by Keeland, Vi
“It’s fine, Presley. You don’t have to say anything about it. I know you were drunk.”
“Yeah, but that’s no excuse to drag you into my crazy, drunken…” I stopped short of finishing the sentence.
Unfortunately, he finished it for me.
“Fantasies?”
“It was more like delusions.”
“So there was no part of you that actually meant any of it?” His eyes seared into mine.
I dodged his question altogether. “People don’t really know what they’re saying when they’re drunk.”
“You didn’t seem all that drunk when I ran into you after, though.”
Right. Of course. Because I wasn’t that drunk.
“Okay, well, it was inappropriate regardless of how drunk I was.”
“You know, sometimes the truth comes out when we’re intoxicated…”
He was really trying to get me to admit to something here. I needed to nip this in the bud.
“Look, Levi, you’re a very attractive man—you know that. We’ve been around each other a lot lately. You were fresh in my head. So my drunken mind latched onto you during that little to-do list game. But it wasn’t more than that.” I paused. “It’s been a very long time since I’ve been with a man, as you already know. And I got carried away. You were the target of it. I’m sorry.”
Levi’s eyes narrowed. “Are you seriously apologizing? You didn’t do anything wrong. There’s no crime against a drunken fantasy.”
I no longer tried to dispute his use of the word fantasy. “Maybe there’s no crime against it, but there should be when the target is your ex’s brother.”
For a moment, you could have heard a pin drop.
“Well, Tanner didn’t overhear anything, did he? So no harm done. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
Is he sending me a message?
“How long has it been exactly?” he asked after a moment.
Playing with some lint on my shorts, I said, “How long for what?”
“I know you said you slept with one guy after Tanner. How long ago was that?”
I swallowed. “About…eighteen months ago.”
“Damn.” Levi nodded. “Alright.” He chuckled. “You look so uncomfortable right now, by the way.”
“I am. I’m still embarrassed about last night.”
“Embarrassed? Why? For having fun with your friend and fooling around?”
“Yeah, but it was at your expense.”
“You think I was insulted?” He shook his head. “No, Presley.” He handed me back the almost-empty beer. “You’re not the only one who’s sexually frustrated. And I haven’t been innocent either. I just haven’t said what I’m thinking out loud. Even worse, I acted like a dick to you the other day because I was freaking jealous over you going out with the coach. That’s worse than your drunken stuff, because I wasn’t even intoxicated. That was all me acting like a jealous bastard.”
Chills ran down my spine as I finished off the beer. “So…you were jealous?”
“Yeah. So who’s out of line now?” He expelled a long breath. “Speaking of Jeremy, what’s the latest there?”
“He asked me out again. I’m supposed to be going to a concert with him next weekend.”
He nodded slowly. “How do you feel about him?”
“I don’t know. He’s really nice, but I’m on the fence.”
“You’re on the fence with him. And on the face with me. I think I win.”
I burst into laughter. “You’re bad.”
“But you’re laughing.”
“Yes, I am.”
“I have a confession,” he said, taking the empty beer bottle from me and placing it on the ground next to his feet.
I wiped my eyes. “What?”
“I didn’t really have anywhere to go the past few days. I just felt like I needed to get out of town to think. I basically put myself in a time out after my behavior with you. That night, when you were rubbing my knee… Well, that didn’t help.”
Batting my lashes, I asked, “Were you able to clear your head?”
“Any head-clearing I might have done went out the fucking window when I came back to that conversation.” He stood up. “Speaking of which, I’ll be right back.”
Uh-oh. What’s going on?
He returned a minute later with an aluminum tray and two forks.
My mouth dropped. “That’s not what I think it is…”
“My mother made it. I asked her to, and I went and picked it up this afternoon.”
I covered my face. “Oh no. I can’t believe you asked Shelby to do that.”
“Relax. It’s not like she knew the context.”
“I know, but it just seems wrong. What the hell did you tell her? The reason for your sudden craving for peach cobbler?”
He took the plastic top off the tray. “I told her you’d been dying for it. Dying.”
“You suck.”
“I do—and lick. And sometimes I do this thing where—”
“Stop!”
We both broke out into laughter again. And when it finally died down, we dug into the peach cobbler. It was delicious, but I couldn’t get my mind out of the gutter. I’d probably never be able to eat this dessert again without thinking about Levi.
***
The following morning, a loud knock woke me up.
I groggily answered the front door. “Can I help you?”
A portly man holding a clipboard stood across from me. “Yeah, Mr. Miller called me in to replace the AC system. I got my crew with me to do the installation.”
“Don’t you mean repair?”
He looked back at his truck. “No. I mean replace. We’re putting in a whole new system. Normally I wouldn’t be able to do it on such short notice, but Mr. Miller made it worth our while.”
I specifically remembered Levi telling me we shouldn’t replace the AC system if we were going to sell the place. He’d said we could get away with repairing it until the sale, after which it would be the new owner’s problem.
