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“Is that your girlfriend?” Kendrick asked, not shy. She didn’t seem particularly upset either. In fact, if he had to, he would say her face looked hopeful.
Girlfriend.
He felt like he was maybe a little bit old to be doing a girlfriend thing.
He wanted a wife. Not just someone he was hanging out with for fun but wasn’t serious about.
Of course... Was he serious about Peyton?
He admired her, enjoyed spending time with her, couldn’t get her out of his head. They had a lot of the same values, and...yeah.
He hadn’t been that serious about anyone, ever. Most of his relationships were just looking at what he could get out of them, but Peyton pushed him to be more.
Not in a bad way. Not in a way where he didn’t want to go where she was pushing, but in a way where he appreciated being with someone who made him a better person.
Maybe he paused too long, but he turned and looked at Peyton. Wanting to give an honest answer, but not wanting to scare her, either.
“I don’t think so. But... I think she’s more special to me than a girlfriend.”
He wasn’t sure exactly what was going across her face. Maybe surprise, and then a little smile that said he’d said the right thing.
He wasn’t very good at always saying things right, and he wasn’t entirely sure if he wanted her to be saddled to someone like him for the rest of her life, any more than he wanted Kendrick to have a dad she was ashamed of.
But Peyton’s smile grew warm, and she squeezed his hand.
She’d said she didn’t want to be in a relationship, didn’t want to get married again, had done the marriage thing and hated it, so maybe he’d hear about this later, even though he hadn’t said anything about marriage.
“She’s pretty,” Kendrick said.
Bryce gave himself a mental shake, pulling his attention back to his daughter. “I think so too. Her name is Peyton, and she already knows you’re Kendrick and you’re my daughter.”
She turned her head and looked over her shoulder at Owen. “Is that your mom?”
Owen nodded, still hanging back, like he wasn’t sure what to do about this development.
“Is she a good mom?” Kendrick asked, with her typical say whatever was on her mind attitude.
Owen still wasn’t smiling, but he gave a short nod at Kendrick. “The best.”
Peyton’s hand jerked in his, as though his words surprised her, but of course they had to make her feel amazing. Then Owen’s eyes went to their hands again, and he looked at Bryce.
“Are you going to be my dad?”
Wow. That was a hard question. He didn’t know how to answer it, so he said, “I guess I need to talk to your mom about that. But I think any man would be proud to be your dad.”
Owen wasn’t as easily placated as Kendrick, and his eyes narrowed a bit, as though he realized that was a bit of a nonanswer, before he nodded.
“We’re out here because we were hoping we could toss the ball a bit with you guys.”
“Really?” Kendrick asked, her eyes going big as she looked around the circle of people.
“Sure. Paisley is welcome to play, or if she’d rather go take a rest, it’s up to her.”
“If you don’t mind, traveling makes me tired. I’d like to go take a shower and rest a bit.” Paisley smiled a bit as she said it, and Bryce got the feeling she was giving them time to be together without her.
He turned to Peyton. “Are you okay hanging out here with us for a bit? Tossing the ball around?”
“I’m supposed to be working,” Peyton reminded him. But her brows were lifted like she was asking a question.
