Do I regret taking care of her and Gabby two nights ago?Never.
Do I regret punching his sorry excuse of her ex-husband?Never.
Do I regret finally getting the girl?Never.
Do I regret keeping us on the down-low, especially from her brother, who is my best friend and the person I’ve never kept secrets from? That’s a tough one. No, I don’t regret it because I understand why she wants to keep it quiet for now, but she better believe as soon as we decide to go public, I will always make it known that she is mine.
I press my lips to hers and thrust my tongue into her mouth, not worrying about morning breath or morning wood.
When we finally pull back, I brush some fallen hair strands away from her face.
“Wow, now, that’s a way to wake up. A girl could get used to that. You might spoil me.” Just imagine how spoiled she would feel if she were waking up with my fingers or cock sliding inside her. I suppress a groan at the picture of her naked under me, begging for me.
“You deserve to be spoiled, babe.” I roll her onto her back and settle myself between her thighs.
My hand just grazes the underside of her breast when a soft coo comes from the crib. “Looks like someone’s up.” Payton wiggles out from underneath me. “Finish this later?”
“Absolutely.” I prop myself up on my elbow. Payton adjusts her clothes and leans one hand on the bed, closing the distance between us. I tangle my fingers in her hair and claim her lips before she pulls back teasingly and walks over to the crib.
“Good morning, sweet girl. Did you sleep okay?”
Okay, maybe I should have my head examined that I also find her baby talk voice sexy. Or maybe it’s just the woman attached to it.
As I watch Payton pick up her daughter and hold her to her chest, my heart swells, and I have to rub the ache in my chest. I know I’m already in too deep, but I don’t even care. I’ve sat back for years and watched on the sidelines, not just with Payton, but in these past few hours, I feel like I’ve been sitting on the sidelines of my whole life. Not anymore. I rise to a sitting position and stretch my arms up.
I inspect my fists and see that one is more bruised than the other, but as I clench and release my hands, I don’t feel any pain at least.That’s good. I press to stand and adjust my boxers to keep my dick in check and walk over to where Payton stands.
Wrapping both girls in my arms, I first press a kiss to Payton’s head and then to Gabby’s. Before I pull back, I take a deep inhale. I wonder how babies always smell so good. Well, notalways. This girl can let out some nasty smells, just like her uncle, but mostly, she smells wonderful.
“I thought I would make us breakfast. Hungry?”
Payton looks up at me with hunger in her eyes. “Starving.” And I’m not sure if she means for food.The feeling is mutual, babe.
“I’ll get her changed, and we will be down in a minute.”
My cell phone feels like it weighs a ton in my hand. I’ve put off what I’ve had to do most of the morning, but I know before Ihead into work I need to talk to the Mosby boys and clear the air. Well, if I still have a job to show up to. Neither Archer nor Ollie reached out since I left them last night, and I figured if I was being fired, they would have fired me on the spot last night. They’re not malicious in planning to hold this over my head. And Payton never heard from Joel, and the cops never showed up on my doorstep, so I assume if we’re in the clear, they are, too. But not hearing from him makes me think even more of what the hell was he to gain from doing this? The more time I spend on it, the more I realize it may have been just wanting to fuck with Payton’s head.
“I’ll be right back.” With a quick kiss to the top of Payton’s head, I excuse myself into the backyard.
I’m unsure which to reach out to first. Ollie is probably my safest choice. Is it a cop-out? Fuck yeah.
“Sup, Balboa,” my best friend says when the call connects.
“You’re funny,” I say dryly, although I guess I deserved the nickname.
He laughs. “I’d like to think so, and my wife agrees.”
I roll my eyes and take a deep breath. “Listen, Ollie, I’m sorry for what happened. I let the situation get out of hand, and I’m not proud of it.”
“Well, you should be. I mean, not that it happened, but you should be proud of that right hook. It was a fantastic reminder for me to remember not to piss you off.”
I chuckle and debate about telling him that Joel showed up here afterward, but Payton and I decided it was best to keep that part to ourselves unless it became an issue. I can protect the two of them and don’t need either of her brothers impeding that.
“Anything else you wanna talk about?” Ollie says, as if he knows something that he’s choosing not to say.
Does he know? No, he couldn’t possibly know. It’s on the tip of my tongue to confess my feelings for his sister, but I wouldn’tbetray Payton’s trust after promising to keep things between us for now. Plus, one brawl on our hands is enough for now.
“No, I’m good over here. I just needed to clear the air and make sure that I still had a job to come to.”
