Page 103 of Well Played

Tears spilled down my cheeks. “But you said we could find a way to work it out.”

“We got caught up in the heat of the moment. I care about you, Presley. I really do. And Alex, too. But what happened between us should’ve never happened. It was a mistake.”

It felt like someone had slapped me across the face. Saying it had to end was one thing, but regretting it and calling it a mistake was another altogether. I took two steps back. “A mistake? How can you say that? You told me once that you’d never regret us.”

“You should give your family a chance, Presley. Alex deserves to have his father in his life, and you deserve to have someone who can be by your side day in, day out.”

“But I don’t want to be with Tanner. I want to be with you. I know it’s confusing and people will get hurt, but we can figure it out. I know we can. That’s what you said all along. You made me believe it could work.”

Levi squeezed his eyes shut. He was quiet for a long time. Eventually he looked up and swallowed. “I don’twantto work it out, Presley.”

It felt like someone knocked the wind out of me.

Levi shook his head. “I’m sorry if I led you on and took things too far. I will be there for Alex—that, I promise. But you and me? It was never going to last. We live two very different lives, and I don’t want to be tied down while I’m on the road.”

My lips trembled. “I see.”

He looked down again. “I’m sorry, Presley. I really am.”

Levi stepped forward with his arms out, like he was going to console me. But no way could I let him do that. As it was, I was on the verge of breaking down. I just needed to get the hell out of here. So I put my hand on his chest and shoved to stop him. “Don’t.I’ll be fine.” I lifted my chin, even though tears were already dripping from it. “Goodbye, Levi.”

***

I had to put ice packs on my eyes the next morning to reduce the swelling enough so I could drive to pick up Alex. Last night had been brutal. I kept replaying the months Levi and I had shared over and over in my head to see what I’d missed. There must have been signs that things between us were only a fling to him, signs that I missed because of my growing feelings. People don’t just wake up one day and randomly decide a relationship isn’t worth fighting for. But no matter how hard I thought back and dissected our time together, I just couldn’t see what was coming.

And that scared the hell out of me. I’d been blindsided once before by love—by Tanner—and I’d thought I’d learned from that experience and grown as a woman. Falling for another man, only to be discarded like yesterday’s trashagain,wasn’t just heartbreaking; it made me feel like a complete idiot.

Luckily, one of the benefits of being a mom was that you didn’t get much time to wallow in self-pity. The minute I picked up Alex from his friend’s house, he started rambling on and on about his Uncle Levi, and I had no choice but to suck it up.

“Grandma told me Uncle Levi’s team is retiring Grandpa’s football jersey this year. The whole family is going to a big ceremony in September. It’s in Denver, so Uncle Levi will be there, too. Do you think we can go with them, Mom? Grandma said we could if you said it was okay.”

“I’m not sure, sweetie. Things might be busy here. Why don’t we talk about it when it gets closer.”

“It’s in fifty-one days. I looked it up. I’m going to ask Uncle Levi about it this morning.”

I didn’t have the heart or the energy to tell Alex his uncle likely wouldn’t want us to come visit. So instead, I just nodded and forced a smile.

“Next summer, do you think Uncle Levi will come back to The Palm? Maybe he could help coach my summer camp.”

It felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest. “I’m not sure what Uncle Levi will have planned for next summer. That’s almost a year away.”

“Three-hundred-and-forty-three days.”

My real smile couldn’t help but peek out. I reached over and mussed my son’s hair. “Someone found a calendar.”

When we pulled up at the inn, Tanner was sitting outside on the swing with his coffee. I hadn’t come out of my room after talking to Levi last night to see if Tanner had installed it once he got back from the wild goose chase I’d sent him on.

He stood as we approached. “What’s up, killer?” He held a fist out to Alex and the two bumped. “How was your night? You didn’t sneak out of Kyle’s house to meet up with girls and smoke cigarettes and drink whiskey, did you?”

Alex laughed. “Girls are gross, Dad.”

Tanner winked at me. “Just girls? Not booze and smokes?”

“Daaad…you’re so not even funny.”

Tanner chuckled. He nodded toward the house. “Why don’t you go inside and get washed up for breakfast? I picked up chocolate chips when I was at the supermarket last night so I could make us double chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. I’m gonna start making them in a few because I have to drive Uncle Levi to the airport this morning.”

“Okay!”

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