Well Played

by Keeland, Vi

  “Freddie had one for his birthday.” My son shrugged. “None of the moms cared, and he said it was the best birthday party ever.”

  Levi walked into the kitchen. “Morning.”

  I smiled. “Good morning.”

  He walked straight to the coffee pot, and Alex went straight to drafting his uncle to his side of this argument.

  “Uncle Levi, can you tell Mom that tents aren’t hard to set up?”

  Levi poured his coffee and turned to look at me. “What am I getting in the middle of here?”

  “Alex wants to have his friends sleep outside in tents for his birthday party tomorrow night.”

  Levi shrugged. “Sounds like fun.”

  My nose wrinkled. “Sleeping with bugs sounds like fun?”

  He brought his coffee mug to his lips with a smirk. “Afraid of a few daddy long legs?”

  “Oh my God. I was thinking more about ants. Daddy long legs are part of camping, too?”

  Levi chuckled. “You won’t even notice them. They like still bodies, so they mostly crawl on you when you sleep.”

  While my face twisted at that thought, my son laughed. “Come on, Mom. Don’t be such a scaredy cat.”

  “I’m not a scaredy cat. I would camp…but…we don’t have any tents.” I smiled. “Such a shame.”

  Levi grinned. “I have tents. I’m pretty sure my mom still has all our old camping gear. We used to have these grilled-cheese makers that you use over the campfire. They made the best sandwiches. I’ll see if she still has those, too.”

  “But—”

  “Thanks, Mom!” Alex stood. “Can I go down to Billy’s house to tell him I’m having a camping party?”

  I felt like I’d just been bamboozled. I shook my finger at Levi. “You’re helping set them up.”

  He laughed. “No problem.”

  ***

  The next night, I watched from the back door as Levi and Alex set up the tents out back. It turned out Levi’s mom had recently tossed all of their old camping gear, but Levi had come home with his truck filled with equipment anyway. All brand-new stuff that he gifted Alex for his birthday—three tents, sleeping bags, lanterns, tarps, supplies to make a fire, headlamps, outdoor cooking utensils. He’d even found the cast-iron grilled-cheese makers he’d loved so much as a kid. And he bought me bug spray. I wasn’t sure who was more excited about tonight’s camp out—Alex or his uncle.

  Levi pointed to the ground where the next stake needed to be set and handed Alex a mallet. I loved that he didn’t just set up the tent; he took the time to show my son how to do it.

  The doorbell rang, interrupting my thoughts, and two very anxious boys practically knocked me over when I answered. They were definitely eager to get to the yard. Levi walked over to the deck where I stood to give the boys some privacy as they said their hellos.

  “Thank you so much for setting all that up,” I said.

  “No problem. It was fun. It’s been a while since I did any of that. These days roughing it is getting put up at a four-star hotel instead of a five while the team is traveling.”

  I smiled. “I’d gladly take that version of roughing it over this one.”

  Levi shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. “Do you mind if I hang around tonight?”

  “Mind? I’d be relieved if you did. I was playing with the little collapsible camping cups you bought and couldn’t even figure out how to keep them open.”

  He laughed. “You have to twist them a certain way.”

  The doorbell rang again, and a few more boys joined the party. Over the next few hours, Levi and I were both kept pretty busy. We made a fire, roasted hot dogs on sticks, grilled-cheese sandwiches in the contraption Levi had bought, and sat around telling ghost stories once it got dark.

  Though I’d been reluctant to have this type of party, it turned out to be one of the most fun nights I’d had in a long time. At eleven o’clock, I told the boys to go into the house and brush their teeth and then got them settled for the night. Since there were six of them, Levi had set up a few tents for them to sleep, but they all squished into one. When I was done, I found Levi sitting by the fire, staring into the flames.

  “Mind if I sit with you?” I asked.

  He smiled. “Not at all.”

  “Would you want to sneak a beer?”

  “Hell yeah.”

  I laughed. “I’ll be right back.”

