Page 113 of Promise Me Not

He doesn’t wake when she transfers him to his playpen, already set up in the corner, and with every passing minute, my limbs grow heavier, so I finally face her and say, “I don’t want to leave.”

Payton smiles up at me, her head tipped to the side. “Why would you leave?”

My brows go up. “You want me to stay?”

“You act like you’d listen if I said no.”

My grin grows quickly, and I face her fully. “But are you saying no?”

Her eyes narrow playfully, and she crosses her arms, but I grip her biceps and give her a little shake.

“Come on, girl. Let me hear it.”

She chews her lower lip, but that smile breaks free, and she laughs. “Hey, Mase?”

I’m full-blown smirking now. “Hey, Pretty Little.”

“Do you want to stay with us tonight?”

Us.

Not just her. Them.

Us three.

I don’t bother answering. I toss my shit in the corner and pull up DoorDash.

I’ll be damned if we leave this room tonight.

I’m not sharing her attention with anyone.

Not even the delivery driver.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Payton

Before,February

“Bye!”I call over my shoulder, slipping out the gym double doors and coming to a complete stop.

Mason and his parents are all standing there with grins on their faces.

Vivian throws herself at me, hugging the life out of me, and Evan comes up next, his hug just as warm but less fierce than his wife’s.

“Someone’s missed you,” he teases as he pulls away.

“I don’t think it’s me she misses,” I joke back, and when Vivian claps her hands, eyes big and eager, I share anI told you solook with her husband.

“Can we go get him now?” she nearly begs, hands folded like in prayer and all.

I look to Mason, and he winks.

“She thought she’d get some kind of perk with Cam in the building, but they wouldn’t let any of us through the gate.” He frowns then. “You should really put me on the list Cam was talking about, just in case.”

“Sure thing, Superstar.” I chuckle, handing off my camera bag when he reaches for it. I turn to his parents. “What are you guys doing here?”

Vivian loops her arm in mine, a sneaky way to quicken my speed, and it warms my heart to know how much she cares for my son. Maybe even loves him in the way my own mother should.

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