My Unexpected Vow: California Billionaires Book 2 Harlow James (scary books to read txt) 📖

“Hayes …”

“Waverly?” I wait on pins and needles for her reply, wondering whether this cuddling will lead to anything else. By the way her breathing slows, though, I’m sensing she’s minutes away from falling asleep.

“Thank you,” she says as she nestles in further to the cushions.

I let out a sigh and then reach behind us to grab the throw blanket from the back of the couch, tossing it over us while I grab her hip and pull her closer to me. “You’re welcome.”

I don’t give a shit if she can feel my cock against her ass. She should take it as a compliment, and then revel in the fact that I’m exercising the most blatant form of self-control by holding her here and not trying to stick my hand down her pants.

But yet there’s something so intimate about just holding her and not crossing that line that makes me relax and succumb to sleep as well. I’m not sure if this night is a sign of Waverly exploring a physical connection with me, or just finding comfort in a friend, but either way, I’ll take what I can get at this point until we both can meet in the middle and take the leap together.

Chapter 13

Waverly

“What is that smell?” My senses are assaulted as I walk beside Hayes as we enter the stadium and approach the first snack vendor we can find. My stomach is growling, but Hayes assured me that waiting to eat inside the ballpark would be worth the experience.

“Take your pick. Either it’s a stadium hot dog, soft-baked pretzel, ice-cold beer, or the smell of a freshly cut baseball field just on the other side of that wall.”

I grin over at him while shaking my head. “You have this boyish charm about you right now. Seriously, you look like you’re about to crawl out of your skin with excitement.”

“I told you, Wave. I fucking love baseball. The feeling of walking in here never gets old. Come on.” He grabs my hand like there’s nothing to the movement at all and pulls me over to an open window. Hayes rattles off an order of entirely too much food and then slides a one-hundred-dollar bill across the counter.

“Here. You gotta earn your keep today, Wave. Shove what you can in your purse and we’ll carry the rest.” He loads items into my arms after I drop things inside my Coach purse that won’t spill and ruin it.

“I think I earn my keep every day, Hayes. I cook and clean now, and I do my own laundry. I’m a very clean roommate,” I rattle off my rebuttal while I follow Hayes under the concrete structure as we make our way to our seats.

“Yeah, you’re definitely easier to live with than I thought you would be.”

“Uh, I’m not sure if I should take offense to that or not.”

“Well, can you blame me?” He shrugs. “I’ve never lived with a woman before. Other than the fact that your hair is fucking everywhere, which I’m getting used to by the way, it’s actually been quite pleasant.”

I glance over at him as he flashes me a wink. “Yeah, well, the verdict is still out on you, cupboard opener.”

A boisterous laugh leaves his lips as we turn right into section 111 and starting heading down a very narrow flight of stairs. I shuffle as carefully as possible down the steps so I don’t end up on the nightly news for taking a nosedive during my first professional baseball game.

“Here we are,” Hayes announces as we take the first two seats in the row right behind the dugout with a clear view of third-base in front of us. Squeezing into my chair, I drop my purse to the ground as we situate our food between us. I place a cardboard box on my denim-clad legs and open one for Hayes so we have something to contain our hotdogs, nachos, pretzels, and ice cream to go along with the draft beer he insisted we get as well.

The sun is about to set in the sky on this warm April evening, and even though I have never done this before, there’s no place I’d rather be at this moment than here with Hayes. Ever since I returned from Vegas and we spent another night cuddling and falling asleep on the couch, our relationship has shifted into extremely flirtatious territory.

I had already admitted to myself that I was attracted to Hayes, but I’ve been slowly allowing myself to adjust to that attraction and feel out the rest of what’s happening between us. I’m not going to lie—I was testing him that night as I pressed my ass into his crotch, wondering how he was going to handle the situation. I wanted to know if just having a warm body next to him would be enough to send him over the edge, or if the mutual respect we have for one another is deeper than that.

Over the last three weeks, we’ve finished our cooking classes together, made several meals alongside one another from our Hello Fresh delivery (which has been a godsend), we’ve watched at least three other comedy specials and episodes of Friends together complete with more cuddling, and Hayes played a song for me on the piano by request. I almost jumped his bones right there, but I refrained. And now I’m at the point where I don’t know why I’m holding back anymore. So tonight, after the game, I’m going to test the waters once more. I can’t possibly be the only one buzzing with need every time we’re near. Each day, I yearn for the evening when he comes home and tells me about work or we sit at the table and share a meal while talking about everything and absolutely nothing at the same time. Even Emma is asking me what’s holding