I want to spend every second possible with her because there is a very real possibility that I won’t come back to her alive.
6
LILITH
“I’m nervous as fuck,” Levi says, pacing up and down the dock that Griff and I are helping decorate. “Did you remember the gummy bears?” he asks Griff.
“Yes,” Griff replies in a dry tone. “If you don’t calm down, I’m going to push you off the dock.”
“I’d like to see you try,” Levi halts for a second, calming down a bit.
“He could,” I stand up from where I was lighting tea lights along the edge of the dock, “as could I.”
“It’d be a shame to ruin this though,” he gestures at himself. He does look good. His blonde hair looks golden in the late afternoon sun, and his dark blue eyes are sparkling with joy and a bit of apprehension. He’s dressed casually in jeans and navy V-neck tee. A high-tech watch is wrapped around his wrist, and he’s wearing leather flip flops. “What if she says no?”
“She’s not going to say no,” I answer.
“She won’t,” Griff says decisively. We grin at each other before he continues speaking. “I’ve watched you guys since high school, and you were both obsessed with each other back then. How many times have you been pulled apart only to come back to each other? If ever there was a fated couple, it’s you guys.”
“Plus, you’ve been talking about wife-ing her up since our senior year of high school. She knows this is coming eventually. I do think you’ll catch her off guard with this so soon after finding your way back to each other, but she’ll say yes. I know my bestie.”
“You’re right.” He shakes his shoulders out the way he used to before taking the field for games. “I’ve got this.”
“You do,” I walk over and wrap my arms around his waist. The past weeks in Boston have sucked without his levity around the townhouse. I love Con and Griff, but they’re so serious all the time. That tickle fight the other day was the only time I’ve heard Con laugh since before the attack. “I miss having you at the townhouse,” I mumble into Levi’s chest.
“I miss you, too, Hoodrat,” he presses a brotherly kiss to the top of my head and squeezes me. “I bet it’s boring as shit with just your broody fiancé and Griff for entertainment.”
“It is,” I give Griff a teasing smile. “They’re such wet blankets.”
“Come live with Ives and me. We love you more than these clowns.” He’s teasing, but there is an edge still in his voice. He and Con worked their frustration out with their fists, but there is still a lingering thread of tension.
Con’s behavior lately isn’t exactly helping. He’s become obsessed with ending the threats from his uncle. I’ve caught him sneaking around late at night, making whispered phone calls, and watching hours of surveillance footage.
The thing that concerns me the most, though, is how little he’s sleeping. He lays beside me at night until I fall asleep. Then he gets up and does whatever the fuck he’s been doing. Plotting the downfall of half the Eastern European crime syndicate probably.
I’m still holding onto my cousin, and he doesn’t seem to be interested in letting me go, either.
“Real talk, how is Con?” he asks with his chin resting on my head.
“Not good.” I pull back and look over at Griff.
“He’s being Con,” Griff shrugs. as if it’s as good an answer as any. “There’s more going on than he’s sharing.”
“Typical Con.” Levi scowls. “Always holding everything back.”
“I’ve got my eye on things,” Griff says cryptically.
“What does that mean?” I ask with a raised brow.
“It means don’t worry your pretty little face about it,” Levi says while he ruffles my hair.
“Oh,” I smack his hand away, “so you do want to get your ass pushed in the lake.” He dodges my feigned attempt to push him in.
“Calm down,” he laughs, still dodging my playful attack. “On a serious note, do you two know where to hide to film this?”
“I’m not even answering that,” Griff deadpans. “We’ve gone over it at least ten times.”
“We’re hiding behind that oak tree,” I point behind me to a towering tree on the shore, “where we’ll film the proposal and then quietly leave.”
He pulls his phone out when it pings with a text. “Dad’s almost here with her.”
“We’ll go hide.” Levi trails Griff and me down the dock. I turn around and give him one last reassuring squeeze. “She’s going to love this, and she’ll definitely say yes.”
Griff and Levi give each other a hug with a bro slap on the back. These boys all give me the warm fuzzies. They’re never afraid to show each other affection or be vulnerable around each other. I never truly understood how deep their friendship ran until I lived with the three of them. They really are more like brothers to each other than friends. I love it.
Griff and I walk back to our hiding spot while Levi walks to the front. Griff hands me a camera while he pulls some sort of small, high tech video camera out of a bag with the NNC logo on it. He flips a few switches and checks the battery before powering it off again. He leans against a boulder, looking relaxed and peaceful.
He’s had a different sense about him while we’ve been working here the past few weeks. He’s wearing a pair of worn jeans and an olive
