Page 26 of An Unexpected Turn
When Keith asked me if I was up for a game of handball this morning, I’d almost said no. He’d asked me to come to his niece’s condo to fix the damage yesterday, not cause more by making out with her in the kitchen. What the hell was I thinking, pulling her into my arms like that?
I wasn’t.
When she started to cry, I couldn’t stand it. I pulled her to me, first to calm her down, then she felt so good against me I couldn’t let her go. When she peered up at me, those gorgeous, red-rimmed eyes regarding me like I hung the moon, I almost did what I swore I wouldn’t. Even though our lips didn’t touch, we’d turned the corner I’d been trying to avoid since I’d seen her in the high school parking lot.
I wasn’t sure if I could look Keith in the eye today, but I couldn’t ignore him forever—or for long. I agreed and did everything I could to smack the shit out of the ball rather than stop to think about what I’d done ... and the little regard I had for doing it again—only following through next time.
Peyton was in my brain all night. I’d gotten too close, and that moment in her kitchen, right as I was about to lose control and taste her mouth, was all I could think about.
Every time I’d try to shut my eyes, I’d replay and finish that almost-kiss, picturing how soft her lips would be against mine or dragging soft kisses down my chest or wrapped around my cock.
I dove for the ball, almost flipping over as I smacked it again. As much as I tried to force them out, those five minutes in the kitchen lived rent-free in my head.
Who the hell was I? No woman had ever gotten under my skin like this, including the one I married. I would’ve agreed to rebuild Peyton’s entire fucking condo if she wanted me to, anything to get that despair out of her eyes. Then I spied the heat and the longing, and I couldn’t stop myself. I gave thanks to my best friend’s big mouth as he’d come back into her kitchen.
“What’s wrong, Chief McGrath?” I grunted out as I slammed the ball again. “Can’t keep up?”
“I’m keeping up fine,” he said through gritted teeth. “I just don’t have a vendetta against the ball or the wall.”
“Seriously?” I hoped the usual smack talk would distract me. “How do you run after bad guys if you’re that slow?”
“I make the younger ones do it for me,” Keith said before grabbing the ball as it bounced toward us. “I don’t know what got into you, but I need a break.”
I nodded. “Yeah, that actually sounds good to me.” I’d pushed so hard, my legs were jelly under me as I followed Keith toward the other side of the court where we’d dropped our bags.
I opened my gym bag, rooting around for a water bottle, and took a seat next to Keith on the concrete. The early morning air had a bite to it, the temps already dropping low right after Halloween, but I’d worked up such a sweat trying to expel the lust and guilt from my system that my skin burned despite the chill.
“Thanks again for yesterday,” he said, still panting a little before he chugged down the Gatorade he’d brought. “I figured it wasn’t as bad as Peyton said on the phone, but trusted you’d know for sure.” He huffed out a laugh. “Poor kid.”
Kid.Peyton wasn’t a kid, and technically, there weren’t that many years between Peyton and Keith or as many as you’d normally think would be between an uncle and his niece. The age gap between Peyton and me was the same, but she most definitely didn’t seem like a kid to me. She was one hundred percent woman—and off-limits for exactly that reason.
“It’s not so bad,” I told him, not acknowledging how he’d referred to Peyton as a kid, or else I’d have to do battle with the wall again. “I’ll get it all fixed for her in no time.”
“What I thought. I’d hate for her to have another obstacle.”
“Another obstacle?” I wiped the sweat off my brow as I jerked my head toward Keith.
He winced as he craned his head toward me. “I don’t know this for sure, but my sister and I have a feeling something happened to make her move up here.”
“Like what?” My back went rigid against the fence I was leaning on.
“That’s the thing, we don’t know. She’d always told me how much she loved the school she worked at and all the different things they had her involved in. Then, all of a sudden, she needed a change and was heading up here. I’m happy to have her close, but I wish I knew why. My sister doesn’t think she was seeing anyone, so she doesn’t believe a bad breakup sent her up here, but I don’t know. It worries me.”
He exhaled a long breath, his gaze drifting over the rest of the park. Keith was never one to say or admit when he was worried. I trusted his instincts more than anyone else’s, and after witnessing Peyton almost collapse in sobs over a flood, was there more to it than that? She’d told me that she left nothing and no one behind in Brooklyn, and now Keith’s concern alarmed me even more.
I cupped my forehead, pressing into my temples as the overpowering urge to save her from something I didn’t even know about barreled over me.
I was fucked in a fucked-up situation, but too invested and tempted for more of Peyton to walk away.
Maybe Keith shouldn’t have worried about what happenedbeforePeyton moved here. For someone always so annoyingly intuitive, he kept missing what was becoming all too obvious between his oldest friend and his niece.
“I’m surprised you’re not using police intel to find out.”
“They frown on snooping on family without a warrant. But all kidding aside, it’s crossed my mind to do a check on her old school. Could be that I’m just too protective when it comes to Peyton, but I trust her to tell me eventually if something was up. Come on.” He popped up with a groan. “You’re buying breakfast today since you tried to kill me.”
“All right.” I stood and slung my bag over my arm. “Don’t hate me because I didn’t age like you.”
“I’m as young as I ever was. I just need some hash browns and coffee if I’m going to play against a psycho contractor.” He dropped a hand on my shoulder. “I don’t hate you for trying to kill me. If you have to go, may as well be your best friend who does you in.”
