“Lily, I’m fully capable of walking back to my room on my own.” He roughs out.
“I’m not so sure about that. Besides, I have to stay close, remember?”
Looking more vulnerable than I’ve ever seen him, he stops and stares at me. “I’m coming to prefer it that way.”
Is he implying what I think he is? My heart pounds so loud in my ears that I almost have to raise my voice above a whisper so I can hear myself. “You’re half asleep, Payton. You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“I don’t believe I’ve ever been more awake.”His words are few, but he says the rest with his eyes, which are now imploring me to respond.
But I can’t. I don’t know what to say to him. That he may think he’s cognizant of the situation, but he’s out of his mind? That there’s no way this could work between us, no matter how much I—we—might want it? Or, that the idea of falling in love with him terrifies me more than any of the threatening situations I’ve encountered thus far?
Because loving Payton Maxwellwouldbe the most dangerous thing I’ve ever done.
His lips press together as he nods in resignation. “Understood.”
I follow him silently past the elevators to the other end of the floor, where the rest of the team is staying. Just before he goes into his room, he pauses and gives me a curt wave.
And just like that, my heart squeezes like a proverbial schoolgirl with her very first crush.
If Payton only knew…he really and truly was.
Chapter Eighteen
PAYTON
“How’s married life treating you, little brother?” Emalia stares at me from the small screen of my phone. I glance toward my bedroom door. On the other side, Lily is cleaning up the kitchen, which she insisted on doing because I made dinner. We ate in silence, just as we’ve done every evening after we got back from the away games.
If my sister only knew… “Frustrating as hell.”
Since our return, Lily’s been distant. She spends most of her time in her room now, writing those blasted reports she’s required to do daily. But I think she’s just avoiding me.
A laugh bubbles up as she throws her gaze upward. “Having trouble taking orders from your wifey?”
It’s not the restrictions that are troubling me, but I won’t explain that to my sister. “Keeping up this ruse is exhausting.”
She makes atskingsound. “You’re the one who didn’t want to tell your friends the truth.”
“I know.” But Ididn’tknow, to be honest. Didn’t know how challenging this would be. Didn’t know how difficult deceiving my friends would become. And I didn’t know I could fall this hard for someone who’s determined to keep me in the ‘principal only’ zone.
“By the way, why did I have to find out you were injured from the reports? You should have called me.”
“Reports?” So that part’s true…
Emalia pulls back in surprise. “Of course, darling. I want to know what’s happening so I can keep an eye on my reckless brother.”
“I’m not reckless,” I say, sounding harsher than I intended.
She eyes me. “Those cracked ribs tell a different story.”
“Don’t blame me for that. I was simply playing hockey.”
“That’s my point.”
I sigh. Even when we were kids and I told my sister I wanted to be a professional hockey player, she laughed and said I needed to consider a more ‘worthy’ path.
“I’m fine now, Em. Nothing to worry about.”
Her somewhat peeved expression softens, and the vulnerable girl I remember from the past peeks out. “I do worry about you, Payton. You’re my brother. Mum does, too, by the way. You should call her before she finds out what happened from some other source.”
