Page 10 of Two Minutes for Holding

Peyton looked up at me, her eyes pleading with me for help. I placed my free hand on her shoulder and set both bottles down on the bar in front of her.

“Here you go, darling. Sorry I was late. Couldn’t get out of work. You know how it is. Then, of course, traffic was insane,” I added.

“Who the fuck are you?” the guy asked, taking on a bit of a defensive stance.

He hadn’t seen me sitting across the bar, which only gave me the advantage. I mean, how could he have noticed me? He’d practically been drooling in her lap the entire time I’d been watching them.

“One should ask you that,” I said, my voice calm as I bent down and placed a kiss on the top of Peyton’s head and gently massaged the back of her neck.

“Is this your fucking boyfriend?” the man asked, looking at her, gripping his beer bottle tight enough his knuckles turned white.

Peyton took hold of my hand that now rested on her shoulder and nodded.

“Fucking sluts…” the man muttered to himself as he turned around and made his way deeper into the bar.

At least he knew what was good for him, I thought as I took a seat beside Peyton and grabbed one bottle of beer I’d brought over.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I questioned, nodding to the beer I’d placed in front of her.

“Trying to unwind. What about you, Clay?”

“Ah, I see. Well, I was supposed to meet your brother and Lucas here, but it appears I’m on my own. So, I guess you could say I’m here unwinding as well.”

“While I can’t speak for Lucas, Knox won’t be coming, thank goodness. He’s at home dealing with my mother.”

“Why? What’s wrong with Mom?” I questioned, taking a drink.

“Abusive boyfriend.”

“Ah, and what about you? How are things from the last time you were here? Did you clean up your act like you promised?”

“Let’s just say I somewhat kept my promise, and before you go all high and mighty on me, Knox has already dealt with me, which is why I’m here. So, I don’t need another lecture from big brother.”

I chuckled. “No lecture, I was just curious. People will do what they want when they want. No skin off my back.”

She picked up the beer bottle and clinked it against mine. “At least you get it,” she said, taking a mouthful of beer.

“I do, probably better than most. Do you mind if I sit with you for a bit?”

“As long as you’re okay with putting up with the other Evans tonight?” she questioned, winking at me.

I chuckled under my breath. “Then I guess lucks on my side. You’re the better-looking Evans, anyway.” I winked. “So, when did you get into town? Knox didn’t mention to anyone that you guys were coming.”

“That’s because we weren’t. Knox came home to deal with this ass that was going to end up killing our mother. He forced me to come out here after he found out through my mother that I was still dealing with Tor.”

“Ah, I see. I thought we devised a plan the last time you were here to get you away from him?” I asked, grabbing her beer to see she had about as much as I had left, then signalled to the bartender for two more.

“We did,” she said, looking over at me, those beautiful green eyes staring back at me.

“What happened?”

“It wasn’t as easy as I thought once I got back and talked to him.”

I met her eyes and nodded.

“Let me guess, he made promises to you he’d change, promised you the world, and has so far delivered on none of them.”

She sat there looking over at me with a stunned expression.

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