“Sorry, poor choice of words,” he says and tries to kiss me again.
“Look, just let me go and I’m going to take off. I need to think and I can’t seem to do that when I’m around you,” I say as I push him away.
I grab my car keys and open the door. One look back at him and I nearly stop, but I know where that will leave me so I walk out, closing the door behind me.
Part Five: Lone Star
Peyton
The soda burns as it goes down my dry throat. The pill I swallow is bitter in more ways than one. With a quick stop at the pharmacy nowhere near my tiny town with all its nosey people, I made a decision to play it more than safe after Kip made his little mistake.
The man is insane!
I had the best time ever, and I do mean ever. Then he went and spoiled the day with reckless abandonment as he forgot his responsibility in the birth control process. I’m brand new to this stuff and he’s the pro, so I’m totally blaming his ass.
I’m pissed at him for a few reasons. Number one, he can’t be trusted to use a condom every time, and that’s a big deal to me. Number two, he wants me to run off and join him on his tour. Number three, his dick of a band mate, Bobby, seems to think it’s his job to keep trampy whores around for the whole band’s pleasure.
Only mere seconds after swallowing the pill my cell lights up and Kip’s name shines at me. It’s the third time he’s called in the last forty-five minutes. I pick up the phone and swipe it.
“What?”
“Hello, love,” he says, sweetly. “Look, I know why you’re mad and I get it, I do. It’s really not a problem, if we end up pregnant I’ll be over the moon. Don’t you worry.”
“Don’t worry about that,” I say as I look in the rear-view mirror and see tears running out from underneath my dark sunglasses.
Damn it! Why in the hell am I crying?
“But I want you to know what I feel and that I’ll be there for you. I want to always be there for you, no matter what, love.” His voice sounds so sweet, and he seems so damn honest.
I break into sobs and hang up the phone. It lights up and I reject the call and cry as I make my way home alone and shaky as I have no idea of what the right thing to do is anymore.
The idea of going on tour with Kip on our own private bus is something most women dream a rock star would invite them to do. Not me though. I don’t want to upset my family who still thinks of me as a little girl. One who can’t possibly be in an adult relationship.
Seems that they were right. I trusted a man to make sure we were protected, and that didn’t work at all. It’s my job to be sure I don’t get pregnant, and I went ahead and made the decision to have sex with Kip way too quickly.
A naïve idiot, I am. My phone lights up again and I answer it since I’ve quit sobbing and only tears pour from my eyes, making things blurry and I really should pull over anyway until I straighten myself up. I pull into a gas station parking lot and answer the phone.
“What?”
“Love, why are you crying?” he asks.
“No reason, Kip,” I shout. “No reason at all. Anyway, you have nothing to worry about. I stopped at a pharmacy and made sure your little slip up won’t affect us for the rest of our lives.”
Silence is all I get in response. “I see,” he finally says. “Well, it is your body after all, isn’t it?”
“It’s my body, my life, and my brothers who will try to kill you if I didn’t do that. So, yeah, you’re welcome.” I wipe my eyes and can see again so I pull back onto the road that will lead me home.
“Peyton, you’re twenty-four years old! Not a damn child!” he says a lot more loudly than he has been talking. “Go home and take a bath and get your hot ass dressed in a nice dress. Pack an overnight bag and I’ll be there in a few hours. I have some things I want you to have then I’m taking you out to somewhere expensive for dinner and back to my hotel room to spend the night with me.”
“Are you crazy?” I ask as I take the exit to get to my house.
“Yes I am. You’re making me that way.”
“What am I supposed to tell my parents?” I ask.
“Not a damn thing. I’m going to tell them. I want to teach you how easy it is to act as if you’re grown-up and can make your own damn decisions. Which you are badly in need of learning. So I’ll be there around five. Be ready.”
He’s hung up before I can tell him I don’t want to go anywhere. I want to lie on my bed and weep. He has no idea of how much I need my family’s approval. I always have. No matter how exciting I think it would be to run off with Kip, I can’t.
Kip
“Yeah, Pop, she’s gotten completely under my skin and I can’t stop thinking ‘bout her. I love her,” I tell my father over the phone as I drive the brand new Tesla Model S I had just bought for Peyton.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever heard those words come out of your mouth, son,” my father says. “Don’t let her go. It won’t be easy to get it all going, but make it work, Kip.”
My eyes wander for a split second to the tiny black box which sits in the passenger seat. “Do you think the things I’m going to give her are too much?”
“Hell, no!” He assures me. “You’re rich, man. Her and her family need to realize that’s what rich people do. We spend extravagant amounts of money on those we love.”
“Thanks, Pop. I’ll see you after the tour is over in February.”
“Nope,” he says and I frown. “Your mother and I will be in L.A. for Christmas so we’ll see you then.”
“Really? Not going to France?” I ask as they’ve done so for the last couple of decades.
“Nah. We’re ready to change things up a bit. Frankly, since you’ve told me your big news, I’m glad your mother decided this. One day in the near future I hope we have some grandbabies to spend the holidays with,” he says and I laugh as I picture my long haired, rock star father holding a toddler on his lap.
