Starburst (37 page)

“Peyton
have you ever been hurt by a man?” she asked, looking up.

“No
Kay, I have not. I use men to my advantage and have never even thought about
being serious with one guy. I have however watched my daughter go through hell
being hurt when she didn’t think she would ever see Trevas again.”

“They
do have a once in a lifetime kind of love.”

“Don’t
you want that Kay?”

“No
Peyton. I don’t, now let’s stop talking about this nonsense. I need to go to
the store and get some snacks for tonight.”

“What
kind of snacks?”

“I
don’t know. I usually just get chips and dip and sometimes I will have a tray
of those little sandwiches made. Do you like those?”

“Oh
hell no, let’s go to the store, and I will take care of the menu for tonight.”

Kay
laughed, glad that the heavy conversation was over, “Okay fine Chef Peyton, you
take care of the food.”

“Who
will be here?” Peyton wanted to know.

“Well,
my friend Stacy and her husband usually come, but they won’t be here tonight
because he had a vasectomy yesterday, so it will be you, me, Kevin, Pete and
Carter Beckett is going to bring Hank, one of his friends.”

Carter
Beckett,
Peyton instantly thought, remembering the name from Don Beckett.
He
had to be related, this town isn’t that big,
she thought, as the wheels
begun to spin in her head. Now how was she going to get him alone to ask him?
She knew Kevin wouldn’t be any help.

Peyton
and Kay were in the kitchen when Kevin showed up and entered the kitchen where
it smelled heavenly from Peyton’s appetizer preparation. Kay watched as Peyton
moved to him and kissed him with a smile and said hi to him. Kay shook her
head, sensing that this was not going to end well.

“Hmm,
what do we have here,” he asked, picking up one of the triangle Tortilla
Central’s on the plate. “Damn Kay, why don’t you ever make stuff like this,” he
asked, looking at the different plates of fancy o’dourves and Kay knew she
would hear about it from all of her guest.

“I
am going to jump in the shower,” Peyton told them, and as soon as Kay heard the
water turn on she turned and lit in to Kevin.

“You
stupid son of a bitch, why the hell are you telling Peyton about Don?”

“She
asked, Kay.”

“And
you couldn’t just say that you didn’t know?”

“I
didn’t think it was a big deal. Is it?”

Kay
wanted to say yes, but was it really a big deal or was she the one making it a big
deal?

“Just
don’t make me part of your conversation with Peyton” she demanded with an angry
tone.

“I’m
sorry Kay, I didn’t mean to upset you, and although I didn’t think she would
have the audacity to say anything to you, I shouldn’t have discussed it with
her. Will you forgive me?”

Kay
shook her head at him. “I’m still pissed at you.”

“Okay,
but get over it pretty quick. I don’t want to feel bad for taking your money
tonight,”

Peyton
dressed in tight jeans with holy legs that were probably suited for more
Alley’s age than hers, but she had never acted her age. She wore a white shirt
that was cut low and rode high, or her jeans rode low, Kevin wasn’t sure which,
but thought she looked way too good to have to stare at all night without
touching. Her hair was blown dry with a clip holding back just the front
pieces.

Kay
showered next, and when she returned Kevin had his hands up the sides of her
shirt and had her backed up against the sink kissing her.

“We
have to eat in here,” Kay said, interrupting their make out session.

Kay
took the cards from the kitchen drawer, and Kevin went to let someone in at the
door. They had a cooler of beer on ice and Kay gave Peyton two rolls of quarters
and took two for herself.

She
said hi to Pete as he entered placing his two rolls of quarters on the table in
his designated chair.

“You
play for quarters?” Peyton asked.

“Yeah
and then we dump them all in here,” she explained, opening the cabinet to a big
clear plastic tub about a quarter full with quarters. “At the end of the year
we donate them to the local Share-A-Christmas.”

Peyton
was taken aback again at the generosity and the way people around here cared
about other people. The other two guys showed up, and Kevin introduced them to
Peyton and of course neither of them could stop gawking at her and couldn’t
believe that they were playing poker with Peyton Paxton.

They
took their positions and bragged on the food. Peyton had a great time and
laughed with her new friends as they went around the table placing their bets.
She eyed Kevin every chance she got, and they had their legs wrapped under the
table. Every so often he would move his hand down and touch her leg, and she would
return the flirt by touching his hand with hers. She still couldn’t figure out
how to get Carter Beckett alone to ask him about Don. She just needed five
minutes or even his phone number, she thought.

She
did get a chance and was glad when her phone rang, and it was Alley.

“Can
we take five?” she asked, and Carter Beckett was more than happy to take five.
He was a smoker and wanted to step outside, she had never been so happy that
someone was a smoker.

