Well Played by Vi Keeland
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 boobs tits?”
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 people like boobs?” 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 had fake boobs! 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?”
“It started because of that girl with big tits you were with.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Levi shook his head. “Back up. And who taught you that word?”
“The kids at the playground. They were talking about some girl you were on the Internet with.”
Levi sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. “This is a conversation I wasn’t planning to have today, but if you want, let’s all sit down and talk about it.” He turned to me. “If your mom is okay with that.”
I nodded.
The three of us took a seat at the table. I had no clue how this was going to go down.
Levi twiddled his thumbs while I bounced my knees up and down. Alex just kept looking back and forth between us, waiting for someone to answer his damn question.
“Okay, Uncle Levi’s going to explain everything,” I finally said, turning to him. “Right?”
Levi’s eyes went wide. “I am?”
“Yeah, I think it would be nice if it came from you. You know, man to man.”
I watched as Levi’s ears turned red. Then he proceeded to grab his phone and scroll.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Googling birds and bees talk.”
After a few minutes, Levi flipped his phone around and faced it toward Alex.
I momentarily panicked. “What are you showing him?”
“Relax. It’s an e-book for kids about where babies come from. We’re gonna read it together.”
I exhaled. That was actually an amazing idea. I pulled my chair around to their side of the table. Over the next several minutes, I watched as Alex’s uncle read him every page of the book, which illustrated the anatomical differences between males and females and explained the process of how babies are made in as innocent a way as possible.
I watched and listened as Levi stopped to answer each question Alex threw at him. For someone who didn’t have kids, he certainly handled this situation like the champ he was—unlike me, who had totally frozen.
“How old were you when you found out where babies came from?” he asked Levi.
“I think I was about eight when my dad told me. So, only a little older than you.”
“Thank you for explaining it, Uncle Levi.” He stood up from his chair. “Now I’m gonna go puke, cuz it’s sort of gross to think Dad did that to Mom.”
Levi patted Alex on the shoulder. “You do what you need to do, buddy.”
After Alex ran out, I shook my head. “You totally saved the day there. Thank you. I don’t know why I froze up like that. I’ve often thought about the moment he’d ask me, but I totally wasn’t prepared.”
Levi shrugged. “I winged it.”
“You did amazing.”
“Well…anything for him.”
“That was a conversation he should’ve had with his dad. But if not with Tanner, I’m glad it was with you.”
“It’s the least I could do for him.” He paused. “Speaking of Tanner, have you heard from him at all?”
“No. Not in the past couple of weeks. I do expect him to check in soon, though. He doesn’t usually let it go past a few weeks.”
Levi shook his head. “It’s shocking to me that he hasn’t tried harder to be a better father. It makes me feel like he’s struggling more than I realize. Only someone terribly wrapped up in their own head acts like that.” Levi rested his head in his hands. “I do worry about him.”
I put my hand on his arm. “I know. Me too. It’s why I’ve always tried to give him grace. I never shut him out of Alex’s life, when he wants to be part of it.”
“You’re a saint for the way you handle it all. And if I haven’t said this to you already, you’re an amazing mother. You try so hard every day. You’re always smiling and attentive to Alex, even when I know you’re having a bad day.”
“Yeah, a bad day like today when you walked in and I couldn’t even form a response when my poor kid asked me about sex.”
“Well, no one’s perfect. And if I hadn’t walked in, you would’ve figured it out.” He smiled. “Alex is really lucky to have you as a mom.”
I got goosebumps. “Thank you. That’s nice of you to say.”
“It’s the truth.”
An overwhelming feeling came over me. I didn’t know what plans Levi had tonight, but all I wanted was to spend more time with him. So I went out on a limb.
“Hey, after Alex goes to sleep, would you…want to watch a movie with me?”
He blinked a few times. It felt like minutes went by, though it was only seconds.
Levi toyed with his phone. “Actually, I told Patrick McGibbons I’d meet him for a drink.”
