Breaking the Habit: The Breaking Series #4

by Leigh, Ember

  But she was perfect. In a classically beautiful way, but also in a uniquely Riley way. She had Oscar-worthy bone structure combined with the art and darkness that he’d come to appreciate about her.

  She made him want to take pictures of her.

  “You got a camera laying around here?” he asked.

  “Yeah, why?”

  “I wanna take pictures of you tonight.”

  She looked at him for a few moments, as if the suggestion had shocked her. Then she quietly climbed off him, hunting down a little film camera from a desk drawer. She adjusted a few settings on it before handing it to him.

  Levi turned the camera over in his hands a couple times. He hadn’t used film in years. He brought it up to his face, lined up a shot, and then click.

  Riley looked pleased.

  “That one will sell for an easy hundo,” he said.

  “Ha. Maybe your face. But not mine.” She quirked her lips in a secretive smile. “You know how hot you are, right?”

  He feigned surprise. “Me?”

  “Oh, stop.” She straddled him again, smoothing her palms over his shoulders. “You know, if the fighting thing doesn’t work out, you could always go into modeling.”

  “The fighting thing is gonna work out,” Levi said, cupping the mounds of her ass. “But I’m not opposed to whatever comes after it.”

  “Well…if you ever need a fashion photographer down the road…” she said, pushing her fingers underneath the sleeves of his T-shirt.

  “Huh. So you like working with Levi.” The fact that she’d not only warmed up to him but damn near melted all over him felt good. No, it felt fucking incredible. Riley was someone he wanted to win over. The type of person who made life better for knowing them.

  “He pays pretty well…” Riley murmured into the hollow of his neck. “Fucks me in my dark room…” Her lips trailed up over his jawline, leaving a moist trail toward his lips. “It’s a pretty sweet gig.”

  “You forgot to mention my jokes.”

  Riley giggled through a kiss, then she pulled back, her eyes wild. “Okay. Be honest with me.”

  “Okay?”

  “What is the best joke you have?” She gripped his arms. “I want to hear it. The gold standard of all your other jokes.”

  He snorted. “Really?”

  “Yes. I have to know.”

  He narrowed his eyes at her. He’d tell her, but he couldn’t offer it up so fast. “I don’t know. This seems like a trick. You’re probably gonna go sell it online afterward.”

  She shook her head. Very seriously. “I promise. Pinky promise, even.”

  He offered his pinky as a test, and she snagged it with her own.

  “Damn. Can’t back down on that.” He fought a grin as she got comfy on his lap. Her attention sizzled on him. “Okay. You ready?”

  “Just tell me.”

  “So my friend gave birth to her baby in the car on the way to the hospital.” Levi paused, stifling the laugh that bubbled up in him already, knowing the punchline. “Her husband named him Carson.”

  Riley stared at him with wide eyes for a moment, and then she started shaking with silent laughter. She screeched a moment later and fell over onto her bed, covering her face.

  “That is so stupid!” she moaned. “But also so good.”

  “It’s the best one,” Levi affirmed, lying out on the bed next to her. She rolled to face him, and he did the same. He fingered the exposed swath of skin as she propped up on her elbow to look at him.

  “Why are you so into dad jokes?” she asked.

  “You already asked a question,” Levi said, his chest tightening reflexively. “Now it’s my turn. Why are you so obsessed with John Stamos?”

  “Obsessed? Isn’t that a little strong?”

  Levi pointed over her shoulder. “I’m staring at a computer printout of his face right now. Which is next to a dangling keychain with his face as Uncle Jesse. So I’m calling obsessed.”

  She sighed. “He’s…the perfect man.”

  “Is he, though?”

  “Yes! He’s tall, dark, and handsome. He has incredible hair, even better when it’s longer and got that little wave in it. And his smile…” She tutted. “I just feel like he would be the best husband ever.”

  “Wow. This side of you surprises me.” But not only surprised—it also delighted the hell out of him. “I didn’t think you’d have a husband fantasy.”

