Page 19 of The Playboy’s Playbook

Chapter Fifteen

MATT

“ Y ou said no to sex with the one girl you’ve been crazy about for the past month? I don’t know if I should be proud of you or punch you in the face,” Luke says when I call him on my drive back to my apartment.

“You should be proud, asswipe,” I respond.

“I’m sitting over here night after night with the bluest of balls and you have a beautiful girl who wants you to blow her back out and you told her no. It’s the end of days, I swear,” Luke mumbles.

“Laila’s special to me. I don’t want to just screw her and then do what I do best.”

“And what do you do best, Matt?” Luke asks, his voice serious.

“Fuck shit up.”

“Stop it right there. You do not fuck shit up, you hear me. You won’t mess this up with Laila because if I can see that you really care about her, then I know she sees it.

You’ve got to stop talking down on yourself like you’re a permanent screw up because newsflash dickwad, you’re not.

Forget your past and think about your present, which involves Laila. ”

“You’re a real asshole, you know that?” I say sarcastically.

He chuckles. “I aim to please.”

I sigh and consider Luke’s words. I’ve been hiding behind my past and quite frankly, I’m tired. I don’t want to live in the shadow of myself, constantly worrying about if I’m going to fuck up or hurt someone that I love.

Laila’s refreshing and it’s hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that she’s given me a chance to show her that I’m not Matthew Foster, the kid who breaks promises and doesn’t give a damn about anyone or anything. I’m Matthew Foster, the adult who is serious about life – serious about her.

“I can always count on you for good advice, Dad,” I joke, but Luke knows I’m serious.

He groans and I can imagine him rolling his eyes. “And here I thought I only had to raise two kids. I didn’t think I’d get your grown ass, too.”

As soon as I got home, I quickly showered and changed clothes before driving back to pick up Laila.

I swear, I can’t stand being without her for more than two seconds now that we’ve taken the next step in our relationship.

Or friendship? I’m not sure what to call us, but whatever it is, I know one thing’s for certain – I never want her to be out of my life again.

I knock on the front door and chuckle at Nola’s tiny bark behind the door. Laila swings the door open, holding the small puppy close to her side much to Nola’s dismay. I reach out to take her while Laila runs back to her room to get her purse and phone.

“Your mommy’s really pretty, Nola,” I whisper to the tiny dog. I think she agrees with me because she gives me a kiss with her cold and wet tongue.

“Alright, let’s go,” Laila breathes as she rushes out of her room. She’s typing away on her phone, giving me plenty of time to check her out unnoticed.

She’s wearing jean shorts and a pink graphic t-shirt with white Converse sneakers on her feet. Her hair is pulled into a ponytail and while it’s straight, I can see her natural curls forming.

“Okay. Uh, where does Nola go when you leave?” I ask, confused about where to set her down.

“Oh, just put her down. She knows where to go,” Laila answers. I do as she says and Nola immediately runs over to her kennel and lays down next to her toy.

“See? Told ya. Now come on, Matty. I’m starving.” Laila tugs on my hand and we leave her mom’s house, making the drive to Frank’s diner.

The last time I was here, I was sitting with Luke making my playbook to win over Laila. Being back three weeks later with her means that progress has been made. I think it’s time to finally start moving on to the next play.

This has been the longest damn week of my life. Luke had to knock me upside the head more times than I can count because I kept getting distracted.

All I could think about was Laila.

By the time we’re wrapping up our workday at the construction site and I’m headed home, Laila is already in bed, so we’ve kept up with our lunchtime video calls. That does nothing to satisfy me when all I want to do is hold her in my arms.

I finally get to see her tonight because Luke shut down the site early because one of the crewmen’s kids had a football game and he didn’t want to miss it. Luke understands that showing up matters, no matter what age the kids are.

I texted Laila and told her that I wanted to see her and take her on a date. In typical Laila fashion, she complained about not having anything to wear.

We’ve only been out twice in public – first at Brody’s Bar and the second at Frank’s Diner. Both times it was empty and there were hardly any people around.

This time, I plan on taking her someplace special. I’m hoping everything goes according to plan. But then again, it adds to my character development if something goes to shit. I just hope tonight isn’t a night where the universe decides to teach me a lesson.

I arrive to pick up Laila from her mom’s house fifteen minutes early. I’ve never been on time or early for anything in my life, but for her, I’d show up a day early.

I finally shake my nerves to get out of the truck and walk towards the front door. I ring the doorbell and bounce nervously, careful not to grip the bouquet of flowers in my hand too tight.

“Just be cool, Matty. Just be cool,” I mumble to myself. Nola barks and scratches at the door before Laila tells her to get in the kennel.

As soon as Laila opens the door, it’s like we’re in a movie. The light from the entry way gives her an angelic glow.

“You’re early,” she chuckles.

“I didn’t want to risk running late because of traffic,” I say. She steps aside and invites me in and I press a kiss to her forehead.

“More flowers? My mom’s gonna run out of vases,” she says, taking note of the pink and white bouquet I still have a death grip on.

“Then I’ll buy your mom more vases so I can keep giving you flowers.”

She takes the flowers from me and walks to her kitchen to put the flowers in another vase and sets them next to the ones I bought her on Memorial Day. I take the time to scan her body and my dick immediately hardens.

She’s dressed in a form fitting, pink dress that stops just above her knees and white strappy heels.

Her curly hair is pulled into a ponytail with a few strands hanging loose.

Her makeup is simple, nothing over the top, but Laila doesn’t need to wear makeup in my opinion. She’s already gorgeous without it.

“Oh, I also bought Nola something,” I say, reaching into my back pocket and pulling out a toy flower bouquet. It matches the flowers I bought Laila and has crumble paper that makes noise when puppies chew on it.

“You’re adding to her pile of toys I’m trying to get rid of.” She smiles and walks over to retrieve Nola from her kennel.

“Look what Matty bought you, Nola,” Laila coos, holding the Yorkie close to her chest and bouncing her.

I extend the toy to Nola and she sniffs it before grabbing it in her mouth.

As soon as she hears that paper crinkle, she goes wild.

Laila gently sets Nola down in her kennel to let her enjoy the new toy.

“I think she just got a new favorite toy,” I say proudly.

“I don’t know,” Laila wavers. “That panda bear toy never leaves her. Even when I think she’s lost it, she turns up with it.”

We share a laugh as we stand in silence and watch Nola play. I place my hands on Laila’s waist and pull her closer to me, kissing her softly. She’s heaven in human form. At this moment, there’s no going back.

I’m in love with Laila Wright.