Sugar Sweet

Chapter 13

Eren

Chatter and light laughter echo throughout the dining room of the beach house, where both Levi's and my friends gather around to enjoy a hefty meal prepared by Petra and Erwin's wife, Annie. Stories of time during college flow back and forth between everyone, and I find myself actively enjoying listening about younger Levi and all the crazy shit he got up to.

"I'll never forget when Levi got so drunk he tried to fight a sign of Joe Biden."

The table erupts in boisterous laughter at Hanji's words, and I glance at Levi in amusement to find a glare on his face, covering up a poorly restrained smile.

"He was looking at me weird." Levi shrugs, and another round of laughter goes around the table.

"Eren, you should have seen him back then," Petra starts as she takes a long sip from the glass of wine in her hand. "He was completely different in college, I don't know what happened to get a stick up his ass. Thank god for you, now it's not lodged as deep."

"No, seriously." Erwin slurs heavily, a bright red blush on his face from alcohol and a relaxed aura the usually professional man doesn't have rolling off of him. "Thank God and all the other deities above for Eren, I was getting tired of dealing with Levi's obvious pent up sexual aggression-"

"Fuck off, Erwin." Levi scoffs, cutting him off before he can entertain the sentence further.

The dinner continues on with various stories being shared that fill the space with pleasant energy, including the infamous tale of Hanji ordering Levi male strippers to show up to his dorm as a 21st birthday gift. Unfortunately, Levi cuts it off before she can get into the gory details, and I make a mental note to ask Hanji for the rest of the story later.

As the orange and red sunlight streaming into the large windows from the sunset fade into dusky blues and black, I find myself keeping quiet and instead watching how Levi interacts with his closest friends. It's rare to see him truly in his element, most of the times being when he's at work and passionately invested in his brand, but I can tell being surrounded by the people he cares about fills him with a renewed energy that allows him to really relax and be himself. A light smile plays on his lips throughout the night as drinks are poured and people begin retreating back to their bedrooms, and I can't help but feel a surge of love for the man sitting beside me.

The same pleasant warmth from the moment we spent together sitting outside and basking in the nighttime flows through my body, and when Levi glances at me with those gunmetal eyes that melt me every time to ask If I'm alright, my heart feels ready to burst. Sudden confidence and resolve wash over me, and I grip his hand tightly in mine and quietly say I'm ready to head back to the room.

As we excuse ourselves from the table and walk down the stairs that lead to our bedroom, the sound of my rapidly beating heart echoes through my ears loudly like a beating drum. I grip Levi's hand a little tighter when he asks if I'm ok again, shooting him a small reassuring smile.

"Ugh, I can't believe they aired out all my shit, it's so embarrassing looking back on some of the things I did." Levi chuckles as he opens the door to our room, immediately heading to the bathroom to wash his hands and start the shower.

A laugh escapes my lips as I sit down on the bed, leaning back on my hands and looking out the windows that stretch across the length of the wall next to me, the illumination from the color changing pool light casting a light glow over this side of the room.

A hand on my shoulder startles me, and I glance up to find Levi looking down at me in concern. "Are you alright? You were quiet at dinner and even now."