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Butterflies swarmed in my stomach, my body instantly knowing who it was. But…how did he get my number?
I wasn’t sure it mattered how he got it, but the fact that he’d gone out of his way to find out filled me with equal parts excitement and dread.
Why was he messaging me? I’d told him that what happened in Romeo’s bathroom didn’t mean anything. Whether that was the truth or not didn’t matter. But dammit, he was insistent, and…I liked it.
My hands shook as I stared down at the screen on my cell, the cursor flashing over and over again, tempting me to write something—anything.
Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. Maybe I should have locked my cell and put it over on the other side of the room to stop myself, but…there was a small voice in the back of my head tempting me—goading me to message him.
I bit down on my bottom lip, my thumbs hitting the screen as I typed out a simple message:
Peyton
Hey, Raf…how’d you get my number?
Rafael
How’d you know it was me?
Peyton
Only you call me mama.
I blushed, thinking about the way the letters would curl around his tongue along with the deep baritone of his voice. I sighed, imagining it as if he was right here with me, whispering it in my ear.
Rafael
Damn straight I am.
Rafael
You good?
I tilted my head to the side, staring down at the screen like it had two heads. I’d never been asked that before, not from a guy, not one who wasn’t my brother. My stomach dipped, memories wanting to push forward, but I refused to let them. Not here. Not now. Not when I was all alone.
Peyton
I’m good.
Rafael
That was a little bit too quick for my liking, mama. You wanna tell the truth?
Peyton
No
Grinning, I started to type back, but he was quicker.
Rafael
You know you can trust me, right, Peyton?
I held my breath, not sure that I believed the words he’d written. I’d believed a man once before, one who said he would take care of me, one who promised to be by my side and cherish me, but he’d done nothing of the sort. In fact, he’d done the complete opposite.
How was I supposed to trust what Rafael was saying, especially when I knewwhohe was. He lived in a world I’d grown up in, but…he didn’t know that. To him, I was just an unsuspecting single mom, running fromsomething. He had no idea that I knew the inner workings of an organization like his.
Peyton
