“Interesting,” I say slowly.
“Why? Oh my God, do you want a girl?”
“Yeah, I kind of do. I just know the boy will be a little dickhead like me, and I’m not looking forward to that, whereas the girl, I really hope she’s like you.”
That makes her smile. “Like me?”
“Yeah. Smart, sweet, kind heart, a touch sassy, and, of course, beautiful.”
She pauses, and her eyes grow soft when she says, “That’s really sweet, Eli. But you realize a boy could have the same personality as me and a girl could have the same personality as you. Think about that for a second.”
My eyes widen in horror. “Fuck . . . I’m not sure either of us could handle that.”
“Definitely not,” she answers and then yawns.
“Do you want to go to bed?”
She shakes her head. “No, I like talking to you.”
“I like talking to you, too, Penny.” And I mean that. This might be a complete change from what I’m used to doing after games, but I really like it.
“Tell me about any names you might like,” she says.
“Now, that’s something I haven’t thought about at all. But . . . you know, if it’s a boy, we could call him Puck. That would be cool, right?”
“Wow, you just guaranteed yourself no right to naming our baby. Good job.”
I let out a loud laugh. “You don’t like Puck?”
“No one likes the name Puck. Honestly, Eli. What happened to just a solid name?”
“Like Peggy Leggy?”
That makes her throw her head back and laugh so hard that actual tears spring from her eyes. “Oh God, I totally forgot about that. What were the other names . . . Jimmy John, or Johnny Jim?”
“Both solid options. But I think I’m leaning toward Johnny Jim.”
She nods. “Oddly, I was thinking the same thing.”
“Then it’s settled. We are either having a Johnny Jim or a Peggy Leggy.”
She holds her hand out to shake on it, and I take her hand, giving it a light squeeze, but for some reason, I don’t let go. Instead, I keep my hand clasped with hers and rest it on her legs. “It’s a deal, but the last name, that has to be mine.”
She smirks. “Everyone is just going to love Johnny Jim Hornsby. What a name.”
“Couldn’t agree more.”
Chapter Nineteen
PENNY
“Do you have everything you need?” I ask Eli as I sit cross-legged on the bed, watching him pack for the first game of the playoffs. Since they’re the wild card, they don’t get home advantage, so they’ll be flying to Washington in a few hours.
“I think so.” He scratches his bare chest as he looks around the room, making sure he hasn’t left anything. He’s grown more and more comfortable with me, and it shows as he stands in front of me in nothing but a pair of sweatpants that hang incredibly low on his waist. So low that it sits below his Adonis belt, so all I’ve seen this afternoon are his perfectly defined abs, thick pecs, and loads and loads of muscular skin. It’s been hard to keep my eyes off him. “I have the dry-cleaned shoes, which actually look better than ever.”
“Maybe you should do it more often because . . .” I waft my hand in front of my nose and make a disgusted face. “Pee-yew.”
“Fuck off, they weren’t that bad.”
I laugh. “They made me puke.”
“You made yourself puke.”
I eye him with my most scornful glare. “The baby you inserted inside me made me puke. Therefore, you made me puke.”
He chuckles lightly. “The visual with that sentence.” He zips up his suitcase. “You know, you’ve never watched me pack before. Does this mean you’re going to miss me?”
“Miss you? Pfft, no way.” I passively wave my hand in front of me. “I couldn’t be happier about your departure. Quite thrilled, to be honest.”
“Mm-hmm.” He takes a seat on the bed and leans toward me. He points at my eye. “I can see a tear, right there. You’re sad.”
Tear?
What tear?
I quickly swipe at my eye. “There’s no tear.”
He chuckles. “Ahh, but it was fun for a second making you think you were crying over me.”
“Ugh, you’re irritating. You wish I was crying over you, then you could ride off on an airplane, chest puffed, knowing you have some girl back home pining after you. Well, I’ll have you know, Eli Hornsby, there is no pining here.”