Page 113 of Unexpected Prejudice

Chief’s strong arm hugged me, and I leaned into the embrace. “It’s okay, Champ,” he said, his voice as calm and assuring as a lighthouse in the heart of a storm.

“He’ll come back.” I sniffled.

“Of course, he will.”

“He just needed space,” I said, feeling my heart break a little more with each word.

Jessie

“What are you looking at?” Levi asked, skewering a few marshmallows on a stick before he stepped closer to the campfire. His pale skin was colored with the warm shades of the fire, while his silhouette had this glow given to him by the stars and the moon.

We’d just finished our freshman year in high school, and our class decided to celebrate with a campfire on the shore. Diesel managed to set us up with some booze, and by now, most of the guys we came here with were wiped out and asleep on the sand.

“You,” I said shamelessly.

Levi’s eyes widened, and he almost dropped his marshmallow stick in the sand. “M-me?” His ears were painted red, which caused him to look away quickly. He was the most adorable human on the planet.

Thinking of how cute he was, I chuckled. “Yeah, you. Why are you surprised?”

“You should look at the ocean. It’s more interesting,” he grunted.

I agreed that the ocean was a beautiful sight, but it didn’t come close to Levi.

“It’s too dark to see anything.” I grinned, and he huffed.

“So, it’s better to watch me roast marshmallows?”

“Absolutely. By the way, are those for me?”

Coming to sit beside me on the sand, he handed me the stick. While taking it from him, I slightly brushed our fingers together, hoping to catch another one of his adorable reactions. His ears, once again, reddened, and so did his cheeks.

“Stop looking at me,” he murmured, hugging his knees close to his chest.

“But I’m always looking at you.”

He then brought his hand to my cheek and pushed my face away. “D-don’t say stuff like that. I-it’s embarrassing.”

Amused by his reactions, I took a bite from my roasted marshmallow and moaned at the flavor. “Fuck, it tastes so good.”

“It does?” A shy smile crept to his cute lips, making me even more obsessed with him. I wondered when he’d notice I loved him just as much as he loved me, if not more. But Levi wasn’t like me. He was shy, reserved, and inexperienced. Not that I was an expert when it came to dating, but I did do some stuff. Regardless, I didn’t want to push him into doing something he wasn’t ready to do.

Push? No. Tease? Yes.

“Yeah.” Licking my lips, I turned to look at him. “Wanna taste?”

His eyes moved from my face to the offered marshmallows before he shook his head.

“No, it’s for you,” he said, drawing something on the sand with his finger. After a while, he puffed some air. “I’m not a good artist.”

“I think it looks great.”

“It isn’t.”

“Stop dismissing everything I say. If I say it looks good, then it does. If I say you’re beautiful, then you are.”

“I am not—”

“Beautiful?” I cut into his words, catching him off guard.