Page 57 of Well Played

“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. “Ineedto 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 awomanafter 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 weshoulddo it again.”

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

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