by Keeland, Vi
His eyes were glassy. “What do you mean?”
“What were you doing with that girl tonight?”
“It was no big deal,” he slurred.
Pulling on his collar tighter, I shouted, “Answer my question.”
The alcohol on his breath was pungent. “I was just out having some fun. I needed it.”
“Define fun.” I roughly let him go. He nearly toppled to the ground before his back hit the hedges in front of the hotel.
He wouldn’t make eye contact. “What do you want me to say?”
“I want you to tell me exactly what you were doing with her,” I demanded.
When he continued to remain silent, I rephrased my question. “Did you fuck that girl or not, Tanner?”
His silence told me everything I needed to know. But I still wanted to hear him say it.
“Answer me!” I yelled.
“Yes!” he finally admitted. “Okay? Yes. I…went back to her place, and one thing led to another.” He hesitated. “We had sex.”
My head fell back as I looked up at the sky, feeling ready to blow. God, give me the strength not to kill him right now.
I somehow managed to refrain from punching him, instead balling my hands into fists. “How could you do that?”
“You act like it’s not something you do every goddamn day of your life.”
“Don’t you dare turn this on me. This is about you. I thought you were trying to earn Presley’s trust back. You told her you wanted to be a family again. And this is how you show it? By getting drunk and fucking some random woman while your son and his mother are in town with you?”
“Getting a quick fix doesn’t take away from my feelings for her. Presley has wanted nothing to do with me sexually. I was feeling stressed and needed relief, for fuck’s sake. A man can only take so much. Between the new job and Presley fucking rejecting me over and over—I couldn’t deal with it anymore. I just needed to feel good for one damn night.”
Something told me this couldn’t have been the first time he’d done something like this.
“One night, huh? Look me in the eyes and tell me this is the only time you’ve fucked around since showing up in Beaufort.”
When he looked down at his shoes, I had my answer. Jesus Christ. I wanted to murder him. I’d spent all this time miserable, away from the woman I loved out of respect for a man who had no respect for her.
“None of this has anything to do with my love for Presley,” he said.
“You don’t really love her,” I said.
“What are you talking about? Don’t tell me how I feel.”
“No,” I repeated. “You don’t love her. You couldn’t possibly love her.”
“And how would you know that?”
I took a deep breath in. “Because when you love someone, you can’t even stomach the thought of being with anyone else. When you love someone, you belong to them in every way—mind, body, and soul. And even when you’re not physically with them, you respect them. Love and respect go hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other.”
Tanner’s eyes wavered between mine. “You’re talking about Presley, aren’t you? I saw the way you looked at her back in Beaufort. I figured you were just checking out a piece of ass, like you always do. Then when I saw you two at the hospital...” He shook his head and laughed angrily. “But I put that thought out of my mind, because my brother would never do that to me. My brother is a stand-up guy.”
I had no idea what to say or do. But apparently he could read me better than I could read him.
He shook his head. “You’re fucking my girl.”
Whether I was in the wrong or not, I couldn’t let him call her that. I gritted my teeth. “She’s not your girl. And she hasn’t been for a long time.”
“She’s mine!”
“Presley isn’t a possession for you to claim. You hadn’t been interested in her for years. Or your son, for that matter. No one thought you were ever coming back. You’d given us every indication that you wouldn’t be. What happened between Presley and me wasn’t about you—it was about us. And, yes, I felt guilty, but not enough to stop it. You’d hurt her enough already. You didn’t deserve her then, and you don’t deserve her now.”
He stared at me incredulously. “How could you fucking do that to me?”
“I didn’t plan it. It just happened. We got close, and it turned into the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I’m sorry…but I love her, Tanner.”
He swung at me. Luckily, he was too drunk to aim correctly, and he missed. I couldn’t afford an injury right now, so I had to rein this in. It wasn’t very hard to do, given how inebriated he was.
Managing to get him into a chokehold pretty quickly, I spoke into his ear, “We need to talk more about this in the morning, when you’ve sobered up. If you know what’s good for you, leave her alone tonight. She didn’t do anything wrong, and you’ve hurt her enough already. Go back to your room.”
When I released him, he walked backwards toward the hotel entrance, a look of hatred aimed at me. I felt like shit, but at the same time, a huge weight had lifted off my chest.
Then, a wave of panic hit.
What if he goes to her room?
He’d already disappeared into the lobby, so I jogged after him. The automatic doors at the entrance slid open just as he passed the elevator bank ahead of me in the distance. I knew from my mother that Presley was on the top level at the other end of the floor, and I needed to be certain he wasn’t going to bother her.
I dropped back and trailed him as he walked through the lobby and turned down a corridor leading to guest rooms on the ground level. At the end of the hall, I ducked out of sight, sneaking peeks to watch him as he stumbled from side to side. About halfway down, he stopped at a door and spent a solid minute trying to dig the key out of his pocket. When he finally pulled it out, it took him a few tries to get in, but eventually he disappeared inside. I waited a while to see if he’d come back out, and then quietly walked down to his room and listened by the door. After ten minutes, without hearing any sign of movement, I figured he must’ve passed out. I still needed to warn Presley, though, so I took out my phone and started to text her.