  “Well, I don’t really. Not like some girls.” She shrugged. “But I’ll probably get married someday. Maybe when I’m forty-five and have travelled the world and finally have enough money from selling pictures to buy a house. Maybe then.” Riley’s gaze dropped to his T-shirt. She pushed her fingertips over the fabric, tracing an invisible pattern. “What about you? Will you get married?”

  Levi scoffed. “I doubt it. I’ve got a weird situation. I can’t see anyone being into it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Whoever I’d marry would be marrying Gage, too.”

  Riley got quiet, searching his face. “Right.”

  “I dunno. I’m not really the marrying type. I don’t see the point.” He shrugged, aware how brutally honest he was being. But he wasn’t afraid to be that way with Riley. Which was nice. It was new for him. Hell, it had been since high school that he’d found himself in a situation like this: relaxed and hanging out, no alcohol or acting out involved.

  Usually his sober days were reserved for Gage, which mean being his shuttle, his homework helper, and his parent. And ever since Levi had to pivot and restructure his entire life after their parents died, he’d stopped having much of a social life beyond the gym and his nights out, which were all about getting fucked up and fucking girls.

  Fucking girls he never saw again. That was the caveat too. A few of them lingered—maybe for a second or a third hookup. Most of them wanted to see him more, but he didn’t let that happen. Which meant that what he was doing with Riley right now was way outside of the norm.

  Riley studied him intensely for a few moments. The air between them had shifted, as though she’d been able to glimpse his inner thoughts. That was a scary possibility.

  “Why do you go out and get super drunk and fight with people?” she asked in a quiet voice.

  “Oh, man.” A laugh whooshed out of him. “Are we playing twenty questions? I didn’t come prepared.”

  “You broke that guy’s camera the other day, too,” Riley said.

  Levi winced. “Yeah. That’s uh…” He shifted on the bed, unsure how to characterize himself without going into the deep, dark well of why. “I’ve got lots of energy. And some of it’s bad energy. I’m sort of intense. Not sure if you noticed.”

  Riley laughed softly, trailing her fingers along the hem of his shirt, flirting with the waistband of his briefs. “Yeah. I might have.”

  Levi focused on the ceiling of the bedroom, where strange arcs of golden light splayed out from the various lampshades. “Life is a lot, you know? I like to go party and forget.”

  His throat tightened—another uncharacteristic warning signal that he should listen to. Riley made him open up, but she wasn’t just toeing the water, she was diving to the bottom. Somehow, in the past month, she’d managed to wriggle her way into his home and his heart. He knew it needed to stop.

  But it was hard to find the motivation.

  “Why didn’t you go out tonight?”

  He knew the technical answer to that question—he was on sex and alcohol prohibition again—but the real reason involved that deep, dark well. Better to sidestep. “Um, I believe it’s my question now.”

  Riley nuzzled her head onto his chest. “Okay, fine.”

  Levi stalled, using the pause to take a few furtive inhales of her hair. She smelled like patchouli always—the good kind, not the choking, head-shop kind—but today there was another undertone. Something vaguely citrusy.

  “If John Stamos is your celebrity lover…who is your celebrity rival?”

  She
groaned into his ribs. “I don’t wanna talk about this.”

  “Come on.” He poked at her sides. “Spill the beans.”

  “If I say his name, it gives him power,” Riley protested. “And he already has too much.”

  “Now I have to know.”

  Riley huffed and sat up, reaching for her phone. She tapped something out and then showed him the screen. She’d written a note—JAMES FRANCO.

  Levi snorted. “James Franco?”

  “I said don’t say his name!”

  “Okay, okay.” Now his cheeks hurt from smiling so much. “But what’s the deal? He’s not that bad.”

  “Ugh. I cannot stand him.” She deleted the note and tossed her phone, as if the whole thing was contaminated now. “His stupid smirk and his stupid eyes and his—” She paused, shaking her head. “No. He’s definitely no.”

  Levi scooped Riley back toward him, so her head lay on his chest again. It felt better that way.

