Page 44 of Playing for Keeps
I exhale slowly. “Okay. Sorry. I’ll snap out of it.”
“You don’t need to apologize. Your parents were great. It’s kind of crazy that I’ve never met them, considering how long you and Ash have been friends.”
I know he’s just trying to pull me out of my thoughts, and I appreciate it. “Yeah, it is weird now that you mention it. My dad dropped me off at your place a bunch of times, but I guess he never actually came inside.”
“You don’t have any siblings, right?”
“Nope, it’s just me.” I smile. “That’s probably why I loved being at your house so much. It was always full of noise and chaos. Something wasalwayshappening. It was the total opposite of mine.”
He chuckles. “It was definitely chaotic. Still is.”
“But you love it, don’t you? Being part of a big family?”
“Yeah, I do. I always imagined having three or four kids at least.”
I glance at him. “Imagined? You don’t still want that?”
He looks over at me, then back at the road with a shrug. “I do. I guess it just feels farther away now, like something I used to picture clearly, but it’s gotten a little blurrier with time.”
“There’s still plenty of time to meet someone, Wyatt. You’re hardly ancient,” I tease.
He offers a faint smile. “Yeah… maybe.” Then he waves a hand as if brushing the topic aside. “Anyway, enough about me. What about you? Do you want kids?”
He’s shifting the focus, and I let him. It’s not like I want to press him into anything deeper than he’s ready to share.
“I do. And definitely more than one. I always wanted my kids to have what you had growing up with your brothers and Ash. Maybe not five, though,” I add with a laugh. “Two or three would be perfect.”
He chuckles. “Five was a full house. Honestly, I still don’t know how my mom survived it.”
“I’m guessing twins weren’t part of the original plan?”
He grins. “Not even close. Total curveball. Then my parents decided to try once more, hoping for a girl, and along came Ash.”
“Thank God she did,” I say, smiling. “I’d be lost without her. She’s like the sister I never had.”
He returns the smile. “You two are close. So, did you end up raiding her closet for a dress?”
“Actually… no.”
He raises a brow. “How come?”
I hesitate, unsure how much to share. I adore Ash, but I just didn’t have it in me to deal with her enthusiasm about this weekend. Not when it’s strictly work and the charity event she basically pushed me into. She would’ve read way too much into it, and I didn’t have the energy to correct her.
“You know Ash,” I say with a casual shrug. “She thinks if we’re hanging out then we’re also having sex.”
His head snaps toward me. “Seriously?”
Heat creeps into my cheeks. “I know. Ridiculous, right?”
I drop my gaze, fidgeting with a fraying thread on my hoodie. I don’t want Wyatt. At least, I don’t think I do. He’s a friend. But still, the expression on his face, like the idea of us together is completely absurd, stings more than I want to admit. I don’t need him to want me, but it would be nice if someone did. Lately, the only interest I’ve had was from one of his teammates asking for my number, and that didn’t exactly light me up.
I talk about wanting kids, a future, all those things… but right now, they feel as distant as ever.
Wyatt
“You know Ash,” she says quietly. “She thinks if we’re hanging out then we’re also having sex.”
My heart races, and I turn sharply to look at her. “Seriously?”
