The sound of the music faded. The lights, the people, everything melted away as Levi tilted his head and deepened the kiss, rocking his world. He was thoroughly kissed, body and soul, as his heart leaped from his chest, landing in Levi’s caring hands, and Thane was helpless to stop it.
Thane wrapped himself around Levi and tried to give back what he’d gotten. Just as suddenly as Levi began the kiss, he ended it, backing off, but not out of the hold. More dazed than he’d ever been in his life, and that said a lot because Levi left him regularly stunned, Thane tried to follow Levi’s mouth, to bring him back to the kiss, but Levi dodged him, moving his head back even farther.
“Listen to me.” Those words came out slurred as Levi’s brows came together and he cleared his throat. “Listen. I wanted to be attracted to Nathaniel. I knew I needed someone like him in my life, but it was you. I was always thinking about you.”
Astonished by Levi’s sudden confession, Thane was on cloud nine. “You’ve never said anything like that to me before. You fight me at every turn—”
“I think I’m drunk.” Levi leaned in, kissing the words from Thane’s mouth in a quick brush of lips.
“I know you’re drunk.” Thane followed again, kissing Levi in a long, lingering kiss. “Will you remember this in the morning?”
“If I don’t, remind me when my brothers aren’t around. You’ll be getting that fucking you like so much,” Levi said loudly and laid his head back on Thane’s shoulder. Thane looked around to see who might have heard. He got several disapproving stares. It was still relatively early in the night, and they had probably pushed the boundaries of acceptable behavior, but he couldn’t care less. Levi’s arms tightened around him, those lips touched his neck, and dear God, if he wasn’t completely lost to this man who slurred the sweetest words. “It was you this whole time, and I didn’t know, and I’m definitely scared.”
“I have more to say, but let’s go upstairs,” Thane whispered. They had gelled too well tonight. As much as Thane wanted Levi alone in his bedroom, he also recognized the bigger implication; he wanted these moments with Levi every day. He began to envision scenes like Levi on his patio, hanging out with Corey and Erin. She’d love Levi as much as he did. Maybe, if his parents were serious about being a family, he could let go of the past to give Levi and his brothers a strong family foundation, more than just each other.
Reluctantly, Thane loosened the hold, but not completely. It seemed the idea of not letting Levi go applied physically as well as emotionally. He stepped backward, taking Levi’s arm when he wobbled a bit and gave a long, drawn-out yawn.
“You okay?”
“Not really,” Levi answered and reached out, wrapping an arm around Thane’s waist to help keep himself steady on his feet as they headed back to the table. “I don’t normally drink this much. I think you kept ordering on purpose.”
“You can let your hair down with me,” Thane teased, laughing as Levi downed the last of his beer while Thane closed their tab.
That last drink may have tipped the scale because Levi stayed plastered against his side as they went through the lobby. In the elevator, he started losing Levi. His eyes began to droop; his body slumped forward. At the suite, Thane had to hold Levi propped against the wall before he could get the door open.
“Come on, babe. Just a few more feet.”
Levi managed to somewhat help get himself to Thane’s bed, but he fell fast asleep before his head hit the pillow. Levi was still fully clothed, his body partially hanging off the bed. Thane needed to remember this. Levi had only seemed somewhat tipsy; he’d held his alcohol well until he passed clean out on him.
Thane adjusted Levi, trying to arrange him in a more comfortable position, before pulling off his shoes, and had just started on the belt buckle when he heard the suite door open. Logan and Luke were talking then went into complete silence. Thane listened closely, heard nothing, and couldn’t resist the quick kiss he left on Levi’s forehead, curious as to why things got so quiet between two boys who never seemed to stop talking. He looked around, didn’t see either until he spotted both gathered in a corner of the balcony, looking over the railing.
Shit. He hadn’t considered…
“Guys, come back in here.”
“They’re naked,” Luke hissed, never tearing his eyes from the scene below.
“I know. This is adults only.” When Luke didn’t immediately move, Thane playfully grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling him away from the railing. “Luke, you’re eighteen if anyone asks.”
“Yeah, we figured that out already,” Logan replied. Technically, he was near old enough, but Luke was nowhere close. The kid finally turned away from the beach to face Thane. The grin plastered across his face said it all. Logan was enjoying the idea of adults only. Thane drew them fully inside the suite and closed the back walls, locking them in place.