Page 2 of Two Minutes for Holding

“That part doesn’t upset me. The guy in the picture is my boyfriend. As you can tell, it’s not me he is kissing. Maybe my brother was right when he told me I should end things with him.”

Clay chuckled and thanked the bartender as he slid two beers and two shots down in front of us.

“I’d say your brother is probably right on that one. It doesn’t appear to me he knows what he has in front of him or what he is giving up,” Clay said, looking into my eyes.

I shrugged, not really knowing what to say to that.

Clay picked up his shot and nodded at mine. I picked it up, and he looked at me. “Cheers to breaking up with shitty guys who don’t know what they are losing.” He clinked his shot glass against mine before we both downed them.

I wiped my mouth and sat back against my chair.

“So, what else?”

“Knox…” I muttered.

Clay chuckled. “Well, there is a bunch I could say about your brother, but I won’t. What did he do?”

“Well, I’m not proud of what happened today, just so you know. It’s not like I do this stuff all the time. It was the first time that I’d even thought about doing it, but I got caught shoplifting.”

Clay nodded, taking a drink of his beer.

“I see. Well, we all do stupid ass shit sometimes. Most of them turn out to be mistakes, which I’m guessing is how you are feeling, but the main thing is we learn from them. What does your brother have to do about that?”

I let out a sigh. “Well, he acted all perfect, forcing me to face security and then the police.”

Clay nodded. “Do you think maybe he was trying to help you, not hurt you by doing that?”

I thought for a moment. “Why do you need to make that make so much sense?”

“Well, because if I had a sister who was getting herself into trouble, I’d probably do the same, but not with any ill will behind it. It would be because I love her, and I don’t want to see her go down a destructive path.” He winked.

I knew deep down that Knox was only trying to do what was right for me. He was trying to be a male role model in my life that I failed to have after my father left. Neither of us had grown up with a father, and I knew Knox wanted me to have a positive male figure in my life.

“Ugh, you’re so right.”

“Your brother. His bark is worse than his bite,” Clay said, leaning over and bumping me with his shoulder. “He sometimes doesn’t know how to show it, but he cares.”

“I know. You know, at one point he used to be my best friend, someone I could tell anything to, and then suddenly one day that changed. I don’t know why it changed, but it did, and it hurts that I can’t go to him when I need him.”

“Maybe you should try talking to him and not hiding things from him.” Clay winked.

Clay signalled to the bartender and held two fingers up. Immediately, the bartender came over and placed two more shots down in front of us.

“Cheers to overprotective brothers,” he said, clinking his glass to mine, and we both tipped our heads back, drinking down the shot.

I smiled at Clay, his blue eyes dancing as he looked at me and smiled.

“Now, about this boyfriend…”

“What about him?” I asked, starting to feel the effects of the shots of alcohol.

“Well, what you just showed me didn’t even deserve you to message him. It deserves nothing more than for you never to talk to him again. So, when you get home, what are you going to do?” Clay asked.

I sat there, thinking about the image I’d seen, anger and hurt flooding me.

“I think the first thing I’m going to do is end things with him.”

“You think, or you know?” he asked, grabbing my phone and opening the picture I’d shown him. He placed it down in front of me and tapped the screen. “Do you think this will ever stop?”

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