  I went to the fridge and grabbed two cold Coors Lights. Handing Levi one back at the campfire, I sat and let out a big sigh. “Well, I can’t thank you enough. Tonight turned out pretty great.”

  Levi drank his beer. “Feels like I should be thanking you. I had a really good time.”

  “I’m glad.”

  “I was just thinking…you’re a really cool mom, Presley.”

  “I am? Well, that might be the best compliment anyone has ever given me. Though I think I’m usually a dork, I’m going to allow myself to feel like a cool mom—tonight anyway.”

  He chuckled. “You do that.”

  Levi was such a natural with the boys. “Do you want to have kids someday?”

  “I do.” He nodded. “If you’d asked me that a few days ago, I probably would have said six. But after tonight, I think that might be too ambitious.”

  I chuckled. “I agree. Six might be too many.”

  He lifted his chin and sipped his beer again. “What about you? You want more kids?”

  “I’d love to have another one, or maybe even two. To be honest, I would’ve liked to have had them close together, but that obviously wasn’t in the cards.”

  Levi frowned and nodded. He was quiet for a moment. “My brother is an idiot.”

  It was my turn to frown. “Alex asked me three times today if his dad had called for his birthday. I even sent Tanner a text to remind him about it a few hours ago, but nothing.”

  Levi shook his head. “He doesn’t deserve you guys.”

  We were both quiet for a while after that. Bringing up Tanner felt like a mood killer, but I refused to let him put a damper on what had been an amazing evening. So I grabbed the bag of marshmallows. “One more before we call it a night?”

  He nodded. “Definitely. Maybe you could manage not to set yours on fire this time?”

  I stuck out my tongue.

  He smiled, but his gaze lingered on my lips. He lifted his beer to drink again, never taking his eyes off me until he lowered it. When his eyes finally rose to meet mine, they were filled with enough heat to make my belly do a little somersault.

  He sat up and cleared his throat. “I’ll go find us some sticks.”

  For the next hour, we roasted marshmallows and talked. I was completely stuffed and about to slip into a sugar coma, yet I kept agreeing to one more just to spend more time with Levi. When the last log on the fire fizzled out and Levi yawned, I figured it was time to call it a night.

  “I’m going to go brush my teeth,” I said.

  “You mind if I crash out here, too, tonight? Since the boys all slept in one tent, there’s an extra.”

  “Not at all.”

  “Alright. You go do what you have to do inside, and I’ll get my tent ready. I’m guessing you don’t want the boys alone for even five minutes anyway, so I’ll take my turn when you’re done.”

  I smiled. “That would be great.”

  When I finished in the house, I came back out and whispered at the door of Levi’s tent. “I’m done. You can go in.”

  Levi unzipped and popped his head out. “Come inside for a minute. This tent has a zip-off sunroof. You have to see the stars.”

  “Okay.” Inside the tent, Levi laid on his back. He patted the ground next to him. “Lie down.”

  When I did, my mouth dropped open. “Wow. I can’t believe how many stars are out. It’s absolutely incredible.”

  “Isn’t it?” We lay side by side staring at the sky in awe. Our bodies were so close that our pinkies were touching. That ever-so-slight contact set my entire body on fire. I might�
�ve been staring up at the sky, but suddenly I couldn’t focus on it. One of the most beautiful things in nature was right in front of my eyes, but all I could see, all I could feel, was Levi. My breathing grew faster and shallower, so I closed my eyes in an effort to drown everything out and get control of myself.

  But then…his finger moved.

  That innocent pinky that lay next to mine suddenly wrapped itself around my pinky and held it. It was so slow and gentle—part of me thought I might be imagining it. Though when I opened my eyes and turned my head to see what Levi was doing, he’d already turned to face me. He hadn’t been watching the stars anymore either.

  Our eyes locked, and Levi swallowed. The hand not holding my pinky reached up and cupped my cheek. “The sky doesn’t hold a candle to looking at you, Presley.”

  My heart hammered in my chest.

  Levi’s eyes dropped to my lips. His thumb stroked my skin. “I want to kiss you,” he whispered. “I need to kiss you.”

