What Are The Odds?: Chapter 42

Grace.

I was ambushed the second I walked into my dorm room.

“My Sandy,” Stella baulked. “My Sandy.”

Ava sat up on her bed. “What’s happened?”

“Grace and Levi are Instagram official.”

I stole the phone from Stella. “We are?”

The picture was of Levi and I in costume. I was grinning at the camera. He had his arm around my shoulders, his face to the side with his lips against the top of my head. I loved this picture. I hadn’t thought to check it after Tripp snapped the shot last night.

“God, I want to stay team Ryker. But this is so fucking adorable, Grace.”

I couldn’t help but grin. The picture stood out against all Levi’s past hockey posts. He really was all in. I guess I was too. Sure, I was still a bit apprehensive. Particularly given the string of girls commenting their disapproval and inappropriate things. At least Will, Tripp and Ryan seemed happy about the news. Shit yeah from Will. I love Hughesy from Tripp. And You’re punching from Ryan.

“Earth to Grace,” Stella said, clicking her fingers in my face. “We need details girl. What happened last night?”

“A lot.”

Dressed in nothing but Levi’s things, the writing was basically on the wall. I couldn’t keep the smile from my face. Last night had been amazing. So had this morning. And once again this afternoon. Levi had practically begged me to stay again tonight. But I had nothing, unless you counted the costume that I planned to burn. Reluctantly he’d dropped me back here. I’d refused to kiss him goodbye. I knew if I did, we wouldn’t make it out of his car. I’d never had this primal feeling before, a desire to constantly be with someone. I assumed it was the so-called honeymoon period people always spoke about. The only other boyfriend I’d had I’d known since we were kids. We never had the excitement of getting to know one another. After sharing a drunken kiss at a party, we’d made the natural progression from just friends to more. But apart from kissing and sneaking into each other’s rooms, not much else changed.

“So, Levi is your. . .” Stella trailed off, leaving it to me to fill in the blanks.

“Boyfriend.”

I jumped when Ava squealed.

“It sounds weird saying that out loud.”

“But amazing, right?” Ava asked.

Yeah. Kinda. They made me go back to last night, starting from the moment I left them, to Levi storming into Ryker’s room, then to the part where we made up. Multiple times. I kept plenty of details to myself, but there was a lot Stella and Ava got out of me. Stella’s jaw was practically on the floor as I briefly recounted the shower.

“It’s official. I’m team Levi.”

So was I. They followed me into the bathroom, Ava sitting on the closed toilet and Stella perching on the vanity. When I pulled off Levi’s clothes – that I would definitely be keeping – Ava gasped.

“Holy shit, Grace.”

“What?”

I backed towards the mirror. There were bruises on my ass. I knew exactly when that’d happened. Just this afternoon, against Levi’s door. He’d lifted me, holding me in place while I rode him like a bloody animal. I’d felt his fingers dig in when he came. My skin heated thinking about it. I stepped under the shower spray, keeping the hot water at a minimum so I could cool down.

“Does this mean I get to keep you?” Stella asked, turning to pluck her eyebrows in the mirror.

An unease settled in my stomach. “What do you mean?”

“Levi’s been drafted,” she told me.

“I know.”

“So he can’t leave the States.”

“Understood.”

“Are you going to stay with him?”

I shook my head. Then shrugged. “I always planned to go home.”

She frowned. “Do you still?”

I hadn’t given it much thought. Well, any thought really. That seemed like something too crazy to think about when we’d only just become official. When I tried to imagine myself in Colorado, I couldn’t. And when I tried to picture Levi at home, I couldn’t.

“That’s months away,” I deflected.

Stella set down the tweezers. “Better make the most of it while it lasts then.”