He laughed. “No problem.”
***
The next night, I watched from the back door as Levi and Alex set up the tents out back. It turned out Levi’s mom had recently tossed all of their old camping gear, but Levi had come home with his truck filled with equipment anyway. All brand-new stuff that he gifted Alex for his birthday—three tents, sleeping bags, lanterns, tarps, supplies to make a fire, headlamps, outdoor cooking utensils. He’d even found the cast-iron grilled-cheese makers he’d loved so much as a kid. And he bought me bug spray. I wasn’t sure who was more excited about tonight’s camp out—Alex or his uncle.
Levi pointed to the ground where the next stake needed to be set and handed Alex a mallet. I loved that he didn’t just set up the tent; he took the time to show my son how to do it.
The doorbell rang, interrupting my thoughts, and two very anxious boys practically knocked me over when I answered. They were definitely eager to get to the yard. Levi walked over to the deck where I stood to give the boys some privacy as they said their hellos.
“Thank you so much for setting all that up,” I said.
“No problem. It was fun. It’s been a while since I did any of that. These days roughing it is getting put up at a four-star hotel instead of a five while the team is traveling.”
I smiled. “I’d gladly take that version of roughing it over this one.”
Levi shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. “Do you mind if I hang around tonight?”
“Mind? I’d be relieved if you did. I was playing with the little collapsible camping cups you bought and couldn’t even figure out how to keep them open.”
He laughed. “You have to twist them a certain way.”
The doorbell rang again, and a few more boys joined the party. Over the next few hours, Levi and I were both kept pretty busy. We made a fire, roasted hot dogs on sticks, grilled-cheese sandwiches in the contraption Levi had bought, and sat around telling ghost stories once it got dark.
Though I’d been reluctant to have this type of party, it turned out to be one of the most fun nights I’d had in a long time. At eleven o’clock, I told the boys to go into the house and brush their teeth and then got them settled for the night. Since there were six of them, Levi had set up a few tents for them to sleep, but they all squished into one. When I was done, I found Levi sitting by the fire, staring into the flames.
“Mind if I sit with you?” I asked.
He smiled. “Not at all.”
“Would you want to sneak a beer?”
“Hell yeah.”
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.”
“Isn’t it?” We lay side by side staring at the sky in awe. Our bodies were so close that our pinkies were touching. That ever-so-slight contact set my entire body on fire. I might’ve been staring up at the sky, but suddenly I couldn’t focus on it. One of the most beautiful things in nature was right in front of my eyes, but all I could see, all I could feel, was Levi. My breathing grew faster and shallower, so I closed my eyes in an effort to drown everything out and get control of myself.
But then…his finger moved.
That innocent pinky that lay next to mine suddenly wrapped itself around my pinky and held it. It was so slow and gentle—part of me thought I might be imagining it. Though when I opened my eyes and turned my head to see what Levi was doing, he’d already turned to face me. He hadn’t been watching the stars anymore either.
Our eyes locked, and Levi swallowed. The hand not holding my pinky reached up and cupped my cheek. “The sky doesn’t hold a candle to looking at you, Presley.”
My heart hammered in my chest.
Levi’s eyes dropped to my lips. His thumb stroked my skin. “I want to kiss you,” he whispered. “I need to kiss you.”