“Only seven of those days belong to me. On Monday, I get back to work,” Levi reminded her. “We shouldn’t waste a second.”
“A walk in the woods isn’t a waste. The mountain air will do you good,” she said, tugging on his arm. “Think of the appetite you’ll build up after a few miles trekking up the hills and down the dales.”
“What’s a dale?” Levi shook his head. “Never mind. First, you tell me, then you’ll want to show me. I’d rather not know.”
“Levi—”
Whatever Piper wanted to say was cut off as Levi lifted the covers and pulled her underneath.
“You want to work up an appetite? I know a perfect way,” he said, sliding his hand under her thick hooded sweatshirt. He was frustrated to find another shirt, then another. “Why are you wearing many layers of clothing?”
“The woods are chilly at this time of day,” Piper explained. She swatted away his hand and before he could mount a counteroffensive, slipped from his arms. “Pee. Wash your face. Brush your teeth. Get dressed. I’ll meet you outside in ten minutes.”
“What are you? My girlfriend or my freaking drill instructor,” Levi muttered, shivering as his feet hit the cold wooden floor.
Piper patted his bare butt and scampered from the room. Over her shoulder, she called out, “Who said I can’t be both?”
An hour later, Levi had to admit Piper had been right to drag him out of their bed. He wasn’t by nature an outdoorsy guy. He preferred concrete and steel to pine trees and babbling brooks.
Yet, something about the wide-open spaces surrounding Piper’s family cabin called to Levi in a way he hadn’t expected. Perhaps he’d been a country boy in another life. City through and through, the thought made him laugh.
More likely, Levi decided, his gaze falling on the woman by his side, the difference was Piper. She opened his eyes, his soul, his heart. To nature. To love. To everything. Life with her was a thrilling, unpredictable adventure.
“I love you.”
“Good thing,” Piper said, sinking into his embrace. “Because I feel the same and a one-sided love isn’t for me.”
Rubbing his cheek against Piper’s silky red hair, Levi massaged her shoulders. His hands moved lower, settling into the back pockets of her jeans. Snuggling close, she banded her arms around his waist, sighed, and relaxed.
“How many games have you won?” she asked.
Levi shook his head and grinned. He was surprised Piper waited so long to ask. She didn’t say anything when she picked him up at the airport after the team returned from their game in Atlanta. Nor did she comment when they stopped at his house long enough for him to change his clothes, unload one set of luggage and pack another.
On the drive up and into the Cascade Mountains, they talked non-stop, the only silence falling when they paused to take a breath. And yet, the subject of football never came up.
Once they reached the secluded cabin that Piper’s maternal grandfather purchased back in the nineteen twenties, the only thing on their minds was falling on each other as they tumbled into bed.
Finally, fourteen hours after the Knights landed safely at the SeaTac airport terminal reserved for private jets, Piper asked the question Levi knew was coming.
“Remind me.” She tilted her head until her gaze met his. “Games won versus games lost since you took over as the starting quarterback. I should know the numbers, but I forget.”
“You? Forget a number?” Levi scoffed at the idea. “Didn’t anyone teach you that lying is a sin?”
“Probably.” She batted her eyes, flashes of green peeking through. “But I forgot.”
“Mm.” Smoothing back her hair, Levi chuckled. “Okay, smarty-pants, here you go. The Knights’ record is 6-6. Which put us at five hundred for the season—in case you can’t do the math.”
Piper wriggled her fingers under his jacket and the layers of two shirts and poked him in the ribs. Once she found warm skin, her hand snuck a little higher, onto his chest, and stayed put.
“Hardy, har, har. Funny, man,” she said. “Now tell me how many wins there are with you in the game?”
“Four.”
“Interesting.” Piper made a thoughtful humming noise deep in her throat. “To recap, because, as you know, I’m not a sports person, what was the team’s record before you became their starter?”
Levi’s lips twitched. Piper was determined to make her point, taking as many turns and twists as possible to get there.
“Two wins, six losses,” he told her, providing information she already knew by heart.
“And now the Knights have pulled even at six and six?” she asked with wide-eyed wonder.
“Yes.” Levi nodded. “As I said before.”
“What does that make you?” Lips pursed, Piper tilted her head to the side. “Oh. I know the answer.”
“Do you?” Entertained, Levi waited for a beat. “Tell me.”
“You, my impossibly handsome, scrumptiously sexy, friend are… Drum roll please.” Piper provided the sound effect by tapping her fingers against his bare chest. “Undefeated! Woohoo!”
Piper backed away and went into her version of a happy dance, which was like no one else’s. As he watched, Levi was reminded of the first time he suspected he had fallen in love with this amazing woman.
They were at a wedding—number twelve of what seemed like an endless string of I dos. His friends? Her friends? Their friends? Who could keep track? All he knew is that they were among the guests invited to attend. All he remembered of the day, was Piper.
Someone asked her to dance—a man who with too many drinks under his belt seemed oblivious to the fact that Piper had a date. She waved off Levi’s objection, glided onto the floor, and proceeded to have herself a great time—far away from the bumbling dickwad who fell on his ass trying to chase after her.
And then, eyes closed, head back, her mane of fiery red hair flowing around her shoulders, Piper danced. Not like no one watched. She moved as though she knew the whole world could see her—and didn’t give a damn.
One thought came to Levi that day as he smiled and sipped his beer. I love her.
The realization hadn’t come to him in a flash but as a warm understanding of his heart. The feeling flowed through his body touching every fiber of his being.
Levi didn’t worry about how much time he wasted keeping his love a secret. Piper wasn’t ready back then. And, if he were honest, neither was he. Over the next two years, their friendship grew. Their bond became unbreakable.
Because Levi hadn’t rushed toward the finish line, he and Piper could walk together. They reached the same place. At the right time.
“Why aren’t you more excited?” Piper demanded as she collapsed into his arms. Out of breath, glowing, eyes sparkling like rare emeralds, she gave him a shake. “Come on. You’re undefeated.”
“For someone who doesn’t care about football, you sure are excited by a few wins.”