Focus (The Crescent Chronicles, #2) (26 page)

Chapter Twenty

“
Good morning,
love.”

“
Morning.” We were back in
our bed inside. Levi must have moved us while I slept.

“
What time is
it?”

“
Nine. I must have tired
you out last night. You slept like a rock…mostly.”

“
Mostly?”

“
You did say my name one or
two times.”

“
Seriously? I need to stop
doing that.” Surprisingly, it didn’t embarrass me.

“
No. Definitely not. Keep
those dreams coming. It means I’m doing something
right.”

“
You definitely did
something right last night.”

“
Did I?”

“
Yes… it’s probably good I
fell asleep so quickly, otherwise I would have kept you
up.”

He laughed. “I wouldn’t have
minded.”

“
Did you sleep well?” I
asked belatedly.

“
Very well.”

“
But you must have been up
awhile if you heard me talking.”

“
I slept more than usual. I
usually only get three or four hours. I probably got seven last
night.”

“
Three or four hours? How
do you function?”

“
I technically only need to
sleep a few hours a week…”

“
What?” I sat up. “What
else don’t I know about you?”

“
Do my sleep habits really
upset you that much?” He pulled me back down into bed next to
him.

“
No, it’s just that I wish
I knew more about you.”

“
Like what?”

“
Do you need to
eat?”

“
Yes, I need to
eat.”

I snuggled into the sheets. “But how
much. Is it like sleep?”

“
No, I need to eat as much
as you. Scratch that—more than you.”

“
What about—”

“
Don’t ask about the
bathroom, that’s the same too.”

“
Levi.”

“
What?”

“
Okay, I know you can see
well in the dark, but you don’t have x-ray vision or anything, do
you?”

“
Are you asking whether I
can see through your clothes?”

“
Maybe.”

“
No, unfortunately
not.”

“
Good.”

“
Good? Would that really
bother you? I already know exactly how good you look naked…” He
pulled away the blanket to look at me.

I pushed the blanket back down. “It’s
not me I’m worried about.”

“
Wow, that would make you
jealous, huh?” He grinned. “Don’t worry, babe. Even if I could, no
one would hold a candle to you.” Something about the way he said
it, and the intense way he looked at me, made me believe
him.

“
We have to go back to
school, don’t we?”

“
We still have another few
days of study break. We can stay another night.”

I sat up on an elbow. “But I need to
study.”

“
You can study here. Didn’t
you drag all your books?”

“
Maybe.”

His phone rang, interrupting our
conversation.

“
Hi Dad. Yes, it’s been
fine.”

I figured it was going to be a long
conversation, so I decided to take a shower. My heart nearly jumped
out of my chest when Levi joined me a few minutes later. “You made
me shower alone yesterday. You’re not doing it again.”

“
Well, then, make yourself
useful.” I handed him the soap. Levi brought out such a strong and
sexy side of me I never realized I had.

“
Yes, Ma’am.” He grinned,
and I was ready to agree to another night in Shreveport.

Those plans were dashed when he filled
me in on his talk with his dad. He’d just finished drying me off.
He insisted on doing it himself. “So, it looks like you’ll get back
to study after all.”

I tried to hide my disappointment. “Oh,
does your dad need you back?”

“
Actually, he wants to see
both of us.”

“
Really?”

“
Yeah, he wants us at
dinner at their place tonight.”

I hadn’t been to his parents’ house
since the party in August, and then it was only the
backyard.

“
Don’t look so nervous.
It’s not a big deal.”

“
It’s a big enough deal
that he wants us back right away.” I rifled through my suitcase for
some clothes.

“
I think he just wants to
talk about how things went. He sounded happy with me though. This
is a good thing.”

I forced a smile. “All right, do I get
breakfast or are we leaving immediately?” I pulled on a
sweater.

“
Breakfast sounds good.
What do you want?”

“
Do you think you have
pancake mix? I’m craving some.”

“
I bet we do. Let’s look.”
I followed him out to the kitchen. After rummaging through the
cabinets, he pulled out the mix, along with the milk and eggs from
the fridge.

I opened the freezer, glad to find some
frozen blueberries.

“
You like blueberry
pancakes, too?” He turned from the stove.

“
Love them.”

After stuffing ourselves with blueberry
pancakes, we packed up and got back in the car. The ride home was
pleasant enough, but it went too quickly. I wasn’t ready to face my
friends at school, or worse, Levi’s parents.

He pulled up by my dorm. “Thanks for an
amazing time, Al.”

“
Thank you.”

He leaned over to kiss me. “I’ll be
back to get you at seven.”

“
You’ll bring my car back
to the hotel?”

“
After I clean
it.”

“
You better.” I moved to
open my door.

“
Al?”

I turned back to look at
him.

“
Pack whatever you need for
tonight and tomorrow. I want you staying at my place.”

I hesitated for a moment. I wanted to
spend another night with him, but I also wanted to make sure I got
to catch up with my friends. I couldn’t decide. “Maybe.” I got
out.

I took two steps away from the car
before he caught up with me. I hadn’t expected him to get out. He
backed me up so I was leaning against the car. “No maybe. Yes. You
can’t just cut me off.”

I laughed. “You can handle it. I’ll
think about it.”

“
Pack a bag, Al, or don’t
complain to me when you have to use my toothbrush.”

I made a face. “I’ll see you
later.”

“
Aren’t you forgetting
something?”

“
What?”

He opened the tailgate and pulled out
my bag.

“
Oh yeah,” I reached for
the suitcase.

