Page 175 of Pretty Little Lies

“Heads or tails?” Levi asks me before we begin to climb a set of bleachers.

I don’t bother to ask what for, because I’m too much of a mess to care. “Tails.”

A silver coin makes a short trip in the air before landing in Levi’s palm before he flips it onto the top of his other inked hand. “Of course, it was meant to be harder.”

He trudges up the stands with me in tow, as Nessa links her arm with mine in silent comfort. I settle next to Levi a few rows up and immediately begin searching the crowd when Nessa takes my other side.

“They’re with Cairo,” Levi tells me, as if reading the energy fumigating off me. “And, don’t worry about them being pissed that you’re here with me. They shouldn’t be surprised.”

“And why’s that?” I ask, still scanning the place.

“You’re South Shore. It doesn’t matter that we’re not together.”

“I think that’s been blown out of the water. Torin knows you were in Dad’s hospital room the other night.”

“And?”

I lift my shoulders. “Nothing. Torin let it go.”

“I didn’t know maturity was in his DNA.”

“I didn’t know pettiness wasn’t in his DNA. He’s possessive as all fuck.” I feel Levi’s heated glare on me and that should’ve been a comment I kept for Nessa, but it slipped. Pushing my lips together, I try to change the subject. “How many matches are there?”

“Not very many.”

“Any chick fights?” Nessa asks. “I can’t imagine you staying here long, Levi.”

“Sometimes.”

It doesn’t take a moron to see that Levi isn’t in the mood for chit-chat, so I don’t say anything else. Only the immediate surroundings to ground myself into some cocoon where Matteo’s presence isn’t going to fuck me up.

“I can’t wait to see your ex get his ass handed to him,” Nessa says at my side with a little nudge. “Especially by that sexy-as-fuck Italian.” I don’t offer much to that comment, because agreeing might get Levi to amp up his broody. I’d rather not receive shit from him when I know I’m going to get it from Torin and Reeve. “How many times have you been challenged, Lev?”

I’ve never thought of that before.

And I find myself craning my head to look at Levi to receive that answer.

He doesn’t glance back when he says, “Once.”

“By who?”

“Don’t ask me questions just to rile yourself up,” he deadpans, keeping his gaze solely locked on the ring.

“That bad?” Nessa taunts back. “Was it a pity fight? Some old dude who only took you one punch to knock him out? Not worth bragging about?”

“Go fuck yourself, Nes,” he grounds out, locking his jaw in irritation.

“Then it looks like you got five seconds to redeem yourself or Bay and I over here are going to think that you beat the shit out of a child.”

My lips quirk in a smirk, even though she’s pressing his buttons, but this is familiar. It’s both of them always going back and forth amongst each other because one of them has to have the last word.

“I didn’t beat the shit out of a child,” he carps back. “I played chicken off Peer Pressure Point. The first person to bail lost.”

“You played someRebel Without a Causebullshit?” I carp out, and Levi stays silent, as if that news is too old to even acknowledge. “You’re stupid as fuck, Levi Wallace.”

He shrugs. “I was nineteen, just graduated. I needed to blow off some steam, and I knew that would scare the piss out of anyone not totally accustomed to cars.”

“Who challenged you?” Nessa presses, leaning up against my frame so that she doesn’t miss the answer.

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