The Backup Plan: A Friends to Lovers Sports Romance (One Pass Away: A New Season Book 2)

by Mary J. Williams

  “Why are you here, Mother?” Piper asked. If Dara decided to crash a party uninvited, she gave up the right to common pleasantries. “And where’s your chauffeur? I can’t believe you walked from the car, uphill, by yourself.”

  Trudging onto the porch, Dara brushed the bench seat with her handkerchief, grimaced, then sat down. She crossed her ankles, brushed the mud from one bare knee, and glared at Piper, her nose raised into the air.

  “What I plan to say, I need to say without witnesses.”

  Talk about your ominous opening lines. Piper almost laughed. Because she was used to her mother’s drama queen tendencies, she didn’t bother.

  “You should have called,” Piper said.

  “The cabin doesn’t have a landline.” Dara sniffed, her expression sour. “Did you know that cell phones don’t work up here?”

  “Really?” Piper gasped, perfectly aware of the situation. “Imagine that.”

  Somehow, Dara’s posture became more ridged.

  “Sarcasm is the refuge of tiny minds, young lady.”

  “And the cow jumped over the moon to get away from the spoon.”

  “What does that mean?” Dara demanded.

  “I don’t know, Mother.” Piper shrugged. “Maybe I feel you should develop a sense of humor?”

  “What’s funny about us? Here?” Dara asked.

  “Absolutely nothing,” Piper acknowledged. “Why don’t you save us both the added aggravation and get to why you’re here.”

  “Your grandmother wants to meet the football player.”

  Piper could have reminded her mother that the football player had a name. But what was the point?

  “Grandmother hasn’t shown the least bit of interest in Levi before now,” she said. “Why now? What’s changed?”

  Dara took a piece of paper from her purse.

  “This.”

  “A newspaper clipping. How old school,” Piper said as she glanced at the headline proclaiming Levi to be a Knight in Shining Armor. She smiled. “Cute play on words.”

  “Seems that your friend has gained a bit of success, Mother thinks he’s suitable husband material.” Dara’s lip curled into a sneer. “An athlete married to an Engels? Please.”

  “Aren’t you the one who sent Monte Oliver sniffing around me and my office?” The flicker of annoyance in Dara’s eyes told Piper her hunch was right. “You’ve tossed a lot of losers my way, Mother. But Monte Oliver is scraping the bottom of the barrel, even for you.”

  “Your brothers tell me that Mr. Oliver comes from a good family. He’s attractive. Affable.”

  “Bingo! We have a winner.” With a sigh, Piper met her mother’s glare head-on. “Affable is Dara speak for easily manipulated.”

  Breaking eye contact, Piper’s mother suddenly became fascinated by the state of her manicure.

  “I don’t know what you mean,” Dara said.

  “Then let me make myself clear.” Piper kept her voice cool and low. “Grandmother’s money isn’t going to you when she dies. Warren and Teddy won’t see a dime. For some reason, she likes me.”

  “Mother’s taste has always been questionable.”

  “Maybe because I’m the only one of the family who bothers to visit her?” Piper shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. She’s made up her mind. If I marry a man who she likes, I win the jackpot. A few hundred million at last count.”

  Dara's breath came out in a shaky wheeze.

  “Your idea of my perfect husband begins and ends with someone you can keep under your thumb. A man who will sell his soul to marry a rich wife and will pass a hefty chunk of Grandmother’s riches to you.”

  “Don’t be crude,” Dara said. But she didn’t deny the accusation.

  “What am I worth these days, mother dear?” Oddly fascinated, Piper crossed her arms. “A quarter of the inheritance? Half? I can’t imagine anyone—even a dolt like Monte Oliver would agree to more.”

  “Honestly.” Dara shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “The reason you never liked Levi isn’t that he was a second-string quarterback. Or that he’s an athlete,” Piper told her mother.

  “Reasons enough,” Dara said.

  “When you met the first time, Levi left no doubt that he is not someone you can manipulate or maneuver,” Piper said. “He saw through the fake sugar you threw at him. You’ve hated him ever since.”

