Page 56 of Well Played

I laughed. “I’ll be right back.”

I went to the fridge and grabbed two cold Coors Lights. Handing Levi one back at the campfire, I sat and let out a big sigh. “Well, I can’t thank you enough. Tonight turned out pretty great.”

Levi drank his beer. “Feels like I should be thanking you. I had a really good time.”

“I’m glad.”

“I was just thinking…you’re a really cool mom, Presley.”

“I am? Well, that might be the best compliment anyone has ever given me. Though I think I’m usually a dork, I’m going to allow myself to feel like a cool mom—tonight anyway.”

He chuckled. “You do that.”

Levi was such a natural with the boys. “Do you want to have kids someday?”

“I do.” He nodded. “If you’d asked me that a few days ago, I probably would have said six. But after tonight, I think that might be too ambitious.”

I chuckled. “I agree. Six might be too many.”

He lifted his chin and sipped his beer again. “What about you? You want more kids?”

“I’d love to have another one, or maybe even two. To be honest, I would’ve liked to have had them close together, but that obviously wasn’t in the cards.”

Levi frowned and nodded. He was quiet for a moment. “My brother is an idiot.”

It was my turn to frown. “Alex asked me three times today if his dad had called for his birthday. I even sent Tanner a text to remind him about it a few hours ago, but nothing.”

Levi shook his head. “He doesn’t deserve you guys.”

We were both quiet for a while after that. Bringing up Tanner felt like a mood killer, but I refused to let him put a damper on what had been an amazing evening. So I grabbed the bag of marshmallows. “One more before we call it a night?”

He nodded. “Definitely. Maybe you could manage not to set yours on fire this time?”

I stuck out my tongue.

He smiled, but his gaze lingered on my lips. He lifted his beer to drink again, never taking his eyes off me until he lowered it. When his eyes finally rose to meet mine, they were filled with enough heat to make my belly do a little somersault.

He sat up and cleared his throat. “I’ll go find us some sticks.”

For the next hour, we roasted marshmallows and talked. I was completely stuffed and about to slip into a sugar coma, yet I kept agreeing to one more just to spend more time with Levi. When the last log on the fire fizzled out and Levi yawned, I figured it was time to call it a night.

“I’m going to go brush my teeth,” I said.

“You mind if I crash out here, too, tonight? Since the boys all slept in one tent, there’s an extra.”

“Not at all.”

“Alright. You go do what you have to do inside, and I’ll get my tent ready. I’m guessing you don’t want the boys alone for even five minutes anyway, so I’ll take my turn when you’re done.”

I smiled. “That would be great.”

When I finished in the house, I came back out and whispered at the door of Levi’s tent. “I’m done. You can go in.”

Levi unzipped and popped his head out. “Come inside for a minute. This tent has a zip-off sunroof. You have to see the stars.”

“Okay.” Inside the tent, Levi laid on his back. He patted the ground next to him. “Lie down.”

When I did, my mouth dropped open. “Wow. I can’t believe how many stars are out. It’s absolutely incredible.”

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