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“No need. I already did them.” He crossed the room and reached behind my head, pulling the scrunchie out of my hair, making the long, dark strands tumble down around my shoulders. “So we have plenty of time to have some fun.”
“Really?” I asked as he trailed a finger down the side of my neck and across my collarbone. The light touch made me shiver.
“You know what I realized? We’ve had sex in every room of the house except one…”
I smiled. “But if we have sex in here, how will I ever concentrate on my music again?”
“I think you’ll find a way to manage,” he said, cupping the back of my head and pulling me in for a kiss. My lips parted and he slipped his tongue inside. Another shiver ran down my spine, and I reached for the hem of his shirt, eager to pull it over his head.
But before I could, the sound of our doorbell ringing caused Levi to go rigid. He broke our kiss, placing his forehead against mine and letting out a sigh.
“That’s got to be your fucking brother,” he mumbled with feigned annoyance. “He’s always showing up early…”
I chuckled and stepped away. “Go answer the door while I fix my hair,” I said. “We can continue this later.”
“I’m going to hold you to that.”
I hoped he did.
Heading to our master suite, I passed through the bedroom and into the bathroom. I loved this room because it had a jacuzzi tub. It was like heaven, especially when Levi joined me. Stepping up to the double sink vanity, I splashed a little water on my face, hoping to get rid of the flushed appearance of my cheeks from the lust that Levi stirred within me. It was effortless with him, just a simple touch could make my heart race, a kiss could set my blood on fire.
I smoothed my hair down and tucked it behind my ears before straightening my blouse and brushing a piece of lint off my black jeans. My family didn’t know it, but tonight wasn’t just an ordinary family meal. I had big news to share, and I wanted it to go well.
When I stepped out into the living room, I saw that Levi was right. Michael and Faith were the early arrivals. Levi was in the kitchen, standing behind the kitchen island as he poured three glasses of wine. Michael stood on the other side, and I caught a few words about some football team’s chances in the playoffs when I went over to grab one of the glasses of sweet red. Then, I decided to join Faith on the couch. I wasn’t into sports, and I hoped to find a much more stimulating conversation with my sister-in-law. I took a seat beside her, noticing that she already had a bottle of water in her hands. No alcohol for her tonight.
“How do you feel?” I asked, my eyes flitting to her stomach, even though I knew that she was only ten weeks pregnant. She wouldn’t start showing for a while. In fact, she’d lost a little weight over the past month since she was barely able to keep food down at all.
“Better. I think the morning sickness is finally passing, and the doctor isn’t worried about the weight loss. She says I’ll gain it back quickly enough.”
I smiled. I was going to be an aunt in about seven months, and I could wait. I didn’t know much about babies, but I was certainly going to spoil this one as much as possible.
“Just make sure you don’t say anything tonight,” she continued. “Michael and I still haven’t told your parents yet. We want to get my parents together with them and tell everyone at once in a big announcement.”
Well, I completely understood that.
“You’re crazy,” Michael’s voice carried over to us as he loudly argued with Levi. “Rivers is going to completely blow it. There’s a reason that Barrows got the quarterback position.”
“But he’s injured,” Levi shot back, and I had to roll my eyes at how heated they were getting over a football team. “He’s no good to the team with a busted up knee.”
“Men,” Faith commented, shaking her head. “I swear, if I didn’t know those two were close friends, I’d never guess with the way they bicker.”
I just nodded, but I didn’t really agree. I’d seen what it was like when Michael really hated Levi, and it was nothing like this. I was thankful that my brother had eventually come around to the idea of forgiving Levi, keeping the past behind us. It helped that Dad had welcomed him back into our lives with open arms and ample forgiveness.
My family fully accepted my relationship with Levi, and I almost couldn’t believe that it had all worked out so well. At one point, I was sure that I was going to have to choose between them, a nightmare of an ultimatum that would have left me miserable no matter what choice I made.
“How’s Levi doing?” Faith asked, and I pulled my eyes away from the men. Levi was pulling his chicken out of the oven to check the temperature, all while continuing the light-hearted argument he was having with Michael.
“What do you mean?” I asked, looking back at Faith.
“Well, since you guys found out about his dad last week…”
Oh. That.
Harold had screwed up big time, and Levi found out from his cousin, who sent an email with a link to an article about it. It turned out that forcing out his partner and taking on all the responsibility for running the business was a little too much for one man to handle on his own, and Harold had run into money trouble over the last three years. Apparently, his big solution to this was tax evasion. I wasn’t sure how he thought that would work out for him, but it was ruining the business. He had to declare bankruptcy and several of the restaurants had already closed, with more expected to shut down by the end of the year.
“He’s okay. Honestly, it’s not really his dad he’s concerned about, it’s all the people losing their jobs. And of course, there’s a sentimental part of all of us that’s sad to see the business go this way. I mean, it was a big part of our lives once. My dad loved being a part of it.”
Luckily, Dad’s new business venture had taken off, and I could see a real change in him over the last six months. He had a purpose again, and it changed everything. The sadness and humiliation that had been lingering over him like a dark cloud was now gone.
