Page 34 of Falling in Reverse

“You’re not that hard to read, Astor.”

I actually take a bit of offense to that.

“Are you trying to say that I’m easy?”

“Easy to piss off, yeah.” He sneaks a look at me with a smirk. “Not that fun, is it?”

I roll my eyes and shove off the side of the car. “You’re a prick.”

“Hey, turn on my music so I can finish this up and we can eat.”

“You’re buying.”

“I sure as fuck am not.”

He is.

Levi always pays. He just loves me like that.

Setting up my Spotify app and Bluetooth, I play the specific playlist that I made for Levi so he can jam out and get what he needs to be done.

Hanging out in his garage that he shares with the guys has always been one of my favorite pastimes. I could stay here for hours and just watch or help him work on whatever car he’s got to get things done with. Levi is always looking for an opportunity, and with Dad, they both taught me how to work on race cars and race.

And this place is where I hide from Mom and my getting over my ex a long time ago. It always just stayed that way for me.

NINE

bay

When I tell you that these rich kids know how to get down, they’re all fucked up.

I behaved myself and wore ripped black jeans and a white halter top that acts a bit like a crop top. My long black hair cascades down my shoulders as Levi walks in with me, his bulky exterior already keeping most guys at a staring distance but not daring to get any closer than that.

I’m not going to sell anything with him hovering over me.

“How about we split up?” I offer, locating a few frat-looking guys who appear as though all they do is pop shit to forget their privileged lives.

“How about we don’t,” Levi retorts over the loud hip-hop music and causes me to glance over at him. We actually match tonight, which is kinda weird. Except he has this black hat that he’s wearing backward and a white tee that actually covers his belly button. “Let it soak in for a minute that you’re with me before I let you loose into this pack of wild hyenas.”

Geezus Christ.

“Chill, Hulk,” Nessa coos, stepping out in front of him so that the guys at this party can check out her ass in her black leggings. “Bay and I can handle ourselves with these dudes who just learned how to wipe their own asses.”

Levi’s green gaze flickers down to her. “How about you just stand here and be quiet until I decide how I want to do this.”

Nessa is undeterred by my bestie’s unamused shift in energy since we rolled up here with a bunch of Beamers and Benzs that filled the driveway. It was his idea to come here and sell some product, so I’m not sure why he’s so on edge right now.

“Listen,” she proposes, working the room to her advantage, and Levi doesn’t even know it. I’ve been hanging out with Nessa since we were seventeen. She can clutch attention like a fly to shit by just angling her best assets and having the dudes come to her.

She’s a pro while not looking like one, and the girl can handle her own.

“We can scream if it makes you feel any better.” Levi only blinks at Nessa. “How do you think we survive without you hovering?”

“By not showing off your ass within thirty seconds of arriving at a place that’s eighty percent all men.”

Okay, maybe he did notice what she was doing before.

Nessa smiles brightly at him, pulling at her blonde hair and bringing it around to one shoulder. “If you’re going to play boyfriend, then play it right.” She steals a quick glance at me, alluding that she’ll handle Levi while I try to make a sale. “Men are going to want to approach me more if they know you’re here with me.”

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