Page 46 of Well Played

After she left, I decided to take a walk to let off some steam. It was a little unnerving that two people—my mother and Fern—had now picked up on the fact that something was brewing between Presley and me. It would only be a matter of time before Alex became the third. And then Tanner. It was one thing to enjoy being around her in secret, to be attracted to her on the down-low. But now it was on people’s radar.

I was supposed to have come to Beaufort to handle the sale of The Palm Inn. But if I’d all but given up on that fight, what was the point of staying? My being here now was because Iwantedto be. If I kept going, it was going to end in someone getting hurt, either Presley or Tanner.

And I couldn’t let that happen.

CHAPTER 11

Presley

Later that week, things were really coming along around The Palm Inn. Between the new air conditioning almost fully installed and the fact that someone had booked a room for a weekend late in July, I was feeling more confident than ever.

Levi hadn’t joined us for dinner tonight. He’d been out of the house most of the day, so it was just Alex and me cleaning up after supper. As my son handed me a plate from the table, he hit me with a question I definitely wasn’t prepared for.

“Why do people call boobstits?”

I wrinkled my forehead. “Where did you hear that term?”

“Some boys at the playground the other day were talking about Uncle Levi—how they saw some picture of him online with a woman who had really big tits. I had to ask them what that meant. They told me tits are boobs.”

Letting out a long breath, I continued washing the dishes as I spoke. “I don’t actually have a clear answer to your question. It’s a name people use to describe women’s breasts, sometimes when they’re doing it in a derogatory way.”

“What’s derogatory? Is that like purgatory?”

“No, it means—”

“Why do peoplelikeboobs?” he interrupted. “The boys told me they did.”

I chuckled. “It’s just something they like because they don’t have them, maybe? Well, guys do have breasts, but typically not large ones…most of the time.”

“They said Uncle Levi’s friend hadfakeboobs! How do you get those? Can I get them? I don’t want them for me. I just want to know if I could, like, buy them for Uncle Levi for Christmas.”

Bending my head back in laughter, I couldn’t contain myself long enough to address that before he posed another question.

“Where do babies come from?”

Shutting off the water, I wiped my forehead with the back of my arm. “What made you bring that up now?”

“Well, when those boys were talking about boobs, they started telling me where babies come from, and I want to see if they’re right.”

Shit.I swallowed. “What exactly did they tell you?”

“I want you to explain it first.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s weird, and I don’t want to have to say it out loud if it’s not true.”

As I stood there with my mouth agape, unable to figure out what to say, Levi walked in.

He threw his keys on the counter and looked between the two of us. “What’s up?”

Alex turned to him. “I just asked Mom where babies come from, and I’m waiting for her to tell me.”

Levi’s eyes widened. He and I stared at each other with an oh-shit look.

This was a talk I’d always hoped Alex would have with Tanner, and I was certainly less than prepared to be having it now.

Levi cleared his throat. “What brought this on?”

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