“Stop!” Luke squealed, his little cheeks pink with laughter, squirming around to get away from us. Levi leaned down and gave him a raspberry on his stomach, and Luke screamed and laughed, “Stop, Wevi!”
Levi pulled away, his dimples deepening. His husky laughter turned the air golden. My vision blurred as I watched them together, in disbelief that this was now my life. He glanced up at me, doing a double-take, and his smile fell. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”
“I’m just so happy,” I admitted, my voice cracking. I wiped away my tears. “I know it’s silly.”
Levi gave me a soft smile and reached for my hand, bringing it to his mouth. He kissed each of my fingers. “Nothing about the way you feel is silly, Tess.”
I nodded, knowing he was right. “I just never thought there’d be a day that I’d wake up and my first thought wouldn’t be…him.” I glanced down at Luke, and he was busy playing with Levi’s wedding ring. “I’d wake up every morning with this overwhelming dread in the pit of my stomach, and being here with you makes me forget all of that.”
His hand was warm and tender against my face, his thumb stroking the apple of my cheek. “Only up from here,” he said, his eyes soft with promise.
It reminded me of what Delilah said about rock bottom three weeks ago. Except I felt like I was on a completely different planet now; I had a new job, a new outlook, a newhusband—I had a brand new life.
“Only up from here,” I echoed.
“Can we go pway in the park?” Luke asked.
Levi’s eyes met mine, a flash of mischief in them. “Yeah, Mommy and I are due for a race anyway.” I’d forgotten about him mentioning that.
Luke gasped with excitement. “A race?”
“Will you be our judge and tell us who wins?” Luke nodded. Levi continued, putting on his dad voice that turned me on, “It’s a really important job, you know, you have to be truthful. You can’t pick Mommy just because she’s pretty.”
Luke and I giggled. “I know! I never wie,” he said with all the conviction a four-year-old could muster. “Can we go now?”
An hour later,Levi and I were standing beside Luke, who was holding a whistle and one of Levi’s old t-shirts that we had turned into a flag. Levi was taking all this very seriously for Luke’s sake: stretching, jogging in place, hyping himself up. And he looked so hot doing it. He was in an old Harvard t-shirt, hisbiceps about to bust out of the sleeves, and shorts that made his butt look like it was carved out of marble.
“You okay over there, babygirl? You look a little distracted,” he teased.
“This is psychological warfare,” I said, waving my hand over him.
His brows raised. “Me? Are you serious?” He pulled me to him abruptly, his hand sliding so low on my back that the tips of his fingers splayed over my butt. “Do you have any idea how sexy you look right now?” he asked just between us, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear.
Butterflies erupted in my stomach. I shook my head, biting my lip. “Tell me,” I whispered.
His grip tightened. “My control is hanging on by a thread, babygirl, but this will just have to do for now,” he murmured against my lips before kissing me like the world was ending.
I felt weightless as he kissed me here in the park for everyone to see. I clung to him and this feeling that thundered through my veins. One of pure contentment and joy. A type of happiness that no one, not even Jeremy and his PIs and lies, could take from me.
“Yuck.” Luke grimaced at us when we broke apart, making us laugh.
“Ready to lose?” Levi teased. He went to stand on the other side of Luke behind a stick we had laid down for a finish line.
“To the lamppost and back?” It was a straight shot about twenty yards away.
He nodded. I shivered under the slow sweep of his eyes over my body. “How about we make this a little more interesting?”
My insides swarmed with butterflies. “Oh?”
He glanced down at Luke before looking at me again, his eyes darker. “Winner gets a night filled with whatever…activitythey want,” he finished with a smirk.
My imagination ran wild, my body humming with anticipation over it already. “Deal,” I replied instantly.
In that same second, Luke blew his whistle and screamed, “Go!”
Levi shot off like a light, and I gasped, chasing after him. “You’re actually trying?!” I screeched. God, he was fast. Too fast for me to catch up with.
He looked at me over his shoulder, grinning. “Of course, I am!” he shouted back.
