Party Foul - Abby Knox Page 0,39

finger into his mouth, cleaning off the icing, and let it out with a pop. “You need to talk for real or, y’know, talk?”

That mouth of his was playing dirty and he knew it; Fiona suddenly didn’t know whether she was coming or going.

Levi took another bite of cinnamon bun, holding her gaze the entire time. She watched as more icing dripped down one knuckle. It was moments like this she didn’t mind if a man wanted to eat with his hands like a barbarian.

He was daring her to look away when he licked it off. The icing-covered middle knuckle of his right hand disappeared into his mouth, and she watched him slowly suck it clean.

This was not fair. Not fair at all.

She couldn’t see his tongue, but she sure felt it everywhere. Sucking her nipples. Tasting her pussy. Every muscle between her legs twitched.

“Oh god. Roger,” she said.

“What? Who the fuck is Roger?”

Reaching in her bag to pull out her phone, she said, “My driver. I told Roger to wait for me outside, but I’m gonna tell him to go on back home.”

Levi looked confused. “There was nobody outside. No car there waiting for you. I mean, that’s why I was surprised to see you here.”

Fiona bit her lip and thought that was weird, but she dropped it and sent off a hurried text to Roger anyway.

Looking at her curiously, Levi said, “So, uh, how are you getting home then?”

She didn’t want to go home, and she didn’t want to think about going home. Neither did she want to pretend-break up with him in front of his friends.

The only thing that came out of her mouth, however, was something that surprised both of them.

Chapter Seventeen

Levi

* * *

He watched her take a deep breath, anticipating what she was about to tell him.

“Actually, here’s the thing. I dropped out of Castle Hill this morning, and I’m going to enroll at community college today to study forensics. Or criminal justice or whatever the first step is. I really have no idea what I’m doing or if they’ll even have me.”

“No shit?” Levi was shocked and also felt a little responsible.

“You didn’t do this ‘cause of me, ‘cause of what I said the other night, did you?”

The confused, semi-hurt expression on her face told Levi he had a lot of room to grow in the communication department.

“Well, yes, actually. It was all because of you. I mean, it was my decision, but you were very much the catalyst, Levi. Because you listened to me and you’re a good friend and…I trust you.”

“Friend,” he repeated.

She blinked at him. “You know what I mean.”

He knew, indeed. She meant friends with benefits. She meant keep it casual in front of his friends because to her, this was still a fake relationship.

“Wanna ride together to campus? You’ll be the only friend I’ll have at my new school.”

Levi slid off the bar stool and gestured toward the door that led to the back alley. “Sure friend. Let’s go.”

“Did I say something wrong, Levi?”

She honestly did not know.

Levi turned to face Fiona, who was looking at him cluelessly from the passenger seat of his ‘87 Monte Carlo. Hardly the chariot she was used to, but it was paid for with clean money, and was easy for him to maintain. Hell of a lot easier than newer cars with computers and shit.

“Fi, are we real friends or fake friends?”

She smiled. “I wouldn’t uproot my life after talking to a fake friend. I wouldn’t come down here to see you if you were a fake friend.”

“But you could have just texted me the news. That’s what friends do. Why did you want us to go together?”

“I wanted to see you,” she said.

He pressed. “Why? Because we’re friends with benefits?”

Fiona looked down and picked at some fuzz on her coat. She shivered even though the heater had warmed the car so it felt like the middle of summer in there. “I came here because I was going to let you off the hook. I was going to tell you we don’t have to keep up the fake relationship through the rest of the holidays if you don’t want to. I’ve been feeling guilty after talking to your YaYa, and I didn’t have the heart to tell her what we were doing was fake. So I came here to give you your money. But then I saw you and I felt happy to see you, and I thought…”

Levi’s guts turned inside out. “Let