AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Nolo…”
“I know, I know, don’t give up.” I winced, but he kept talking before I could say anything else. “But it’s not just that, I’m genuinely worried about her.” When he launched into an explanation of the murder at Peyton’s house and how twisted up in knots he was about her safety, a war raged inside me. A war that I absolutely had no idea how to handle.
Too many conflicting thoughts regarding Peyton, my son, and the secret that could threaten to kill the relationship I’ve built with my boy, flowed through my brain.
I was not fucking equipped to handle this emotional shit, I didn’t know what the fuck I was supposed to do. But as he talked, I realized that up until this point, I hadn’t actually kept any secrets from him. I hadn’t even seen him since Peyton appeared in my life.
For all the bullshit I was guilty of, I didn’t want to add ‘lying to my son’ to that list. So when he finished, I made a swift and probably stupid decision.
“Follow me and don’t ask any questions until we get to my place,” I said as I stood, hoping that if I took him to Peyton, the situation would sort of…tell itself to him and get it over and done with. “Can you do that?”
He frowned, but nodded and headed back to his car, waiting while I dropped off the deposit receipts, and then we went to my place.
To Peyton.
I walked in first and the smell of garlic and tomatoes hit me immediately. “Hey,” I called out over the low hum of pop music playing in the kitchen.
“Hey.” Peyton flashed a smile at me that I interpreted as her not being pissed at me after last night. “I made pizza. The dough is a little chewy, but I made up for it with good ingredients. And,” she blew out a breath, “we need to talk.”
Shit. My eyes widened and I shook my head, hoping she understood that we weren’t alone to talk about the fact that I’d fucked my son’s ex-girlfriend.
“What do you need to talk about, Peyton?” Nolo stepped around me, arms folded with an accusing look on his face.
“Nolan?” She frowned, her confused blue eyes darting between me and my son. “What are you doing here?”
Nolo laughed bitterly and shook his head. “What am I doing here, at my dad’s house? What the hell are you doing here?”
“I—uh…” She looked like she had no idea what to say, eyes still darting between us as she stood frozen between the kitchen and living room.
“I’ve been worried about you.” Instantly, Nolo softened, and I wondered if I should leave them to it, or not. But my feet refused to move away from her.
I waited for Peyton to soften, and I realized I expected her to choose him, despite her words before, because Nolo was a good man. He was kind and caring and smart as hell. And he was actually her age. Why wouldn’t she choose him?
“Worried?” She said hesitantly, remaining firmly across the room from him.
“Lisa told me about your roommate, and when you didn’t respond to my texts, I…” he shrugged and trailed off, and guilt flashed across Peyton’s face.
“Oh, I…” she trailed off too, her fingers fidgeting nervously at the hem of her tank top. “Well, I guess…that’s why I’m here. I needed protection, and you told me all about Rocky, so when shit got serious, I came to him.”
“Seriously?” He took a step forward and reached out to her, but she took a step back. “Why didn’t you come to me?”
She didn’t immediately respond, but when he took another step towards her, she held up her hand to stop him, and steeled her gaze.
“Because I didn’t want you getting the wrong idea.” Although her expression was firm, her voice was soft, as if she didn’t want to hurt him but knew she was about to.
A hundred emotions flashed across my son’s face, and I felt my heart constrict at the sight of it. But when he didn’t say anything, Peyton spoke again.
“I was scared, Nolan. I got a threat, one that told me it should have been me dead on the living room floor, and I couldn’t stay on my own. You told me that you trust your dad with your life, I had his address that you gave me in case of an emergency, and I just… I panicked, and I came here. I’m not equipped to handle this kind of shit. I needed protection.”
“I could have helped.”
“I didn’t want you to.”
And there it was, the pure flash of pain that slid across my son’s green eyes while he stared at the woman he thought he was in love with, and she broke his heart.
“I don’t want you to protect me.” She took a deep breath, sent me a quick glance, and then steeled her gaze. “You’re not the one I want, Nolan. I’m sorry.”
Finally, Nolo seemed to remember that the two of them weren’t the only ones in the room. And when he turned, his own gaze now bouncing between me and the gorgeous redhead between us, he looked confused.
