Page 11 of Two Minutes for Holding

“How’d you guess it went something like that?” she asked, helping herself to one of the cold beers the bartender had dropped off, taking a drink.

“Because I have a dick too, Peyton,” I said, leaning into her, giving her a nudge with my shoulder. “If it meant keeping some pretty little thing like you attached to my side and in my bed, that would come at my beck and call, no matter how I treated her, I’d tell her what she wanted to hear as well. If I were the same type of guy, that is.”

“Does my brother know you treat women that way?”

“No, darlin’, because I don’t treat women that way.”

“Is that so? What’s the difference then between you and Tor?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle as I took a mouthful of beer.

“Well, the difference is I’m a fucking man. I treat you the way you should be treated— with respect. I don’t play games, and I’d never tell you something just because I know it was what you wanted to hear. Guys like Tor don’t deserve girls like you—or anyone, for that fact.”

Peyton tore her eyes away from me and looked down at the bottle in her hands. She picked at the corner of the label for a few seconds, her hand shaking.

“What do you mean, girls like me?”

“Girls like you—smart, attractive, girls with a future. Guys like him, they aren’t going any further than where they are right now, except maybe to jail, and they will hightail it on the first signs of trouble only to pick their next victim. Exactly like the guy you were talking to earlier. The second he laid eyes on me, he placed a nasty label on you and took off looking for his next piece of meat,” I said, nodding over toward the corner.

Peyton looked over to see exactly what I meant. The guy who’d been all over her when I approached was already talking with another girl who was feeding out of the palm of his hand. We sat there watching them; he took the drink out of her hand and guided her toward the door, both of them leaving the bar.

“How did you do that?” she asked, looking over at me.

“Do what? Read him?”

She slowly nodded.

“As I told you—”

“You have a dick,” she said, meeting my eyes.

She stared at me for a few minutes and then tore her eyes from mine, looking back down at the bottle in her hand, picking at the label again.

“You feel like getting out of here?” I questioned, placing my arm across the back of her chair.

Peyton shrugged. “I don’t want to go home just yet. I don’t want to listen to my brother go off on my mom, or on me again,” she said, looking up at one of the TVs that was playing a hockey game.

“I didn’t say get out of here and go home. I asked if you wanted to get out of here, maybe come back to my place. Have you eaten?”

She shook her head as she looked up at me.

“Well, we could order in some food. Watch a movie or the rest of the game.” I nodded toward the TV, then turned my attention to her.

She looked up at me. God, she was gorgeous—those beautiful large green eyes, those perfect, full bowed lips. God, I’d love to kiss her again, but I knew there was no way in hell I could or should touch her.

“That sounds fun. Let’s go.”

I took care of the bill while she threw her coat on, and together we made our way out of the dingy little bar.

The TV was on,casting a soft glow over my living room. Empty beer bottles and dirty plates sat on the coffee table in front of us. We’d picked up Thai food before coming up to my place, enjoyed the meal as we talked, drank, and watched the game before one thing led to the other.

Peyton now straddled my lap, my fingers combed through her hair as we kissed, my left hand gripping her ass. A soft moan escaped her as she ground her hips against me.

I’d lost track of how we’d gotten to this point. All I knew was that it had to do with all the empty bottles that lay on my living room table, and a brief conversation about the kiss we’d shared in the car the last time she’d been here. Then one little kiss had led to her straddling my lap.

“God, I want more of you.” She moaned into my mouth as her lips danced against mine.

I wrapped my arms around her and stood up as she wrapped her legs around my waist, her arms around my neck, sucking my bottom lip between hers.

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