Reject Me (Kin #5)(33)
Author: Jennifer Foor

Jamey stared at me for a second before standing up. “I’ll be right back.” I watched him walk to the restroom and go inside. He’d just given me something beautiful, so filled with emotion that I didn’t know how to react. This was the man that I’d always wanted him to be. How was I supposed to walk away from him?

Then I started thinking. Was he doing all of this to win me back? If I agreed would he go back to his old ways? I didn’t know what to believe. By the time he returned I was even more confused.

I held out my arm. “Can you put it on me?”

“Do you like it?”

“I love it. I’ve never owned somethin’ like this.”

The smile on his face made me do the same. Suddenly all of the bad seemed irrelevant. He was doing it to me again, and I was letting myself fall for it. How I was going to walk away from this man was becoming a mystery that I didn’t know how to solve. Agreeing to this date was a mistake. My brother was right, because the only thing it was going to get me was a trip to Jamey’s bed, and I couldn’t begin to stop myself.

Chapter 18

Jamey

I was doing everything in my power, that I could come up with, to get her back. With the help of Lacey and Sky I’d bought her the bracelet and charms. There was no need to rehearse what I wanted to say to her, because every bit of it was from my heart.

For the first time I was nervous, so much that I felt like I was going to get sick. It was do or die. She wasn’t going to give me any more chances. The bracelet was just the beginning. By the end of the night Peyton was either going to believe me, or not.

While we ate our meal she kept looking at her bracelet, touching it as if she were worried it was going to fall off. I appreciated how much she liked the gift. It made me regret how many things I could have given her if I’d just gotten my head out of my ass for five seconds to see it.

“You know, livin’ alone has givin’ me a ton of time to think. I was an arrogant bastard to you. I’m so sorry.”

She sat down her fork and wiped her face before responding to me. “I think we should use tonight as a way to get past everything we’ve gone through together. If tonight is about sayin’ goodbye then maybe we need to lay all of our dirt on the table.”

As much as I feared the topic, I knew I had to appease her. “Sounds like a good idea. I’m ready for whatever you have to ask me.”

“How many times did you cheat on me, Jamey? If this dinner is about closing doors then finally tell me the truth. I’m tired of not knowing, and it isn’t fair that I have to hear shit behind my back.”

She wasn’t going to ease into the questions at all. “You want a number?”

“I want whatever you’re willin’ to tell me.”

I sat my fork down, unable to take another bite when my food was creeping back up my throat. “I have to think about it. Don’t get pissed. Just give me a second. There were several times when we were broken up, so they don’t count, right?”

“I’ll give you that. Just the ones that you snuck behind my back with.”

“Does phone calls count?”

She shrugged. “Jesus, are we talkin’ hundreds?”

“God no. Hang on.” I thought back to every number that I’d got at the diner, and then decided it was best if I just showed her. I pulled out my phone and slid it across the table. “Tell me a name and I’ll tell you what happened.”

She scrolled through my phone. “Well the first name is Angie. How about we save that for last?”

“Good call.”

“Becky.”

I thought for a minute. Becky had come into the diner with her father. She’d slipped me her number while coming back from the bathroom. I called her a couple of times, but she lived too far away to go out. “Never dated her. She gave me her number at work. We talked for a few nights and that was it.”

Peyton shook her head and moved to the next girl. “Carrie.”

I sighed. “I slept with Carrie last year. Remember when we broke up before Valentine’s Day?”

I could tell it pissed her off. “How many times?”

“Once.”

“Where at?”

“In the backseat of my car, behind the diner.”

Her eyes filled with tears. I think Peyton assumed that it was our special spot. It just so happened that when I got off work girls liked to meet me there. We ended up never leaving the parking lot.

She slid the phone back to me. “I can’t do this. Just tell me how many other girls you slept with behind the diner.”

I swallowed the lump again and looked down at my shaking hands. I couldn’t answer her.

“How many, Jamey?”

‘Three in a span of two years.”

She covered her face with her hands. “I can’t believe you. How could you do that to me? Was I at your house waitin’ for you? Was I in your bed while you were f**kin’ them?”

I lost it. She was calling me out and I couldn’t hide any longer. I felt my eyes welling up and refused to look at her. “Yes.”

Peyton stood up and threw her napkin in my face. “You disgust me, Jamey.”

I was about to yell that I’d used protection, but all that would have gotten me was a punch in the face. “For the record I didn’t cheat in the last year. I swear. It’s only been you. I’ve talked to girls on the phone, but nothing more.”

“What about Angie?” She turned and asked.

“What about her? I told you. We weren’t together at all. She tried when we went ridin’ one day, but I told her I couldn’t. That’s the truth. She made that story up, Peyton. I swear it.”

I pulled out my wallet and tossed money on the table. I wasn’t sure how much I’d just tipped the chick, but there was plenty to cover the meal. We made it all the way outside of the restaurant to the edge of the beach. Peyton kicked off her shoes and darted for the water. I chased after her. Feeling the sand going inside of my shoes. “Please wait.”

She stopped when she couldn’t run any further. Hunched down crying, I reached out to comfort her. Peyton jerked away from me and slammed me in the side with her purse. “I hate you. I hate you so much.”

I felt wetness running down my cheeks as I pleaded with her. “Baby, please. You asked me to tell you everything. I’m tryin’ my hardest here. What do you want from me?”

“What do I want? You want to know now? I want you to die. Looking at you makes me ill. You are the scum of the earth, Jamey Billings.”