Page 58 of Promise Me Not

“You should have seen your face.” She giggles. “You looked like you were expecting me to say the end of the world was coming and you’d never get your day in the big leagues.”

“That’s baseball.” When her mouth tugs to one side, I narrow my gaze. “But you knew that…”

“I did.” She smiles, proud, her blue eyes shining.

Before I can stop myself, before I even realize what I’m doing, my knuckles are sliding across her cheek.

Payton’s lips part on a gasp. It’s soft, nearly unnoticeable, but it happened.

Heat zips through me at the sound, and I tense.

Our gazes lock, and she smiles timidly, her hard belly pressed to my abdomen. Slowly, the hand that was holding on to hers rises once more, but before it reaches its destination, my eyes snap to hers for permission.

Payton nods, pressing on the back of my hand until my palm meets the cotton of her shirt.

I hold her eyes a moment, then drop them to the contact.

“It’s…”

“Weird?” she impishly adds.

“Nah,” I whisper, sliding my hand along the perfect curve. “I guess I thought it would feel hard, and it does, but it’s also, I don’t know. Soft?”

“You should feel him kick.”

I smile at that, looking back at her for a long moment, overcome with concern. “You’re getting close, huh?”

She nods, then stiffens, making me more uneasy. “December’s not so far away anymore.”

“Tell me what you need.”

Her eyes pop up.

“Tell me what you need,” I repeat.

Payton’s grin is soft then. She shuffles a bit so she can step away, and my hands fall from her. She starts walking back the way we came, and I fight the urge to hold her still.

I don’t want to go back inside.

I don’t want to share her with the guys.

It’s irrational and ridiculous, and I roll my eyes internally.

“I’m good, Mase. Nothing to do but wait for him to be ready to meet the world.”

There’s a sorrow in her tone I don’t like, so I wrap my arm around her shoulders and tug her close.

“Well then. In the meantime, let’s go back to our earlier conversation where you tell me how awesome I am at football…even if I’m the second-string quarterback and only played for two minutes the entire game.”

Payton laughs loudly, and when she looks up at me with those big blue eyes, I can’t look away.

“Well, go on, then. Talk me up.”

“You’re insufferable.”

“I think you like that about me.”

Smiling, she shakes her head and faces forward. “I think you’ve got a big head.”

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