Page 4 of Well Played

“Can you…leave that part out of your report? It’s so embarrassing.”

The officer glanced up at me and then continued to write. “They’re just the facts of the case, ma’am.”

Levi again raised his voice from the other room, causing even the officer sitting across from me to turn in his chair. He towered over the short female paramedic. “Give me whatever you want me to sign. I’m not getting into an ambulance for a little cut on the head.”

One of the two paramedics who had been attending to Levi walked into the kitchen and spoke to the officer. “The victim’s vitals are stable, and he’s refusing treatment, so we’re going to have him sign our Refusal of Necessary Medical Care form and be on our way.”

The officer shut his notebook and looked at me. “Excuse me for a minute.”

While the paramedics packed up their transporter bed and all of their equipment, the officer spoke to Levi. He lowered his voice, but I could still strain to hear.

“Are you sure you don’t want to press charges, Mr. Miller?”

Levi looked over at me. His glare was icy, but he shook his head no.

“Alright, then. We’ll have to do a full report. But we’ll put it down as a domestic accident.”

Fifteen minutes later, the last of the responders walked out the front door. The paramedics and police had arrived just as Levi came to, and they’d immediately sprung into action to treat him and then separated us. I hadn’t had a chance to apologize.

“Levi, I’m so sorry I did that to you. But why were you watching me anyway? It’s creepy.”

“It’s kind of hard to not watch when I find a naked woman in my house, twerking. I had no idea it was you.”

I folded my arms across my chest. “It’sourhouse. And I had no idea it was you either. You look so different. Your hair is long, and I’ve never seen you with a full beard like that.” I looked up at the cut on his head and grimaced. “You should have let them treat you. You’re still bleeding.”

“Cuts to the head bleed a lot. It’s fine.”

“Please go over to Doc Matthews’ at least.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I moved back.”

“Why?”

Right about now, I was asking myself that very question. “Because it’s a good place for my son to grow up.”

He looked me up and down. “Why are you so dirty?”

“Oh. I cleaned out the attic. I finished right before you came in.”

“Why would you do that?”

My brows furrowed. He had a lot of questions, and some of them seemed pretty obvious. “Ummm…because it was a disaster.”

“The builder doesn’t care if the attic is clean. He doesn’t care if the entire place is a mess. He’s going to tear it down.”

“Tear what down?”

“This place.”

“What?What are you talking about?”

This time it was Levi who looked confused. His forehead wrinkled. “Didn’t you get the offer?”

“What offer?”

“For the B&B. Franklin Construction made an offer of more than twice the value of the property. My lawyer said he sent it over to you. I assumed it was a done deal.”

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