Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 108124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
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.”