Page 94 of Well Played

Tanner would have blown a gasket.

CHAPTER 24

Levi

I kept the hotel room.

I wasn’t sure exactly what had made me do it, but when I’d gone to check out, I slid the key across the counter and then pulled it back, instead asking the front desk clerk if I could extend my stay.

Over the last few days, I’d debated why I’d done it. Was I making sure I had a place to escape to if I needed to get out of the house, or was I hoping Presley and I might meet up there again at some point? If it were the latter, I probably would’ve given her one of the keys by now, or at least mentioned it. Yet I hadn’t done either. Instead, I’d returned to The Palm.

I stood in the dark kitchen, lost in thought while sipping my morning coffee when Presley walked in. She went straight to the refrigerator and took out the half and half. Then she turned around and walked toward the coffee pot. She’d yet to look up.

“Morning,” I said.

Presley jumped, and her hand flew to cover her heart. “Oh my God. Were you standing there when I walked in?”

I nodded. “Been standing here about fifteen minutes now.”

“I didn’t see you.”

I sipped my coffee. “You looked pretty lost in thought.”

She sighed, setting down the container. “I feel like that’s all I do lately—think.”

“I know the feeling.”

She poured her coffee and leaned against the counter next to me. “You’re leaving in fifteen days.”

I nodded. “Fifteen days and four hours. My flight is at ten thirty.”

Presley lowered her voice. “Will you come back at any point?”

“Most games are on Sundays. Mondays are team meetings and physical therapy appointments. We practice Tuesday through Friday. Saturday we travel for away games or have planning meetings for home games.”

“What about the weeks you don’t have games? You get a bye week or two, right?”

“There’s only one of those this season, and we usually just replace game day with extra practices.”

She frowned. “How do…people do it?”

“The majority of guys move their family to the state their home team is in—so they can at least come home at night. The rest just fly their girlfriends in from time to time.”

Presley was quiet for a long time. I had no idea where her head was, what she expected or wanted to do once I had to leave. Eventually she turned to face me.

“Alex will be starting school a few days after you leave.” She shook her head. “He’s just planting roots—”

For a second or two, I wasn’t sure why she’d trailed off. But then the light flipped on, and I realized she’d seen Tanner coming.

“Why were you guys standing here in the dark?” he said.

Presley opened her mouth, but nothing came out. So I intervened. “I woke up with a headache. Light makes it worse.”

Tanner looked between us. His eyes squinted slightly, as if he might not believe me. But eventually he nodded and flipped the switch back off. When he walked over to pour his coffee, he wedged his body right between us. I had to take a few steps back so we weren’t on top of one another.

He lifted his chin to me. “Got a second interview for that football-coaching job today.”

“You did?” Presley asked.

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