This was a huge investment. My heart filled with hope.
I nodded, the man called in his crew, and they got to work.
While these guys were invading with all of their equipment, I went to the kitchen to make some coffee.
As it brewed, I texted Levi.
Presley: You’re replacing the AC?
My phone dinged with a response. But it didn’t address my question.
Levi: I’m out getting supplies for some other stuff we need to do around here. I left you something in your bedside table drawer while you were sleeping, btw.
After I prepared my coffee, I walked to my room to find a large manila envelope in the drawer. Inside were a couple of pieces of yellow notepaper and what looked like a DVD. A large sticky note on top of the paper read:
Presley,
I made a to-do list so we can keep track of what needs to be done around The Palm.
I’m handling number one—replace the air conditioning system.
I’ve got items number four, six, and ten today and have already gone to Home Depot to get materials.
Maybe you should work on number six on the second page?
When I flipped to the second page, I realized page two wasn’t part of his list. It was the Levi to-do list Harper had jotted down the other night. How the hell had he gotten this? He must have snuck into my room and found it. Damn it!
Number six was: Masturbate while looking at Levi.
My heartbeat accelerated. What the hell is this disc?
My hands were shaky as I popped it into the DVD player.
Before my eyes appeared a montage of Levi, a highlight reel of him—throwing the football with no shirt at practice, pouring an entire bottle of water over his bare chest. Clip after clip, every muscle of his gorgeous, bronze upper body was on full display.
He was giving me material to facilitate my work.
I was ready to burst into flames.
Oh my God.
CHAPTER 10
* * *
Levi
“How’s your to-do list coming along?” I asked Presley the following morning at breakfast.
She took a sip of her coffee. “What ever could you be referring to?” Her face turned beet red.
Smirking, I decided to drop it. I didn’t want to scare her out of the kitchen. I was enjoying this coffee time with her. Alex had a sleepover at my mom’s last night, and I’d done everything to stay the hell away from Presley, making myself scarce after what I’d pulled with that DVD.
Maybe I’d crossed the line, but damn, it was fun watching her face change colors right now as she clearly thought about it. The elephant had stayed in the room all day yesterday. Neither of us had mentioned it. I had no idea whether she’d actually used the DVD. But the thought of that had kept me hard for a while as I lay in bed last night.
After her face returned to its normal color, we made easy conversation over coffee and eggs. We actually managed to talk about neither our sexual tension nor The Palm Inn. And the more we talked, the more the feelings brewing in my chest grew as invigorating as they were unsettling.
Presley then decided to make smoothies. As she got out the blender, she asked me if I would trust her to put something in my smoothie I’d likely never agree to if I knew what it was. She bet me I wouldn’t be able to taste it. Always up for a challenge, I let her do it.
She made me look away while she blended it.
When she finally told me I could turn around, she handed me a tall, green drink.
I took it and sniffed. “This better not be disgusting.”
“Just drink it.” She laughed.
As I drank it down, I tasted nothing but peanut butter and banana. It was actually really good—nice and icy, too.
After a few sips, I said, “Okay, tell me what you put in this.”
She flashed an impish grin. “Chicken liver.”
I nearly gagged. “Really?”
Presley giggled. “Yup.”
I didn’t want to seem like a pussy, so I drank more of the drink down even though it now grossed me out.
“Turns out,” she said, “you can hide the taste of almost anything with ripe banana, sweet vanilla milk, and peanut butter. Besides the liver, I also put in spinach and ice.” She smiled. “This is how I get Alex to eat his veggies. I hide them in shakes.”
“So why does he just get veggies, and I got liver?” I asked, sucking the last of the smoothie down.
“You were my test subject. They say organ meat from time to time is good for your immune system. I pan fried some last night and planned to blend it for myself, but figured I’d have you try it first to make sure the flavor wasn’t overbearing.” She winked. “I actually had no clue whether you’d be able to taste it.”
“I was your test rat. Great.”
“Exactly.”
As we cleaned up breakfast, I made some wise-ass comment, and she got back at me by grabbing the sprayer attached to the sink and pointing it in my direction. That turned into an all-out brawl for control of it. We were both laughing so hard.
I managed to grab it and spray her, proclaiming, “This is what you get for tricking me into eating liver, woman.”
I hadn’t thought that move through, though, and now she had a full-on wet T-shirt. Feeling bad and a little turned on at the same time, I let her win, loosening my grip on the sprayer. She proceeded to drench my shirt.
We were both still cracking up when my mother and Alex walked in.
“What the hell is going on here?” Mom asked.
Presley quickly placed the sprayer in its rightful spot.
“We were playing with the water,” I said. “Things got a little out of hand.”
Alex’s eyes lit up. “Cool! A water fight!”
Realizing her shirt was wet, Presley quickly covered her chest. “Your uncle and I were just having some fun. But it’s over now.”
“Next time I wanna do it, too!” Alex said, rushing past us and toward his room.
Presley continued holding her arms over her chest as my mother looked between us.