  “Levi Reynolds is gay. His teammate. Dylan something or other?” Dara attempted to look coy but failed. “I understand they are very close.”

  Dara’s out of nowhere declaration left Piper speechless. Should she laugh? Because the idea was outrageous for so many reasons, she didn’t know where to start.

  “You were misinformed,” Piper said. Then, she got mad. “But what if he were? Your prejudice is showing, Mother.”

  “What makes you think your grandmother is any better?” Dara demanded. “If you brought a homosexual home and tried to pass him off as legitimate husband material, she would cut you out of her will in a heartbeat.”

  “Before my head explodes, let’s back up about a million steps.” Piper reminded herself to breathe. “First, I’m not qualified to speak for the LBGT community. Or for Levi. However, since I need to say something, hear this. First? What the fuck, Mother?”

  Dara gasped. Piper ignored the false outrage.

  “Second, if Levi were gay, he would be out by now. But if he weren’t, that would be his choice. I’d respect his wishes either way.”

  “I’ve heard enough,” Dara said. When she stood, Piper did the same.

  “One last thing. Levi doesn’t need Grandmother’s money. And he doesn’t need me to be his beard.” Piper held up her hands. “I’m done. Nothing I can say will penetrate your bigoted mind.”

  Dara walked down the steps. After the crap she spewed, any decent person would have slunk, but she held her head high with moral indignation. When she stopped and turned.

  “What?” Piper asked.

  “You’d be wise to work with me rather than against me, Piper,” Dara said with a pitying smile. “Stay with your quarterback and you’ll end up with nothing. Align with me, and for the first time since you were born, we can enjoy a pleasant, prosperous relationship.”

  “If I say no?”

  “I’ll cut you from my life without a backward glance.”

  Piper was amazed that Dara considered her words a threat. For her, they were a gift. A blessing. She didn’t believe her mother for a second. But she could hope.

  “I’ll let you know if I change my mind,” Piper said with a wave. “For your sake, for your health, don’t hold your breath.”

  Dara held Piper’s gaze for a second longer before she turned and disappeared down the pathway.

  “Never to be seen again,” Piper said with a sigh.

  “One can only hope.”

  Startled, Piper whirled around. She found Levi waiting with a cup of coffee in each hand. Her surprise turned to despair.

  “How much did you hear?”

  “I came in just after the opening credits,” he said. “I’ll give your mother props for one thing. She knows how to play a scene with gusto.”

  “She’s had a lot of practice.”

  Piper sank onto the swing. Levi joined her. Placing his arm around her shoulders, he kissed her temple. Immediately, she felt better. Not great. Dara left a hangover effect that wasn’t easy to shake.

  “Since I heard everything. I’m not sorry,” he said when Piper winced. “I feel the need to respond.”

  “To which part?”

  “The beginning. The middle. The end.” Levi sighed. “Should I start with the money? Don’t care. Never have. Never will. Let your grandmother leave every cent to charity.”

  “She will if I don’t make a proper marriage.”

  “What the hell constitutes a proper marriage in the twenty-first century?” Levi asked with a perplexed frown.


  “According to me, my mother, or my grandmother?” Piper sighed. “Three generations of Engels, three different philosophies.”

  “I heard your mother’s ideas,” Levi said. “Sorry, but what grandma wants doesn’t interest me in the least.”

  “I knew there was a reason I liked you.”

  “My pretty face?” he asked with a quizzical expression. He rested his head against hers. “How do you see marriage?”

  “I haven’t given the idea a lot of thought—not on a personal level.” Piper took a moment and sipped her coffee. “I don’t want what my mother had with my father. Lust couched as a love that morphed into seething hate.”

  “Yikes,” Levi said.

  “When she married the second time, Mom had money—until my stepfather gambled away most of his family fortune. Divorce, again,” Piper told him. “She took back her maiden name and turned her focus to marrying me off to the first spineless doofus who came along.”

  “Now I understand.”

  “Explain it to me,” she insisted. “I’ve never been able to figure her out.”

