Page 2 of The Bad Boy's Homecoming
“I heard that,” he said through the door.
Missy stepped down from the mattress and stomped to the door to lock it, then straight to the bathroom where she took a long hot shower and tried to cool off.
CHAPTER TWO
Levi
More than My Hometown
“Gran, you can’tblame me for thinking my room would be available.You’ve never welcomed boarders before,” Levi said, following his grandmother into the kitchen.
“Missy is not a boarder—she’s my companion.”His grandmother turned to face him with her hands on her hips.
Levi couldn’t help but smile at the familiar stance that told him he was about to get an earful.Before she could start the lecture, he leaned down and wrapped his arms around her, picking her up and giving her a gentle squeeze.
“I missed you.”
“You’re not going to sweet-talk your way out of this one, young man.Now put me down.”
Levi gave her one more squeeze and then gently set her down.
“Now you make the coffee and I’ll get you some breakfast.”
He knew better than to argue so he did as he was told and then sat at the kitchen table while his grandmother brought out several different types of baked goods.
“Since when do you keep so many sweets readily available?”he asked with his hands on the table.
“I’ve been working on my pie recipes, trying to decide which one to enter in the Summer Fest,” she said, carving several large slices for him.
“Well then I’m just in time to serve as your guinea pig.”
But before he could get even one big bite of a berry pie shoved in his mouth, his gran sat across from him.
“If my memory still serves me, and it does, you’re due to start your spring training with the Atlanta Warriors.So why are you in my house causing a ruckus?”
This was the big question: why the hell was he back in Sandy Point?He was at the top of his baseball career, new endorsements rolled in every year, his bonus checks got bigger, but he’d walked away.Nine years of playing Major League Baseball, and he was burned out, or worse: he’d lost the love of the game.Either way when the Warriors didn’t re-sign him, he became a free agent at the end of the last season.Instead of listening to his agent and considering one of the other offers, he’d just left Atlanta and drove to his hometown.
“Aren’t you happy to see your favorite grandson?”he said to his grandmother as she squinted at several pieces of new ink on his forearms.
“Favorite?Right now Dalton is the favorite.”
“Is that right?Well, it’s his fault I had to come here.I stopped at my house first to find him shacked up with someone.He wouldn’t even let me stay in my own house.”
“Good, I gave it to him.”
“You can’t do that.I built that house, Gran.”
“It’s still my land until I die, young man.”
Before he could respond, the gorgeous woman, with bronze skin he wanted to touch, who he’d found half naked in his childhood room, walked into the kitchen.She was wearing a white T-shirt, jeans that looked too big with paint on them, and a flannel to match.
Levi leaned back in his chair and looked between his grandmother and the pretty woman scowling at him.
“Missy honey, meet Levi.Levi, meet Missy Shaw.Missy lives with me, and she’s my friend.”
“Friend?Is that code for freeloader?”
His gran reached across the table and popped him upside the head so fast he was impressed at her reflexes.