  “I will never speak his name again,” Levi said. “And your secret is safe with me.”

  She grinned up at him, and the moment that shivered between them made something warm and sticky blossom in his chest. Like Riley’s fingers brushing over his abs had roots, and she’d plunged them into the core of him.

  Except the roots didn’t hurt. They didn’t even sting.

  He wanted to see what sort of plant might grow.

  Chapter 21

  Riley knew as soon as she showed up to the gym the next day that it was going to be an off day for Levi.

  She couldn’t say what gave it away. The air was tense in the training camp at the back of the gym. Levi, sweat already glistening on him, was punching a bag in the corner as if he’d been punished and was trying to work off his sentence. Maybe it was the way Travis had his arms crossed, pacing the far wall like a pissed-off parent.

  Or maybe it was the ache in Riley’s pelvis, the lingering physical evidence that she and Levi had totally broken the rules the night before and ended up fucking right before drifting off to sleep.

  She’d done her best to be good, and so had he.

  But it was so damn hard.

  Levi’s words rang through her as she unpacked her camera and hurried to get set up. There’s something about you I can’t say no to, Riley.

  Even when his career was on the line, apparently.

  Riley worked out some test shots of the gym. Lex and Cobra hung around the octagon, fixing something with the cage siding. A small group of women Riley didn’t know hung around near the doors, clearly spectating.

  “Oh my god, that’s him,” one murmured.

  “He is so fucking hot,” another said.

  Riley’s heartrate picked up. She knew without knowing that they were talking about Levi. It could have been any man of the four of them—the staff of Holt Body Fitness was unequivocally hot—but it had to be Levi.

  Riley glanced back at the women. Two tanned, toned goddesses, with long, straight blonde hair and picture-perfect makeup. Yeah, that seemed par for the course for Levi’s fanbase. They served as a reminder: she needed to get used to this. Not as his quasi-lover, but as his photographer for the next month and a half.

  “Hey, do you know that Levi guy?” The shortest blonde got Riley’s attention. Her breasts looked like two perfect purple melons in her trendy sports bra.

  “Uh…yeah.” Riley offered a quick smile. “Why?”

  “Is he single?”

  From the other side of the gym, Levi’s grunts as he pummeled the bag formed the metronome to Riley’s thoughts. “I don’t…know?”

  The purple-melon blonde bit at her bottom lip, her gaze sliding back to Levi. “Isn’t he the hottest? I love guys with long hair.”

  Riley swallowed, a knot forming in her gut. “Yeah. But you might wanna move along. Travis doesn’t like when people watch the training.”

  It was a bald-faced lie, but she wanted these girls out of her space.

  “Thanks for the heads up, chica.” Blondie winked at her, and the women wandered away. Riley was left with a racing pulse, and she walked on wooden legs toward the far side of the gym. Travis had Levi doing pull-ups now.

  “I don’t know what the fuck you think we’re doing here,” Travis was saying as she approached. “But this poor excuse for motivation is not gonna cut it.”

  Levi grunted. Every muscle of his body flexed and gleamed as he hauled himself up toward the bar over and over again. He didn’t slow down; the exertion didn’t seem to register with him. Riley’s mouth parted for a moment before she remembered she needed to take pictures.

  “How’s everyone doing?” she asked before she started snapping pictures.

  “Just getting my ass beat,” Levi said breathlessly.

  “You get your ass beat when you show up without your game face on.” Travis clasped his hands behind his back as he watched Levi’s pull-ups. “Give me twenty more.”

  Levi didn’t complain. Riley lined up a few cool shots, including Travis’s disdain. But she had a feeling she knew what the source of the problem was. When Travis wandered back toward the gym doors to handle something the receptionist needed, Levi dropped to his feet.

  “Are you okay?” she hissed at him.

  His chest heaved, and he swiped at his face with his forearm. “Yeah. Great.”

  “Why is he mad at you?”

  Levi glanced over her shoulder, then he leaned forward for a kiss. All her thoughts evaporated.

