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Her eyes shot away from me when I mentioned making her my girl, and something in my chest clenched. Would she want that? I didn’t even know if I wanted that, but my insides sure did react at the thought.
“How would you feel if your mother dated your ex?” I said quickly, to distract myself from that thought. “Or your Aunt Myra?”
Her brows lowered, but she didn’t look back at me when she shrugged.
“I care about my boy. I don’t want to hurt him, or break his fucking trust, okay? He’s my son.”
Still, Peyton continued to look down, fidgeting with something in her lap. “He’s lucky to have you,” she muttered quietly, and I wasn’t sure if I was meant to hear that or not.
I sighed and stifled the urge to reach out to her again. “Look,”
“Hey,” she said suddenly, “no means no, right?” She stabbed at her mashed potato fries until she picked one up, and smiled as she bit into it, not quite making eye contact. “Don’t worry, Rocky. I won’t cling and I won’t beg for something you don’t want to give me.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to,” I said, and bit into my burger like it was the source of my anger.
“But you won’t,” she replied. “So it’s all the same whether you want to or not. I’m not worth the risk. Heard you loud and clear.” She sighed as if she really had accepted my words so easily. “I am grateful to you for keeping me safe, though, so, thanks.”
“I don’t want your goddamn gratitude.”
She flashed a sad smile. “Well, it’s all you can have.” Her eyes were clear as she looked at me, her expression blank.
“It’s just that it took Nolo and me a long time to get our relationship back on track and I don’t want to damage that.”
“Got it,” she answered a little too brightly. “He told me about it and that’s the last thing I want to do. So, maybe I should just find somewhere else to stay.”
“No. That’s not necessary. We’re adults, we can both handle the temptation.”
My cock protested. The fuck we can. Remember the tank top and panties from earlier?
Shit, now it was all I could think about.
“It’s your house, Rocky. You shouldn’t have to avoid anything.” She sighed heavily and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “You don’t know me, and you don’t owe me anything. Focus on you and Nolan and I’ll figure something out.”
“I already gave you my word, Peyton. You’re stuck with me.” There was no way in hell I could let her go now, even if she wasn’t really mine.
“It’s going to be hard.” Her words were hesitant, and a hint of playfulness sneaked in, as if against her own will.
“You don’t know the half of it,” I grunted, and she laughed. “So fucking hard.”
“I’ll stay upstairs if you want to have company,” she offered, which stunned me.
Almost as much as my anger at the suggestion. “Company?”
“Yeah. I mean, we don’t know how long I’ll be around.” She forced a smile, and her eyes darted to the side. “If you want to fuck, who am I to tell you what to do in your own house?”
I growled, and my fingers clenched down on the table. “I don’t want company.”
“Oh, come on—”
“Peyton, if I could grab that little waist of yours right now, drag you out back, and fuck you in this parking lot, I would.” Company? Please. Who the fuck would be better than her?
Her lashes fluttered, and she put down her cutlery. “What’s stopping you?”
“You know what’s stopping me,” I growled. “I fucking want you and I can’t have you.”
She stood suddenly, pulling a twenty-dollar bill from her back pocket, and snapped, “You could have me, but you already got what you wanted.”
“It’s not like that,” I insisted. But wasn’t it exactly like that?
