Page 33 of Punked By the Playmaker
I arched an eyebrow. “You expect me to believe you’re going to commit to celibacy for the next year?”
With an expression of pure determination written across his face, he replied, “If that’s what it takes to keep Maisie, then yes.”
“You seem awfully eager to take on the role of single dad,” I remarked.
He hummed. “I never wanted kids. And I’ll confess that I started to have a panic attack when Maisie showed up and it hit me that her claim that I was her biological father was, in fact, the truth. But I’m all she has, Arizona, and when Hilda said they were going to take her away, it felt like she reached right into my chest and ripped my heart out.”
“Sounds about right.” I hitched a thumb over my shoulder. “It’s getting late. I should probably get Austin home, but I’ll give my lawyer a call and meet you at the courthouse at nine after school drop-off tomorrow.”
“It’s a date.” Levi flashed me his cheesiest grin.
This was without a doubt going to be the longest year of my life.
Chapter 10
Arizona
Aftertheworld’sworstnight of sleep—where every time I closed my eyes, I was bombarded with nightmares of Austin being ripped away from me—I pulled up to the courthouse, chugging my fourth cup of coffee before getting out of my car. It was going to be a struggle getting through my showings today.
“Arizona! Over here!” a familiar voice called from somewhere nearby.
Rubbing at my bleary eyes, I turned in that direction to find Levi waving a hand wildly.
He had far too much energy for this early in the morning, and he needed to tone it down before we got in front of a judge and went to war against our new archnemesis, Hilda.
I trudged across the parking lot toward where he stood but didn’t stop as I continued on my way to the courthouse steps.
Forced to hotfoot it to catch up with me, Levi chuckled. “Not a morning person, I take it?”
“If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to get this over with. I don’t know about you, but I have a busy day ahead, and I’ve already had to reschedule a showing to make time to be here.”
His humor faded away. “Right. Sorry. I really am grateful that you’re doing this for Maisie.”
I grumbled my acceptance of his thanks, my pace never slowing.
“Wait.” Levi’s hand landed on my arm, halting me.
“What now?” I groaned.
He looked almost sheepish as he said, “I, uh, have something for you.”
A wry laugh was pulled from my chest. “What? Got another kid that you need me to take guardianship of?”
“No,” he said with an eyeroll before reaching into his pocket to produce a velvet box and cracking it open to reveal a ring with a diamond the size of a marble. “Figured we needed to make things official.”
I gasped. “Is thatreal?”
Levi scoffed. “Of course it’s real. You think I’d get my fiancée a fake rock? Give me a little credit, Arizona.”
Shaking my head, I reached out to slam the box shut. “No, I can’t accept something that probably costs more than my car for this sham of a marriage. Take it back and get me one with a moissanite center stone. No one will be able to tell the difference, and I won’t have anxiety over losing it.”
Undeterred, he extracted the ring and grabbed my hand. “You’ll wear the one I picked out for you.”
Teeth clenched, I tried to wrench out of his hold. “I said no.”
He tugged on my hand hard enough that I lost my balance, slamming into his rock-hard chest. Using the position to his advantage, Levi dipped his head, his voice rumbling against the shell of my ear. “Here’s the deal. You put this ring on right now, or I’ll drop to my knees and declare my desire to marry you soloudly that everyone within a two-mile radius will be able to hear me. And you’d better hope there isn’t a hockey fan among them, otherwise, news of our engagement will be trending on social media within the hour.”
When he pulled back, there was a victoriously smug smirk on his lips, and I wanted nothing more than to punch it off his handsome face.
