Page 17 of His Daggered Heart

“Hey, Lee!”

I wrap him up in a hug and his arms pull me in so hard that I can’t breathe. He gives the best hugs.

“Hey, sweetness,” he grunts, releasing me.

“Come on in,” I say, gesturing him forward.

“Where is Kohen?” he asks, hesitant to come across the threshold.

“I told him I’d let you in. He was going to come but I wanted to get you alone in case you needed to talk.” He frowns and now I’m confused.

“No ma’am, you know how I operate. I need the owner of this house to welcome me in, especially because there was some bad blood. It’s a respect thing.” It clicks for me, this man and his Southern manners.

“Oh my gosh, Lee, okay. I’ll be right back.” I walk away, leaving the door open and hoping Kohen is lurking around the corner, but nope. I pull out my phone and call him as I make my way back to the open door where Levi stands just outside of it.

“Sup, angel? Everything okay?”

“Yes, everything is fine, but can you come to the front door of the main entrance so that you can welcome Levi inside? I think he is a vampire and needs permission from the owner of the house.” I roll my eyes and laugh. Kohen won’t get it but Levi does. We binged it over the summer. He covers his mouth, muffling his laughter.

“Ummm, sure, I’m coming.” He hangs up and he’s at the door in a couple of minutes. The size of this house really is ridiculous.

“Hey, Levi, come on in, man. Any friends of my girl are friends of mine.” He reaches out for a fist bump but Levi has his arm extended for a gentleman’s handshake. It’s a bit awkward to watch and I giggle.

“Okay, can we just come inside, please? It’s hot,” I say, smiling as I walk back towards the kitchen. I know Cora is snacking on the treats we made, leaving them in their awkwardness.

“Levi is here, he wouldn’t come inside until Kohen invited him in, so I left them at the front door.”

She laughs. “Like in theVampire Diaries?”I point at her.

“Yes,” I laugh. “Exactly, that’s what came to my mind too and Levi knows because we binge-watched the whole thing before he had to start training.”

Looking at her hands, she breaks the cookie she is holding into a million pieces. “He watched it with you?” she asks, still staring at her hands.

“Yeah, he’s good like that.”

“What other things did y’all do together?” Our eyes meet and her cheeks flush. I’m not sure why she is asking but I answer anyway.

“Well, we shop, we go to the gym…” Her eyes widen but she doesn’t speak, so I continue as the guys walk into the kitchen. They’re talking about how excited they are for this week since the coach gave them a break from training. “We also go to church and the movies with his family, we go out to eat and to Fiesta Texas, lots of stuff.” I don’t miss the way Kohen’s head turned to face me when I mentioned the theme park we went to together. He was the one who took me there for the first time. I gulp and his voice rings through the room.

“You two went to Fiesta? What rides did you get on?”

“Everything,” Levi answers for me, and Kohen’s head snaps back to him.

“But don’t worry, man, she didn’t get the same experience on The Rattler as you gave her.” He laughs and my cheeks must be flaming red.

Cora and Kohen both join in, everyone laughing loudly but me. I’m terrified Kohen is going to be angry I told Levi.

“She told you?” he asks loudly, still laughing.

Cora chimes in just then, “Youtold me! You dog.“ She places her hand over mine and her thumb rubs across my skin, comforting me.

“I know. I mean, I’m not mad at it, but I’ll admit I’m shocked she did,” Kohen responds, popping some of Cora’s crumbled-up cookie from her plate into his mouth.

“I can’t believe you told Cora,” I say, feeling the heat from my cheeks spreading to my neck.

“I’m surprised you didn’t, but I get it. I guess while Cora has been here we have become like brother and sister. Same as you and cowboy here.” He looks at me, eyes intent, almost challenging.

“No, I get it, especially since Cora and I were distant. I was hurting from that, too. Levi was a light in my life during everything. I know you were hurting, Kohen, but so was I. I take full responsibility for my part. I’m sorry to you, too, Cora. I pushed you away because I thought you were on Kohen’s side.”