But then I thought better of it. She’d had a tough-enough night, and Alex was probably sleeping. Besides, this was a conversation we needed to have in person. She was an early riser, so I’d just get to her bright and early before practice, and before Tanner had a chance to wake up with a belligerent hangover.
***
The next morning, I wasn’t taking any chances. After a shitty night of sleep, I headed over to the hotel at six AM. The vein in my neck pulsed as I rode the elevator to the top floor. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been this nervous.
What if I blew her trust for admitting the truth to Tanner last night?
What if she won’t take me back?
What if the time we’ve been apart made her realize life with an athlete who spends half of the year on the road isn’t what she wants for her and Alex?
Everything that could go wrong kept spinning through my mind.
What if Tanner causes trouble?
Could he turn Alex against me?
Shit, how is Alex gonna take the news?
When the elevator dinged on her floor, my palms started to sweat, and the thoughts circulating through my head began to leak out my mouth. I mumbled like a crazy person.
“Calm down, man.”
“You’ve played in Super Bowls without sweating.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you?”
It was a good thing it was early and people weren’t around, or they’d run the other way seeing a man my size talking to himself.
When I got to Presley’s room, I took a deep breath before knocking lightly. And then I waited.
And waited.
When she didn’t come to the door after a few minutes, I assumed she must have still been sleeping. I hated to wake her, but I needed to talk to her before
Tanner, and before I had to be at practice. So I knocked again, this time louder.
And waited.
And waited.
Then I knocked again. When she still didn’t answer, I started to get freaked out, and the craziest shit ran through my head.
What if Tanner got to her and did something?
What if she’s in there hurt?
So I banged on the door. “Presley? Alex? Are you in there?”
I still got no response, but the door to the adjoining room opened, and a pretty pissed-off looking guy walked out. He eyed me. “What the hell are you…” He blinked a few times. “Holy shit. You’re Levi Miller.”
I dragged a hand through my hair. “Yeah. Sorry to wake you. Have you seen the woman who was staying in this room?”
He nodded. “She was coming out when I walked in early this morning. I was out late.”
“Was she okay?”
The guy shrugged. “She looked okay to me.”
“Did she happen to say where she was going?”
“No. But she had her suitcases and stuff. And the little boy was carrying a bag, so I assumed she was checking out.”
Fuck.
“How long ago was that?”
“Maybe four thirty. An hour and a half ago?”
“Thanks.” I took off jogging down the hall.
“Wait! Can I have your autograph?”
“Another time!”
I ran to the elevator, uncertain of my next move. The last person to talk to Presley was my mother last night, and she was definitely not an early riser. I called anyway.
She answered on the third ring. Her voice was groggy. “Levi? What’s going on? Is everything okay?”
“I just went to Presley’s room, and she’s not there.”
“What time is it?”
“It’s about six.”
“She’s probably at the airport by now. She was pretty upset after she got back to the room from talking to you last night. Alex was sleeping, so we chatted for a while. She thought it was better that she go home. It’s very difficult for her to be around you, and with Tanner causing scenes at dinner... She asked me to tell everyone there was an issue at the inn and she had to fly home early.”
Fuck. I closed my eyes. “I need to talk to her. Tanner knows, Ma.”
“Tanner knows what?”
“That I’m in love with Presley. That we were together over the summer.”
My mom sighed. “Oh boy. How did that go?”
“I don’t even give a shit. I just need to get to her. Can you do me a favor?”
“What’s that?”
“Don’t mention to Tanner that Presley left.”
“Levi, I don’t want to get in the middle of this by lying to your brother.”
“Then don’t lie. Turn off your phone. You’re having breakfast with Dad’s friend and his wife, right?”
“Yes. And then I’m going to get my hair done before the ceremony.”
“So chances are, you won’t even see him until later. Just buy me some lead time by not answering your phone. Please.”
“Lead time? What are you going to do? Don’t you have practice today? And we have the ceremony tonight.”
“I’ll take the fine for missing practice. And I’m sorry, Mom. But I’m not going to be able to make the ceremony. I never missed watching Dad play, so I think he’ll forgive me. Plus, I’ll be able to look up and honor him every time I walk into the stadium for a game.”
“Fine. Go. Do what you have to do. I’ll tell anyone who asks that you’re under the weather.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“I hope this is all worth it, son.”
“She is. She’s the one.”
Two hours later, I was sitting on a flight to South Carolina, waiting to take off. I’d called Presley a dozen times, but each time it went straight to voicemail. I hit redial one more time, but the same thing happened. No ring—right to voicemail. So at least she wasn’t ignoring her phone; it was probably off. The flight attendant came on overhead to say the cabin door was now shut, and we’d be taxiing for takeoff momentarily. All personal devices needed to be turned off and put away. I was just about to switch my phone to airplane mode when it vibrated with an incoming message. I’d hoped it was Presley, telling me she’d landed okay and saw all my missed calls, but it wasn’t. It was my mother.
