“I can’t.”
“Which is it? You can’t stop asking him about her or you can’t try to get her back.”
“Both.” I got up and headed for the door because we had beat this dead horse enough and I had somewhere to be. “I’ve got a race in half an hour so I’ve gotta split. Ya’ll coming tonight or what?”
“Hell, yeah, we’re coming. Your sister never misses and I’ve got five hundred bucks on you, Dude. I’ll be there to get my money.”
“I’ll see you there then.”
I drove down Main Street on my way to The Strip for the race and got stopped at our red light...the one where Payton ran into the back of my car and made me fall in love with her. I smiled as I remembered the way the whole thing happened and I laughed when I thought about her asking if she could swipe her credit card up my ass crack. I missed her smart ass mouth.
I pulled up at the start line next to my opponent, some community college guy in a suped up black Mustang GT, and I was thoroughly unimpressed unless he was hiding something under that hood I didn’t know about. I got out and we did our usual sizing each other up thing. I hung with my pals and he hung with his. Yada yada.
I saw Samantha Hodges making a move on my opponent and knew it was her psychotic way of trying to make me jealous. It was really too bad that she was going to give her body to someone that cared nothing about her because she thought she would gain vengeance against another guy that cared even less about her. Not only was she a slut; she was a dumb one, too.
The GT was nothing more than a pony. I couldn’t really even get excited about the whole thing because the guy was such an amateur. I almost felt bad taking the money. Almost. Besides, he was getting Samantha so he wouldn’t be leaving completely empty handed.
I got out of the car and felt a twinge of hope when I saw Jessie and Claire in the crowd around my car. I immediately began searching every face for Payton but found no sign of her.
“She didn’t come.”
At least we weren’t gonna beat around the bush about it so I didn’t try to insult Claire’s intelligence by pretending I didn’t know what she meant. “Where is she?”
I knew it wasn’t my business, but that didn’t keep me from wanting to know. “She’s at her house waiting on Cooper to come over so they can talk.”
Oh, hell no. Say it wasn’t so. “Why is Cooper going to see Payton? He has a girlfriend.”
“Not anymore. He broke up with Allie because he said he wants Payton back.”
That son of a bitch probably knows Payton and I were sleeping together so he thinks he’ll have a better chance at getting in her panties now. “Is she gonna take him back?”
Claire shrugged and gave me her idunno face. “She doesn’t have a reason not to.”
Wrong. “Uh...yeah, she does. How ‘bout cause he’s a total dickhead?”
“Well, he wouldn’t be the only one now, would he?” I couldn’t argue with her on that. “You know what, Nick? I liked you a lot better when you were messing up her lip gloss instead of her mascara.”
God, it killed me to know I was the reason for her tears, even if I was completely innocent of the things she thought I did.
“And you know what else? Right now, that dickhead is telling her everything she should be hearing from you.”
I should have tried again to tell her the truth. I shouldn’t have given up so easily. “I screwed up big time.”
“Ya’ think? You more than screwed up, Bro. She’s been devastated.” Claire hit me in the arm with her fist as hard as she could. “I told you to be the right guy and you hurt her. I should jerk your balls up over your ears.”
Jessie died out laughing. “Be careful, Dude. I’m pretty sure she could do it.”
That’s probably exactly what I deserved. “Can I fix this?”
“I don’t know, but how will you know if you don’t try?”
I turned and ran for my car. “Hey, what’s the plan, Stan?” I heard Claire call out behind me.
I turned and ran backwards as I answered so I wouldn’t lose more precious time with Payton. “I’m going to get my girl.”
I raced down the highway toward Franklin praying the whole way that Payton hadn’t decided to comply with Cooper’s previous ultimatum or any new ones he might have come up with. My mind raced, imagining every possible scenario. Would she give in to him? Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have thought so but I had hurt her and she could potentially be looking for a way to ease that pain. I knew all too well what it was like to look for comfort in anyone willing to offer a little to you.
I parked my car on the street in front of her house and ran across the lawn even though the sprinklers were on. I rang the doorbell with one hand while I beat against the glass part of the door with my other hand. “Payton!”
Vivian answered the door with a smirk on her face. “You’re too late. She left with Cooper five minutes ago and they didn’t look like they’d be coming back any time soon. Sorry.”
29 Tangible Thoughts
Payton
3 Weeks Later
It was Friday night in a college town and I sat alone in the apartment I shared with Claire while she and Jessie were out celebrating their one year anniversary. He told me he had something special planned for her, but wouldn’t tell me what it was because he didn’t trust me to keep it to myself. Imagine that. He thought I had a big mouth.
I totally expected her to come home with an engagement ring on her finger.
I settled into my now hollowed out spot on the sofa with a half gallon of rocky road to watch some stupid reality show about finding love. Really? If you couldn’t find love in the real world, were you really expecting to find it on some stupid television show? Apparently these 24 people thought so.
I was only a few bites of ice cream in when there was a knock on the door. Great. I hoped it wasn’t that weirdo from next door again. Too many freaks and not enough circuses.
I eased over to the window and slowly pulled up on the blind’s slat to see who my guest was because I wasn’t opening the door up to that weirdo. It was Dallas Hawke.
Fear was the first emotion I felt when I saw Nick’s sister at my door. Something had to be wrong and my mind raced with the possibilities. He must have had a wreck during a race. That had to be it, or he had shot himself with one of those stupid guns or those guys had jumped him again because he wouldn’t throw a race.