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“Love makes us do some stupid things.”
“Hey,” I say as I slap his chest.
Noah laughs and pulls me to his chest. “Oh, Peyton. The things I did to you on your eighteenth birthday could’ve gotten me into a lot of hot water. I’d do them all over again, given the chance.”
“You’d change nothing?” I ask, looking up at him.
“I wouldn’t let you go,” he tells me. “I would’ve taken you home and told your parents I was in love with you and wanted to be with you. Damn the critics.”
He could’ve lost everything. Part of me is happy we waited.
Just not the part that got damaged because we waited too long.
20
NOAH
We have to rethink apartment life in the city. In the week we were in Portland for OTAs, poor Stevie Nicks had too many accidents to count, which totally circumvented our potty-training efforts. I don’t even want to think about what things will be like when Peyton’s here alone, with a child, and trying to get our fur baby outside to go to the bathroom. I also don’t know if I can stomach buying a house here.
As much as I love the city, Portland isn’t my end game. My gut tells me I’m going to be somewhere else next year. Either with a new team or sitting on the couch, growing a beer belly, and having a pity party for myself because my career is over.
After a week in Portland, we’re back in Cali for the long weekend. We’re going to spend all of Saturday at Peyton’s parents, with everyone in tow. It’s weird because our house is big enough to host everyone, but we don’t have direct access to the beach. Whereas Harrison and Katelyn’s access is there the second you step out the door. Honestly, I’m jealous. Although, while their beach is supposed to be private, there are always lurkers. People who didn’t see the sign or ignored it.
I come around the corner and rest against the wall when I see Peyton and Stevie Nicks having a moment. She’s holding our pup in her arms, and I swear the way our pup’s paws are, she’s giving her mama a hug. They’re swaying to the song playing from our sound system.
“You’re going to be the best big sister, aren’t you?”
Stevie Nicks kisses Peyton. She laughs and hugs her tighter. “You’ll always be our first baby, though.”
Yeah, she will.
Peyton turns and pauses when she sees me. I don’t give her a chance to set our pup down. I go to my girls and pull them both into my arms. Stevie Nicks squirms. I give her the command to be still, something we’ve been working on to keep her calm. Mostly, it seems to work. Training her has been fairly easy. That was, until we got to our apartment, and she had more than one accident because she wasn’t used to the environment she was in. I read in the training book we could put a pad out on our balcony, but I feel like this would confuse her when she’s here.
Leaning forward, I press my lips to Peyton’s and then nuzzle Stevie Nicks’s coat. She’s soft, thanks to the bath Peyton gave her earlier, and smells like the beach. “They make beach scents for dogs?”
Peyton laughs. “They make every scent possible.”
“I like it.”
Stevie Nicks squirms. Peyton sets her down and then wraps her arms around my waist. She looks at me, leaving me with no choice but to run my finger down the side of her face and lean in for another kiss. Touching her, kissing her, hell just being near her, is something I’ll never get enough of.
“What’s on your mind?”
I frown and shake my head slightly. “Work.”
“Blah.”
“I know, but I’m wondering if maybe you should stay here when I go back for OTA’s.”
She eyes me skeptically. I don’t enjoy leaving her alone, mostly because I hate being away from her, but because she doesn’t like to drive.
“Or head to Beaumont for a bit?”
“You know you don’t have to be at OTA’s, right?”
I nod.
She sighs and tightens her grip on my waist. “But you feel if you’re not there . . .” Peyton doesn’t finish her sentence and steps away. “I wish you didn’t feel this way, Noah.” She looks out the sliding doors at the view we have of the Pacific Ocean. Faintly, we can see people surfing. They look like giant ants from this far away. It’s a clear day, with a gorgeous blue sky. The temperature is getting warmer and warmer every day and soon people will clog the beaches with their umbrellas, cabanas, and those sunshades that are impossible to put back together.
