Page 22 of Broken Chains

"Very well. I'll leave you to it." She gave me a side-eyed glance and frowned, shaking her head as she left.

I sighed. It was a stark reminder of the vastly different worlds we came from.

"Okay, everywhere that's yellow, I sign, and anything marked green, is all you," she said. When she picked up the pen, I could see her hand was shaking.

"You're really nervous about this," I said.

"You don't understand. I've wanted this house my entire life. Since I was a little girl, I've dreamed about raising my family here. So yeah, I'm a little nervous. Excited-nervous," she clarified before turning back to the paperwork.

She signed the first page and handed me the pen. I didn't bother reading through it all, I just signed where she told me, and she was practically dancing around the room by the time the last page was complete.

She squealed and threw her arms around my neck. I instinctively wrapped my arms around her waist and my face nuzzled into her neck as I breathed in her delicious scent. She shivered in my arms before I released her and set her back down.

"Come on, we should celebrate," she said.

I looked at my watch. I had one hour left.

"I only have about half an hour, but there's a little ice cream shop around the corner," she suggested.

"Okay. Let's celebrate," I said. Anything to stay close to her for a few more minutes.

We walked out and down the strip mall that housed the lawyer’s office. At the other end was an ice cream parlor. We chatted along the way like old friends. I had never had a girl for a friend before, so it was equal parts weird and nice.

Peyton was very easy to talk to, but when we arrived at the shop, I wanted to turn and run in the other direction. Melina's best friend, Trish, was working. Peyton was already through the door before I could stop her.

Trish gave me a snide glare as she looked Peyton over.

"Really? You must have some balls bringing your new bitch up here. Gonna knock her up, too? Oh, maybe she doesn't know," she smiled sweetly.

"You know damn well Melina left me, not the other way around," I said through gritted teeth.

"You ruined her life. Watch out, bitch, he'll ruin you too," Trish warned Peyton. The worst part was, I couldn't argue with her on that.

"Thanks for the warning. What's your name?" Peyton asked her sweetly.

"Trish," she said hesitantly. "Dick here knocked up my best friend then ran her out of town. She had to leave the baby with her parents to get away from him."

Anger was coursing through my body and I was ready to explode, but Peyton moved closer to my side and put her arm around my waist while leaning her head into my chest.

"This location is owned by Graham Elder, isn't it?"

"Ye-yeah," Trish stammered.

"Thought so, and I'm certain that Graham will be happy to hear how his employees harass his customers and persecute them in public. I happen to know Graham very well, so if you want to keep your job, Trish, I suggest you shut the hell up and take our orders. I'm going to have a peanut butter banana shake. Sweetie, what is it that you were wanting?" she asked, batting innocent eyes up at me as her hand rested on my chest.

I gulped and bit back a grin. I was way out of my league for the likes of Peyton Collier.

"Large chocolate shake," I said, not taking my eyes off Peyton.

She grinned up at me. "Think you can handle that, Trish, without the added commentary?"

Trish shot daggers my way. I didn't even have to look up at her to know it. I could feel her glare as I tried hard not to laugh.

"You're evil," I leaned in and whispered.

She shrugged. "Maybe a little."

"Are these for here or to go?" Trish asked dryly.

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