Chapter 11

Rocky

After close to two hours on the road, I stopped at a truck stop to fill up the tank, figuring I'd given Peyton enough time to process whatever had happened inside the cop shop. She hadn't said a word, but she also hadn't asked me to pull over or take her home, so I didn't know what to think.

But as Peyton strolled out of the convenience store, her shapely legs and small waist turning heads, I knew one way to get her to talk. "How about lunch?" I asked and nodded to the diner behind her. "On me?"

Those blue eyes studied me for a long moment. She nibbled her plump bottom lip and my cock stirred to life. "Yeah, okay. I could eat."

I have something to feed you.The thought came instinctively, and I'd have to give my dick a little chat about when it was okay to come out and play, and when it wasn't. Where Peyton was concerned, it was never okay.

"I'll park the bike. Stay there," I pointed to the sidewalk in front of the diner door.

"Sure," she said dismissively, and I wasn't at all surprised to find her seated at a booth near the back of the diner when I stepped inside.

"I told you to wait for me."

Only her red hair showed above the oversized menu before she lowered it to show off glittering blue eyes. "I'm here. I'm alive. No harm. Right?"

"Wrong. You said you would listen to me and you're doing a shit job of it."

"Fine. I'm sorry, okay?"

I sighed and scrubbed a hand down my face. "I'm not trying to hold you hostage or keep you prisoner, but this ain't my first rodeo. We don't know who the person who threatened you is, or what they could be planning. That means they could be anywhere. Just be smart, okay?"

She nodded and glanced away.

I let her avoid my gaze by looking at the menu again, but only for a few seconds. "So, what happened?"

Her gaze slammed into mine, which only confirmed my belief that something had shaken her.

"Were the detectives rough on you?"

She let out a breath. "They were, but not unnecessarily so. They pushed and pushed, only to tell me I was no longer an official suspect. But," she began, and looked away.

"But, what?"

"Hey there, folks. What can I get for ya today? Specials are on the insert." The waitress had to be at least forty, with blond pigtails and dressed like a sexy mechanic.

A look of relief crossed Peyton's face as she turned her attention back to the menu. "I'll have the meatloaf burger with the mashed potato fries, please. Lots of ketchup."

My eyes widened at her order. "Where are you going to put all that?"

Peyton laughed. "I think you already know the answer to that." Her gaze was heated, but too quickly, she looked away again.

My cock wouldn't listen to reason after that comment. He pressed against my zipper, needing to get close to the woman across from me. "I'll have the steak with mac and cheese, and some of that grilled corn on the cob, thanks." We both ordered lemonade and when the waitress was gone, her time for stalling was over.

"Peyton…you haven't once mentioned the fact that I haven't taken you back home, or even asked where we are."

She crossed her arms, although a tiny smirk lifted the edge of her lips. "So you don't like it when I'm submissive and quiet?"

"It seems out of character," I deadpanned, refusing to acknowledge her quip. "Tell me what's up."

She sighed and rolled her eyes as she slipped the menu back into its holder. "Look, it's nothing, I'm fine. I'm probably just feeling sensitive because a murderer basically told me I was next, and this is the first time I've been in public, since."

I squinted at her, and then shook my head. It was more than just that, I could feel it. "Something happened. Tell me."

"Seriously, it's nothing."

When I only raised my brows, she rolled her eyes again and started picking at a napkin. "About a week before I found Chloe, my best friend Lisa and I were out having a drink to celebrate the end of our college careers. This guy came up to the table and hit on me. It wasn't remarkable except that he kind of gave off a weird vibe and Lisa and I pretended to be a couple, which made him angry for some reason." She nibbled her bottom lip, which was my only clue there was more.

"I'm sure guys hit on you all the time, Peyton." She was a stunner. Curvy as fuck, confident and sassy as hell, and a wildcat in the sack. If she wasn't Nolo's ex, she'd be perfect.

The waitress returned to drop our drinks before us, and Peyton immediately began fidgeting with the straw. "Yeah, but he was at the sheriff's office today, or rather he was in the parking lot when I was coming out."

"And?" I asked, when she didn't continue.

"And nothing." She shrugged and fell back to lean against her seat. "He was there, and he talked to me, and then he left without an issue, and I came to find you. That's it. I told you it was nothing."

"If it's enough to make you quiet, it's not nothing." She snorts and sends me a glare, but there's no real heat in her gaze. "What did he do to make you uncomfortable?"

"I don't know. Nothing." She shrugged again. "Everything. He didn't do anything, but it all felt weird, and…"

I didn't say anything this time, and she eventually continued.

"He knew about Chloe, said news about her death was all over campus, but I don't think I've ever seen him around. And he called me by my name, but the more I think about it, I'm not sure I gave it to him at the bar. I mean, maybe I did? I can't remember the whole conversation exactly, but how did he even know Chloe was my roommate? It just felt weird. He gives me creepy vibes. I can't put my finger on it."

I nodded slowly, thinking. She was right, there wasn't exactly anything he did or said that could be logically explained away. Maybe she gave him her name and simply forgot. Maybe he has a forgettable face and studies something different to her, he could have overheard her or someone else mention Chloe being her roommate somewhere during class, maybe a whole bunch of things.

"See?" she said, uncertainty wavering in her voice. "It's nothing."

But I shook my head. "Don't ignore your gut, Peyton. It knows things before you do. If you felt uncomfortable, there's a good reason to pay attention to that. Maybe it's for unrelated reasons, maybe he just has his own issues. But you're a beautiful girl, and men can do a lot of things to be near someone like you. If your safety is on the line, it's best to check and clear all potential dangers."