He pulled it away. “Like I’m going to
make you carry it.”

I shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

I used my ID to swipe into the dorm and
Levi followed me up the steps. I unlocked my door, not surprised to
find Hailey studying on her bed. She rarely used her desk
anymore.

“
Hey!” She got up and
hugged me. “How was the trip?”

“
Good.” I
smiled.

“
Only good?” Levi moved
into the room.

I glared at him.

“
I guess I can just ask
you, Levi. How was the trip?”

“
Fantastic. Allie and I got
to spend a lot of quality time together.”

“
I bet.” Hailey gave me a
knowing look.

“
See you at seven.” Levi
gave me a kiss before walking out.

“
Bye.” I waved.

“
What’s at
seven?”

“
Dinner with the Laurents.”
I pulled off my sweatshirt, hanging it up in my closet.

“
Ohh, fancy.”

“
Shut up.”

“
So tell me, what
happened?”

I sat down on my bed facing her. “A
lot.”

“
Can you be more specific
than that?”

I picked up a heart shaped pillow that
Anne had left at some point. “We’re officially back
together.”

“
No wonder he looked like a
kid in a candy store.”

“
Yeah, well, it was bound
to happen, right?”

She closed her book, no longer even
pretending she was going back to it. “So was it as good as you
remembered?”

“
Better.”

“
Good thing Levi left, or
you’d be giving him even more of an ego.”

“
Oh, don’t worry, that’s
already happened.”

“
You’re back!” Our door
flung open and Anne ran in, followed by Tiffany, who gave me an
apologetic look.

“
Yeah, I’ve been back a
whole ten minutes now.”

Anne bent down and hugged me. “It’s
been too quiet without you.”

I laughed. “It’s nice to know I was
missed.”

“
Oh my god, you finally did
it.” Anne grinned as she sat down next to me on my bed.

“
What? Am I wearing an ‘I
had sex’ sign or something?”

“
It’s the glow. The ‘I
spent the last few days shacked up with the sexy guy I’ve been
holding back on’ glow.”

Hailey snickered. “I don’t think they
spent the whole time in bed.”

“
It was a business trip,
right?” Tiffany asked, sitting on Hailey’s chair.

“
Yes, an important business
trip Levi needed her company on.” Anne rolled her eyes.

“
Fine, don’t believe
me.”

“
Oh, I do, but I don’t
think Levi cared about the business.”

“
He did. It was the most
responsibility his dad has ever given him.”

“
You know you can tell us
about it if you want, Allie. We already know who he is.” Tiffany
smiled.

Sometimes I forgot they were in on the
secret, but I still didn’t know how much to tell them. I looked to
Hailey to get her take. She nodded.

“
He had to preside over a
paranormal court.”

Anne took a sip from the pink cup she
always seemed to carry around with her. “That sounds so
formal.”

“
It was. It was fun at
first, but I actually fell asleep.”

“
Seriously? You fell
asleep?” Hailey asked.

“
Yeah, Levi didn’t seem to
care though.”

Hailey stretched out on her bed. “I
would have paid to see that.”

“
Thanks, I appreciate
it.”

“
Come on, you fell asleep
at court, that’s pretty bad.”

I leaned back on my elbows. “It was
seven hours, and all I could do was sit there.”

“
Or sleep,” Hailey
teased.

“
Could you stop making fun
of me long enough to help me pick out something to
wear?”

“
To wear to what?” Anne
asked.

“
Allie’s got dinner with
Levi’s parents tonight.”

“
Dinner with any guy’s
parents is rough, but I’m guessing royalty would be worse. Good
luck.” Anne smiled sympathetically.

“
Sometimes I worry you have
multiple personalities,” I teased.

“
What?”

“
One minute you’re egging
me on, and the next you’re being all understanding.”

“
Hey, it’s called being
your friend.”

“
I know.”

Tiffany interrupted. “So let’s get back
to the real issue. What are you wearing?”

“
That’s the problem. I
don’t know. I feel like Helen always looks so dressy, so I need to
dress up, right?”

“
I’d go with a simple skirt
and sweater. It could go either way.” Tiffany was already heading
over to my closet.

I nodded. “That’s what I was
thinking.”

Hailey joined Tiffany and was flipping
through my clothes. “Hmm, maybe a dress? I haven’t been to dinner
at their house, but I’m guessing it’s pretty formal.”

“
Why not just call and ask
Levi?” Anne fidgeted with her watch. “It’s his parents.”

“
That would be the easy
solution, but he’d probably just tell me to wear something short
and red.”

Hailey laughed. “So, then, just wear
what you want.”

“
I will. But I need to
study first. Anyone want to grab coffee and head over to the
library?”

“
I’m up for the coffee
part…” Tiffany said. “I’m sick of studying though.”

“
All right, that
works.”

Anne looked like she was considering
the question carefully. “I’m up for both.”

“
Hail?”

“
Have you ever seen me turn
down caffeine?”

“
Good point.”

We grabbed sweatshirts and headed over
to the Rue, one of the campus coffee shops.

I sipped my mocha while catching up
with my friends. Mostly everyone was excited about vacation. Anne
and Tiffany were excited about going home, but I still didn’t know
what I was going to do. I’d been avoiding my mom’s calls, knowing
she’d want to know what day to expect me. Her messages said
something about skiing in Vermont. There was no way she was going
to take no for an answer again, but I didn’t feel like I was ready
to bring Levi home. Unfortunately, I knew with certainty I wasn’t
going to be allowed to go alone.