My stomach sank. I shouldn’t have asked. Faking a smile, I said, “Oh, okay. Yeah. Have fun.”
That night, as I watched a movie alone, I couldn’t stop thinking about Levi and how great he’d been with Alex today.
I shouldn’t have, therefore, also been thinking about that DVD of him tucked away in my drawer. But after I went to my room, I was tempted to take it out and watch it. For some reason, though, it didn’t feel right. It sort of felt like exploitation, even if he was the one who’d given it to me. After everything that happened today, what he’d done for Alex and the kind words he’d said to me after, it felt wrong to touch myself while looking at shirtless images of him. So, I would abstain—tonight.
There’s always tomorrow.
***
The next few days kept me too busy to spend much time dwelling on my infatuation with Levi. The air conditioning crew finished installing the new system while I painted two more bedrooms and planted flowers in the beautiful flowerboxes that hung beneath each of the windows in the front of the house. Unfortunately, though, as had been the case since I arrived, taking one step forward was immediately followed by taking two steps back.
Yesterday evening, when I’d started clearing out the furniture in the next bedroom I planned to paint, I discovered mold on one of the walls. The old air-conditioning system had only cooled three quarters of the house, mainly the common areas and eight of the fourteen bedrooms. The remaining four bedrooms on the south side of the house had been added after the original construction of The Palm Inn. Those rooms had individual AC units in the windows, and apparently one of them had been leaking water for a long time, which then spawned mold, and the heat and humidity had encouraged it to grow up the wall.
So yesterday, two guys wearing hazmat suits had ripped that wall down to the studs, and today the same men had been banging away all afternoon installing sheetrock.
“Hey, Miss Sullivan.” Ned, the carpenter, came into the kitchen. “Sorry to be here so late, but we finished hanging the new boards and slapped on the first coat of Spackle. That’ll need to dry overnight, so I’ll be back tomorrow morning to sand the walls and apply the second coat. We’ll be out of your hair by lunch.”
I nodded. “Oh, that’s great, Ned. I really appreciate it. I have six boys sleeping over Friday night for my son’s birthday, and I was hoping I wouldn’t have to find them little Martian suits like you guys had on yesterday.”
Ned chuckled. “Nope. All good. I’ll see you in the morning.”
After I showed the two men out, I turned off the light in the kitchen and paused to listen to the noise in the house—or rather the lack thereof. There had been a constant barrage of hammers banging and electric tools whirring over the last week. The newfound quiet was music to my ears. There weren’t even any voices since Alex was staying at my friend Katrina’s tonight for a sleepover with her son, and Levi had gone to his mother’s for dinner. Even Fern was out. She’d left early this morning with some friends to drive up north for the night to go on some river gambling cruise.
I figured I might as well take advantage of the rare quiet time and enjoy a bath. My muscles ached from all the stretching that painting and planting required, and a good, hot soak would probably help loosen things up.
While I waited for the tub to fill, I scrolled through the music on my phone to make a quick bath-time playlist and then grabbed a change of clothes before slipping into the steaming water. It only took a minute or two before my knotted muscles started to relax. So I popped in my earbuds, turned the volume up on an old jazz song I loved but hadn’t listened to in forever, closed my eyes, and sank deeper into the water. The equivalent of a sigh rolled through my body. This is exactly what I needed.
A half hour later, I was pretty much a prune when I finally got out. If the water hadn’t started to cool, I probably would’ve stayed in there all night. I rolled my head from side to side as I dried off, surprised by how much I’d loosened up. Only a deep-tissue massage or a good orgasm could’ve relaxed me more. Though the Zen feeling I relished came to an abrupt halt when a high-pitched alarm began to wail.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
What the hell?
I tugged on my PJs and whipped open the bathroom door to see where the sound was coming from. But the second I took a breath in, an overwhelming smell hit me.
Burning! Something was burning!
