Page 43 of An Unexpected Turn
“Why is Keith cooking outside? Isn’t it too cold?”
“Like he told you, he cooks outside all year long. Come on,” I said, looping an arm around his shoulder as we climbed the outside steps.
“There they are!” Keith marched up to us after we stepped through the front door. “Glad you came. I want you both to try to relax for a night.” He dropped a hand on Mike’s shoulder, smiling wide enough to coax a small grin out of him. Keith had a way of making you feel like whatever problem you had wasn’t so terrible if you just looked at it from a different angle, and his niece took right after him.
Unfortunately, his niece was the one problem my best friend couldn’t fix, because bringing her up would change everything.
I broke a lot of rules for Peyton, the worst one being unable to stay away from her. I was close enough to hurt all of us. There wasn’t a better—or decent—way to spin that.
Now that Peyton had her own place, I didn’t expect to run into her here. Maybe she’d gone for drinks with her teacher friends from school. She was gorgeous, single, and lit up any room she walked into. I’d watched her enough to catch all the eyes that followed her. She could have any man she wanted, so why should she stay home? My hand balled into a fist at my side at the thought.
“I don’t think you know Ron, he’s one of the new officers in the department. Just moved here from Connecticut. He stopped at the butcher for me today, so I thought why not let him stay for dinner.”
“Nice to meet you.” Ron extended a hand from where he stood next to Keith. I guessed he was in his mid to late twenties at most, tall and lanky like I’d been at that age. “I’ve never been to a barbecue in November.”
“Most haven’t.”
Keith laughed when I shook my head.
“Your dad talks a lot of shit, but he’s here every year for the wings I make for the Super Bowl,” he said to Mike. “We’ll eat when my niece gets here.”
My stomach dropped, then clenched when Ron’s eyes brightened.
“Peyton is coming? I didn’t know that.”
Keith frowned, shooting him a glare that would have been laughable on any other day. “I told her that if she wanted to date one of you clowns, I wouldn’t stop her. But if you want to eat, don’t drool over her in front of me.”
My blood boiled at the shit-eating grin spreading Ron’s mouth.
“Hey, everyone.” Peyton’s voice drifted in from the doorway. I turned, catching her gaze after she shut the door behind her.
I was used to the skittish way we avoided looking at each other, but I hated how she tensed up as soon as she saw me.
“How are you barbecuing?” She scrunched her adorable nose at Keith. “It’s below freezing out there.”
“You just say that because you’re not used to being up here for the fall.” He kissed her temple and drew her into his side. “You remember Ron from the station.”
“Yes, nice to see you again.” Her tight smile shrank a bit when she turned toward me. “Hi, Jake, Mike.”
“Hi, Ms. Miller,” my son said as I nodded hello. So much for a stress-free night. Tension and rage twisted in my gut, my muscles so tight it was as if my whole body flexed. I had to sit at the table and try to eat while watching this guy make a play for Peyton and not be able to do a damn thing about it. It wasn’t as if she was mine, that I could pull her to my side and make it clear to everyone giving her a second glance to back the fuck off.
“Ms. Miller,” Ron said, chuckling with a little too much enthusiasm. “I didn’t know this dinner was so formal.”
“Mike is one of my students.”
She turned with a small smile, her eyes finding mine for a moment. She was so beautiful, and even though I wanted to punch Ron’s lights out, I didn’t blame him one bit for how he looked at her.
I followed Keith to the table, my teeth grinding when Ron took a quick seat next to Peyton.
Her eyes flickered to mine, but quickly darted away. She nodded at something Ron said, a polite smile playing on her lips. I knew her real smiles. I knew how soft her skin was and how sweet she tasted. I was a fool for pushing her away for reasons that should have still mattered, but didn’t now. I had the overwhelming inclination to stand and hoist Peyton over my shoulder just to prove she was mine.
But she wasn’t. And that was my fault.
This was not the time to act like some jealous boyfriend, although the way Maya leveled her eyes at me, I was too obvious. I almost wished Keith would notice so he could kick my ass and get it over with and I could take Peyton all for myself.
“Hi, Maya. Thanks for having us here tonight.”
“You’re welcome.” She smiled at Mike, but regarded me with a concerned pinch in her brow.
