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Ryan pressed his hand against her back and guided her toward the door. Who knew her knight in shining armor would be the one person at the party who hated her?
Chapter Two
Ryan slid behind the wheel of his SUV and glanced over at the woman in the passenger seat. How the hell did he get himself into these situations? He’d give it to Andy. He had great taste. She was gorgeous.
“So where am I taking you?” he asked.
“What?” She slowly turned her head toward him and blinked her blue eyes like she was just waking up. “Sorry, what did you ask?”
“Where do you live?”
“Oh, um, Little Italy, but you really don’t have to take me home. I can grab an uber or something so you can stay at the party.”
A hand rapped against the window of the car, drawing Ryan’s attention away from the woman beside him. He rolled down the window. “Hey Johnny, what’s up?” he asked the relief pitcher standing at the car door with a buxom brunette who was definitely not his wife. Ryan scowled. What the fuck was wrong with all these guys bringing women who weren’t their fucking wives to this party? Jesus. Why the hell did they get married if they wanted to keep sleeping with other women?
“Where you going Graves? The party is that way.” He pointed toward the house.
“Yeah, I know.” He gave a fake chuckle. “But Peyton isn’t feeling great, so we are cutting out early.”
Johnny bent down and gave Peyton a solid once over and a smile slid across his face. “Yeah, I’d probably head home too.” He winked at Ryan before saying, “I’m sure Ryan will take good care of you Peyton.” Johnny stood and rapped the top of Ryan’s car with his knuckles before walking off.
God, why couldn’t half the guys on the team keep it in their pants? It sure as hell didn’t say much about the ability to sustain a marriage with their schedule. And what was wrong with these women that they were willing to accept being the other woman simply to date a ballplayer? He glanced over at Peyton. She was a beautiful woman. Surely she wanted better than being Andy’s side piece.
“Seriously, you don’t have to drive me home. You can go back to the party.” Peyton’s voice cut through his thoughts. “I mean, we just met, and I know Simon put you on the spot with the whole fake date thing, but you don’t really have to play it out any further than what you did inside.”
He glanced in his rearview mirror and watched Johnny and his date walk around the side of the house with Johnny’s hand firmly on his date’s ass. Fuck. He really had no interest in going back in there in the mood he was in. “It’s all good. I’m kind of partied out. So Little Italy?”
“Yeah, thank you. I really appreciate you taking me home.”
“Sure.” He put the car in gear and carefully navigated backing out of the line of cars in the driveway.
After several minutes of silence, he glanced over at Peyton, who sat staring out the side window, wringing her hands anxiously in her lap. “So how long have you and Andy been a thing?” he asked.
She wiped her hand across her eyes before turning toward him. “Umm, I met him about a month ago. But clearly…” She waved her hand in the air and let out a loud breath.
“I’m sure he’ll be showing up tomorrow with a big bouquet of flowers and some bling to apologize for his wife showing up on your date.”
She shifted in her seat. The sadness in her eyes quickly turned to anger. “And you think some jewelry is going to make up for what happened in there?”
“I have no idea? I’m just saying I’m sure he’ll try to smooth things over. He seemed pretty into you when you showed up.”
“Yeah, well, there’s no amount of bling that will make up for that,” she muttered.
“No?” Ryan asked, unable to keep the skepticism from his voice as he looked at the gorgeous blonde beside him. She was like the poster girl for what every ball player was looking for in a trophy girlfriend. Long legs, killer body, and perfect smile. Yeah, there was no way Andy wouldn’t be buying out the jewelry store to get this one back.
“No.” She scowled at him. “God, he’s married.”
“Come on, are you still going to pretend you didn’t have a clue he was married?”
“What is your problem?” she snapped. “I told you I didn’t know he was married, and I didn’t.”
“Right.”
“You know what? You can let me out here, and I’ll figure out my own way home.”
“Don’t be stupid. I’ll take you home.”
“Honestly, if you are going to keep being a jerk, I’d rather walk.”