There wasn’t any smoke in this hallway, so I ran to the kitchen to check if maybe I’d left the oven on, but I hadn’t. Everything was off. The piercing alarm kept blaring as I ran through the rest of the house, trying to figure out what was going on. The burning smell grew stronger as I reached the south wing and approached the room that had been sheetrocked today. Smoke billowed out from under the door the workers had closed when they left.
Shit! I ran back to the bathroom to grab my phone and quickly dialed 9-1-1.
“I need the fire department,” I blurted as soon as they answered. “There’s a fire in my house!”
“What’s your address, ma’am?”
“Six thirty-eight Palm Court. It’s The Palm Inn.”
“Okay.” I heard the clickety-clack of typing, and then the woman spoke again. “I’ve dispatched the fire department. Are you inside the house?”
“Yes, I am. There’s smoke coming from one of the bedrooms. The door is closed, so I haven’t actually seen what’s going on. Do you want me to open it to see how bad it is?”
“Absolutely not. Get yourself outside and leave that for the fire department. Is anyone else in the house with you?”
“No, it’s just me.”
“Okay, good.”
I jogged outside and stood on the lawn, staring at the house. The room on fire was located at the front, but I didn’t see flames or anything through the window, so I thought that was probably a good sign. Two minutes later, I heard fire engine sirens in the distance.
I still had my cell up to my ear, but had forgotten I was on the phone for a second. “I hear them,” I said to the operator.
“Yes, ma’am. They’ll be to you any minute. Let’s stay on the phone until they arrive.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
When two big, red rigs and a black SUV pulled up, I said goodbye to the 9-1-1 lady and went to speak to the firefighters.
One of the men stepped forward as I approached. “I’m Captain Morales. Dispatch said the house was empty. Are you sure about that?”
“Yes, I’m positive. I was the only one home tonight.”
He nodded. “Good. Okay. Tell me what’s going on inside.”
“I don’t know. I was in the bath, and when I got out, the smoke alarm went off.” I pointed to the room at the far right of the house. “There was smoke coming out from under the door of that room. We had construction done in there today.”
The fireman waved for his crew to proceed to the house. “Levi Miller owns this place, right? The quarterback?”
“Yes. We own it together.”
“Okay. Why don’t you wait over by the truck while we check out what’s going on inside.”
I watched as at least ten firefighters in full gear ran into The Palm Inn. A few were carrying hoses, while others held axes and other tools. Neighbors started to gather and ask what was going on, and the block quickly became a scene. At one point, one of the firemen yelled for water, and the hoses connected to the truck started to pump. I felt a little sick watching all of the action, but also immensely grateful that no one else had been home tonight, especially Alex.
It seemed to take forever for Captain Morales to come back out again. But when he did, he walked right over. “So, you have a small fire in the walls. I can’t be sure what happened until we take a closer look, but usually with a thing like this, it has to do with old wiring. You said you had construction done on that room today?”
“Yes, but not any electrical work. Just sheetrock.”
He nodded. “They could have moved a frayed wire while they were working, or disturbed wires with rotted casings. It’s an old building. I can tell you more once we make sure all the hot spots are out.”
I nodded. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
Behind us, a pickup truck skidded to a loud stop. Both the captain and I turned toward the sound. Levi’s door was wide open, and he was already running toward me.
“What happened?” His eyes darted around at everything going on. “Are you okay?”
The fireman lifted his chin to me. “I’ll let you fill in Mr. Miller while I go check on things inside.” He looked to Levi. “When I come back, I’ll answer any questions you might have.”
Before I could even finish telling Levi the full story, two news vans pulled up. Cameramen and reporters got out and started looking around.
“Shit,” Levi grumbled. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and turned our backs to them. “The vultures already heard. Let’s move over here.”
We walked to the big tree on the front lawn and stood behind it as much as possible. But just when we thought we were safely shielded from attention, the fire department threw on a huge spotlight. They aimed it at the house, but we were standing right in the line of fire, now completely illuminated. Levi’s eyes dropped to my chest. “Uhhh…” He swallowed. “Your shirt is see-through.”