She bit her lip as if wishing I'd told her everything would be okay and that she was just being paranoid. But I didn't believe in sugar coating the truth.

I also didn't believe in scaring young women out of their minds, so I leaned forward and grabbed her hand. "It's going to be okay, sweetheart. I'm right here, alright? And I ain't going anywhere until you're safe."

I gave her hand a quick squeeze, and then let go, reaching for my phone. "I don't know what's up with him, but I will find out." I texted Slate with the details she'd given, the time she was at the sheriff's office, the guy's name and car description.

The food arrived and we fell into a mostly comfortable silence, but I hated it. I missed the easy flow of her conversation, and I clenched my fist under the table where she wouldn't see it, feeling uncomfortable. "I'm sorry about the other day," I spit out clumsily.

"Which part? Fucking me or telling me you're choosing Nolan over me?"

My eyes slammed shut and I exhaled. Okay, I don't know which part of me thought she wouldn't go for the throat, there. The dumb part of me. The main part running the show, apparently.

I opened my eyes. "Are you really questioning why a father would choose his son over a girl he just met?"

She sucked in a sharp breath and crossed her arms. "Okay, Fine. But why does it have to be a choice at all? I don't get why you can't have us both."

"This would crush him, Peyton."

She shrugged defensively. "It's already happened, and not doing it again won't change that. Why do you have to choose? Just talk to him about it."

I pressed my lips together. "But doing it again would be worse. Making you my girl would be worse for him, can't you see that?"

Her eyes shot away from me when I mentioned making her my girl, and something in my chest clenched. Would she want that? I didn't even know if I wanted that, but my insides sure did react at the thought.

"How would you feel if your mother dated your ex?" I said quickly, to distract myself from that thought. "Or your Aunt Myra?"

Her brows lowered, but she didn't look back at me when she shrugged.

"I care about my boy. I don't want to hurt him, or break his fucking trust, okay? He's my son."

Still, Peyton continued to look down, fidgeting with something in her lap. "He's lucky to have you," she muttered quietly, and I wasn't sure if I was meant to hear that or not.

I sighed and stifled the urge to reach out to her again. "Look,"

"Hey," she said suddenly, "no means no, right?" She stabbed at her mashed potato fries until she picked one up, and smiled as she bit into it, not quite making eye contact. "Don't worry, Rocky. I won't cling and I won't beg for something you don't want to give me."

"It's not that I don't want to," I said, and bit into my burger like it was the source of my anger.

"But you won't," she replied. "So it's all the same whether you want to or not. I'm not worth the risk. Heard you loud and clear." She sighed as if she really had accepted my words so easily. "I am grateful to you for keeping me safe, though, so, thanks."

"I don't want your goddamn gratitude."

She flashed a sad smile. "Well, it's all you can have." Her eyes were clear as she looked at me, her expression blank.

"It's just that it took Nolo and me a long time to get our relationship back on track and I don't want to damage that."

"Got it," she answered a little too brightly. "He told me about it and that's the last thing I want to do. So, maybe I should just find somewhere else to stay."

"No. That's not necessary. We're adults, we can both handle the temptation."

My cock protested. The fuck we can. Remember the tank top and panties from earlier?

Shit, now it was all I could think about.

"It's your house, Rocky. You shouldn't have to avoid anything." She sighed heavily and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "You don't know me, and you don't owe me anything. Focus on you and Nolan and I'll figure something out."

"I already gave you my word, Peyton. You're stuck with me." There was no way in hell I could let her go now, even if she wasn't really mine.

"It's going to be hard." Her words were hesitant, and a hint of playfulness sneaked in, as if against her own will.

"You don't know the half of it," I grunted, and she laughed. "So fucking hard."

"I'll stay upstairs if you want to have company," she offered, which stunned me.

Almost as much as my anger at the suggestion. "Company?"

"Yeah. I mean, we don't know how long I'll be around." She forced a smile, and her eyes darted to the side. "If you want to fuck, who am I to tell you what to do in your own house?"

I growled, and my fingers clenched down on the table. "I don't want company."

"Oh, come on—"

"Peyton, if I could grab that little waist of yours right now, drag you out back, and fuck you in this parking lot, I would." Company? Please. Who the fuck would be better than her?

Her lashes fluttered, and she put down her cutlery. "What's stopping you?"

"You know what's stopping me," I growled. "I fucking want you and I can't have you."

She stood suddenly, pulling a twenty-dollar bill from her back pocket, and snapped, "You could have me, but you already got what you wanted."

"It's not like that," I insisted. But wasn't it exactly like that?

"I'm a big girl, Rocky. It was a one-night stand. Good, but nothing that's going anywhere, right?"

Her eyes held an expectation I didn't know what to do with. All I could do was stare back at her.

"That's answer enough," she said with a sigh, shaking her head before she made her way to the cash register, where she waited for me.

How did that go so sideways so quickly? I was just explaining why we couldn't be together and now I felt like some asshole who'd used her, when she wanted it as much as I did. I stalked to the register, paid, and grabbed her arm as I guided her from the diner. "I didn't do anything to wrong you."

She yanked out of my hold and glared up at me. "I never said you did. But let's be honest, if this was something more than a night of fucking, you might at least consider treating Nolan like the adult he is, instead of like a child who can't handle anything. If it could be more, like affection or, hell, maybe even love, it would be worth the risk, wouldn't it?" Her chest heaved and her blue eyes were wild and filled with emotion. "It would be," she finally answered her own question. "So, like I said, I got it. I'm not blaming you, just letting you know that I heard what you said. Now let's go ho—back to your place."

Shit. Something tightened in my chest.

Something that felt like loss for something I hadn't even fully had yet.