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He lifts his head and looks at me. “How can you not want—or more like need—to get off? I mean, what you did to me? The end result? That was fucking incredible. Don’t you want that too?”

I gently push his head back down on my chest and start running my fingers through his hair. “Sex is great. Don’t get me wrong. I love it. But sometimes—a lot of times—it’s about so much more than that for me. The intimacy, the touching, the cuddling. That’s all I need a lot of the time. I crave it, Lev. It’s like a drug for me, and I don’t get it enough.” It feels weird saying this out loud and sharing this with him, but he’s quiet, so I continue. “I love touch. Connection. Sex and its result? Yeah, that’s a great feeling, and trust me, I’m not saying I don’t want that. I’m just saying that sometimes it’s okay for me to just be close to someone. I don’t know, saying it out loud is hard and doesn’t make sense.”

Lev pushes up on his arms and looks down at me. “It makes perfect sense, lycan.” His eyes meet mine. “I mean, I like it all. But I get it.” He gives me a tender kiss and lies back down on me again.

That’s the extent of the conversation, and he doesn’t make any more moves on me in that moment. We lie there in peace, naked in his bed, wrapped up together and dozing off and on for another hour or so before my stomach growls.

Lev chuckles. “We need food,” he says, and he rolls over off me and gives me a peck on the lips before getting out of bed. He throws on his sweatpants and hands me a pair, which I put on, and then we both head out to the kitchen.

He’s quiet, and I know that something is going on inside his head, because Lev is rarely quiet. As he prepares two bagels with cream cheese and coffee for us, I watch him. He doesn’t say anything, but I can tell we need to continue the conversation we started earlier.

My heart starts to beat rapidly. I don’t know what this is that we have, but I don’t want tension.

“You’re thinking really loudly,” I say, breaking the silence once we’re seated at the table.

Lev picks up his coffee and takes a sip of the hot, brown liquid. He watches me closely and puts the mug down.

“I like this,” he says. I’m not completely sure if he means the coffee or our conversation or what just happened in his bed, so I wait for him to continue. “Whatever this is that’s starting here? I like it.”

His gorgeous blue eyes meet mine, and a small sense of relief washes over me. “I like it too,” I say, trying to sound casual. I’m anything but. I pick up half of my bagel and take a bite as he continues.

“I, um, so you know that I’m gay, obviously.”

I smirk. Giving him a wink I say, “I know—I mean, I figured as much.”

Lev rolls his eyes and smiles at me. “Anyway, I broke up with someone when I moved back here. He was my boyfriend for all intents and purposes, but I ended it. I’m glad I did.” My brows pinch together in confusion. I’m not entirely sure what he’s getting at, so I let him continue. “I haven’t been with anyone but you since.”

My breath catches.

“I know the other night you said you couldn’t call that guy, Lance, so you came here.”

The corner of my lip curls up into a smirk as he trails off. I can tell he’s fishing to find out what happened with Lance.

“You don’t have to worry about it anymore, Lev. I ended things with Lance.”

Lev’s face lights up, even though I can tell he’s trying to be cool and not overreact. “You did? That’s . . . should I say I’m sorry?” he asks, a smile breaking out and that huge dimple growing in his cheek. He’s adorable.

I laugh. “No, not sorry. Never be sorry for me, Lev.” I take a deep breath.

“Sorr—fuck. I mean, ugh!” He shakes his head.

I can’t help but chuckle.

“Sooo,” Lev drawls, changing the subject quickly. “I know that you, um, you clearly were doing whatever you were doing with Lance, but . . . I think . . . Lindsey has said that you have sort of . . . you’ve been dating, er, you hooked up, uh—”

“With girls,” I say, putting him out of his misery.

He puffs out a breath. “Yeah.”

I laugh. “I’m bi, Lev.”

He takes a sip of his coffee. “Okay.”

“Does that bother you?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “No, not at all. I just . . . I mean, I heard a few things, and I wasn’t sure.”

I put my coffee down and move closer to him. “I basically just think that love is love. I don’t really care if it's men or women. If I have feelings for the person, and we’re both down, I’m open to it.” I shrug. “But Lev”—I put my hand on his forearm and give it a squeeze—“I’m really into you. And I like this . . . us.” I lean forward and meet Lev’s lips. He kisses me back with feeling, saying with his kiss what he doesn’t seem to want to say out loud. I feel it deep in my core. “I think I’d like to see what this is and where it goes, and I don’t want us to be looking for that with anyone else.”