Looking down, my eyes bulged. The flimsy pajama top I had on did nothing to cover anything. I might as well have been standing outside fully naked.
“Oh my God.” I folded my arms across my chest. But then it dawned on me that my flimsy top also had a matching bottom. And I wasn’t wearing any underwear. I squeezed my eyes shut. “Levi, please tell me my shorts aren’t as see-through as my top right now.”
He said nothing for a few heartbeats, until… “Hands up.”
Confused, I opened my eyes. I was about to remind him that I couldn’t move my hands because I was busy covering my boobs, but then I saw why he was asking. Levi had already pulled off his shirt and had it above my head, ready to slip over me.
“Raise ’em up,” he grumbled.
The material fell to my knees like a dress, covering all the important stuff. Although Levi was now shirtless.
“Thanks,” I said. “But the reporters are going to have a field day with you half-naked. Pretty sure your bare chest attracts more ogling than mine.”
The corner of Levi’s mouth twitched. “Stay here. I’ll be right back. I think I have a jacket in my car.”
He jogged off, ignoring two reporters trying to ask him questions and multiple neighbors whipping out their cell phones to take videos. Couldn’t say I blamed them. Levi Miller’s muscles were a hell of a lot more interesting than a fire. When he returned, he had a Broncos blanket in his hands.
“No jacket, but this should work.” He wrapped it around my shoulders.
“Let me give you back your shirt. Just hold up the blanket to shield me so I can slip it off.”
“Keep it on. You’re safer with two layers.”
“I don’t think the cameras are going to see through a blanket.”
Levi caught my eye. “It’s not the cameras I’m worried about.”
My brows furrowed for a second, but the intense look in his eyes gave all the unspoken explanation I needed. I felt a flurry of excitement in my belly that Levi thought I needed to be safeguarded from him—while the house is currently on fire. I really, really needed my head examined.
Luckily, Captain Morales walked over again, which helped refocus my attention. He put his hands on his hips. “So it looks like wires were indeed the culprit. You’re very lucky you were home to catch it when it first started. Sometimes old wiring can act almost like a fuse and facilitate travel behind the walls. Next thing you know, the entire house is up in flames. We had to tear down the wall you just put up, and the room is pretty wet, but at least the damage is contained to the one area.”
I let out a deep breath. “Thank you so much.”
“Is it safe to go back inside and take a look?” Levi asked.
“You can for a minute or two once we’re done. But I’d find somewhere else to stay tonight. Soot’s gonna rain down like light snow for a while. Small particles get into the air and settle over the next few hours. You’ll find it in most rooms in the house by tomorrow morning. Sometimes it even gets inside closed cabinets.”
Levi extended his hand. “Thanks, Captain. I really appreciate it.”
Captain Morales smiled, and the men shook. “No problem. But do me a favor?”
“Anything.”
The captain rested his hand on Levi’s shoulder. “Go easy on my Panthers next year. You’re killing the confidence of our defense.”
Levi chuckled. “Anything but that.”
It took another hour or so before the fire department departed and the crowd that had formed thinned out so Levi and I could take a peek inside at the damage. The electricity was off in that part of the house, so we grabbed a flashlight and went down to see how bad things were. My heart sank when the light illuminated the wall we’d just put up earlier today. Half of the nice, new sheetrock was torn down, and the parts that remained were charred black. Not to mention, the entire ceiling was dripping water, and the beautiful oak floors were covered in a sludgy mix of water and ash.
I sighed. “God. Is this a sign, Levi? It feels like the universe might be trying to tell us something.”
He turned to face me. “It’s just a slight setback. That’s all.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
“You probably don’t remember this because you’re a few years younger than me, but when I was seven, I fell off my skateboard and broke my ankle. It was about a month into my second year of playing peewee football.”
“I didn’t know that.”
