Starburst (40 page)

“Thank
you,” she replied, glad that she was going to drop it, or she hoped anyway.

Kay
and Peyton went to the mall, and Peyton was again surprised at being able to
move in and out of the stores without cameras and people yelling her name or
questions at her. They even ate in the food court without being bothered, and then
their shopping spree was cut short when Alley phoned her mom.

“Hey
Alley girl,” she answered.

“Mom
we will be there around six, please cook us some good food. We are starving and
are so sick of eating out, and we are both going to puke if we have to one more
time.”

“Tonight?”
Peyton asked, sounding disappointed without meaning to. She was happy that they
were coming, she just wasn’t happy about not spending the evening with Kevin.

“Um…yeah
mom, tonight,” Alley replied smartly. “Is that a problem?”

“No,
not at all, and I would be happy to have a nice supper ready for you when you
get here.”

“Good,
I will see you later, love you bye.”

Peyton
and Kay went to the grocery store before going home, and Kay started cooking
her extravagant meal. Kevin came over right after work, and was disappointed
when Kay let him in, and they talked briefly before he went to the kitchen to
find Peyton. She told him about Trevas and Alley coming, and he tried his best
to sound excited to see Trevas, but was really disappointed, wanting Peyton all
to himself.

Peyton
was wearing jeans and a black sweater that hugged her slender body and was cut
in a V and showed off her cleavage with a hint of a black lacey bra. The white
apron she was wearing did little to conceal her sexy body, and once Kevin saw
her he was even more disappointed.

“Hello
sexy,” she said, holding a wooden spoon and stirring a white sauce.

“I
was going to say that,” he replied, wrapping his arms around her and kissing
her neck. “Please tell me that you are coming home with me,” he added.

“I
want to,” she said, turning the stove eye off and turning to him. “Kay is not
sure the kids will go to the cabin because of having no fire built.”

“I
will go build them a fire,” he joked, and really would have done it just to
insure his night with Peyton wasn’t lost.

Peyton
ran her hands up his shirt, and he moved toward her lips as she moved toward
his.

“Do
you know how many times I have thought about making love to you today?” he
asked.

“Probably
about as many as I have thought about it,” she replied and felt his smile on
her lips.

Kay
cleared her throat and Kevin backed away.

“What
are you two planning on telling Trevas and Alley?” she asked.

“About
what?” Peyton answered her question with her own.

Kay
tilted her head and gave her a repellent look. “Really Peyton? Do you really
think you are going to hide all of this chemistry from Alley? She will pick up
on it in about five minutes, and you know as well as I do, she is not going to
wait until you are alone with her, to call you out on it.”

Peyton
didn’t have to answer when her cellphone rang, and Kay looked down at it on the
table.

“Paula,”
she said, telling her who it was, and Peyton had a peculiar look and picked it
up.

“Hey
Paula.”

“Peyton
can you meet with Craig Jenson tomorrow?”

“Craig
Jenson?” Peyton repeated, knowing that he was one director that she had always
wanted to work with, and her hopes were automatically enlightened.

“Yes,
he wants you to play a part in his new movie.”

“What
part?” she asked, and Paula laughed.

“You
always have to have the lead, don’t you?” she joked. “And it is the lead.”

“I
am in Utah Paula. I won’t be home until Friday.”

“What
the hell are you doing in Utah?”

“Visiting
a very good friend,” she replied and smiled at Kay. “Plus I was bored out of my
mine with Alley gone, and ‘Black’ being finished.”

“Well
get your ass back here, you’re not going to be bored anymore. I will see if I
can’t arrange it for Friday evening. What time will you be in?”

“I
think I land at LAX at three in the afternoon.”

“Okay,
I will pick you up and set up something later on in the evening.”

“Okay,
that sounds great.”

“Yes…”
Peyton yelled, excited and then looked to Kevin leaned up against the sink with
his hands in his pockets sad smile.

This
was exactly what she needed. She needed to get back to work and forget all of
this romance crap. She didn’t do the romance scene, and was happy to get back
to who she really was and stop pretending she could be anyone else.

Kay
left them to grab a shower, and Kevin stared at her.

“What
Kevin?” she asked in a soft tone.

“You’re
leaving me.”

“I
was never yours,” she said, sullenly.

He
knew she was never his, but for just a fraction, his mind did deceive him, and
led him to believe that she could be.

Their
seriousness was interrupted when Kevin heard the car doors and looked out the
window. He didn’t say another word and they went out to greet Trevas and Alley.

“Kevin!”
Trevas exclaimed, excited to see him there. He shook his hand, and they hugged
a manly hug, and then Trevas introduced Alley to him.

