Page 7 of Two Minutes for Holding

“Why did you lie to me?” he questioned, coming into the living room with a jug of water and a plate of food. He sat across from me, flipping the TV on, going directly to the sports channel.

“Huh?” I questioned, looking up from the message I was sending off to Tor.

“About Tor? Why did you lie to me?” he questioned.

I’d avoided Knox ever since we arrived here. It hadn’t been hard. He had to get right to bed because he had practice early this morning, and I figured he’d be gone for most of the day, but he’d come home to unwind before tonight’s game.

“I wouldn’t say I lied.”

“What would you call it then? You told me you ended things with him. You also told me you went back to school, or is that a lie as well?”

“No, school isn’t a lie,” I said, getting my back up. “I really don’t understand why it’s any of your business anyway.”

“It’s my business because it’s my money that is paying your tuition. It was also my money that paid to get your ass back into school after you messed up the last time. So, I’m sorry if I have a vested interest in your schooling and who you are dating, and if you’re being treated properly and not messing up your life by getting involved with the wrong people.”

“God, you sound like Mom.”

“Perhaps you’ll listen to me better than you listen to her.”

“Whatever.” I rolled my eyes and returned my attention to the message I was sending.

“Peyton, how about you pay attention to something other than that bloody phone?”

“What?” I said through clenched teeth, placing the phone down on the arm of the chair.

“How did you feel when you saw how William was treating Mom?” Knox asked, taking a bite of a chicken wrap Lorelai had made him for lunch.

“I didn’t like it.” I shrugged.

“Were you scared?”

“Yes, I was scared.”

Knox nodded, as if he already knew the answer I was going to give him.

“Does Tor treat you that way?”

I swallowed hard. Tor was worse than William in some ways, but I’d never let on about those times. He was degrading and a thief and someone I was completely afraid of, which I knew was the reason I’d given him another chance. I did not know how he’d react if I told him I didn’t want to see him anymore.

I barely nodded, but it was a nod, and I knew Knox had seen it.

“Peyton, there are better guys out there. It’s better for you to be involved with those who support you and lift you up, instead of surrounding yourself with those that bring you down.”

“I wouldn’t say he brings me down.”

“I would. Is he in school?”

I shook my head. Tor had dropped out of high school after he failed the eleventh grade.

“Does he have a job?”

Again, I shook my head, growing a little more irritated. The last job Tor had he’d been fired from after he told off a customer.

“Does he support you in going to school?”

Tor and I had many fights over me being in school. He wasn’t a fan of education and didn’t think it was necessary. He always said I could be just like him, since he’d done fine without it. Tor also made it known to me he hated the fact that I worked, even though, thanks to my job, it meant that he had money for his drugs, since he normally took most if not all of what I made.

“Well?”

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