“Uncle Levi took me. We had dinner there one night when Mom was out. He told me a bunch of old stories from back when you guys used to go there.”
Tanner looked over at his brother and smiled. “Thanks for showing him around.”
“It was my pleasure.” Levi smiled. “We had a good time that night, didn’t we, Alex?”
Alex nodded. “We always have a good time.”
A look of sadness crossed Tanner’s face, as if realizing for the first time that it wasn’t only the inn Levi had been looking after.
If he only knew...
Looking down at Alex, Tanner clapped his hands together. “What do you say we give your mother a break tonight, and I’ll order pizza for all of us?”
“You don’t need to do that,” I said.
“I want to.”
Alex jumped up and down. “Mom, please! Pizza sounds so good!”
He didn’t realize my hesitation had nothing to do with the pizza but everything to do with Tanner pushing his way back into our lives at warp speed. But all I could do was sigh.
Tanner ended up ordering three large pizzas to be delivered. Levi and I were quiet throughout dinner while Tanner and Alex made up for lost time. Alex filled his dad in on how camp had gone all summer and the upcoming peewee football season.
After dinner, Alex went to take a shower. Tanner asked Levi if he wanted to grab a couple of beers from the fridge and head out back. He agreed, and I watched them go, only to realize my nerves were shot. What would they discuss during their man-to-man time? I could only imagine what was going through Levi’s mind. He’d been forced to keep his emotions inside since Tanner’s arrival, and it killed me that we hadn’t had a chance to talk.
Later that evening, after I tucked Alex in, I went to my room earlier than normal. The second I closed the door behind me, Levi texted.
Levi: Are you okay?
Presley: I am. You?
Levi: Okay is a relative term.
Presley: I’m sorry I got pressured into him staying here.
Levi: You did the right thing.
Presley: I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.
Levi: The only thing making me feel uncomfortable now is the thought of him upsetting you.
Presley: I miss you. We were supposed to have our day together. Instead, I feel like the world turned upside down.
Before Levi could respond, a text from Tanner came through.
Tanner: I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you letting me stay.
Before I could respond to Tanner, another text from Levi lit up my phone.
Levi: I wish I could come to your room right now. This fucking sucks.
And then a text from Tanner.
Tanner: You looked so beautiful tonight.
Then from Levi.
Levi: I need you tonight, Presley. I don’t know what’s gotten into me. I know he’s my brother and I love him and you belonged to him first and all that…but I am feeling SO goddamn possessive right now.
Shit.
Tanner: Seriously, Presley. I know my staying here isn’t easy for you.
My brain was spinning.
Levi: Are you there?
I shook my head and responded to Levi.
Presley: Yes. I’m here.
Tanner sent another message.
Tanner: I was hoping you could carve out some time to talk to me tomorrow. There’s a lot I need to say to you.
I responded to Tanner.
Presley: I’m not sure we have anything left to talk about.
But it was Levi who answered me.
Levi: What the hell are you saying?
I looked down and realized I’d sent that last text to the wrong brother.
Presley: I’m sorry. That was meant for Tanner.
Levi immediately messaged back.
Levi: He’s texting you right now?
I could feel his anger through my phone.
Tanner: Are you there, or are you just choosing to ignore my texts? I’m getting a complex.
It occurred to me that I’d yet to actually respond to Tanner. Before I could type anything, Levi chimed in.
Levi: That’s not surprising. When we were out back tonight, he kept asking me questions about you. He wanted to know whether you’ve been seeing anyone. I felt like telling him about us right then and there. But I fucking couldn’t.
My heart began to race.
Levi: You there?
Presley: Yes. I’m just feeling overwhelmed right now.
After about a minute, he responded.
Levi: Alright, baby. Get some sleep. Hopefully he’ll leave at some point tomorrow, so we can have some alone time and process this together.
Presley: I hope so.
Levi: Sweet dreams.
Presley: You too.
I clicked on Tanner’s name and finally responded to him.
Presley: I’ll talk to you tomorrow.
The dots danced as he typed.
Tanner: Cool. Thank you.
I needed to shut down any further communication with Tanner tonight.
Presley: Going to sleep.
Tanner: Sweet dreams.
It wasn’t lost on me that his brother had just told me the same thing—“Sweet dreams”—a minute ago. There wouldn’t be any dreams tonight, unless they were nightmares about the predicament I’d gotten myself into. I probably wouldn’t be getting any sleep at all.
CHAPTER 20
* * *
Levi
I popped into Alex’s room the next morning. It was his first day of peewee football practice, and the plan had always been that I would take him.
“You ready to go to practice?”
“Dad’s gonna take me,” he said.
Not gonna lie, my heart sank a little. “He is, is he?”
“Yeah, I am.” Tanner’s voice came from behind me. “I figured you’ve been filling in long enough. I have a lot of making up for lost time to do.”
I understood that, but I still felt like crap. Alex and I had bonded in Tanner’s absence. Now that his dad was here, it felt like he didn’t need me anymore. And you know what? That would have been perfectly fine if I didn’t worry that Tanner was gonna somehow break his heart and flake out again.
A few minutes later, they were both gone, and the house was quiet for what felt like the first time in forever, even though it had only been a day. The only good thing about Tanner taking Alex was that it gave me a chance to finally be alone with Presley.
The second Tanner’s car pulled out of the driveway, I rushed to Presley’s side in the kitchen.
She looked so beautiful, leaning against the counter, holding her coffee while lost in thought.