Mom: Tanner knows Presley left. The front desk told him she checked out. I think he might be heading back to South Carolina.
CHAPTER 33
* * *
Presley
Last night after Shelby and I talked, I’d booked a flight home and turned off my phone. Then when I got up this morning, I’d realized that while I’d plugged the cord into my phone, I hadn’t actually plugged the other end into the wall socket. So my cell was dead, and my flight had been so early that I didn’t have time to deal with it. Luckily, my plane had been a newer one, and there were outlets at each seat for me to charge it, even if I couldn’t turn it on during the flight.
The minute I got off the plane and turned on my phone, messages started pouring in. All from Tanner. I knew before I read the first one that it wasn’t going to be good news. I needed to take a minute to see what had caused the influx of messages, but my gut told me to do it in private. So I stopped Alex as we passed a restroom just outside our gate.
“Honey, I need to run to the bathroom. Could you wait right out here for a minute?”
“Okay.”
I wagged my finger at him. “Don’t wander off.”
He rolled his eyes. “Yes, Mom.”
Once I was alone in the ladies’ room, I took a deep breath and opened the text chain.
Tanner: WHORE
Oh God. My heart started to race as I scrolled down to read the rest of them.
Tanner: How could you?
Tanner: My brother?
Tanner: My fucking brother?
Tanner: Where the hell are you?
Tanner: Were you that desperate to get laid?
Tanner: He’s using you, you know.
Tanner: He’s always wanted anything I had. It’s all a game to him.
Tears welled in my eyes.
Tanner: I hope you aren’t fooling yourself thinking you were anything special. He’s got a girl in every city.
The texts went on and on. They seemed to jump back and forth between angry and sad. Some were both:
Tanner: I’ve loved you since the eighth grade. How THE FUCK can you do this to us?
But the last text freaked me out the most.
Tanner: I’m coming to find you.
Tears streamed down my face. God, how did he even find out? And what the heck do I do now? I wanted to curl into a ball, but my son was waiting outside alone. So I splashed some water on my face in an attempt to compose myself so I wouldn’t worry Alex. But I was so rattled that even the sound of my own phone ringing scared the crap out of me. I jumped and bobbled it in my hands. I couldn’t get a good grip on the damn thing. It wound up smacking against the side of the sink before hitting the floor with a loud clank.
Shit.
When I bent and picked it up, the screen had shattered. Worse, it would no longer turn on. I sighed. While I was upset, maybe a broken phone was the best thing for me right now. My eight-year-old son was standing outside, and I needed to get us home without falling apart. So I took a few deep breaths, smoothed down my blouse, and went back out into the airport.
Luckily, Alex was too busy playing a game on his iPad to even notice my red nose. “Come on, honey. Let’s go home.”
***
Hours later, I was back at The Palm Inn and unpacked, but still very much on edge. I’d used the house phone to call Levi and Shelby, but both went straight to voicemail. They were probably together at Jim’s jersey-retirement ceremony, where I hoped Tanner was, too. But his last text kept playing over and over in my head. I’m coming to find you. Every time a guest walked in or out, I practically jumped through my skin. I kept expecting
it to be Tanner.
When Alex asked if he could go over to a friend’s, I was relieved to get him somewhere else. It was a nice day, and Kyle only lived a few blocks away, so I decided to walk him over. I hoped maybe some fresh air and a little exercise would do me good. On the way back, I took a detour and walked through a local park, dreading the thought of what might be waiting for me at home. Tanner had left his car at the airport, so if he was back, that would be my warning sign. I held my breath as I turned the last corner, not breathing until I checked out every car parked on the block. Thankfully, his wasn’t there.
Once I arrived back at the house, I didn’t feel like going inside. We had a full inn again this weekend, and people were milling around. So I sat down on the porch swing to figure out how I would handle things once Tanner inevitably showed up.
I didn’t find any answers, but eventually my thoughts were interrupted when a couple walked out of the house.
They noticed me and stopped. “Oh, hi. Would you be able to tell us how to get to Coyle’s Ice Cream Parlor?”
I smiled half-heartedly and pointed down the block. “Sure. You take a left at the corner, go about two blocks, and then make a right on Main Street. You can’t miss it.”
“Great, thank you.”
They walked down the porch steps arm in arm, and then the guy turned back. “Hey, if you’re a football fan, there’s a pretty famous quarterback inside.” The woman smiled and pulled on her T-shirt. “He was very nice. I got him to sign my shirt.”
My first thought was Oh God, Tanner is here. But then I realized the couple was in their early twenties. They would have been teenagers when Tanner played his one season. I couldn’t imagine they would know him, or if they did, consider him famous. So I leaned forward on the swing to see the woman’s shirt. The signature was pretty much scribble, but the first letter looked a hell of a lot like an L, not a T.