Peyton
answered her phone and walked out with him as the rest of the group ate her
delicious food. She only talked to Alley for a minute and told her, she would
call her tomorrow, wanting to talk to Carter before he went back in.

“I
can’t believe that we are playing poker with Peyton Paxton,” he spoke when she
hung up.

“Carter
I came out here because I wanted to ask you about Don. Do you know him?” she
asked, knowing she was limited on time and wanting to get to the point.

“Yes,
he is my cousin, why?”

“Because
I want to get Kay and him in the same place at the same time.”

“No
way, I am not having any part in that. I like Kay, and I like our monthly poker
games. She doesn’t want to see or talk to him.”

“She
doesn’t have to know it was planned. We just have to show up at the same time.”

“It
won’t go over good Peyton. He has tried to talk to her. She even had her number
changed because she doesn’t want anything to do with him. That is over, and I
don’t think we should get in the middle of it.”

“Please
Carter,” she begged. “I will take full responsibility for whatever happens.”

“How
the hell am I supposed to say no to Peyton Paxton?” he asked, giving in and
snuffing out his cigarette.

“Yes…
thank you. Sneak me your number and I will call you.”

“Kevin
has my number,” he told her.

“Kevin
won’t give it to me; he thinks I should mind my own business.”

“And
so do I,” he admitted, opening the door for her.

Kevin
gave her a look when they returned, and he knew exactly what she was up to and
she knew that he knew.

They
played poker, having a good time until Pete’s wife called at midnight telling
him to get home, and the guys gave him a hard time about being whipped and
having a curfew. Kay got up and started cleaning up, and while her back was
turned, Carter slid the piece of paper to Peyton and Kevin shook his head at him
in disbelief that he was going to get involved in Peyton’s match making scheme,
and he shrugged his shoulders back at him.

Peyton
and Kevin both helped cleanup, once the party had broken up.

“I’m
kidnapping Peyton tonight,” Kevin said as he looked at Peyton with bedroom eyes
and spoke to Kay.

“I
was hoping I was going to get more sleep tonight,” she joked.

Kevin
and Peyton entered his kitchen through the garage, and that was as far as they
made it. Peyton was sliding out of her jeans, kissing him as he removed her
shirt and then her bra. He backed her up to the table and told her to lie down.

“Not
on the table Kevin, you eat here.”

“Lay
down,” he demanded, kissing the valley between her breast.

“We
will break the table,” she protested again.

“Lay
down now Peyton,” he commanded, and she did with a heavy moan as she felt his
fingers overwhelm her entire existence.

Table
sex…Are you kidding me?

He
stood above her and infiltrated the delicate area between her legs, watching
her lose herself as his thumb circled her. He slid two fingers in her and her
hips thrust into him, and when she was at her peak he slid himself into her as
she called out in pleasure. She thought she was still coming down from the
first one, when she felt it building again, and as soon as he started moving
with more velocity and power she was spent and let go once again with him.

“Pull
me up,” she said softly, and he took both of her hands and pulled her to him.
He kissed her, and she didn’t think she loved anything more at that moment than
feeling his naked body against hers.

“You
know that I could keep you forever, don’t you?” he asked and she scrambled away
from him.

What
the hell does that mean?
She thought, but didn’t dare ask, afraid of the
answer she would get. She nervously went to the sink and got a glass of water.
Kevin zipped his jeans and picked hers up from the floor and took the folded
piece of paper from her pocket.

“What
the hell are you doing? Give that to me,” she demanded.

“No
Peyton, you are not doing this to Kay.”

“Doing
what? Don’t make it your business Kevin,”

“It
is my business and you’re not going to do this, leave it alone.”

“Give
it to me Kevin,” she demanded again, getting angry with him.

“Peyton,
trust me, you don’t want to do this.”

“I
didn’t say I was doing anything, maybe I just want to call Carter.”

“What
would you want to call Carter for, other than to intrude in something that has
been closed for too long to open back up?”

“Maybe
I want him to lay me across his table,” she shot at him, and he snorted.

Kevin
took the folded paper from his pocket and placed it in her hand. “You’re not
lying across anyone’s table, bed, floor, sofa or anything else, but mine as long
as you are in Utah. And this is a bad idea, and you really should heed the
warning.”

Kevin’s
possessiveness rattled her, and she didn’t know how to respond let alone take
him telling her that she wasn’t to be in anyone’s bed but his. She didn’t
respond, and instead told him she was ready for bed.

Peyton
woke to an empty bed and realized she was also in and empty house when she came
downstairs and found the note in the kitchen.