  “My powers are strong, but even a superhero has his limitations,” Levi said with a chuckle. “I meant that I understand why you were reluctant for us to go beyond friendship. Your mother is a vicious harpy.”

  “You don’t deserve her wrath.” Piper took a deep breath. “What she said about you and Dylan. I don’t know where she picked up the idea that you’re gay.”

  “Dylan and I joke all the time with each other, with the team, about how close we are.” Levi shrugged. “No big deal. But you mentioned Monte Oliver.”

  “He came to my office the day you left for Atlanta.” Sensing Levi wasn’t happy, Piper rushed to explain. “I meant to tell you. By the time you returned to Seattle, I was so focused on you that I forgot he even existed.”

  “If he ever shows his face to you again, tell me immediately,” Levi said. “Doesn’t matter if I’m at home or in Timbuktu.”

  “The Knights have road games in Timbuktu?” Piper asked, hoping to lighten the mood. Levi smiled, but he wasn’t ready to laugh quite yet. “Monte seems like the most likely source of your mother’s misinformation. His jokes about Dylan and me were always a bit too pointed.”

  “I’m not sorry we’re together.”

  “Why would you be?” Levi wanted to know.

  “My mother won’t stop,” Piper said, worried that someone who should have wanted the best for her put money above all else, even her own daughter. “I don’t know if she’ll tell the world that you’re gay.”

  “I don’t care,” Levi said. Piper nodded.

  “Mom will try something else eventually. Until my grandmother is in her grave and the family fortune distributed, her machinations won’t stop.”

  “You think I can’t handle whatever she throws our way?” Levi asked, a touch of hurt entering his dark eyes. “You should know me better than that.”

  “I was worried,” Piper admitted. “In the end, I wanted you too much to care. Which makes me just as selfish as my mother.”

  “Not even close.” Levi gripped her hand, kissing the tip of each finger. “Selfish is doing something to benefit only yourself without worrying about anyone else.”

  “Sounds like me.”

  “Now you’re starting to piss me off,” he said.

  Piper knew she sounded pitiful, but she couldn’t stop. The best thing for him would be if she walked away. Even if she did, Levi wouldn’t let her unless she could say with absolute certainty that her feelings had changed.

  “If I didn’t love you, you’d let me go.”

  “Yes,” he agreed. “But you do.”

  Levi didn’t ask. He knew her heart as well as she knew his.

  “What should we do about my mother?”

  “People like her are happiest when their bad deeds make them the center of attention,” Levi reasoned. “If we ignore her, hopefully, she’ll stop. At least for now.”

  “Logic doesn’t work with Dara Engels.” Piper knew. She’d tried. “But I agree. We can’t spend our lives looking over our shoulders. We should wait until she makes the first move. Then…”

  “Yes?”

  “We’ll tell Grandmother.” When Levi laughed, Piper felt her heart lighten. “I’m not joking. The one who holds the purse strings rules my mother’s world.”

  With one foot, Levi set the swing in motion. Drinking his coffee, he curled a lock of Piper’s hair around his finger, his gaze locked on the outcropping of trees.

  “Your mother sounds like a sad, sad woman,” he said. “In another life, maybe I’ll be able to stir up some sympathy for her.”

  “But not now.” Piper sighed.

  “I’m grateful to her for one thing.” Levi smiled. “She gave birth to you.”

  “Sometimes I wonder,” Piper said. “She and I look nothing alike.”

  “You mean…?” Levi gave her a questioning look.

  “Not possible, I’m afraid.” Piper shrugged. “If Dara weren’t my mother, she would have tossed me out and eliminated the competition for Grandmother’s fortune long ago.”

  “Speechless doesn’t begin to cover my reaction.” Levi rubbed Piper’s arm. “Let’s reset the day to the moment before your mother arrived.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  Piper closed her eyes, snuggled next to Levi, and listened to the blissful sound of nothing.

  “Levi?”

  “Hm?” his voice sounded peaceful and relaxed.

  “If the Knights win the rest of their games, you’ll go to the playoffs. Right?”

  “Doubtful,” Levi said, obviously amused.

  “But possible?” she asked. “Mathematically, the team is still alive.”