“Alley
this is Kevin.”

“It’s
nice to meet you. I have heard a lot about you.”

“I
would like to say the same,” Kevin told her honestly, “But being that Trevas
here never calls me, I can’t.”

“Yeah,
sorry about that, and you can call me too, you know?”

Peyton
hugged Alley and Alley hugged her back.

“Please
tell me it’s time to eat,” she said in her mom’s hair.

“Yes,
as soon as Kay gets out of the shower. We can go in the kitchen and set the
table.”

Trevas
and Kevin stayed in the living room, and Peyton and Alley went into the
kitchen.

“How
is everything going?” Peyton asked Alley, and she knew she was talking about
the promotion for the movie.

“It’s
almost over,” she replied and was excited about it.

“I
am meeting with Craig Jenson Friday for a role in his new movie.”

“Really?
I thought you would take a break.”

“I
tried, I don’t do well with not working, and it’s even worse with you gone all
the time now.”

“Now
you know how I felt my whole life.”

“Well
that stung a little,” Peyton admitted, putting the plates out on the table.

Alley
shrugged her shoulders. “Have you ever known me to sweeten my words with
kindness?”

“Nope,
not since you learned to speak,” she admitted. “How long are you staying here?”

“Nine
days and I am so excited not to have to deal with people, we are locking
ourselves in the cabin the whole time.”

“Yes
that has been a welcoming relief. People here are different, I have signed
autographs and taken pictures with people, but they respect you a lot more it
seems.”

“I
thought I hated the paparazzi before I did this movie, but now I absolutely
despise them. Nobody should have to be rushed from the airport because of
stupid papz, it is utterly ridiculous.”

Kay,
Trevas and Kevin joined them at the table, and they talked around the table,
bragging on Peyton’s home cooking. Peyton tried her best not to look at Kevin,
and of course didn’t succeed particularly well. She would catch herself gazing
at him as he did her, and Alley finally had to say something.

“So
mom, you found a friend here too uh?” she asked, and put the word friend in
quotation marks with her fingers.

“Shut
up Alley,” Peyton replied, and Kay laughed. Peyton told her to shut up as well
and then Trevas after he laughed too.

“Are
you guys staying here tonight?” Peyton asked, trying to change the subject.

“Why
because you need to know whether or not you are spending the night with your
friend?” she asked, not dropping it, and again using her fingers to quote the
word friend.

“He
is sitting right here, you know?” Peyton told her, and looked to see the amused
look on Kevin’s face.

“Tell
me I am wrong.” Alley demanded.

“Alley…stop.”
Trevas said, coming to Peyton’s defense, and Peyton was happy that she let it
go with the rolling of her eyes.

Trevas
and Alley did not stay, and told them that they would see them the next day. As
soon as they were gone, Kay looked at both of them and told them to get out of
there.

“I’m
not going to leave you with the mess,” Peyton told her.

“I
have nothing better to do, get out of here,” she insisted, and Peyton and Kevin
left.

Kevin
held Peyton’s hand on the drive. “So I still have tomorrow night with you
right?” he asked, hoping.

Peyton
smiled at him. “Didn’t I hear you and Trevas make plans to go shoot hoops
tomorrow evening?”

“That
will only be for a couple of hours. I want you all night.”

Peyton
leaned over and put her hand on the side of his face and kissed his neck. “You
can have me all night,” she whispered, and he moaned in anticipation.

Kevin
didn’t let her out of the kitchen before he had his hands all over her and was kissing
her everywhere there was exposed skin. Peyton too was all over him, and every
part of her body was overpowered by sensations she couldn’t explain. He helped
her out of her sweater and then her jeans before laying her back on the table.
He slid her panties off and touched her between her legs, and she squirmed
beneath his touch. She sat back up to him, and he kissed her and unfastened her
bra as she stood up.

“We’re
not having table sex,” she demanded, and pulled him by the hand to the stairs,
where he again stopped her and laid her back on the steps, towering over her
naked body.

“Stop
it, we are not having stair sex either,” she demanded and led him to his bed.

Kevin
took her naked body in his arms as she helped him out of his shirt. He kissed
her down her body and came to his knees in front of her where he took her with his
mouth. She moaned and parted her feet, opening her legs for him.

“I
can’t do this standing up Kevin,” she said between her erratic breaths.

“Then
lay down,” he replied, placing his hand on her stomach to move her back to the
bed.

Peyton
did lay back, and he moved in and continued until she was arching her hips into
him, screaming out in pleasure. He came to her mouth, and her excitement began
again as soon as she tasted herself on his lips.