“Coffee
in the pot and Peyton I meant what I said last night when you ignored me. I
would keep you forever if you would let me, went for a run, be back in about an
hour.”

Peyton
dialed Kay instantly. “Kay, come and get me.”

“Why,
what’s wrong?”

“Nothing
is wrong, just come and get me, and hurry.”

“Okay
Peyton I’m on my way,” she replied, wondering what happened.

Peyton
wrote just below Kevin’s note to her.

“Kay
picked me up, talk to you later.”

She
sat on Kevin’s front step and willed Kay to get there before he got home. She
decided at that moment that she was flying home the next day and getting away
from Kevin, and she wasn’t going to meddle in Kay’s love life. Who was she to
be telling anyone about love? She had never even believed in love until the
last week of her life. She had to get far away from Kevin, and she knew it.
There was no future with Kevin. His life was here in Utah where he was normal.
Her life was in LA and far from normal, and she missed it, or so she tried to
convince herself she did anyway.

Kay
pulled in, and she got in, happy that she beat Kevin.

“Is
everything okay Peyton?” Kay asked, concerned.

“Yeah,
it’s fine” she answered, pulling on her seatbelt, “but I think I am going to go
home tomorrow.’

“Why?
I thought you wanted to wait for Trevas and Alley.”

“Shit,
I forgot about them,” she said remembering. “Okay I will wait until Thursday or
Friday.”

“He
doesn’t have to come around Peyton,” Kay offered, knowing what this was all
about.

Peyton
rubbed her face with her hands and groaned. “Why does he have to go and ruin
everything Kay? Why does he have to go and get serious on me? We were having
fun, I mean it’s not like I am going to move to Utah, or he is going to move to
LA. What the hell is he thinking?”

“Did
you ask him?”

“No,
he told me last night that he wanted to keep me forever, and then he leaves me
this note saying the same thing. What the hell does that even mean Kay?”

“It
scared you Peyton.”

“What?”
Peyton asked, astonished.

“I
think you are in love with him.”

“Kay,
I can’t be in love with Kevin, you know that as well as I do.”

Kay
shrugged her shoulders. “I think it’s too late.”

“No…no,
it’s not, I can’t be around him anymore as long as I am here.”

“Okay,
do you want me to tell him that he needs to stay away?”

“No
he will call, or text, I will tell him.”

Kevin
wiped the sweat from his eyes and read the note and then crinkled it up in his
hand. He knew he was getting too deep, but he also wanted her to know how he
felt. He had a strong feeling that she wasn’t going to see him again when he
text her.

“Do
you want to do something today?” he text, and instantly got a text back.

“No
thanks, I’m just going to hang out with Kay today.”

Peyton
did just hang out with Kay all day and they spent a lazy day watching movies in
there ridiculous flannel pajamas. Peyton made them a nice dinner, and she
couldn’t get Kevin out of her head. He would go to work the next day, and if
Kay did have to go in, she decided that she wouldn’t go with her and then hoped
that she did have to go in so that she could go.

Kevin
also spent a lazy day at home watching sports and thinking about her. He wanted
to text her again but refrained, deciding that he was going to give her, her
space. He wasn’t some twenty year old kid chasing a twenty year old girl. He
was a forty one year old man chasing a famous movie star, and he knew that
their lives were too different and would collide like volcanic rock, and the
explosion would be devastating, for him anyway. Kevin decided to do the next
best thing and text Kay instead.

“Hey,”
was all he said.

“Hey,”
she said back.

“What’s
up with Peyton?”

“What
do you mean?”

“You
know what I mean.”

“I
would rather you discuss that with her.”

“I
don’t know what I am supposed to discuss with her. What did she say Kay?”

“You
just have her freaked out Kevin. I told you this was a bad idea.”

“Where
is she?” He wanted to know, and just wanted five minutes with her to tell her
that he was sorry for whatever it was he did, and to let her know that he would
stay away if that was what she wanted.

“Laying
on the couch watching TV,”

“Can
I come over?”

“No.
For what?”

“I
just want to talk to her.”

“Kevin,
just leave it alone. She is leaving Thursday, let her go back to her life and
stop with all of this.”

“Please
let me come over. I just want to talk to her tonight, and that’s it. I promise
I will not see her again, and I promise to leave her alone after that.”

“Kevin
you make me crazy. I am going to get in the shower. I will wait ten minutes
before I get in, and I know nothing about it.”

“Thank
you. I will be there in ten.”

Kay
waited almost ten minutes and told Peyton she was going to take a shower.
Peyton flipped through the television channels, feeling restless. The doorbell
rang, and she opened the door.

She
didn’t invite him in and stood in the threshold, crossing her arms without a
word.