  “It’s ’cause we banged last night. Drained my vital energy and shit.”

  Her eyes widened. “Did you tell him?”

  “No, of course not.” His breath came out in heavy bursts as he wiped at his forehead. “But he can tell.”

  “Fuck, Levi.” Her stomach pitched to her feet. “I didn’t mean for you to get into trouble.” She watched as he squirted some water into his mouth. “Maybe I should keep my pussy away from you until your next fight.”

  A sarcastic ha-ha escaped him. “Don’t even think about it.” He hooked her by the belt loops of her shorts, then slid a hand down the top of her thigh. Electricity shivered through her, and she realized how foolish that suggestion was. How terribly dumb and foolish.

  “Levi! Get in the cage!” Travis’s voice boomed through the gym, and Levi snapped to attention. “Riley! Stop distracting my fighter!”

  She rolled her lips inward, feeling a lot like a teen getting caught smoking behind the school. She’d never been on the receiving end of Travis’s wrath, and she didn’t intend to make it a regular thing.

  “Sorry!” she called out, scurrying after Levi as he jogged toward the octagon.

  Levi and Cobra prepped for a quick match in the cage. Riley tried to calm her racing heart as she switched lenses.

  But the only thing on her mind was the feel of Levi’s lips against hers. The way he’d welcomed her into his orbit as effortlessly and naturally as anything. How it seemed like there really was something between them now, despite how much she believed there shouldn’t be.

  The question from earlier came back to her: is Levi single?

  What were they doing? It seemed wrong to question it when things were so fun. But it seemed stupid not to do her due diligence. To make sure that Levi wasn’t doing this same exact thing with a couple purple-melon-chested ladies on the side.

  As the friendly matchup got underway with Cobra and Levi, Riley realized that she needed to talk to him about this. Since her getting back from vacation, their situation had rocketed from question marks to exclamation points.

  There was something between them. Levi had spent the night at her house. He’d apologized to her formally. He texted her daily.

  If it looked and smelled like dating, was it really dating?

  There was a bad dad joke in there somewhere, but she’d let Levi tease it out. That’s what he was good at. That’s what she loved about him.

  And maybe that was the problem. She already knew what she loved about him. About Levi—the man who was destined for greatness,
who had throngs of salivating fans, who posed an unlimited number of relationship difficulties Riley knew better than to dip her toe into.

  Except her toe was already in the water, even though she’d sworn she wasn’t putting on her bathing suit.

  Her past told her she knew better than to move forward with someone like Levi.

  But her heart? Oh, her heart was reawakened. Rejuvenated. Completely enthralled by the opportunities to exist and feel again.

  Going on a sabbatical had been like going into relationship hibernation. And all the animals in the world who hibernated knew what happened once you staggered out of the winter cave.

  Everything came to life again. You dove right back in.

  You greeted spring with an open heart.

  She swallowed a knot in her throat, watching Levi through the viewfinder as she waited for the shot.

  And nobody in their right mind said no to spring.

  Chapter 22

  Levi squinted against the mid-day sunlight as he hurried toward his lunch meeting. Beverly Hills was a different beast than his little life in Los Feliz. Swanky cars were everywhere in LA, but here, the concentration seemed statistically higher. Money leaked from the cracks in the cement. If he thought the money he’d been making recently was a lot, Beverly Hills begged to differ.

  He was meeting Marcus here to talk about the action plan for their agreement. Levi had a knot in his gut the size of a grapefruit, but he counseled himself he needed to hear it out. He’d figure out how to move forward.

  The extra $200,000 in his bank account made it hard not to.

  Marcus waved at him from a little table on the front patio. They’d chosen a cute café for lunch, and from the looks of it, Marcus already had water and cocktails waiting for them.

  “Hey, buddy,” Marcus said, offering his hand before Levi slid into his seat. “I took the liberty of buying you a celebratory drink.”

  “Ah, shit. What kind?” The amber liquid suggested alcohol.

  “Some froofy thing. Champagne and liqueur. It’s pretty great.”