Reject Me (Kin #5)(27)
Author: Jennifer Foor

I leaned forward to match her position. “Mom, I’m not askin’ you for advice. Hell, I don’t even know what I’m doin’ right now. All I know is that I need to change. I can accept that Peyton may never speak to me again, but I don’t want to ever feel like I do now.”

My mom finally smiled. “It gets better with time. As far as you and Peyton go, I hope things work out. I know I’m hard on you about her, but it’s only because you two were so rocky that I knew it would cause problems. If she means that much to you, and your happiness is being affected, it’s best that you try to make amends, or else it will eat at you because you never found closure.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of. The problem is that she wants nothin’ to do with me. I’m pretty sure she’s seein’ someone else. When we had our fallin’ out he came to pick her up. She says that they’re just friends. I really don’t know.” I thought about that dude picking her up. She jumped right in the car with him like he was her hero. Whoever he was, I hated him.

“Jamey, do you think that maybe your history with females had led you to believe that no one of the opposite sex can be friends?”

“Possibly.” She had a point. I’d never been interested in being just friends with a chick. They either wanted to f**k me, or nothing to do with me at all.

“Perhaps this man is just a friend. If I know anything about Peyton it’s that she’s crazy about you. I highly doubt she had someone on the side who was willing to wait and see if you two worked out.”

I put my hands over my face for a second and tried to make sense out of the whole ordeal. “Mom, that’s just it. The night Peyton came over it wasn’t to get back together, not at first. She could have been involved with this guy the whole time and not told me. Sure, she picked me, but as soon as she thought I’d screwed up it all changed.”

“You won’t know for sure unless you ask her. Don’t assume and get yourself pissed off.”

“She’s not talkin’ to me.”

“Jamey, there’s no real immediate solution to this. You can either wait it out or figure a way to move forward. I just hate seeing you moping around. Enough is enough.”

“You’re right. I need to snap out of it.”

She reached across the table and touched my forearm. “I love you and your brother with all of my heart. If you need to talk, or spend the night at home, it’s okay with me.” I almost wanted to laugh at her. Basically that meant that she missed us being around. The house was too big for just one person. It was a good thing she’d been seein’ someone.

“Thanks. I will keep that in mind.” I didn’t want to make her feel worthless. I already felt that enough myself.

“I’ve got to get back to work. Let me know how things go.”

“Mom.” I waited until she turned around before continuing. “Thanks for the talk, and if she decides to give me another chance, which she probably won’t, I hope you’ll be able to accept us.”

“I promise that I will be happy for you, only because I feel like you’ve finally learned how to be in a relationship the right way. Treat her right, Jamey. That’s the key.”

“I know. If she gives me another chance I’m goin’ to.”

When my mom walked away I sat there looking around the diner. Though it was semi-empty there were several couples and families eating. I watched them interacting, smiling, frowning, and laughing. As they all went through different emotions they all had one thing in common. They weren’t alone.

I didn’t have many goals in life. My job was given to me before I was even old enough to work. To want something so bad that I could taste the happiness was unbearable. I wasn’t giving up on Peyton, and I was willing to do whatever it took to change her mind about me.

Chapter 15

Peyton

It had been three weeks since I’d last heard from Jamey, and a lot had happened since then. School kept me busy during the week, and when I went home at night I spent most of my time helping my brother and Ashley with the twins. Since they knew nothing about what had happened with Jamey, they never asked me about him. I found that comforting to know that being at home was a safe place.

Wayne and I spent the weekends together, mostly just hanging out and doing fun things with Abigail. Each time we were together I found myself drawn to the type of man he was. We’d kissed a few times in a chaste kind of way, but never anything that led me to believe that we were anything more than friends.

It was a good thing knowing that he didn’t expect things out of me. When I was younger it was all guys ever did. I’d slept with my fair share of them, regretting it the next day almost every time. Jamey had been the exception, but our relationship was rocky at best, when he even admitted that we were anything at all. For the most part I’d never had a long-term relationship that I was able to brag about. It made me sad admitting it.

Wayne had listened to my sob story more than once, and never had he complained that Jamey was all I talked about. His kind soul made me feel like I mattered, which was something I’d never been familiarized with.

On a Sunday, after spending most of our day at a local state park, we headed back to Wayne’s to cook out on the grill. He was making us his famous chicken and went on and on about his secret seasoning. The meal tasted delish, but Abigail was so tired that she started falling asleep at the table. Wayne got up and carried her to bed before returning.

It was one of those awkward moments where we were fully aware that we were alone. Suddenly it was as if neither of us could conjure up the nerve to speak. I cleared my throat and did my best to break the ice. “It all tastes great, Wayne. Thanks for havin’ me over.”

“It’s my pleasure.”

“Abigail was worn out.”

“Yeah, she sure was. She really likes you, Peyton. I think you came into our lives at the perfect time. You know at night she asks about her mother.” He took a sip of iced tea before continuing. “It’s hard to talk about her to my daughter. Every time she asks me something all I can think of is that she’ll never know her mother. It damn near kills me inside. You being around makes it a little easier. I hope you know how much you mean to us.”

Was this his way of telling me that he wanted to be more than friends? I was a little caught off guard. “Wayne, you two mean a lot to me as well. It’s just that -.”