“Is she not working out?”
“No, no. I’m just teasing. She’s been great. Melinda is super organized and capable, but it still feels strange to be away.”
Shelby glanced over her shoulder. Tanner had taken the same flight from Beaufort, along with a few of his cousins, but he’d taken a different Uber from the airport, so he was a few people behind me in line to check in. She waved to her son and turned back.
“You also won’t have to worry about walking into my other son. I had the manager put you in a room at the opposite end of the hotel from Tanner. I figured if he wasn’t in the room next to you, it wouldn’t be so easy for him to make excuses to pop over.”
I blew out a jagged breath. “Thanks, Shelby. I really appreciate that.”
“And as far as Levi, he’s at practice now. But he will be at the dinner tonight.”
A bunch of Tanner’s and Levi’s dad’s old teammates were in town for the ceremony, in addition to their entire extended family. So tonight there was a dinner in a private room at a nearby restaurant to give everyone a chance to catch up before the ceremony tomorrow.
I nodded. “Okay. Thank you for the heads up.”
With no chance of running into Levi, and Tanner on the other end of the hotel, I had about three hours to try to relax—or to worry about how I was going to handle being in the same room with Levi again later. Unfortunately, I was pretty sure the latter was going to win out.
Once I was checked in, Alex and I went to our room. I spent a restless hour flicking through television channels before deciding the best thing to do to conquer my nerves was to take a hot shower and start to get ready. At least it would give me something to focus on. I’d brought a green silk dress that was casual, yet showed off a little cleavage and leg. And since I had time to spare, I put on more makeup than usual, creating a smoky-eye effect and contouring my cheekbones. When I was done, I looked in the full-length mirror and was really happy with what I saw. It had been a while since I’d gotten myself all done up, and it gave me just the confidence boost I needed to get through tonight.
Alex was still in the bedroom watching TV, and when he came out, his eyes widened. “Wow. You look pretty, Mom.”
I smiled. “Thank you. I have a hot date tonight, so I wanted to clean myself up.”
“Dad?”
“No, silly. I was referring to you.”
“Oh.” Alex smiled.
But because of the way he’d assumed Tanner was my date, I thought it was a good time to set the record straight.
I sat down on the couch and patted the seat next to me. “Come sit for a minute, honey.”
“You’re not going to put stuff in my hair like you did for that wedding we went to last year, are you? I hate when my hair is hard.”
“No,” I chuckled. “I just want to talk for a minute.”
“Okay, Mom.”
I pushed a lock of hair from my son’s face and smiled. “I thought we should talk about Dad for a minute, about my relationship with him.”
“Are you guys getting married?”
My smile wilted. “No, honey. Your dad and I are just friends. That’s what I wanted to chat with you about.”
“But you’re dating, right? Don’t dating people get married?”
I shook my head. “We’re not dating. I know your dad has used that term at least once in the past when we went to dinner with some friends, but we’re not boyfriend and girlfriend, and we weren’t on an actual date. He just kind of called it that. And I know it can be super confusing because Dad is staying at the inn right now while he gets settled, but that’s also not the same as me living with Dad. So he lives in the same house as us, but he doesn’t really live with us.”
Alex shrugged. “You guys are weird.”
I smiled. “I guess we are. But I’ve been worried that you might think Dad and I are a couple again, and then you’d be disappointed when you realized we weren’t. Someday Dad is going to live somewhere else, and he might even have a girlfriend or something.”
“Would that make you sad?” he asked.
“Not at all. I want your dad to be happy.”
Alex seemed to mull that around for a minute, and then he shrugged again. “Okay. Can I go back to watching TV now?”
I laughed. He’d certainly taken that talk better than I’d expected. “Actually, it’s almost time to go to dinner. Why don’t you get dressed? I laid out your clothes on the chair next to the bed.”
“But no crunchy-hair stuff, right?”
I patted my son’s hand. “No gel. I promise.”
***
“Uncle Levi!” My heart nearly stopped when my son yelled. I’d been watching the door ever since we were seated, but when the waitress started making her rounds to take orders, I became distracted, looking down at the menu.
Alex was seated next to me, and both of us across from Tanner. Alex pushed back from the table, scraping the bottom of the chair along the tile, and bolted for the door. When he got to Levi, he leaped into his uncle’s arms with a huge smile. My heart squeezed for so many different reasons. They hugged, and then Levi set him down on his feet, and they did some long handshake with slaps, shakes, and fist bumps. I’d been so caught up in my own feelings about seeing Levi, I hadn’t stopped to think about how happy Alex would be. They’d grown close over the summer, and the looks on their faces made it clear they’d missed each other.
Seeing Levi, a few of the others in the room got up from the table and walked over to say hello. Tanner’s back was facing the door, but he turned to watch all of the commotion, like everyone else. When a crowd started to form around his brother, Tanner remained in his seat. His jaw was set tight, and he raised his hand and called the waitress over.
“I’ll take another vodka seltzer.” He sucked back the remnants of the drink in his glass and held it up for her, rattling the ice.
She looked across to me. My wine glass was nearly drained, but I needed to take the edge off, not get sloshed. I shook my head. “No, thank you. I’m good.”
After a few minutes, the crowd around Levi started to dwindle, and my heart raced as I stole glances at him. He looked beautiful. His hair had grown longer, reaching down to the collar of his shirt, and the ends curled up in a messy sort of way that I found insanely sexy. He wore a French blue dress shirt tucked into navy dress pants, and the outfit really showcased his masculine silhouette. Broad shoulders created the mouth of the V and led down to a narrow waist. God, he is even more gorgeous than I remember.
Fawning over him sort of caught me off guard. I hadn’t been thinking about what he looked like lately. I missed the man inside that body. But seeing the full package on display tonight made me ache for all of him. When Levi finally shook the last person’s hand, he scanned the room, and his eyes landed right on me. I felt his gaze all over. My heart jumped into my throat, my body tingled, and my eyes watered. Luckily, my son tugged at his uncle’s hand, which caused him to look away. The two of them walked over to Shelby, and Levi hugged and kissed his mother. There were empty seats at her end of the table, but Tanner, Alex, and I were seated in the middle, and there weren’t any open spaces.