“Come
up here,” she whispered, wanting to take him in her mouth as well. Kevin rose
above her, and she took him in her mouth, and he now moaned in pleasure. He let
her continue until he could no longer manipulate his body and pulled out of
her.

He
moved down her body, and she parted her legs begging for him as he pulled her
naked body to his and explored every part of her with his hands. Kevin rolled
her on top of him, and she rode him while staring deep into his eyes with the
most sensual, lustful look he thought he had ever seen. Peyton cried out again,
arching her back and dropping her head, and he quickly rolled her over and
thrust deep into her and let go with her.

They
lay panting in each other’s arms as they came back to reality. He moved a
strand of hair from her face and kissed her.

“I
love you Peyton,” he whispered.

“God
damn it Kevin,” she replied, but didn’t try to move or get away from him. She
loved him too, and she knew it, but he wasn’t supposed to say it out loud. They
had one more day together, and he was going to ruin it by getting into
something that wasn’t possible again.

“I’m
sorry, and I don’t expect you to change anything for me, I just wanted you to
know that.”

“I’m
not going to reply to that,” she told him, and he only smiled down at her.

Kevin
made love to her again before they got up, and he took her back to Kay’s before
work. He kissed her long and passionate before he let her out and then told her
he would see her later.

“Your
stupid friend told me that he loves me last night,” Peyton told Kay as she
poured her a cup of coffee and sat it in front of her.

“He
told me that the other night while you were in the shower,” Kay admitted to
her.

“He
did?”

“Yeah,
but I am surprised that he told you. He said that he wasn’t going to. What did
you say to him?”

“Not
a damn thing. I told him that I wasn’t going to reply to it.”

“Oh,
the webs that we weave for ourselves,” Kay said and they both shook their
heads.

Trevas
dropped Alley off at his moms so that he could meet Kevin to play ball. Alley
sat at the table with her mom and Kay and they talked about her and Trevas, and
about the movie. She told them how tired of all the traveling and the cameras
they both were, and couldn’t wait until it was all over.

After
about an hour,  she was bored and wanted to go find Trevas.

“Where
is the gym? Let’s go there,” she suggested.

Peyton
was more than happy with that idea as well, and Kay drove them to the school.
They opened the side door to find five men running around, sweating in shorts
and no shirts.

“Holly
shit,” Alley said, and they laughed. “That’s a lot of sexy ass testosterone.”

“Fuck,”
Kay said when she saw Don on the court as well.

Alley
looked at her with her mouth opened. “Kay I have never heard you talk like
that.”

“I
learned it from you,” she joked.

“Kay
we can go if you want,” Peyton told her, letting her know that she didn’t
expect her to stay.

“No
Peyton, I’m fine.”

Trevas
came over to them pulling on his t-shirt.

“You
can leave that off,” Alley told him, and he smiled and kissed her.

“Mom,
are you okay with this?” Trevas asked, and was going to volunteer to get her
out of there if she wanted.

“Wait,
what is this Kay? Which one is he?” Alley wanted to know.

“I
am fine Trevas, go play,” she demanded, and he did.

“He
is the one in the black shorts with the white stripes,” she answered Alley,
once Trevas had resumed his game. “But you keep your mouth shut around him. We
broke up over a year ago.”

“Why?
He is freaking hot for an old guy,” Alley asked.

“It’s
a long story.”

“Okay,
I will just make Trevas tell me about it,” she demanded.

“I
am sure you will,” Kay replied, and knew that she would.

Kevin
looked to Peyton as she looked to him and winked at her. “Come on, you ladies
can play too,” Kevin called to the three of them.

“I
assure you that you don’t want me or my daughter on your team,” Peyton called
back.

“What
the hell does that mean?” Alley asked, looking over to her.

“Like
you know how to play basketball,” Peyton replied.

“I
am sure I can make a basket, I know that much.”

“Well
I can’t, count me out,” Peyton excused herself.

The
guys wouldn’t let them out of it and divided them up making sure Kay was not on
the same team as Don. They were more in the way than anything, and the guys
played around them.

“Kay,”
Don said, speaking to Kay while they waited down court for the ball.

“Donnie,”
Kay said back, and squinted her eyes shut, saying ‘shit’ to herself. She was
the only one who had ever called him Donnie, and hadn’t called him that in a
very long time, and he smiled.

Kevin
threw the ball to Kay, and she caught it and ducked around Don who tried to
block her shot. Kay turned and tossed it back to Kevin when he was closer, and
he made the layup.

“Take
it out Alley,” Trevas told her and tossed her the ball.

