic team from Great Britain and a few others from various European countries. It was an amazing experience but cemented my desire not to continue swimming past the collegiate level. I love the sport, and I love winning, but I don’t want it to be my entire existence.
Oliver and I had a great relationship that lasted almost an entire year. He was exa
ctly what I needed to keep distance from Levi last year. We spent almost every free second together, and while he doesn’t know me in the same, deep core way that Levi does, he knows the me I am now better than just about anyone else.
They got into a few fights last year. I explained my history with Levi to Oliver, but I held back on the depth of our feelings. I think he had an idea, though, when Levi caught him leaving my room early one morning when we just started dating. Levi broke his nose in one punch. Oliver retaliated by busting Levi’s lip and giving him a black eye. I had to scream for Frank to come break them up. Needless to say, from that point onward, I spent most of my time in Oliver’s dorm room on campus.
We were always clear from the outset of our relationship that we wouldn’t do long distance after he graduated from FPA. It didn’t make saying goodbye to him a week ago any easier though. I cried. He cried. His mom cried. I know he’s hoping that we’ll find our way back to each other. Who knows? Maybe we will.
I tilt my head back on the headrest and smile at the heat of the sun seeping into my skin. I’m totally stalling. I don’t know what waits inside the sleek and modern mansion I call home from Labor Day until Memorial Day. Will Levi be there? Will I be witness to another awkward walk of shame this weekend? Will it hurt as bad as it did before?
I shake off the worries. I’m a different person than I was a year ago. I’m more confident and less interested in bowing to any of the petty politics of the kids at FPA. I just want to swim, graduate, and move on to Yale next year. Maybe go on some dates and have fun with new guys.
The only thing I do hope stays the same is movie night with Levi. At least twice a month, he and I would spend a night cuddled together on the couch watching movies and sharing gummy bears. We never crossed the line beyond the occasional lingering hug or me running my fingers my through his sandy blond hair, but the sexual tension always hung heavy in the air between us.
Relentless (Titans of Founder's Ridge Book 2) Page 7