  My lips had gone dry, so I ran my tongue along them before tilting my head up and nodding.

  Levi smiled. His hand at my cheek slid to my neck, and he pulled me to him, planting his lips over mine. Even though I knew it was about to happen, the feel of his soft mouth and strong grip made me gasp. Levi’s hold on my neck tightened and then…all hell broke loose. Our tongues collided, and the taste of him overwhelmed me, making me absolutely desperate. One minute I was on my back and the next I was rolling us and pushing him down, my body on top of his. We groped and pulled, sucked and bit. Neither one of us seemed to be able to get close enough or kiss hard enough. Levi groaned, and the vibration from it shot straight down between my legs. I felt so needy that I wasn’t even sure I remembered to breathe—the moment felt more important than oxygen. Consumed by the kiss, I’d almost forgotten where I was—in a tent, ten feet away from my son and his friends—but then reality broke through.

  A damn cell phone started to ring.

  Our kiss broke, and we let go, falling onto our backs and panting.

  On the third ring, Levi reached between us and grabbed the offending phone. He looked at it and grumbled, “It’s yours.”

  It had to be after midnight. Who the hell would be calling this late?

  Squinting, I checked the name on the screen, and my eyes briefly closed. I reopened them with a frown and looked at Levi. “It’s Tanner. I guess he finally remembered his son’s birthday…”

  ***

  The following morning, I drove a few of the kids home. Alex wanted to stay with one of them for a few hours, so I came back alone, planning to pick him up later in the afternoon.

  Last night, I’d never gone back out to the tent after Tanner’s phone call. Instead, I’d gone straight to my room where I tossed and turned, thinking about kissing Levi and ruminating over something Tanner had mentioned in passing.

  Levi was still in the kitchen, cleaning up the remnants of the boys’ pancake breakfast, when I got back from dropping Alex off. This was our first time alone since our kiss. Well, alone aside from Fern probably lurking somewhere in the house.

  Levi wiped down the counter without saying anything for a while. The tension in the air was thick.

  Then he finally spoke as he continued to move the towel across the counter. “What did Tanner have to say last night?”

  It had been odd talking to my ex even briefly after I’d just come off of that amazing kiss in the tent. I’d been guilt-ridden. The phone call had been bad timing, to say the least.

  “He didn’t have much to say to me, which was good because I couldn’t bear to talk to him for any length of time after what had happened between us.”

  Levi suddenly stopped wiping the counter and nodded. His shoulders rose and fell.

  “But before I woke Alex up to give him the phone, Tanner mentioned that he’d seen a photo of you and a woman after the fire. He had no clue it was me.”

  Levi sighed. “I know. When we last spoke on the phone, he mentioned it.”

  “It spooked me a little, Levi. If he’d recognized me, he might have put two and two together. And after what happened last night…”

  He took a few steps toward me. “You feelin’ guilty about it?”

  “Aren’t you?” I asked, his sudden nearness putting me on edge.

  “Yeah, I felt guilty. But not enough to take it back.” His stare burned into mine. “I’d do it all over again.”

  My chest heaved. “I don’t think we should do it again.”

  He searched my eyes, inching a little closer. “Is that what you really want?”

  “This has nothing to do with what I want and everything to do with what I don’t want. I don’t want to mess up your relationship with your brother.”

  “What relationship?” he muttered angrily before throwing the towel aside. He let out a long breath. “I know what you’re saying, alright? And I respect it. In fact, you’re right. I have no business wanting you like this. Tanner did you wrong, but he’s still my brother. So maybe it makes me a terrible fucking person for what I did last night. I might even hate myself a little. But I still don’t fucking regret it. I just don’t.” He placed his big, strong hand around my cheek. “You told me what you don’t want, but you didn’t answer my question.” He rubbed his thumb against my skin. “What do you want, Presley? And don’t say it doesn’t matter. Because it does matter. What you want matters. Your happiness fucking matters.”

  I closed my eyes and let those words sink in. “I want you,” I whispered. My eyes fluttered open. I meant that with every inch of my soul.

