Page 12 of Well Played

When I finally stopped chugging to take a breath, he raised a brow. “Bad day?”

I cocked my head. “You think?”

He motioned toward the ceiling. “I’m going to go take a look at what’s going on upstairs with the pipes and turn off the water in the house. You got everything under control here?”

I waved the wine bottle around like a crazy person. “Doesn’t it look like it?”

I saw a hint of a smile threaten at the corner of Levi’s lips, though he did his best to hide it. He disappeared to God knows where, while I continued to slurp wine from the bottle and watch water drip into buckets and cans.

Ten minutes later, my cell phone rang. The last thing I felt like doing was answering, but since it was a local number, and Alex wasn’t home at the moment, I had no choice.

“Hello?”

“Hi. Miss Sullivan?”

“Yes.”

“This is Jeremy Brickson. I run the football camp you signed your son, Alex, up for last week. We met at registration.”

Great. Just great. I knew what this was going to be about. When it rains, it pours—through the ceiling apparently. “Yes, sure. Hi, Jeremy.”

“I’m really sorry to bother you. It’s just that the check you gave us for Alex’s camp tuition… Well, it bounced.”

I shut my eyes. “Yeah, I just found out about that a little while ago. I’m very sorry. I’d planned on calling you to apologize and find out if I could replace the check or if it would be possible to redeposit the one I gave you a second time, but I got sidetracked.”

“We can deposit it a second time. That’s no problem. But I thought I’d let you know about a program we have for kids who can’t afford football camp, just in case that’s something that might help you out. I know you just moved here and all.”

The anger I’d felt a few minutes ago morphed into something else. Why did he have to be so nice about it? Why couldn’t he be a dick like Tanner and Levi? That I could deal with. But him being kind brought me to a new breaking point. The taste of salt filled my mouth, and a large lump lodged in my throat.

I struggled to swallow it down. “No, that’s okay, Jeremy. Thank you for the offer, but I don’t need any help. I just…I was supposed to move money from one account back to the other, and I didn’t. That’s all.”

“Okay. Well, I’ll hang on to this check for a few days before we redeposit it to give you a chance to do what you have to do. I’m sorry for bothering you.”

I’d bounced a check, andhewas apologizing. I definitely wasn’t in New York anymore. “Thank you, and I’ll cover whatever bounced-check fees you incur.”

“No need. It’s fine. You take care, Miss Sullivan. We’re looking forward to seeing Alex in action. Rumor around town is he’s got the Miller arm.”

I smiled sadly. “Yeah, I think he might.”

“Bye now.”

After I hung up, I felt defeated. I didn’t even have the energy to wipe the tears that started to flow. I just let them fall from my cheeks to the wet floor.

“Everything okay?”

Shit.How long had Levi been standing there?

I wiped my face. “Everything is fine.”

“Didn’t sound too fine. Sounded like you’re in some financial trouble.”

“I’m not. It was just a little mix up.”

“Uh-huh.”

You know what? Fuck it!He wants to poke his nose into my business? Let him. But he’s going to hear the truth.

I straightened my spine and pulled my shoulders back. “If you must know, your brother bounced a check that’s caused a ripple effect now. He owes me about four months of the measly child support he pays, and even though he only paid mehalf, he still bounced it.Again. I didn’t know the check wasn’t good when I wrote a check for Alex’s football camp.”

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