Page 9 of Two Minutes for Holding

“Is everything alright?” Mom asked, finally breaking the silence.

“Fine,” we both uttered.

“Doesn’t look that way,” Mom added, coming over to me. She went to place her hand on my shoulder, but I moved out of the way.

“I’m going out,” I said, grabbing my phone from the arm of the chair I’d been sitting in before making my way over to the door.

“What do you mean? Lorelai and I got everything to make pizza, just like you asked,” she said.

“Great, enjoy,” I muttered, slipping my shoes on, not caring about anything.

“Where are you going?” Mom questioned.

I looked over at my brother, who was staring at me, his eyes even more intense now than before.

“Out to find someone else that will bring me down to their level.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Mom cried as she looked at me and then over at Knox. I could see the worry in her eyes and was glad she’d turned away from me.

“See you all later,” I muttered and pulled the door shut behind me, closing off this moment in time for at least a little while.

Chapter Three

Clay

I glanced at my watch. Where the hell were Lucas and Knox? I’d been sitting in The Tilted Flask for about half an hour, waiting for the guys. This wasn’t our usual hangout. We’d only agreed to come here because our normal hangout, Illusions, was under some major renovation.

I checked my phone for any messages from either of them. There was nothing. In fact, neither of them had even read the reminder message I’d sent a little over an hour ago when I’d pulled into the parking lot.

Figures, I thought to myself.

They were both busy with their lives. Knox and Lorelai were in the middle of planning their wedding, and ever since Lucas surprised us with his marriage announcement to Ella, he’d become unavailable almost every night we were home.

Dylan and I figured that tonight would be a good boys’ night, since the girls were supposed to be getting together. Then hedropped the bomb that he couldn’t make it. He was still trying to work things out with his father before he and Aurora got married and the baby was born.

I nodded at the bartender to bring me another beer and glanced across the bar. I’d been watching the couple that were sitting down near the end of the bar. Perhaps they weren’t even a couple. He appeared to be considerably older than her, hovering around her like flies to a slice of rotten meat, and her body language screamed that she wanted to be left alone.

The more I watched her, the more I noticed how uncomfortable she looked. Even at this distance, I couldn’t help but think that she looked familiar to me, like I knew her from somewhere, and for the past ten minutes, I’d been trying to place her. Then she glanced my way. The moment our eyes met, I knew where I’d seen her before.

I swallowed hard, growing more irritated as I watched this guy paw all over Peyton, Knox’s younger sister. What the hell was she doing here?

Maybe it was a good thing Knox wasn’t here now, I thought to myself.

As I sat there, continuing to watch them, I realized how pretty she really was. Hell, the last time I’d run into her, I’d slipped and kissed her. It wasn’t exactly one of my proudest moments, and while I’d regretted it for a few reasons, I’d not for many others. I’d always found her attractive, and if I hadn’t been afraid of having my nuts removed from her brother, I’d have gone in for the kill. The entire situation truly was a double-edged sword.

I glanced across the bar again only to see her staring at me—everything about her, her body language, her eyes were pleading for help.

“Hey, man, thanks for the beer. Could I get one more, please?” I asked the bartender, who’d just placed the bottle down in front of me at the perfect time.

“Sure thing,” he said, cracking the other bottle and setting it down in front of me.

“I’m just going to head on over there, but you have my card.”

“Sure thing,” he said glancing to the opposite side of the bar before moving on to the next patron.

I gathered both bottles, my jacket, and got up off my seat, making my way around the bar. I came up behind Peyton, making sure the guy who was hitting on her saw me coming. He eyed me as I approached them.

“Hey, buddy. Can I help you?” he asked as I stood there making eye contact with him before placing my jacket on the back of her chair.

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