Page 64 of Breaking the Habit

Riley hung from Levi’s neck like a little monkey as she twisted her neck to look at her roommate. “We’re talking!”

“Uh huh.” Nikki tutted and moved along.

“Let’s go up to my room,” Riley suggested. She took the six pack from him. “Which one do you want to drink?”

“I’m not gonna have any.” He followed her into the kitchen, where she stored the beers in the fridge. “They’re for you. And Nikki, of course.”

Nikki crooned, “Aww…” from the living room.

When Riley still looked confused, Levi added, “The next match is less than two weeks away. I can’t have alcohol.”

She paused before she opened the bottle. “Then I won’t have one either.”

The solidarity was touching. “I don’t care if you drink, Ri. I swear.”

“Nah, I don’t want one.” She brushed past him, leading him by the hand back down the hallway and up the stairs. Her bedroom was quiet and cool, bed neatly made. But that was about the only neat thing about her space. The walls were crowded with frames and postcards. Exotic lampshades filled the corners of the room, the golden glow from each one ethereal, almost haunting. Clothes lined the floor in precise piles, as if she’d started to organize and then just stopped.

“Your room is so artsy,” Levi said, looking around as Riley pushed him toward the bed. She climbed on top of him, immediately straddling him. “It’s kind of the opposite of mine.”

She laughed, pausing to look around. “You’re right.”

Opposites attract.The phrase seared through him, but it didn’t seem right to bring that up. Damn near everything about her attracted him. But to what end? That was the type of shit couples always said. And Levi wasn’t looking for long-term.

Because he had a life that he didn’t want to fuck with. His routine was nice. Between his intense fighting schedule, raising a teenager, and partying his face off whenever he could, he had enough on his plate. Adding a girlfriend didn’t seem smart.

Except since their cataclysmic night in her studio, Levi hadn’t even felt the urge to go out and let off steam like he was used to doing. Honestly, it felt like he’d let it all out already. Like Riley had somehow purged him.

But not just the sex. Hanging out with her provided a release valve, too.

It didn’t make sense, but he didn’t feel the need to probe any further. All he knew was that he wanted Riley and he had her.

End of story.

“What happens in our rooms isn’t opposite though,” Riley murmured, sinking on top of him. He ran his palms up over her thighs, sucking at his teeth as her pussy rested right on top of his cock.

“Actually…” he deflated a little. “I think it will be.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t have sex.”

Her brows drew together. “I don’t get the joke.”

“It’s not a joke. I mean, I’m less than two weeks out from the match. I’m not allowed to get off.”

Her expression flattened as the news circulated through her. “Oh…so you can’t…oh.”

He jerked his head into a nod, running his fingertips along her jawline. Riley was perfect. Or the closest to perfection he’d ever seen. Her left eye was bigger than her right—he’d noticed that already. She had a tiny scar in her right eyebrow, maybe something left over from childhood. And sometimes, when she was caught off guard, she’d blink a million times. An excessive amount of blinking.

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 madehimwant to take pictures of her.

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

“Yeah, why?”

“I wanna take pictures of you tonight.”

---