Page 82 of Fast

There’s a protective glint in his eyes that tells me he spoke out of kindness, not because he thinks I’m not capable of kicking an intruder in the nuts.

“Just about time.” A soaked Lev steps into the foyer, shaking his dark hair like a stray dog.

“Assuming you left your house when it was already raining,” Chance chuckles. “You should have thought about taking an umbrella, dumb ass.”

Lev shrugs, lifting the grocery bags in his hands to show us. “My hands were full. Besides, with the wind blowing the rain sideways, an umbrella would do absolutely nothing to keep someone dry.”

Chance rolls his eyes. “You’re still crazy for coming out in that weather.”

“I just came from my house, so I literally drove half a mile, if that,” Lev explains. “I have a date with Zara, and since with the weather warning in place for tonight, everything will be closed, I thought I’d bring the date to her. The alternative was to be stuck at home by myself, anyway. My parents let me know they’re staying at their office until the storm dies down. They had some meetings they couldn’t postpone in the morning, and when it started raining, they decided to wait it out at work. Nothing out of the ordinary for them.”

Lev is explaining as a matter of fact, he isn’t looking for sympathy. However, I can’t help but feel for him. Growing up, I always had Mom by my side. But I can relate to feeling a parent’s absence because once I started grade school, there were long spells when Dad would be gone for the MotoGP races. I missed him so much, and I can only imagine how hard it must be for Lev to grow up with two absent parents.

“Well, it’s nice to see you.” I beam, leaning toward him to kiss him.

I’m aware of Chance’s gaze on us, so I keep the kiss brief and shallow.

“So, what did you bring?” I ask, looking at the two grocery plastic bags he’s holding.

“I didn’t know what you guys had in the house with Scott and Kelly gone, so I brought supplies to cook us dinner.”

That’s very thoughtful. I’m starting to see that Lev always takes care of the people in his life.

“I didn’t know you could cook.”

He smiles at my observation. “I can only cook a few things, nothing complicated. But what I can cook, I learned from the personal chef my parents hire to cook meals to fill our freezer and for any special occasion. She trained in a few Michelin star restaurants.”

I clap my hands, excited. “That sounds awesome. So, what are you going to cook?”

Lev lifts the grocery bags, as if that could answer my question. “I raided our fridge and pantry, since the chef is due to restock and the freezer was almost empty. But we’re in luck. I found everything I need to make us pasta with vodka sauce. Including the vodka.”

“Aww,” Chance gripes. “Your pasta with vodka sauce is fucking delicious.”

Lev glares at him, but his lips twitch as if he were trying not to laugh. “Are you planning on making yourself scarce tonight? So Zara and I can be alone?”

Chance’s jaw ticks, a scowl appearing on his perfect face. “No.”

He looks like Ares when he scowls like that.

Lev rolls his eyes, but he’s already laughing. “Yeah, I figured that much. So I brought enough food for the three of us.”

That turns Chance’s frown upside down. “Really? You’re the best, dude.” He slaps his best friend on the back.

“On one condition,” Lev says. “I need to borrow some clothes from you. I never thought that I’d get soaking wet running a few feet from my car to your front door.”

Chance takes the bags from his hands. “You know where to find my clothes. I’ll take these to the kitchen for you.”

“I won’t be a minute.”

True to his word, Lev comes back a couple of minutes later, clad in a black t-shirt and a pair of light gray sweatpants. Chance is about two inches taller than his best friend, but you wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at the way those clothes fit Lev.

Fuck.

The sweatpants leave very little to the imagination. And I might have read too many romance books, but there’s a reason why the male hero always lounges around in a pair of gray sweatpants.

If it was hard to resist the urge to ogle Chance, having both men dressed like that is pure torture.

“Zee? Did you hear me just now?”

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