“Not you?”
“We live so far away from one another, Griffin. I don’t see how this could work.”
“Are we allowed to talk about it today?” I tease her.
“You know what? Maybe we should leave this topic of discussion off the table today as well.”
“Nah, we’re talking about it,” I insist, pulling into my driveway. I climb out of my Jeep and meet her at her door, holding out my hand to help her.
“I can get in and out of vehicles on my own, you know?” She chuckles.
“I’m sure you can, but you won’t if I’m around.”
“Aw, I did do something right.” I hear my mom say.
I turn to look over my shoulder and find her standing on the front porch. “Hey, Mom. What are you doing?”
“I heard you pull up.”
“Uh-huh. More like you talked to Dad or someone from the restaurant, and they saw us leave together.”
“Griffin.” She laughs. “The poor girl is going to think I’m a stalker or something.” Mom steps off the porch and meets us halfway. “You must be Peyton. I’m Anna. It’s so nice to meet you,” she says, pulling Peyton into a hug.
“You too,” Peyton says.
When Mom pulls back, they’re both smiling. “I’m going to run to grab a few things from the store. Do you need anything?” she asks.
“No. Do you need help?”
She waves me off. “No, I won’t be gone long,” she says, turning to walk back into the house, with us following along behind her. She grabs her purse from the kitchen counter and waves as she disappears into the garage.
“She’s nice,” Peyton says.
“She is. Dad’s cool too. I got lucky in the parent department.”
“I did too,” she agrees. “Sure, my dad can be overprotective, but it’s not just with my sisters and me. It’s with my mom too. He even has these silly names for us.”
“This I’ve got to hear,” I say, taking her hand in mine and leading her down to the basement. “You want something to drink?” I offer, remembering my manners.
“No thanks.”
I lead her to the huge sectional couch we have and sit, pulling her into my lap. “Now, tell me more about these ridiculous names.”
“It’s crazy. He’s crazy when it comes to the four of us, but it’s crazy love if that makes any sense.”
“Yeah, I think I get it. My dad is that way with my mom.”
“Not you?”
“Well, to an extent. I’d imagine if I had a sister, he’d be the same with her.”
She mumbles something about double standards, making me laugh. “It’s not funny.” She crosses her arms over her chest.
“I’m sorry,” I tell her. “You’re just cute as hell when you’re frustrated. Now, names. Start talking, woman,” I say, patting her thigh with my hand.
“He calls my mom queen.”
I nod. “That’s not bad at all. And it makes sense. She’s his queen.” I shrug.
“Oh, it gets worse. I started out with the not-so-crazy one.”
“Lay it on me, Monroe,” I say.
“He calls my older sister Paisley, princess. Parker is duchess, and he calls me lady.”
“Fucking genius.”
“What?”
“It’s perfect. You don’t like it?”
“Doesn’t it seem, I don’t know? Pretentious?”
“No. You four are the most important people in his life. I get it.”
“You get my dad’s brand of crazy. He’d love you.”
“You think I’ll ever get the chance to meet him?” I ask, and she stiffens. “I don’t want to meet Easton Monroe, the baseball player. I want to meet the man who dubbed you lady. I want to meet him as your father.”
“They’re one and the same.”
“Then why did you stiffen up on me?” We both know why she did it.
“Hard habit to break, I guess.”
“You don’t trust me yet.”
“I do,” she counters.
“Not enough, and that’s okay. I’ll prove it to you.”
“You’ve got your work cut out for you. I leave the day after tomorrow.”
“Ah, yes, thanks for bringing that up. I think we should keep in touch.”
“Okay.”
She agreed to that way too easily, which means she does not understand what I’m saying. “Peyton.” I wait for her eyes to lock with mine. “I want us to do more than just keep in touch. I think we should try it.”
“Try what exactly?” she asks, moving off my lap. I don’t want to let her go, but maybe that’s what she needs for this conversation. She’s now sitting next to me, on her knees, staring at me with wide expressive eyes. She wants this too. I can see it. But she’s also scared, and I understand that as well.
“I think we should try long distance.” I feel like a fifty-pound weight has been lifted off my shoulders now that the words are out there.
“That’s crazy,” she says, but it’s not convincing.
“Is it? Sure, we just met, but you’re the first girl I’ve ever met who sees me for me, and I’m not ready to let that go just yet.”
“Yeah,” she agrees, her voice soft.
“So, what do you think?”
“How is this going to work? Griffin, we’d never get to see each other.”
I run my fingers through my hair. “I stayed up all night last night thinking about it. We won’t get a lot of time with each other during these next four years, but after that, we’ll have all the time in the world. Well, unless I get picked up, then I’ll be traveling a lot, but for home games and all that, I’ll be home.”
“When you get picked up,” she says, giving me a look that dares me to challenge her. “It could be anywhere. That would still be long-distance.”
“You could come with me.”
“This is absolutely insane, Griffin. We barely know each other.”
“Then let’s start with that. We agree not to see other people right now and take the time to get to know one another. We can video call, and talk on the phone, and text, and email. Hell, we can go the snail-mail route if you want. We’ll take the time to get to know each other, and then we can go from there.”
She shakes her head. “That’s a pretty big commitment for two people who just met.”
“I agree.” I take her hand in mine. “It’s also going to be hard as hell to watch you drive away from me the day after tomorrow.”
“I have to go back.”
“I know you do. I know that our lives are in two different locations, but I think our minds and maybe even our hearts are on the same path.”
“You have girls throwing themselves at you all the time.” She bites down on her bottom lip.
“I do,” I agree. “And the first one not to is the one that I want to keep.” Her eyes soften, and I can tell I’ve got her. She’s going to give us a chance. I’m going to have to fight like hell to be the man she deserves with so many miles between us, but I’m up for the challenge, especially when Peyton Monroe is my reward.