AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Jesus, woman, just dig into the damn thing.” He stuck his fork into the salad and stabbed some lettuce and onion and took a bite. “It’s good.” He wiggled his fork toward her to indicate she should eat.
Peyton rolled her eyes, then dug her fork into the salad as well. They ate in companionable silence for several minutes before he spoke. “So, I never asked, how are things with Andy when he comes by the center?”
“Mmm, they’re fine now. He um, he wasn’t great at being told it was over, so we had a few bumps dealing with that. Now he’s just pouting.” She snickered. “He basically took his ball and left.”
“What do you mean?”
“He told Kirsty he didn’t want to volunteer at the center.”
“Seriously? Like at all?”
“Nope. Apparently, he’s too busy with his other projects.” Peyton picked up her glass of wine and swirled the liquid around the glass. “Honestly, I can’t say that I’m too upset about it. If he doesn’t volunteer, that means Carmella won’t either, which is good. I was not looking forward to having to see her and lie, and it’s not like I could admit what happened.” She shuddered. “It would have been a nightmare. No, this is definitely better. For once, the fact he’s a spoiled idiot came in handy.”
“You’re not upset the kids won’t get to know him?”
“Nah, not really. When I envision the partnership, I want the kids to learn that people with money and fame can still be kind and generous. Now that I know Andy, I realize that’s not who he is, so I’d rather we didn’t have a bunch of fake people mentoring the kids. Maybe I’m kidding myself about how this will all play out, but that’s the dream.” She smiled over at him. “I’ve never seen the kids as animated as they were with you. That’s what I want. Athletes who use their fame to do something good. To really show the kids how to be the kind of humans they should be.”
“Not asking for much, are ya?”
Peyton shrugged. “I don’t think so. You guys have all this power and influence just by existing, which is kind of wild and you could do so much good with it. I’m simply trying to cash in on that for my kids.”
“But no pressure,” Ryan teased. As she looked at him, he understood the weight of what this program really meant. She was right. It had the potential to be amazing if the guys got on board and really bought in. He loved the idea of impacting these kids in a positive way. “Well, I guess it’s a good thing your fake boyfriend is so cool.”
Peyton snorted. “Good thing.”
“So, I’m curious how come you didn’t sleep with Andy after a month, but you had sex with me the first night.”
The server let out a rough cough to announce themselves, and he winced. Shit, not the best timing to ask that.
The server gave him an apologetic smile and placed their meals down on the table. After several minutes of companionable silence, he glanced around to make sure they wouldn’t be interrupted again then asked, “You gonna answer the question?”
Peyton set down her fork. “I don’t know. It’s not just one thing.” She shifted in her seat. “With you I knew it was just sex—it didn’t mean anything. With Andy, I kind of thought we were potentially building something.”
“Ouch, I can’t believe you were just using me for my body.” He rubbed his chest like it hurt. “I feel so cheap.”
“Shut up.”
He snickered. “You said there was more than one reason. What else?”
Peyton’s cheeks grew red, and she picked up her fork and absently picked at her food.
“Come on spill it, Sharp. What else?” Why was she acting shy all of a sudden?
“Because you’re hot okay?”
He barked out a laugh. “Wow, you don’t have to sound so annoyed about that.”
“I’m not annoyed it’s just…I’ve never had this kind of chemistry with someone before.”
He couldn’t help himself when he puffed up his chest. “You just couldn’t resist my sexy bod, hey?”
She chucked her napkin at him, hitting him in the chest with the piece of linen.
He picked up the napkin and set it back on the table. “I’m just bugging you, Peyton.”
“You’re bugging me alright,” she muttered, making him laugh again.
He shook his head. “I’m offended that I’m just a piece of meat to you. Good enough to fuck, but not good enough to date.” He almost pulled it off, but he cracked a smile at the very end.
