Reject Me (Kin #5)(8)
Author: Jennifer Foor

“I won’t call you, Jamey. I’ll never call you again.” She got in her car and pulled out of the driveway.

I stood there watching her leave, wondering how long it was going to take her to contact me.

It was a good thing I didn’t sit there staring at my phone. Peyton didn’t call me, or text. By midnight I shot her a message to check on her. She’d never been so distraught over our situation before, and I wondered what had brought it on.

Are you okay? – J

It took her a good thirty minutes before she responded.

I will be. – P

What was that supposed to mean?

For the first time in my life a woman had walked away from me before I’d asked her to, and I wasn’t okay with it. It not only rubbed me the wrong way, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe I’d been too quick to judge my feelings for Peyton. There was a good chance that she was going to make me work to get her back in my good graces, which was something I’d also never done before.

Like it or not, I’d get her back in my bed. Just because I couldn’t commit didn’t mean she wasn’t mine.

Chapter 5

Peyton

It took all of the energy that I had to conjure up the courage to walk away from Jamey, and every bit of strength I had to not contact him. The truth was that a part of me knew we weren’t going anywhere, but I was settled into the monotony of what we did have. Maybe the girls were right. Jamey was never going to change and I needed to walk away from him completely to see it.

When I arrived back at Shayne’s house he didn’t have to ask what was wrong. Either Ashley told him, or after I’d left everyone felt it necessary to talk about me. I felt like I couldn’t trust anyone; that I was all alone to suffer without the support of even my family.

It only took me a good thirty minutes to decide that I needed to get away from everyone. I was back in my car and driving to the one person that would never give me a hard time; the one person that knew me completely, who had enough shit on his plate to know better than to judge me.

Parker’s dorm was locked, causing me to have to call him and pray that he answered. It was nearly midnight when I reached his college campus, and I knew he’d probably already be in bed. A voice answered that I didn’t recognize.

“Hello?”

“Is Parker there?”

“He’s in bed. Hang on.” I heard him waking up my brother.

“Yeah. This better be important.”

“It’s me. I’m outside. Come let me in.”

“Peyton, it’s midnight. What the hell? You can’t just come in here after hours.”

“I’ll be quiet. Bring me a hat or something to hide my hair. I’m wearing a jacket and I’ll sneak in.”

“You’ve got to be kiddin’ me. Is this one of your pranks?”

“No, you dumb ass. I’m outside and I need to come in.”

I heard him shuffling and a door opening. Finally I saw his feet coming down the stairs that led to the front of the building. He opened them and looked around before letting me in. “Hurry up before someone sees you.”

“You act like girls don’t sneak in here all the time.”

He waited until we reached his room to talk to me. I suppose he didn’t want anyone hearing us. His roommate was back asleep, but had stuck headphones in his ears and didn’t even notice that I was there.

Parker sat me down on his bed and crossed his arms. “What’s up?”

“I broke up with Jamey. I mean, I ended whatever it was he was callin’ it.” I began to cry and Parker sat down beside me. He put his hand on my leg and let me lean my head on him, like we did when we were younger. “I didn’t know where to go. I just had to get away. I need to be where he can’t call me and invite me over easily.”

“If you broke up with him why are you worried about goin’ back? I’m a little confused, sis.”

“He won’t get serious. It’s all just a game to him. I want more. Is that so hard to understand?”

“No. I get it. It’s just that with your track record and Jamey’s, it was kind of expected. I mean, nobody thought you’d work out anyway.”

“Thanks, a lot.”

He laughed and kissed the top of my head. “I’m sorry. I’m tired so ignore me. I didn’t mean to be a dick to you. Come on.” He pulled down his covers. “We’re goin’ to have to share, because there’s no way I’m lettin’ you crawl in bed with Chris over there. He farts in his sleep, by the way.”

Parker was trying to make me smile. It worked for a second. We climbed into his tiny twin bed and I nestled my back into his chest. “This is like when we were little and I had a bad dream.”

“Yeah, except you’re much taller.”

I smiled again. “I know everyone is mad at you, but being here was the one place where I knew I’d feel better.”

“We share the same DNA. As far as everyone else goes there’s nothin’ I can say or do that will make them see I’m sorry. Shayne and Dad are probably goin’ to pissed at me forever. As long as I have you, I know I’ll be okay.”

My phone vibrating caught me off guard. Parker sat up with me and watched as I checked my messages. “It’s Jamey. He wants to know if I’m okay.”

“Here.” He held out his hand. I gave him my phone and watched him type in a reply. When he handed me back the phone he had a big grin on his face.

“What did you write?”

“I told him that you will be. It’s true. He’s just a guy, Pey. He’s just another notch that you’ll soon forget about. Come on, how many guys have you thought you were in love with?”

I shoved my brother. “Three, and I was.”

“No you weren’t.” He shook his head before laying back down on the bed. “You just thought you were. The truth is that when you find that one person you’ll know it without a doubt.”

“What if I already feel that way?”

I laid back down next to him and started to tear up again.

“I don’t know, sis. I suppose time will make it easier. You just need to focus on now much of an idiot he is to let you go.”

“That’s what I’m hopin’ for, actually.”

“What?” He sat up again and looked over at me. “Don’t tell me this is all some ploy to get him to commit.”

I shrugged. “Kind of.”