“Caught that too.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.” Her words are soft, and I can feel the regret rolling off her in waves. At least, I think it’s regret.
“Hey.” I turn and place my index finger under her chin and lift her eyes to mine. “You had no responsibility to tell me about your sisters’ husband and boyfriend.”
“But you love baseball, and you want to go pro.” She pauses, and when I open my mouth to speak, she beats me to it. “Even though I’m sure you’ve figured it out, I guess I should also confess that my dad is Easton Monroe.”
Fuck. I assumed when I learned her sister was married to Cameron Taylor. I know he was married to Easton Monroe’s eldest daughter. They were all over the sports news stations when they first got together.
“I kind of put two and two together.”
“Yeah,” she says sadly.
“Hey.” I wait for her to look at me. “What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?”
“I wanted you for me,” she murmurs.
“What?” I hear her, but I’m not sure I understand what she’s trying to say.
“It’s stupid.”
“Nothing you feel is stupid. Talk to me.”
“I don’t know you.”
“Yet here you are sitting with me. What’s going on, Peyton?”
“I wanted to be just Peyton. I didn’t want you to see me as Easton Monroe’s daughter or Cameron Taylor’s sister-in-law. I just wanted to be Peyton.”
“That’s who you are to me. You’re Peyton, the beautiful girl I met on the beach yesterday and has somehow managed to burrow her way inside my head. I can’t stop thinking about you. That started before I knew who your family was.”
“Yeah,” she says, but I can tell by her tone that she doesn’t believe a word that I’m saying.
“Pull out your phone,” I tell her.
“What?”
“Come on, humor me. Pull out your phone.” She does as I ask. “Now, open up our messages and read through them.” She shakes her head as if she can’t believe she’s doing this, but she scrolls through our messages anyway. “Now, tell me that I’m not here for you.”
“Oh my God,” she breathes. I smile because she’s finally getting it. “You knew. You knew who I was all along. How could I be so stupid? I let my guard down. Dammit.” She stands and begins to walk away.
“Peyton!” I call out, running to catch up with her. “Hey, stop,” I say, grabbing her wrist gently to get her to stop running away from me. She stops moving but doesn’t turn to face me.
My heart thunders in my chest as I realize she could walk away and I’d never see her again. I don’t want that to happen. That realization alone has my palms sweaty. I’ve never chased a girl, but something in my gut tells me that Peyton is worth it. She’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met before. She’s down to earth. She is who she is, and she’s unapologetic about it. She’s not one of those girls who refuse to eat in front of you. She’s not constantly worrying about her appearance, messing with her hair and makeup; she’s just Peyton. And although I’ve only known her for a very short amount of time, I know that I want to know more. I never want to know more.
Not knowing what else to do, I wrap my arms around her from behind, holding her close just like I did last night. “I didn’t know,” I whisper in her ear. “I didn’t know who you were, and even if I did, it wouldn’t have mattered to me.”
“How can you say that?” She turns in my arms. Her brown eyes are full of sadness. “You don’t know that.”
“I do know that. I know you’re the first girl I’ve ever met who I want to spend more time with. I’ve yet to ever meet someone who doesn’t annoy the hell out of me with their fakeness until you. You’ve been nothing but real with me, and I want to learn more about you. I want to spend more time with you. You told me that you’re here for five days. If my listening skills are correct, this is day three. That means I have today and two more to spend with you, and I’d like to do that if you’d let me?”
“Griffin—” she starts, but I stop her, pulling her into my arms for a hug. Her body fits perfectly next to mine. She just feels right.
“Let’s move out of the front of the hotel,” I whisper in her ear.
She nods and steps out of my hold. I don’t let her get far. I slide my arm around her waist and walk her to the side of the hotel. Seeing a bench, I sit down and boldly pull her onto my lap.
“Is this okay?” I ask.