“Take
it out where?” she wanted to know and he explained to her that all she had to
do was stand behind the line and throw it to one of the players on her team.

She
stood behind the hoop. “I’m not throwing it until you take your shirt off,” she
said, and everyone laughed, and Trevas gave her a dirty look with blushed
cheeks.

“Throw
the ball Alley,” he demanded.

The
guys gave him a hard time, and were chanting to him to take it off.

Trevas
stood in front of her. “You’re going to pay for that. Give me the ball,” he
demanded.

“Am
I going to be naked, while I am paying for it?” she asked to his lips, where
only he could hear her and then kissed him quickly.

“Yes,
now give me the damn ball.”

Carter
had to leave and took his friend Hank with him, and Trevas and Alley told Kay
that they were going to her house to shower and would meet them at Kevins where
they were going to cook steaks.

Kevin
put his shirt on and walked over to Peyton. “Let’s go for a walk,” he told her
and she looked at Kay for permission, not wanting her to be left alone with Don
if she didn’t want to be. Kay nodded for her to go and sat on the bench beside
of Don.

As
soon as Kevin and Peyton were out of site, Don turned to Kay. She looked up at
him with narrowed eyes waiting for him to say something.

“What?”
she asked, and was taken aback when he quickly moved in and kissed her. She
wasn’t sure why, but she didn’t stop him. She told herself it was because she
was in shock but knew that she was lying to herself when she parted her lips
for him and kissed him back. The feelings that she had tried so hard to forget
came at her like a tsunami and flooded her completely.

He
pulled away but stayed close to her lips with his.

“What
are you doing Donnie?” she asked, and then realized that she had just called
him Donnie again. What the hell was wrong with her? She wondered.

“I
need you in my life Kay,” he confided.

“And
you thought you could just come back after a year and pick up where you left
off.”

“Don’t
do that Kay.”

“Do
what?”

“Push
me away over something that I would give anything to change. I have never
stopped loving you. You are what got me through over there, even the second
time when I knew that if I went, I could lose you. I still had hope, and when I
got home I planned on doing everything in my power to get you to forgive me.”

“I
forgive you Don, but I am still not willing to forget it, and pretend like you
didn’t choose work over me.”

“I
chose this place Kay.”

Kay
looked at him puzzled. “What place?”

“This
place right here, this school. I knew that if we were ever going to do this I
had to.”

“What
are you talking about Donnie?”

“Kevin
is going to kill me.”

“Donnie?”
she badgered, wanting the truth.

“I
was paid very well for going out to sea to work Kay. We couldn’t have bought this
school, let alone do anything with it, without me sacrificing a little.”

“You
sacrificed me to buy this school? And what does Kevin have to do with it?”

“Me,
Trevas and Kevin bought this school, and you already know what our plans are
with it.”

“Trevas
too?” she asked, not believing what she was hearing.

“Why
didn’t you tell me?”

“Would
it have made a difference?”

Kay
thought about and knew that it wouldn’t have. She didn’t want him to leave her
again for a whole year, and she would have reacted the same way. That didn’t
change the fact that all three men that she loved and trusted, betrayed her.

Kay
got up and stormed out toward the hall to find Kevin.

“Kay,
wait,” Don tried, and she jerked her arm away from him, demanding that he not
touch her.

Kay
burst through the doors and found Kevin in front of Peyton sitting on a desk,
making out, just three doors down.

“You
knew about this Kevin?” She yelled, and he pulled away from Peyton.

“What
the hell are you talking about Kay?” he retorted.

“You
know damn well what I am talking about. You let me think that Donnie left me
for money, and all along it was all about this stupid school?”

“Kay
I never wanted to lie to you.”

“Then
why did you?”

“Because
I knew that you would never let him go, and it was the only way we were going
to be able to do this.”

Peyton
looked puzzled, wondering what was going on as the two yelled back and forth
while Don stood behind Kay.

“Do
this Kevin? Are you kidding me right now? This place is more important to you
than my life?”

“Kay,
it’s not like that.”

“Then
how the fuck is it Kevin, and when was anyone going to tell me what was going
on?”

“Kay,”
Don tried to talk to her from the door.

She
turned and glared daggers at him. “You go to hell Don. We were a couple; we
were supposed to be in this together. I discussed everything with you before I
did it, and you just run off for two years in a row, and buy a God damn school?
You lied to me,” she said, pointing her finger in his face and then turned to
Kevin. “You lied to me,” she said, and spun Don around a little when she
stormed off, hitting his shoulder with hers.