“I’d…better go change,” she said, disappearing from the kitchen.
This sucked. Presley and I were damn adults. But right now, I felt like we were two kids who’d been caught doing something bad. And I didn’t like the way my mother was looking at me.
With Presley gone, she dug in. “I’ll ask it again. What the hell are you doing?”
“Lower your voice,” I whispered.
“Let’s go outside,” my mother said as she started toward the door.
To make matters worse, Fern was in the hallway snickering as Mom and I made our way out to the yard.
I hoped Presley didn’t look out her window and get the impression we were talking smack about her.
Once outside, I faced my mother on the lawn. “What?”
“You know what.” She crossed her arms. “It’s obvious what’s going on here.”
“Nothing is going on, Mother. We were just having a little fun. You should want us to be getting along—for Alex’s sake.”
“Well, I’ll have you know your nephew isn’t stupid. If there’s something going on between you two, he’s going to figure it out. All he talked about last night is how you and she seem to be getting along now when all you used to do is fight.”
“So you’d rather we fight?”
“I’d rather you not sleep with the one woman you don’t have a right to.”
Anger built inside of me. I took a deep breath and composed myself. “With all due respect, that would be none of your business if it were happening, but it’s simply not. Nothing has happened with Presley. We’re just two stressed-out people, finally seeing eye to eye. We have a mutual respect for one another. And I’ll say it again: we were just having fun.”
She moved her head from side to side. “You know I suspected something weird when you asked me to make that peach cobbler.”
“That was just a nice gesture. It didn’t mean anything.”
Her eyes widened. “You mean to tell me you’re not attracted to her?”
I looked up at the window to make sure Presley wasn’t looking out. “Why does that even matter if we’re not involved?” I whispered.
“Your brother would flip.”
I raised my voice. “Really? Because he doesn’t give me the impression that he gives a shit about anything or anyone lately.”
“Trust me. This would most definitely wake him up. She left him, and now he’s gonna find out there’s something going on between you two? You think that’s not gonna hurt him?”
Mom didn’t know the story behind why Presley and Tanner had ended things. She had no clue my brother had cheated. But I didn’t feel it was my place to share Presley’s business. However, given that my mother was still under the impression Presley had done Tanner wrong, her attitude wasn’t surprising.
Then she said, “And what’s this I heard from Harry the realtor—that you told him you’re putting a hold on plans to sell The Palm?”
“How the hell did you find out about that?”
“Ran into him last night at the market with Alex. He mentioned it.”
“He should’ve kept his big mouth shut. He’s probably just upset that he’s potentially gonna lose a commission.” I groaned. “Anyway, my plans aren’t canceled. They’re just…on hold.”
“I don’t think giving up that fight is a smart idea. Do you?”
“It’s not about the financial aspect. I’ve just been thinking about the impact selling would have on Presley and Alex. They like it here, and Presley really wants to revive the place. It’s like her…passion. I should at least give her a chance.”
Mom squinted. “And your feelings for her have nothing to do with that?”
I had two choices. I could lie, or not say anything at all. I chose the latter.
My mother proceeded to say one more thing to piss me off before she left.
“I hav
e an appointment, but before I go, I just want you to think long and hard about the repercussions of getting too close to Presley. This isn’t some fling you can mess up like all the others. She’ll be in this family forever. If something were to happen, not only will you mess up things with your brother, but Alex too. All I’m asking is for you to think on that for a while.”
“I hear you, Mother,” I said, gritting my teeth.
After she left, I decided to take a walk to let off some steam. It was a little unnerving that two people—my mother and Fern—had now picked up on the fact that something was brewing between Presley and me. It would only be a matter of time before Alex became the third. And then Tanner. It was one thing to enjoy being around her in secret, to be attracted to her on the down-low. But now it was on people’s radar.
I was supposed to have come to Beaufort to handle the sale of The Palm Inn. But if I’d all but given up on that fight, what was the point of staying? My being here now was because I wanted to be. If I kept going, it was going to end in someone getting hurt, either Presley or Tanner.
And I couldn’t let that happen.
CHAPTER 11
* * *
Presley
Later that week, things were really coming along around The Palm Inn. Between the new air conditioning almost fully installed and the fact that someone had booked a room for a weekend late in July, I was feeling more confident than ever.
Levi hadn’t joined us for dinner tonight. He’d been out of the house most of the day, so it was just Alex and me cleaning up after supper. As my son handed me a plate from the table, he hit me with a question I definitely wasn’t prepared for.
“Why do people call boobs tits?”
I wrinkled my forehead. “Where did you hear that term?”
“Some boys at the playground the other day were talking about Uncle Levi—how they saw some picture of him online with a woman who had really big tits. I had to ask them what that meant. They told me tits are boobs.”
Letting out a long breath, I continued washing the dishes as I spoke. “I don’t actually have a clear answer to your question. It’s a name people use to describe women’s breasts, sometimes when they’re doing it in a derogatory way.”