  “Mathematically?” Levi shrugged. “Sure. Even if we lose one game and end the season at 9-7, we might squeak in. But—”

  “You can lose a game?” Piper a quick calculation in her head and liked the odds. “Even better.”

  “Don’t be disappointed when the Knights season ends without a trip to the playoffs.”

  Piper smiled. Levi might have his doubts, but not her. She had the equation etched into her brain. Sports were part skill and part luck, but if there was one thing she believed in—besides her Levi—it was the absolute power of math.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  ▲ ▼ ▲ ▼ ▲

  “HOLY SHIT. HOLY shit. Holy shit.”

  “Shh,” Levi cautioned Dylan afraid his friend might jump out of his skin at any second. “Look at the clock. Until the fucking thing hits zero, don’t even breathe.”

  “Thirty seconds left. Up by ten points.” Dylan gripped the facemask of his helmet until his knuckles turned white. “Holy shit, Levi. We’re going to the playoffs.”

  As his teammates jumped and screamed and hollered around him, Levi waited until the final gun sounded before he let himself celebrate. He wasn’t superstitious, exactly. At least no more than your average athlete.

  But Levi didn’t believe in tempting fate. He refused to spit in the face of the football gods, the ones who so graciously sat on his shoulder while he led his team to the postseason.

  As Levi ran across the field to shake the opposing quarterback’s hand, he promised himself to never take his success for granted. He was given a gift when the Knights named him as their starter. Every moment since then had been a living dream. Levi had one more wish—he’d worked hard and figured he had the right.

  If I am dreaming, he thought, hoping someone was still listening, don’t wake me up until after the Knights go all the way.

  Levi waited for the crack of doom, the signal he’d pushed his luck too far. But all he heard was the sound of his fellow players, the crowd in the stadium, and the city of Seattle going wild with joyous excitement.

  The Knights, and Levi, were headed to the playoffs. He grinned as a Gatorade coated Coach McClain wrapped him up in the best bearhug ever.

  While pan
demonium reigned around him, Levi thought of Piper. She never lost faith in him. And, she was due a huge, I told you so. Fine with him. He couldn’t wait.

  ▲ ▼ ▲ ▼ ▲

  “I REFUSE,” PIPER said, shaking her head.

  “Come on,” Levi urged. ‘You earned the right.”

  They were in Levi’s bed. Hours after the celebrations had died down and the post-game interviews were over—after making love to Piper—he was still too jacked up on adrenaline and an otherworldly sense of disbelief to settle down into something as mundane as sleep.

  A bit of verbal sparring with Piper seemed like a good way to burn off the last of his endless energy.

  “Say, I told you so,” Levi said. “Please. I won’t be able to relax until you do.”

  “My maturity level has progressed beyond the juvenile need to gloat about how right I was.” With a superior smirk, Piper shrugged. “As long as you know the truth, I’m satisfied.”

  “Party pooper.” Levi sighed. Then, he grinned. “We did lose one game. The second to last. I thought you might cry.”

  “Me? You were the one who beat yourself up for a week.” Piper let out a huff of disgust. “Everyone agreed that the loss wasn’t your fault. You played like a lion. A gladiator. A Superhero.”

  “You’re reaching, just a bit,” Levi told her with a humble sigh. But knowing how his woman felt about him, inside, he grinned from ear to ear.

  “No, I’m not.” Turning serious, Piper cupped his face between her hands and looked straight into his eyes. “I’m proud of you, Levi Reynolds. Darcy and Mac gave you a chance to start. But you’re the one who ran with the ball—so to speak.”

  “Good football analogy,” Levi said, wondering as his heart overflowed if he could take much more.

  “The math was always on your side,” Piper told him with a satisfied sigh. “How could you lose?”

  Levi knew Piper would be horrified, but he didn’t care about the math. The fact that she was with him through everything was what mattered. She saw him past the aches, the pains, and the self-doubt. Her support never wavered even when he thought he might.

  On the outside, Piper looked delicate, almost fragile. Levi knew better. She was strong, through and through. His rock and his biggest cheerleader.