Peyton
looked at Kevin. “You need to explain to me, what just happened here, because
if I just understood it the way it sounded than I am right behind Kay.”

“Peyton,
this is none of your business.”

“Did
you let her think Don left her without telling her that he really left in order
for you two to buy this school?”

“Three,”
he corrected her. “Trevas is part owner too.”

Peyton
laughed and shook her head. She walked past him, and hoped that Kay hadn’t left
yet. She had to call her to come back and get her when she was already gone,
leaving both Don and Kevin standing in the school with foolish expressions.

“Did
you have to tell her today Don?” Kevin asked. He was hoping to spend Peyton’s
last night here with her, and he knew that he would be lucky if she ever even
talked to him again, after that.

“I
want her back Kev.”

Kevin
ran his hands through his now dry sweaty hair and took a deep breath.

“Kay,
you have every right to be furious with all three of them,” Peyton told her as
she squealed out of the parking lot for the second time.

“How
could he do that Peyton? How could Kevin and Trevas go along with it for over a
year and not tell me?”

“They
are pigs, even Trevas,” she commanded.

“And
I bet you a hundred bucks that Alley knows nothing about him buying a school
for a boy’s home in Utah either,” Kay said, driving white knuckled toward her
house. “She will though,” she added, and she did know as soon as Kay stormed
into her house.

“Does
your girlfriend know that you bought a school Trevas? Or have you lied to her
for the past year too.”

“Mom,
not now,” Trevas requested, and she knew that Alley didn’t know.

“Yeah,
that’s what I thought,” she responded with a sour look.

“Trevas,
what the hell is going on?” Alley wanted to know.

“We’ll
talk about it later Alley.”

“No,
no, we won’t Trevas. We will talk about it now. You bought a school? When?”

“A
few months back when you were filming, and I stayed back to take my grandpa for
some test.”

“That
was a lie? You came here and never took your grandpa to the doctor?”

“Alley,
let’s talk about this later.”

“Fuck
that Trevas, it seems like everyone knows but me. What the hell are you going
to do with a school?”

“It’s
not all mine. I went in with Kevin and Don, and we are going to turn it into a
boy’s home.”

“Are
you fucking kidding me? What the fuck Trevas? I thought we were together, you
don’t think this is something we should have discussed before you did it?”

Kay
grunted, knowing exactly how she felt.

“Nobody
was supposed to find out yet,” Trevas said glaring at his mom.

“You’re
a fucking idiot. Are you staying here in Utah to run this home?”

“I
don’t know yet Alley. I was trying to wait until you finished with all of your
responsibilities before I said anything.”

“You’re
crazy if you think I am interested in moving here and running a boy’s home.”

“Nobody
asked you to move here and do anything.”

That
was the wrong thing to say, and the next thing Trevas knew he was being picked
up by Kevin and Don.

Kay
pulled out a bottle of vodka and a jug of orange juice and the three women sat
at the table and ditched on all three of the men.

Alley
ignored Trevas’s call several times and Kevin didn’t even try. After two,  hours,
 the three men showed up and the guys made Trevas knock, and Peyton and Kay
made Alley answer his knock.

She
opened the door with crossed arms and didn’t speak.

“Can
I please come in?” he asked.

“No,
go away,” she demanded.

“But
this is my mom’s house.”

“Oh,
yeah,” she remembered. “She is mad at you too.”

“And
she should be and so should you.”

Alley
looked at him. “I am,” she admitted, and walked back to the kitchen, and all
three of them followed.

“You
suck Alley. We sent you because we knew you would be the one to tell them where
to go,” Kay told her as she sat back down.

Kevin,
Don and Trevas all stayed standing and Don was the one to start.

“Kay,
I am so sorry that you feel like I sacrificed you to buy the school. Had I had any
inclination that would be how you felt, I would have walked away from it in a
heartbeat. Had I known that I really did have the slightest chance of losing
you, I would have walked away. I am sorry that I betrayed you, your feelings
and your trust for me, and I don’t blame you if you never talk to me again. I
love you Kay and I will walk away from this project right this second if you
will just love me back.”

Kay
didn’t speak and didn’t look at him. She couldn’t, the tears were already
stinging as she tried to keep them from falling.

Kevin
spoke next. “Kay you are my best friend and the only person that I can call day
or night and I feel horrible about being a part of this. None of us set out to
hurt you. We thought if we waited and you saw how much good we were doing that
you would forgive us. We should have never lied to you, and I am sorry Kay.
Please forgive me because I can’t stand the thought of you not being in my life.
Peyton I am sorry for putting you in the middle of it,” Kevin added, turning to
look at her.