Page 17 of Fracture

“Hey.” I try to remain calm and not think too much about him catching me staring at his dick this morning, and decide with the friendly way he’s looking at me now, that maybe I was, as always, overthinking things. “What’re you doing here?”

“I thought I’d come find you and take you to lunch.” He smiles down at me, a brief glance flickering up and down my body. “I’m going to Mario’s with Dylan once he gets back, thought in the meantime you and me could hang out.”

“Well, I’m due to meet Lily in a half hour, so…”

Levi raises his eyebrows and shrugs.”No problem, I guess I can carry your books for you if you want?” He jerks his head in the direction of the bookstore. “That is, if you were headed in here with that mean look on your face?”

“I didn’t have a mean look on my face.” I push past him into the bookstore, the bell at the door tinkling lightly.

“You sure looked pissed.” He follows me to the back of the store slowly, looking the shelves up and down as he goes.

“I actually just got asked on a date, so I doubt I looked that pissed.”

There’s no response from behind me, and after a beat I turn around to look at him standing square in the middle of the aisle, his arms crossed over his chest. Nowhelooks pissed. He lifts an eyebrow.

“A date, nice. Who asked you out on a date?”

“Jared Marshall, he’s taking me swimming at the lake at 3,” I reply lightly, flipping my hair over my shoulder and spinning back to the shelf of smutty romance novels. I run my finger along the spines pretending to be engrossed in the titles while deeply aware of Levi’s stare against the back of my neck. “You remember him from high school, right? He owns the cafe around the corner now.”

“A cafe?” Levi stands beside me, leaning against the shelf. “Cute. You like him?”

“I wouldn’t go on a date with him if I didn’t.” I hope to god I’m not blushing, but my face feels like it’s on fire.

Levi crosses his arms over his chest, nodding, looking the shelves up and down. “What do you like to read, Stella?”

“Romance, mainly.” I pluck a book from the shelf and flick through the pages. “When you read heavy law books all day I like to have something fun to focus on.”

“I can understand that. Fun is good.” Levi takes a book I own from the shelf, flipping through it before he stops on a page, eyes traveling over the words. His mouth quirks into a crooked grin, and he chuckles to himself.

“Found something you like?” My head is going to explode. I know what that book’s about. It’s wall-to-wall fucking, and my cheeks flame knowing Levi is reading it right in front of me.

“Yeah, it’s a good one.” He looks at me, and I meet his gaze, knowing full-well I’m tomato red at this point. “She’s got a guy’s dick down her throat, and she likes it.”

I swear to god I’m going to die. I can’t breathe, and Levi’s gaze drops to my breasts.

“Want me to read it to you?” He asks in a tone of voice that he should not be speaking to me in.

“No thanks,” I snap, sounding way more breathless than I’d like. “I don’t need my brother reading smut to me, that’s gross.”

“Your brother, huh?”

I narrow my eyes at him, grabbing the book from his hand and shoving it back onto the shelf. “You just called me sis, what, 3 minutes ago?”

He takes a step closer, bracing a hand against the shelf behind me so he’s half-caged me in. “Did you like what you saw?”

My blood is replaced by ice water, and my stomach drops so violently into my feet I nearly stumble. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“This morning, baby girl.” He lowers his mouth to my ear. “That’s not how you look at your brother.”

I push him away lightly so I don’t cause a scene. “Fuck off, Levi. I barely glanced at you.”

But he pushes straight back, and puts an arm around my waist. “I asked if you liked what you saw.”

“I saw a man who can’t close the door in someone else’s house when he sleeps naked.” I glare up at him, hoping he can’t hear my heartbeat thundering through my ears. “Maybe next time, shut the damn door so you spare me a heart attack.”

Levi grins, raising a hand to my cheek. “So, this date?” The back of his finger traces along my jawline. “You gonna fuck him?”

I shove him away from me and storm out of the bookstore amidst a confused farewell from the owner. I’m consumed with anger and shame, and a heaping dose of desire that won’t fucking die down because every time I damn well blink, Levi’s dick glows on the backs of my eyeballs.

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