  His pupils dilated as he stared into my eyes, but he said nothing.

  “I don’t know what’s happening, Levi. All I can say is, I feel alive again. I’m invigorated whenever I’m with you. This all feels dangerous—but at the same time, you make me feel safe. I could’ve never predicted that you would be the first man to make me feel this way in a very long time.” I exhaled. “I had many preconceived notions about you. But you’re not the heartless player I imagined. You’re caring and protective. I just…love being around you. I love the time we spend together with Alex, too. And I’m as scared about you leaving as I am of something more happening between us.”

  Levi pulled me into a tight embrace. I could feel his heart thundering against my own. What he said next floored me.

  “My life over the past few years—it’s been lonely. Even when I came home to visit, it didn’t feel the same here. Until this time. When I’m around you, I feel a sense of home again. And it’s not because of this house or Beaufort. It’s you—your passion, your spirit—which I know is damn ironic, considering how much we butted heads in the beginning.” He pulled back to look at me. “I respect you. I respect you as a mother, and most of all, I respect you as a woman. But I’m also deeply attracted to you in a way I haven’t felt with anyone else. I don’t think I can just pretend like these feelings aren’t there. But I will do what you ask of me. If you want me to try to forget about it…I will. I won’t pressure you. I know what’s at stake.”

  Maybe it was the mother in me, but my inclination was always to do whatever it took to prevent the people I cared about from getting hurt.

  “I think we have to at least try to control this,” I told him. “Before we know it, you’ll be gone again. That’s the reality, no matter how strong these feelings are right now.”

  He said nothing as we stood there, staring into each other’s eyes. Despite what I’d just said, the energy in the room felt like it was about to combust. It felt like we were about to combust.

  I moved to walk past him, and the moment I met his gaze again, he stopped me, gripping my arm and pulling me close. He kissed me so hard that it felt like my lips were slowly burning. I savored his tongue, immediately recognizing the taste from our kiss last night. My heart felt like it was beating out of my chest. And somehow, I knew there was no going back now.

  Levi lifted me up as I wrapped my legs around his massive frame. Immediately I felt the heat of his erecti
on pressing against me as he carried me out of the room as if I weighed nothing. I certainly felt weightless in his strong arms.

  “Tell me to stop and I will,” he groaned over my lips.

  Him saying that caused me to kiss him even harder, a silent message that the last thing I wanted to do was stop. I hadn’t even known how desperate I was for him until this moment, because it felt like I couldn’t stop, even if I’d wanted to.

  When we got to my room, he laid me down on the bed, took my bottom lip between his, and slowly released it. “I have never wanted anyone like I want you. I’m gonna say it one last time. You need to tell me to stop, or I won’t.” He lowered himself over me and placed a kiss on my lips, gentler than the last. “Last chance,” he whispered. “You want this?”

  I lifted my hips, pressing my crotch into his erection. “Yes.” I nodded, pulling his face toward mine and kissing him hard as I raked my fingers through his thick mane of hair.

  “Fuck, Presley. I don’t even care if we go to hell for this.”

  The next thing I knew, he ran out of the room. At first I was alarmed, but then, about thirty seconds later, he returned holding a strip of condoms.

  As Levi covered my neck in kisses, I felt myself throbbing. Not only had it been so long since I’d had a man over me like this, I’d never been more turned on and ready for anyone in my life. I was already so wet and could feel my arousal pooling between my legs.

  Levi lifted my shirt before lowering his mouth over my breasts, taking each of my nipples into his mouth and sucking until it hurt so good.

  “You taste fucking delicious, Presley. Even better than you smell, and that’s saying a lot. I want to devour you.”

  “Please,” I begged.

  Levi twirled his tongue over my nipples before slowly sliding it down the length of my abdomen.

  He stopped short of my bikini line before taking off my shorts and panties. Once I was completely naked, Levi took a few moments to take me in.

  “Fuck. Me,” he muttered. “You’re so freaking beautiful. I swear to God.” He shook his head slowly. “Spread your legs wide for me.”