Page 130 of Never Die for a Sinner
I swear to God.
“It’s okay,” I say finally, after the silence starts to hum in my ears. “I’ll just be a moment.”
Alex is not easily swayed.
“Ava, I don’t trust him. What’s he got to say to you that he can’t say in front of me?”
I pause for a moment, confused, but brush it off. Alex is just being protective, and by protective, I mean overbearing. So is Levi, but one is paying my grandmother’s bills, so I at least need to hear him out.
“Well, Idotrust him.”Kind of.
That’s only partially a lie. Do I trust Levi to protect me with his life? Yes. If he didn’t, I’d haunt him with every spare second of my afterlife.
Do I trust him not to completely shatter my heart into a million pieces?
Absolutely not.
“I’ll be okay,” I tell Alex, softening my tone. I canfeelLevi’s smugness over my shoulder. The two lock eyes, and Alex’s lip twitches before he finally concedes.
“I’ll be back to check on you.”
The moment he’s gone, Levi’s grabbing my hand and tugging me toward the door.
“Stop,” I grit, but I can tell by the stiffness in his shoulders that he’s not in a great mood.
Good. That makes two of us.
“Let me go, asshole,” I growl the moment we make it out onto the porch, but I may as well be fighting with a brick wall.
The moment my feet touch the sidewalk, I wrench my hand back as hard as I can, snatch my drink from his hand, and storm off toward the trees surrounding the property.
As I suspected, he follows me, though I was really hoping he would just magically disappear.
“Ava.”
“Fuck off, Levi.”
Outside the party, the music is thankfully a lot less headache-inducing, and I can actually breathe from the lack of smoke in the air. I step into the trees that border the property, just because I know out here under the full moon, it’s a lot better than being in there surrounded by rogue boobs and drunk men getting handsy.
“I will not fuck off, little ghost.”
I stop, turning to stare at him. He looks like a god, basking in the glow of the moonlight overhead. He’s wearing his familiarblack hoodie and jeans, but it’s the feral look in his blue eyes and his wild hair that make my heart beat unsteadily.
God, there’s no way he’s real.
“You know, if you’d peed on me, I think you could have made less of an ass of yourself.”
He doesn’t acknowledge me.
“Stay away from him, Ava.”
I gawk at him.
“He’s myfriend.”
Levi cocks his chin up. “He know that?”
I swear to God.