He nodded. “They gave the starting quarterback position to Eddie Andrews. I was in a cast for eight weeks and couldn’t play, and then I had to work my way back to putting weight on it. By the beginning of the next season, I was back to myself. But the coach kept Eddie as the starting quarterback. He told me Eddie had earned it, and I’d need to earn it back. I did by midseason, but after starting only two games, I fell off my bike and dislocated my elbow—on my throwing arm. Eddie went back to being number one. After I’d healed again, Coach kept Eddie as the first-string quarterback for the season, no matter how hard I worked. So when the next year rolled around, I started getting up early and making my mom drive me to school at 5AM so I could run sprints around the track. I also stopped riding bicycles and skateboards, and had my dad throw the ball around with me every night until it got too dark to see.”
I sighed again. “I get what you’re trying to say. But this isn’t football, and I’m not you, Levi.”
He shrugged. “Maybe not. But the same principles apply. If you want something bad enough, you don’t let anything stand in your way.”
I nodded. “Okay. It’s been a really long day. Hopefully things will seem brighter in the morning.”
“I think they will.”
“Come on, let’s get out of here.”
I’d already called my mom and told her what happened, and she’d invited me to stay the night at her house. But Levi had said he was going to stay at a hotel.
“It’s late. Why don’t I drop you at your mom’s?” he said. “I can pick you up in the morning, and we can stop at the insurance broker’s office first thing. They’ll probably need a statement from you and stuff.”
“Oh...okay, yeah. I hadn’t even thought about insurance. But that sounds like a good idea. To be honest, I don’t feel like driving right now. A ride would be great.”
When we pulled up at my mom’s house, she was waiting at the window. She bolted out the door and ran to the car before Levi could even park. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” She hugged me.
Levi got out and walked around to greet my mom. “Hey, Mrs. Sullivan. How are you?”
She engulfed him in a big hug. “Better now that you two are safe and sound.”
We talked for a few minutes before my mom swatted a mosquito. “Why are we standing out here? It’s so buggy.”
Levi smiled. “You two go ahead in. I’m going to get going anyway.”
“Are you staying at Shelby’s?” Mom asked.
“Nah.” Levi shook his head. “I was over there for dinner earlier, and she had a headache. When I left, she was going to lie down. She still gets those migraines. I didn’t want to wake her. I’ll fill her in tomorrow on what happened.”
“Where are you staying, then?”
He thumbed behind him. “I’m just going to grab a room at the Best Western.”
My mother frowned. “Nonsense. You’ll stay with us.”
If Levi thought he could politely decline and walk away unscathed, he obviously didn’t remember my mother very well. “It’s okay. I already got the room. But I appreciate the offer.”
Mom wagged her finger at him. “It wasn’t an offer, young man. If you’re not going to stay with us, then you have to at least let me feed you dessert. I insist.”
“It’s okay. Really, I—”
Mom grabbed Levi’s hand. “Come on now. I need to feed these pies to someone. When I’m nervous, I bake. I whipped up three different pies after Presley called to tell me she was in the house when a fire broke out. You know it’s an unwritten rule that a good Southern man does not let pie go to waste.”
Levi chuckled. He looked to me for help, but I shrugged and shook my head.
Mom started to drag the poor man toward the door. “Now what’s your favorite pie? I made pecan, apple, and a peach cobbler.”
Levi’s eyes flashed to me. “Did you say peach cobbler? I love peach cobbler—almost as much as your daughter does.” He grinned. “You know Presley likes it so much, sometimes she even dreams about eating peach cobbler.”
“When she was little she used to dream about riding horses.”
Levi chuckled. “You don’t say…” He opened the door to Mom’s house and held out his hand for her to walk in first. As I passed, he leaned to whisper in my ear. “Riding and eating pie. Can you guess what I’ll be picturing while you eat that cobbler?”
I squinted at him, though my face was flushed. “I’ll be having the apple.”
“Pity. But hey, you were looking for a sign earlier to tell you what to do.” He winked. “Maybe this is it.”
