Focus (The Crescent Chronicles, #2) by Alyssa Rose Ivy Page A

didn’t realize you guys
were doing a weekly takeout and movie night without me.”
    “ Yes you did. You
definitely did.” Levi had asked to join us on more than one
occasion.
    He shrugged. “I don’t remember getting
the invitation.”
    “ Because you’re not
invited. It’s girls only.”
    “ I’m not complaining. I
wish all of your girls’ nights involved you at home with your
friends in pajamas.” He scooped some food on his plate. “On the
other hand, I’d rather you didn’t insist on going out to bars
without me.”
    “ Do you realize how insane
you are?”
    “ Why? Because I’d rather
you not be out in a short skirt with guys throwing themselves at
you?” He casually grabbed an egg roll like we were talking about
nothing of consequence.
    “ You can’t tell me what to
do.”
    “ Did I try to? I only told
you my preference.”
    “ All right, let’s
eat.”
    “ I already am.” He bit into
the egg roll.
    I made myself a plate. “When did you
ask Hailey?”
    “ About your favorite
dishes?”
    “ Yes.”
    “ This morning.”
    “ How’d you know it would
come up?” I opened the paper packaging on my chopsticks.
    “ I didn’t think it would be
tonight, but I knew you’d come asking for help eventually with a
paper due so soon.”
    “ Owen.”
    “ Yes. Can we stop worrying
about how I know, and enjoy our dinner?”
    “ Sure.”
    “ Good. I’d suggest we find
a movie, but that’s not why you’re here.”
    “ Don’t remind me.” I took a
bite.
    After finishing our meal and cleaning
up, Levi sat down with me at the table. “Let me see what you have
so far.” I pushed my notebook over to him. “Is there any reason why
you handwrite your papers?”
    “ Just the first draft, and
just French. I type the rest.”
    “ Where’s your
laptop?”
    “ In my room. It’s too
clunky to carry around.”
    He leaned on his elbow. “You need a
light weight one.”
    “ No, I don’t. I just need
help.”
    “ Fine, let’s see if I can
read this chicken scratch.”
    I was about to defend my perfectly neat
handwriting when I noticed the playful expression on his face. He
was trying to be funny.
    “ One of these days I’m
going to figure out when you’re joking.”
    “ Maybe in the next ten
years.”
    He looked down at my paper, and I felt
uncomfortable watching him read it. I knew there were tons of
mistakes.
    I tapped my foot nervously, hoping he
wouldn’t give me too hard of a time.
    He laughed. “You met a boy and ate
him?”
    “ I did not write
that!”
    “ Yes, actually you did. I’m
guessing you meant to say you met and went out to eat.”
    “ Of course. Arrh.” I put my
head in my hands. “Why is it that I can handle every subject but
foreign languages? It’s like I’m cursed.”
    “ Come on, it’s really not
that bad. The rest of it looks pretty good. You just need to be
careful with your verbs.”
    “ You make that sound
easy.”
    “ Okay, why don’t we finish
up this paper, and then just do some verb exercises.”
    “ Verb exercises? Have you
tutored in French before?”
    He nodded. “I helped out a little in
high school. It was the only way I was allowed to take
French.”
    “ You were fluent before
high school?”
    “ Yeah. My dad insisted on
it. It’s just a family thing. Our kids will have to learn it
too.”
    I’d never heard Levi talk about us
having kids. Obviously I knew he had to think about it, because
unless he had an heir his line died, but it sounded so strange
hearing it from him.
    “ Okay, let’s get this over
with.” I pulled up my legs and sat with them crossed on the
chair.
    Levi leaned over me, pointing out all
of my mistakes, and showing me how to fix them. “When’s this due,
anyway?”
    “ Monday.”
    “ Okay, so you can just type
it up later.”
    “ Thanks for the help. I
really appreciate it.”
    “ You know I don’t mind.”
Once again, Levi sounded serious. As much as I wanted him to stop
messing around sometimes, it was harder