“Christmas will hold plenty of kids for you to practice on as I’ve invited a family I got to know while I was held over in Houston last week. They have a set of twins that will be around three years old then and a new baby is on the way and he’ll be here by then.”
“That sounds fantastic. Your mother will love to get her hands on those babies. She’s been complaining about how her friends all have lovely grandchildren and she has none.” He laughs. “You know how she is. She has to have what everyone else does.”
“Hopefully, Peyton will agree to come home with me for the month of December. We have the whole month free. You’ll love her, Pop, and so will Mum.”
“I know we will, son. I have to go. I hear your Mum calling my name. Talk to you soon. Make sure you let us know what the girl says. Bye now.”
“Bye, Pop,” I say and tap the button to end the call.
My eyes roam all around the interior of this completely bad ass machine and I pray that Peyton will be as impressed with it as I am. I pull into her long drive and see her father outside watering a tree it seems he’s just planted.
He looks at the car intently and then smiles when I get out. “Well, hey there, Kip.”
“Good evening, Matt. I see you planted yourself a tree there,” I say as I go and shake his hand.
“Yep, got me a pecan tree from the feed store today when I went to pick up some more cattle feed. I like pecans and someday I hope this one will make a few for me. If not, at least the grandkids will see some,” he says and I find it remarkable how both of our parents are going on about grandkids.
“Matt,” I say as I fidget a bit nervously, something I don’t do.
“Yeah, son?” he turns off the hose and drops it.
“You see that car there?”
“It’s a beauty. What kind is it?” he asks as we walk over to check it out.
I open the back door and it lifts up like some kind of a space ship and he gives a long whistle in approval.
“It’s a Tesla Model S. The safest automobile on the road to
this date. It can do all kinds of things on its own, like park and change lanes when you turn the signal on. Plus it gets one hundred and two miles to one gallon of gasoline. It’s also electric and can run up to two hundred and seventy miles before you have to power it up again.”
“Well, I’ll be dang,” he says as he peruses the interior.
“Have a seat in the driver’s side, sir,” I say and open the door for him. I walk around to the passenger side and get in. “Start her up and take her for a spin.”
He looks all over then at me. “How?”
I point to where he needs to push, and he does. It starts up so quiet he doesn’t realize it’s on. “You can put it in gear now.”
“Is it on?” He looks confused.
“Yeah, just put it into gear and go,” I say and point to the shifter.
He does and pulls away. “Boy, this thing is smooth. It’s a rental?”
“I bought it today. Usually you have to order one of these, but this one just came in and they were going to use it in the showroom, but I added a little to the price and they let me have it.”
“You added to the price?” He looks at me like I’m crazy. “Boy, you don’t never add to the price. You make them come down!”
“Not with this car you don’t.” I laugh and watch him as his eyes light up as he looks at everything.
“Well, I thought you were having to ride on a bus,” he says as he drives down the road. “I guess you’re going to ship it back to Hollywood.”
“No, I’m giving it to your daughter,” I say and watch him intently for his reaction.
He laughs and looks over at me. “You must really like her.”
“I love her, sir,” I wait for his response.
“So soon?”
“Yes, sir.” I pull the small black box from my jacket pocket and open it to show him the engagement ring I bought her. “I’d like to ask her to marry me tonight at dinner. But only if you approve, sir.”
A silvery shimmer shines in his light green eyes.
“A bad ass car and that’s some ring there you got her. She’s our baby. Our last little chicken.” He looks me right in the eyes. “You think you can be good to her? I mean, your life is full of things that are very different from the life she’s known.”
“I know that.” I smile. “I can be good to her. Making her happy is all I can think about. Keeping her safe was at the top of my mind as I researched what kind of car to get her.”
“Safety is important,” he says. “Can’t say I even thought of that when her mother and I gave her that Jeep. Seems you have a pretty good head on your shoulders. I saw a picture of you when you’re all rock starred up. You do look different. Now that man I’d not give a yes to, but the man you are now, I have to say I do give my approval.”
I let out my breath and smile. “You won’t be sorry, Matt. I swear it to you.”
“Let me see that rock again,” he says with a smile. “Her mother is going to crap her pants over that.”
I laugh and feel better already.
Peyton
Out the window, I look for Kip to drive up as he said he’d be here around five and it’s getting close to six. Some gorgeous, black car pulls up and my father gets out of the driver’s side.
What the hell?
I get up and go outside to see why Dad’s cool all of a sudden as I see Kip get out of the passenger side. I stop and realize he was letting my father drive his new rental. Dad won’t fall for that if he thinks that my parents will give him the okay to keep me at his hotel tonight.
I packed a bag, but I doubt they’ll agree to let him keep me like that. I’m their baby, their last child, their favorite. I’m sure I am. No, they’ll never agree to anything he asks.
Kip looks devastating in a black suit with a light blue shirt under it which makes his blue eyes pop. His smile is big and bright as he comes towards me. I can’t seem to take my eyes off him as he picks me up and spins me around.
“Hello, love.” He drops a quick kiss on my cheek. “Did you miss me?”
The way my heart’s pounding I can’t lie and say I didn’t. “I guess so.”
