Page 98 of The Shake Off

Fuck, I’d be the luckiest bastard alive.

Ace:Hey, Babycakes. Whatcha doin?

Payton:Reading in bed

Ace:You didn’t go out?

Payton:I had cocktails with the girls earlier… and saw some of the game. Some nice pitching there, Lucky Aces *smiley face*

I grinned. Ever since I’d told her the story about my name, she’d been calling be Lucky Aces, and I was fucking loving it.

Ace:Send me a pic, I wanna see what you’re wearing

Payton:No

Ace:Please, Babycakes? Give me something to get me through this flight to Toronto.

She sent back an eyeroll emoji but it was followed with a picture.

There was nothing scandalous about it. It was Payton in bed, with a book across her lap. She was wearing that sleep shirt she’d had on the first night I’d stayed over, and her face was bare.

She was a fucking showstopper.

Ace:You are so goddamn hot *multiple flame emojis*

The way my chest thumped as I looked at her picture again made me realize how much I’d missed her. We’d been away over a week, and now I wanted to get home. Get back to her.

“By the Power of Greyskull, you have it bad.”

I put my phone down on the table and turned to Tanner. “What?”

He turned to the boys. “If you ever catch me looking at my phone like Watson’s looking at his, please hit me over the head, preferably with a sledgehammer.”

“I’ll hit you over the head right now if you want,” I grumbled and thumped him in the arm instead.

“Ouch.” He rubbed his arm, just as his face dropped. “Shit, Shepherd is heading this way.”

He chuckedCosmoto Lux like he’d been caught passing notes in high school, and Penn was about to bust us.

“Hello, fellas.”

“Sir, Mr. Shepherd,” nodded Tanner. “How’s it going?”

“Good. Good.” He peered around the four of us, and even though we hadn’t been doing anything at all, there was no way we could look more guilty if we tried.

Especially with the way Tanner’s eye kept flicking to Lux, which made Penn focus more on Lux than any of us.

“What’s that?” Penn nodded toCosmo.

Lux cleared his throat and turned it over so the cover was in clear view.

“You’re reading a girl’s magazine?” he questioned and held his hand out.

Tanner groaned next to me as Lux passed it over. I’d heard Penn had an excellent poker face, and he didn’t give anything away as he flicked through the pages. None of us missed his focus staying on the cartoon drawings for longer than the rest before finally handing it back.

“Anyway, I came over to congratulate you on an excellent away series. I’ve noticed all of you have stepped up. The plays have been phenomenal, and I want you to keep it up. Well done.”

We all stumbled over each other to thank him, though we just came across as moronic… made all the more evident when Penn simply nodded, and walked off.

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