Payton
THE BUZZING OF my phone on the nightstand woke and I grabbed it, answering it without opening my eyes. "Hello?"
"Where do you want to drop your shit?"
"Alex?"
"Where do you want your shit?" he repeated.
"What ti is it?"
"Can you just fuckin’ answer the question, Payton?" he snapped.
I sighed. "Are you drunk?"
"Fuck , woman. I have your shit, I don’t want it. Where the fuck do you want to take it?"
The hurt ca flooding back and I bit back tears. "Just give it to Dani. I’ll get it from her."
"Are you fuckin’ cryin’?"
I shook my head, but didn’t answer him. Clearly, it was over and he wanted nothing to do with .
"Payton?" he snapped again.
I took a deep breath. "Just give the stuff to Dani, Alex. Thanks."
I hung up and shoved my face into the pillow, dissolving into tears. I felt sick and sad, hurt and angry, all at the sa ti. I’d never felt like this before, and quite frankly, being dumped by soone you loved totally sucked. I suddenly had a great deal of empathy for my exes.
My phone buzzed again and this ti I checked the ID. "Hey, Dani."
"Hi. Sorry to call so late. I honestly thought I’d get your voicemail."
"It’s okay. Alex woke ."
She let out a quiet hum. "I’m sorry honey."
"It’s okay. He wanted to know what to do with my stuff, so I figured you two hadn’t talked."
"Well, that’s not entirely accurate."
I frowned. "I don’t understand."
"He won’t give your bag."
"Can Kayla get it?"
"No." She groaned. "I debated on whether or not to call you, but he’s locked himself in his room with a bottle of whisky and he’s threatening to burn your things if we try to take them from him."
"Sounds like he’s drunk."
"That’s an understatent," she said. "What do you want to do?"
"Honestly, there’s nothing in there I can’t replace. Just leave it. If he burns it, he burns it. It would be an apt ending to our relationship that went down in flas," I added sowhat pathetically. The call-waiting beep on my phone sounded and I glanced at my screen. "Ohmigod, he’s calling again."
"Do you want to get it?" Dani asked.
"No. I’m just going to ignore him." I saw the ti, just after midnight. "I’m assuming Kayla’s with Lily?"
"Yeah. I talked to her and they’re fine. We’re staying here tonight so Austin can keep an eye on Hawk."
"Okay. Sounds good." I rubbed my forehead, trying to stave off a headache. "Thanks Dani. Sorry to drag you into this ss."
"Don’t worry about it. I’ll still try to get your stuff."
"I appreciate that."
"Okay, better go," Dani said. "Talk to you tomorrow."
"Okay."
We hung up and I rolled onto my side and squeezed my eyes shut. My phone buzzed again, but it was Alex, so I ignored it. He continued to call well past midnight, so I turned off my phone and forced myself to sleep. Needless to say, I didn’t really get any.
Sunday I awoke to the headache from hell... and a note from Bailey sitting on the kitchen counter.
Brock and I are at the store. Help yourself to coffee. Stay if you want, we’ll be ho in a couple of hours, but if you decide to head ho, just lock up behind you. Love you!
I poured myself a cup of coffee and powered up my phone. Forty-two missed calls from Alex. I groaned. Stalk much?
No voicemails from him, which disappointed . Again. Insane.
I rummaged in the fridge for breakfast, finding cream cheese and a ripe tomato, so I checked the pantry and found bagels. I loved my sister-in-law. She always bought the best food.
I was lifting the pastry to my mouth when the doorbell rang. I walked silently to the door and peeked out the side window, frowning to find no one there, but when I turned my eyes down, I saw my bag sitting on the porch.
I unlocked and opened the door, dragging my bag inside before glancing out to the street. Alex stood beside his truck looking as wrecked as , his hair a ss, his clothes disheveled, and all I could think was how much I loved him.
He hesitated for a few seconds before walking toward and I couldn’t decide whether I should close the door on him or not. He stopped within hearing distance and grimaced. "Hey."
"Hi, Alex. Thanks for bringing my bag back."
"You’re welco."
"How did you know where I was?"
He slipped his hands into his pockets. "Your brother told . Kayla said she dropped you off here."
Well, this was interesting information.
"You could have given my stuff to Dani," I whispered.
"Fuck, Payton, I’m sorry."
My composure crumbled, and I burst into tears. I found myself wrapped in his arms and that just made things worse.
"Shh, baby, I’m so sorry," he whispered.
"I don’t even know what you’re doing here." I sniffed, but didn’t pull away. "You told to fuck off. Why didn’t you just give the bag to Dani?"
"Because I love you." His fingers slid into my hair and tilted my head back. "I am a total fuckin’ dick, baby, but I love you and I don’t know how to apologize so this is alright again." He wiped the tears from my cheeks. "Tell what to do. Anything, baby. I’ll do anything."
"You scared last night."
"I know, Payton. I’m so sorry." He sighed. "I know it’s lip service right now, but I would never raise a hand to you. Please give the chance to prove it."
"I don’t want to be chained up and hit during sex, Alex."
"And you won’t be. Kayla confessed she told you what happened with Jenny." A second of irritation crossed his face but he shook his head. "There’s more to it that even she doesn’t know. But, I will tell you everything... and I an everything... and I promise, if you give another chance once I do, you can make all the rules. Anything, baby. I an it. Just tell what I have to do."
I couldn’t fathom what more there could be, but I knew he was telling the truth, and if he was willing to let in so that I could make an inford decision, then I felt I should give him the chance. The fact I loved him played a little into that as well. I couldn’t just turn off that emotion, but I also wasn’t going to move forward blindly.
"Co in," I said, and pulled away from him.
"Are you sure you feel comfortable? Because we can wait until your brother gets back, or you can follow sowhere public."
"I feel comfortable, Alex," I said. "I’ll fill my brother in on what’s going on and we’ll go from there."
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