Page 63 of Well Played

“Yeah…I, uh, we slept together.”

“What?!” My best friend screamed so loud, I had to pull the phone away from my ear. “Hang on.” I heard the muffling of the phone once again and then, “Liz!”

“Yes?” came a voice in the background.

“Tell Lyle Druker I’ll call him back in an hour. And my ten thirty is a prospective new client. Can you tell him I have an emergency and to get started on the new client intake form so he isn’t just sitting there, please?”

“Sure thing.”

“Give me fifteen minutes. Don’t interrupt unless the building is on fire. And it better be a big fire, not a little toaster oven.”

“Uhhh…okay.”

“Thank you. Shut the door behind you.” Harper came back on the line. “Start talking.”

For the next fifteen minutes, I filled her in on everything that had transpired since the night of Alex’s camping party.

“So what are you going to do about Tanner?”

“I’m not going to do anything, because he’s never going to know. In less than a month, Levi will be back in Colorado, and that will be it. This was just… We have a strong physical connection, and we let ourselves get carried away.”

“So it’s just physical? You don’t have feelings for him?”

I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter if I do. It could never be more for so many reasons.”

“You mean Tanner?”

“Well, yeah. But that’s not the only reason. Levi leads a very different lifestyle than I do. He’s a pro athlete who travels half the year, and I have a son who is in school here, and planting roots for him is my priority. I also don’t want to confuse Alex.”

“I don’t know, Presley. That all sounds logical and smart, but the heart doesn’t always do logical and smart. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I won’t.” I couldn’t say the words with enough conviction to believe them myself, so I knew Harper wouldn’t buy it.

“I have to go, but I’m calling you later so we can talk about this more.”

I smiled half-heartedly. “Okay.”

“Let me know what lover boy says about the shoot.”

I laughed. “I will. And thanks for everything, Harp.”

***

“Why don’t I go pick up Alex from camp so you can keep doing what you’re doing? I’d say I’d take over, but my idea of decorating is a few footballs and some signed jerseys pinned to the wall.”

I smiled. Not only had Levi agreed to be in the photo shoot, he’d also spent the entire afternoon helping me stage bookcases and mantels so they’d look good for the photos. We painted Mason jars and filled them with fresh flowers, went to the used bookstore and bought color-coordinated books to display on shelves, and now I was busy trying to fill in the nooks and crannies with the best pieces from all over the inn.

I set a pale blue vase on top of the mantel, then shook my head and took it down. “Thanks. That would be great. This is going to take me a while.”

“No problem.”

“Do you mind if I move things around in your room after I finish up here?”

He shook his head. “Have at it. Leave anything heavy that needs to be moved for when I get back.”

“Okay.”

The plan was to do the photo shoot first thing tomorrow morning. Harper and I had gone back and forth over text and decided the best areas to focus on were the living room, the outside front of the inn, and my bedroom and Levi’s. So after I figured out what would go where in the living room, I took some leftover shelf décor to Levi’s bedroom to see what I could do about dressing it up. A Broncos duffle bag sat on the dresser, so I grabbed it and went to zip it closed, figuring I’d hide it in the closet for now. But as I rounded the zipper at the corner, a box stuck out. I attempted to tuck it neatly inside, only to realize it was agiant box of condoms. Not only that, underneath the mega box was a second box the same size. Both unopened.

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