“Just that you’ll reach the age of ninety a good three years ahead of me.” A mischievous twinkle entered Levi’s dark eyes. “I’ll be your eighty-seven-year-old boy toy.”
“Whatever floats your boat,” Piper said with a snort. “Now, shut up and finish your gruel.”
Laughing, Levi kissed the back of Piper’s hand. She felt her heart sigh.
Sipping her orange juice—freshly squeezed by Levi—Piper couldn’t remember a time when she’d been as happy. Her blood crackled with a combination of excitement and contentment.
In all Piper’s years of dating and enjoying nights of adult entertainment, had she sat with a man the next morning over a post-sex breakfast—when she made the mistake of sticking around—and not wanted to scamper out the door as quickly as possible.
Today, with Levi, was a first. Piper didn’t constantly look at her watch or calculate the fastest route to the exit. Instead, of an antsy, when will it ever end, feeling, she wanted to linger at the table. The longer, the better.
If Piper had to look at Levi’s handsome face, every morning, noon, and night for the rest of her hopefully long life, then sign her up.
“What changed your mind?” Levi asked after a long, comfortable silence.
“Pardon?” Piper pushed her empty plate away. “Changed my mind? About what?”
“A few days ago, you were adamant about not altering our friends-only relationship. Yet, here we are.” Levi grinned. “Not that I’m complaining.”
“I should hope not,” she said.
“Did you want to wait and see how I performed on Sunday?” Levi crossed his arms, his gaze, unblinking. “If the Knights had lost the game, if I stunk up the stadium, would we still be at the same old status quo?”
“I’ll answer the ridiculous question because I know you’re joking.” Piper frowned. “At least I hope you are.”
Levi merely shrugged.
“Did you check the time of my text?” Piper asked with an air of superiority. “I sent the message before the game began. Not during. Not after. Before. There’s your proof that I didn’t give a rat’s ass about your performance. In the bedroom, yes. On the field, nope.”
Without a word of response, Levi picked up his phone. When he began scrolling through his texts, Piper's mouth fell open.
“You don’t believe me?” she asked, offended and shocked.
“I already knew what you said was true. I looked at the time before I read the text.” Levi set aside his phone. He chuckled. “Getting you riled up is so much fun, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.”
With a sniff, Piper started clearing the table. Levi had other ideas. As she reached for his plate, he pulled her onto his lap. Still holding a half-empty bottle of maple syrup, she wrapped her arms around his neck and sank into his kiss.
“Tell me,” Levi said, licking a bit of sticky sweetness from the corner of Piper’s lips. “Why the about-face?”
Piper smiled, happy to let Levi persuade her to his heart’s content. Her head dipped to the side as his mouth found a particularly sensate spot at the base of her neck.
“What was the question? Hey!” Piper jumped when Levi pinched her backside. “That hurt.”
“Don’t be a drama queen. I barely touched you.” Levi took her chin between his thumb and forefinger and gave her a light shake. “Answer me.”
Giving in wasn’t difficult. Piper wanted Levi to understand. She brushed the back of her hand over his cheek and smiled.
“I remembered what you said about not wanting to waste any more time,” she told him. “Once you declared yourself, I was bound to cave eventually. What was I waiting for? A sign from above—which would have scared the crap out of me, by the way.”
Levi let out a snort of laughter.
“What am I, Joan of Arc?” Piper continued, rolling her eyes. “She was burned at the stake for the sin of hearing the voice of God. Hell, no. I’ll pass, thank you very much.”
“You’re rambling,” Levi told her. “Don’t get me wrong. You’re adorable. I could listen to your nonsensical rants every day and twice on Sunday.”
“When you aren’t playing football,” Piper added.
“Well, sure,” Levi agreed. “But you’ve swerved away from the point.”
“Remind me.” Levi poked Piper’s ribs, making her squirm with laughter. She held up her hands in defeat. “I give in. No more verbal detours.”
As a reward, Levi kissed Piper again. So good, she thought, wondering why they needed to talk when communicating with their bodies was such fun.
“Continue,” he said.
“I did have one more thought that gave me pause.” Piper bit her lip. “Never mind.”
“Now I have to know.” Levi waited. “Do I have to use my secret weapon of torture?”
“Don’t you dare.” Piper tried to wiggle away but Levi held her fast.
“Then spill the rest or I won’t hesitate.”
Piper’s feet were notoriously ticklish. A fact that once Levi discovered, he used sparingly, but with devilish precision. Her toes curled inward at the thought.
“You’re evil.” She sighed, and, as he knew she would, gave in. “What if we break up?”
“Not going to happen,” he said.
Piper didn’t want to think about the possibility, but the pragmatist in her understood the odds were never in any couple’s favor. The fact that most of their married friends seemed happily joined for life didn’t make her forget reality—or her own experience of coming from an irreparably broken home.
“Bear with me for a minute,” Piper told him. “If something happened to us, wouldn’t you be sad?”
“Seems like a given.” Levi sighed. “I hope you’d be a little upset, too.”
“Sure. Of course. But I’m not a professional athlete. Your concentration has to be absolute.”
“And you think I’d be so devastated by the demise of our relationship that my game would suffer?” With a scoff, Levi’s chin hit his chest. “What bad teenage romance movie did you fall out of?”
“None,” she muttered.
“Let me ease your mind,” Levi said. “I’m not the star quarterback on our high school team and I won’t fall to pieces because, you, the head cheerleader, breaks my heart before the big game.”
“You