“Hi,”
he spoke first.

“Kay’s
in the shower,” she told him.

“I
didn’t come here to see Kay, Peyton.”

“Oh,
well then what can I do for you?”

Kevin
snickered at the attitude and stepped the one step up to her. She closed her
eyes like that was going to help, and when she opened them he pulled her to him,
and wrapped her in his arms. He didn’t kiss her and only held her tight,
burying his face in her hair. She tried not to touch him back, but her arms had
different plans than her brain and they automatically reached around his neck.

“Kevin
I can’t do this,” she pleaded.

“Talk
to me Peyton. What are you afraid of?”

“What
is this Kevin?” she asked, and pulled away from him to look at him.

“I
really do hate those pajamas,” he said, and she had to laugh at him and shook
her head.

“I’m
being serious Kevin,” she demanded, and he took her hand and pulled her away
from the door so that he could close it.

“Let’s
go into the kitchen.”

Peyton
followed him and sat at the table while he put on a pot of coffee.

“It’s
eight o’clock, you’re not going to be able to sleep,” she told him, creating
small talk.

“I
haven’t been able to sleep since I met you.”

“Kevin
what do you think is going to come out of this? If I led you to believe that there
is anything between us, I’m sorry. There is not.”

Kevin
leaned up against the sink and contemplated her, trying to select the right
words running through his scrambled mind. He should tell her that he knows what
she is saying is true and let her off the hook, but it wasn’t true and she knew
it as well as he did.

“I
think you’re wrong Peyton, and I think you’re scared shitless because there
is
something going on here that you are not used to, and you are so far out of
your comfort zone, you don’t know how to handle it.”

She
was now the one searching for the right scrambled words, and didn’t know how to
respond. She was way out of her comfort zone, and for the first time in her
life, she didn’t want to be alone anymore. Her life was crazy, but it was what
she had wanted, for as long as she could remember. She kept her personal life
safe and didn’t let feelings get in the way of what she wanted out of life, but
it didn’t matter. Kevin was totally off limits and they could never have a life
together, and he had to know that as much as she did.

“What
do you want? Do you want to marry me after knowing me for a week? Do you want
to move to LA? Do you want me to move here? I don’t know what you are even
asking, and I assure you, your view of me after a week of knowing me is so
clouded and unrealistic. If you knew the real meyou would run so fast your head
would spin. You don’t want to be a part of my silly life, believe me when I say
that.”

“Do
you want coffee?”

“Yes.”

Kevin
poured them both a cup of coffee and sat with her, staring.

“Say
something,” she demanded.

“I
don’t think I would run anywhere, and I think you like who you are here.”

Peyton
interrupted him. “The where, doesn’t make you, who you are.”

“I
never said it did, and I don’t remember asking anything from you. I don’t know
what the answers are Peyton. I am not asking you to move anywhere. I am not
asking you to change anything that you don’t want to change. I guess all that I
am asking is that maybe you should considered all of the angles, and consider
that maybe it’s time to walk away from your
silly
life.”

Peyton
snorted. “And do what?”

“I
don’t know, but it’s nothing that needs to be decided tonight.”

Kay
walked into the kitchen and was dressed. She said hi to Kevin and told Kay that
she was going to go over to her friend’s house and sit with her kids while she
ran to the store, and asked her if she wanted to go.

“No
I will wait here,” she replied, and wondered if she was leaving on the count of
her and Kevin.

“Ask
tom if he’s still bowling Wednesday,” Kevin told her.

“He
just had a vasectomy,” she exclaimed.

“I
was kidding Kay,” he said with a frown.

“Oh,
okay, well I will see you in a little while.”

Peyton
and Kevin were left alone in silence once more, one waiting for the other to
say something. Peyton smiled at him and shook her head, trying to figure out
what the hell was happening to her, and why this no-body man from nowhere Utah
was making her crazy.

“What?”
he asked, and that was exactly what she told him.

“You’re
making me crazy.”

“I
don’t think you can blame me for that.”

She
snorted and put her hand out, palm sided up, and he took it in his.

“Let’s
just stop with all of this Peyton. It is what it is, and if it’s meant to be
then it will happen, if not, it won’t. Let’s just spend the next few days
together and be happy.”

Peyton
thought his idea was the best idea that he could have come up with, and at
least if she was with him for the next few days, she wouldn’t sit around and
think about him. She nodded in agreement but didn’t respond.

“Come
home with me,” he requested.

“Can
I wear my pajamas?” she asked, and knew she would follow him to China if he would
have asked at that moment.

“Hell
no, you can throw them in the trash for all I care. I will even buy you new
ones.”

“I
like them. They make me feel warm and cozy.”