Page 68 of Well Played

He stopped talking suddenly when we saw Alex running toward us.

“Uncle Levi! I didn’t know you were coming today,” Alex said when he got close.

“Hey, buddy. Figured I’d try to make the end.”

“Why were you yelling at Mom?”

Levi blinked. “Did it look like I was yelling?”

“Yeah. It seemed like you guys were arguing about something.”

“No. I was just complaining about my day.” He lifted the crushed cup. “And this coffee stunk. Put me in a bad mood. Tasted like mud.”

“Oh. I thought you guys were fighting again, like you used to when you first moved in.”

“No, Alex,” I said.

“It’s all good, buddy. No one is fighting.” Levi ruffled my son’s hair.

“You missed a lot,” Alex said.

“I’m sorry. I’ll be sure to be here for the entire thing next time, okay?”

Alex looked toward his teammates. “I gotta go back!” he said, already running away.

I watched Alex disappear into the distance. “You see how affected he is by everything—just the mere thought of us arguing. If we take things too far and it goes wrong between us, it will devastate him.”

“I’m not discounting that.” Levi bit his lip and looked down. His ears turned red.

I couldfeelthe emotions emanating from his body.

He suddenly looked up at me. “You’re right.”

“About what specifically?”

“About us. I think we should stop. For real this time. I’m not gonna push for something that’s not attainable if you don’t believe in me.”

He was giving me what I thought was right, but hearing him say that devastated me. We stood staring at each other. I didn’t know what to say. I’d essentially asked for this, right? Why did I feel so gutted that he’d agreed?

As he started to walk away, I called after him. “Levi?”

He didn’t turn around this time. Instead, he walked to the bleachers on the opposite side of the field. He watched Alex there for the remainder of practice while I stayed in my corner under the tree.

CHAPTER 17

Levi

In an effort to follow through on staying away from Presley tonight, I went over to my mother’s house for dinner instead of heading back to The Palm Inn.

In fact, I considered spending the night at Mom’s if it would put space between Presley and me. I knew nothing good could come of going back there tonight. We needed time to cool off after what happened at practice today.

My mother made corn on the cob and fried catfish. We ate our dinner outside, overlooking the small marsh by her house.

As the last of the evening sun set, she looked over at me.

“Talk to me. What’s going on with you?”

“You could tell, huh?”

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