He puts me down and laughs. “You guess, huh? Well, I missed you. Let’s go say hello to your mother then we’ll be on our way. I’ve made us reservations at supposedly the best five star restaurant in Austin. Have you heard of it? It’s called, Congress.”
I nod as I’ve heard about that place and I know it’s expensive. “We don’t have to go there. It must be uber-expensive, Kip.”
His arm goes around my waist and he gives my cheek another kiss. “Don’t ever let money stop you from doing anything. I have more than enough, so let me spoil you. Besides, this is our last night before I leave for Dallas tomorrow. I want it to be something you remember for the rest of your life.”
“Okay then.”
Mom’s eyes flash and she smiles. “Oh my! Don’t you two look amazing!” Kip lets me go and kisses my mother’s cheek and hugs her. “Oh, Kip, you’re such a sweetheart.”
I roll my eyes at his over the top shenanigans with my parents. They’re still not going to tell him he can keep me overnight. “You got something to ask my parents, Kip?”
He looks back at me and gives me his million dollar smile. “First, I want to show you what I bought you today. Come with us outside, Donna. You’ll like this too, I’m sure.”
“How exciting!” Mom says as Kip takes her hand and places it in the crook of his arm then runs his other arm around my waist as he takes us back outside.
“What a nice car you rented, Kip,” she says as we walk towards it, the gift inside it no doubt. “What kind is it?”
“It’s only the safest car they make. It’s called a Tesla. It’s both electric and runs on gas.” He turns to me and looks me dead in the eyes. “And it’s no rental. I bought it for Peyton. It’s hers now.”
“Shut up!” my mother and I say in unison.
“Kip, this is too much,” I argue as my eyes scan the magnificent vehicle. “I can’t accept it.”
My father’s voice comes from behind me, “Sure you can, sweetheart. It’s the safest thing on the road today.”
My head jerks back to look at my father. “What? Are you kidding me, Dad? This thing has to be insanely expensive. I can’t accept it.”
Kip’s hand pinches at my waist and it tickles a little. “Listen to your father, love. Don’t worry about how much it costs. The important thing is that you’re safe when you drive somewhere.”
He opens the door and it is all dark leather and looks like the inside of a space ship. He opens a back door, and it really looks like a space ship. “Kip, this is too much.” I look around and really want to accept it, but it’s not in me to.
“This is so nice, but…” His finger touches my lips stopping me.
“Don’t answer me yet about it. Just let it sink in and then you can tell me if you don’t want it,” he says then kisses my cheek, taking my breath away.
“Okay,” I say once his lips have left my cheek, I put my hand to where his lips have left as an electric current runs through it. “So, are you going to ask or what?”
With a wink he says, “So Matt, what do you say to Peyton staying in Austin with me tonight? We have reservations at eight and that will take some time, then I’d like to take her to a club on Sixth Street for a little while. It’ll be much safer for her to stay at the hotel with me tonight. Don’t you agree?”
My father’s smile I catch out of the corner of my eye. “It would. But Peyton I want you to know something, dear.”
My brows raise as I look at Kip with an, I told you so expression, then I look at my father. “Yes, Daddy?”
“Pumpkin, you do realize that your mother and I know you’re a grown woman now and completely capable of making your own decisions, right?” He wraps his arm around my mother and she smiles too.
What has just happened?
“No, I didn’t realize that, Daddy,” I say as my mouth feels dry and sudd
enly I feel like I’m at the edge of the nest and my parents are about to give me a shove.
“Sure, sweetie,” Mom says. “Now go and have a good time with your boyfriend.”
Kips gives me a squeeze and I find I’m light headed. “Let me go get the bag I packed.”
They all stay outside and look at the car as I go inside. As I open my bedroom door I look around and see how much it remains the same as when I was in high school. A kitten poster still hangs on one wall and my light pink curtains and bedspread look like something a little girl would have in her bedroom.
Is it me who’s been keeping myself in the baby position and not my family?
Then it occurs to me that maybe my parents are ready to let me grow up, but what about my over-protective brothers?
Surely once they see that Kip’s given me a car and has expectations of taking me away from them and their protection, they’ll make a fuss and demand that I leave him alone. I’ve never been able to make my own decisions. I had to fight to get a degree in Literary Arts. They all thought I needed to be majoring in business for some odd reason.
I hold the bag in my hand and stand still as I look around. Someone clears their throat and I turn to see my mother standing in the doorway.
“Peyton, what’s the holdup? Aren’t you excited to be going to that fancy restaurant and spending some time with that wonderful man who seems to be crazy about you?”
“Kinda.”
“Wow! Only kinda, Peytie!” She wraps her arm around my shoulders and walks with me out my door. “You’ve been sheltered, I know that, but don’t let life pass you by. If given great opportunities, take them. I see it in your eyes, baby girl. Fear. There’s no place for that. Let it go and see what happens with you and Kip. Don’t be afraid of what might happen. And please don’t think that we want to keep you from living and loving, we don’t.”
“Okay, Mom,” I say, feeling shell shocked.
Have all my thoughts about what my family would do if I take off with Kip been wrong?
Hacked For Love & The Dom's Songbird Page 28