Page 2 of Playing the Neutral Zone

“It means I’m dying here, Levi.I’m seriously dying.I want to be with you.”

“And you will be.”

I crossed my arms and let out a sigh.“Okay, well, what happens if I meet someone this year, and he sweeps me right off my feet?Then, because of that, we never have the chance to be together because I am head over heels in love with him.”

“Not going to happen.”

“How are you so sure?It could happen.”

“Scarlett, let’s be real.You only have eyes for me.I know it, you know it.It’s not like you haven’t dated others.If we weren’t meant to be, you’d have met someone by now and would have run away with him already.A few more months will hurt nothing.”He winked, then placed a kiss on the top of my head and got up off the lounger.“What do you want on your pizza?Same as always?”

I lay back and watched as he walked across the patio, picking up his phone.My eyes washed over his body and travelled back up in time to meet his eyes as he turned around.I softly smiled.“You know me too well,” I answered, taking another drink of my iced tea.

I closedmy eyes just as the credits rolled.I lay on the couch, Levi lay behind me, a blanket thrown across our legs, while his arms wrapped around me.He smells so good, I thought to myself as I took a deep breath.

“What did you want to watch now, or did you want to hit the hay?”he asked.

I rubbed my eyes.I didn’t want to go to sleep because sleep meant that I’d have to move to the guest bedroom.Yep, he refused to even share a bed with me.

“Why don’t we watch something scary?”I questioned.

“Something scary?Don’t you remember the last time we watched something scary?”

I shook my head, knowing full well what had happened the last time.It was the night of my sixteenth birthday, and I’d been so frightened in the middle of the night I’d gotten up, rushed across the hall to our spare bedroom where I knew Levi was sleeping.I’d thrown open his bedroom door, fully prepared to crawl into bed with him like I’d done many times before, only to find him… God the memory flooded my body with heat.It had been the first time I’d ever seen a man naked.

My cheeks flooded with heat, and for the first time, I was thankful I wasn’t facing him.

“That was different.I was only in my teens.God, I’m a grown woman now.”

“I’ll never forget the way your eyes washed over my body that night…the color of your cheeks…the shock on your face…” he muttered.

“Well, it’s not every day a fifteen-year-old walks in on her older brother’s best friend to find him…indisposed.”

He let out a throaty chuckle, and then I felt him shift away from me for a moment, turning onto his back and pulling the covers off me a little.

“What are you doing?

“Covering myself,” he said, adjusting the blanket over himself.

“Well, I’m cold.Probably had too much sun today,” I said, reaching behind me and pulling the blanket back over my legs.

“Scarlett, stop fucking around,” he said as he pulled the blanket back on top of him.“You don’t want to know what I have under this blanket.”

I shifted myself so I was now facing him and propped myself up on my elbow, a playful grin coming to my lips.

“Maybe I do…” I said, twirling my hair around my finger.

He looked into my eyes, his face serious as the heat built between us like it had frequently before.It was always this way between us.He’d test me, I’d test him.It was the way we worked.It was the way we’d always worked, but in the end, his promise to my brother always won.

As our eyes remained locked, I felt his hand grab mine and before I could pull it away, he’d placed it on his hardened cock, holding it there, and closed his eyes.

Shock travelled up my arm, and I swallowed hard as my body heated while my hand cupped his shaft through the blanket, through his jeans, my memory flashing back to that night all those years ago.I’d seen him.I’d barged into his room after that stupid scary movie they’d forced me to watch and seen his cock in his hand as he stroked himself while laying naked on the bed, covers off to the side.

It had only been a glimpse, and I jumped as he shouted and covered himself up, causing me to slam the door shut and leave his room.I’d never really realized how big he was until this moment.

My mouth was dry, and I could feel my heart beating in my ears as I watched him bite his lower lip, his eyes closed while his hand was still resting on top of mine, holding it hostage.I licked my lips, and without barely making any movement, I slowly leaned down and pressed my lips to his.

We’d kissed millions of times before, but the moment our lips touched this time, electricity flooded my body.Internally, I screamed.My hand tightened around him.I didn’t want this to stop.I wanted all of him right now.My mind flooded with thoughts of him pushing me away, of him leaving, but then his one arm wrapped around me, while the other pulled me down, and he kissed me back.

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