Page 45 of Breaking the Habit

Riley laughed as she headed back to Levi’s bedroom, where his attached bathroom waited. She overhead Gage say to Levi, “She’s really hot!”

In the bathroom, Riley splashed water on her face over and over again, trying to wake herself up from this crazy dream. But every time she opened her eyes, she was still here. In Levi’s bathroom. Wearing his clothes. Having a very fun, early breakfast with hisfamily.

As she stared at her reflection and tried to wipe away some of the smudged mascara under her eyelashes, she repeated one thing to herself:You will not fall for him now.

Because somehow, learning about Gage cracked her wide open. Levi almost seemed like his dad, which was probably due to their age difference. The second they’d stepped out into the apartment, she’d caught the subtle shift in Levi. The way he’d straightened, almost beefing himself upmoreto be around Gage.

And yes, it was all very hot, so now she needed to tread more carefully.

When she rejoined the brothers in the kitchen, soft hip-hop music played from a stereo in the living room. Levi had the scrambled eggs going, and the toaster oven boasted a full rack of bread.

“Gage, you want avocado toast?”

Gage sighed.

“Fine. What about butter toast?” Before Gage could answer, Levi said, “Or frying oil toast? Or toejam toast? What about dryer lint toast?”

Gage snickered. “I’ll take the dryer lint toast.”

“My fave, too.” Levi sent Riley a wink as he turned toward the kitchen island, holding the cast iron skillet handle with a dishtowel as he pushed eggs into three separate bowls. “Riley, you want the toe jam toast, right?”

“I’ll go with avocado.”

“That’s my girl.” His smooth tenor got the butterflies in her belly started again. Riley rested her chin in her palm, smiling over at Gage.

“Were you at Levi’s fight last night?”

Gage shook his head but didn’t offer anything more.

“He doesn’t go to a lot of them,” Levi said. Riley suddenly realized that maybe she’d waded into uncomfortable territory. Her belly cinched with anxiety.

“I wouldlike to,” Gage said pointedly. “But I don’t have anybody to go with.”

“You can go with Tammy,” Levi said, using a tone that sounded like he’d probably said those words tons of times before.

“I’m not going with Tammy, okay?” Gage scoffed. “She’s great and all, but…no.”

“Who’s Tammy?” Riley asked.

“His home health nurse. She’s nice. But I guess not exactly night-on-the-town material.” Levi added a heaping pile of cheese to each bowl of eggs, then chopped cilantro. He paused, looking up at Riley.

“You’re not one of those people who thinks cilantro tastes like soap, are you?”

She eyed the bowls. “No. You got lucky. I think it tastes like perfection.”

Levi heaved a sigh of relief and handed out the bowls, then got out three forks. “Dig in, kids.”

Riley was one bite into her fluffy eggs when she realized what was missing. “You got any coffee?”

“We have orange soda,” Gage declared.

Levi narrowed his eyes at his brother, then said, “Yes, I have coffee. Would you like some, m’lady?”

Riley fought a grin and nodded. “Please. I can’t start my day until I get my drug of choice.”

“Ha ha,” Gage said. “I feel that way about cheese.”

“You eat cheese first thing in the morning every day?”

---