The XOXO New Adult Collection: 16 Full Length New Adult Stories (28 page)

I knock once and open the door. I’m anxious and want to get the kids out of here. The principal stands and shakes my hand. We both sit. He makes a teepee with this fingers and acts like he’s thinking about what he needs to tell me.

“Mr. James, there is never an easy way to say this, but your son has been in a fight.”

“Obviously,” I reply, shortly.

“We take fighting very seriously here at Beaumont Elementary and we don’t condone violence.”

“Can you tell me what happened?”

Mr. Lumsden shakes his head. “Sadly, the children aren’t talking. All I’ve been able to figure out is that there was some name calling and actions taken with hands.”

“Is he suspended?”

“Three days.”

I bite the inside of my cheek. The principal may not be able to figure out what happened, but I will. “And what about Peyton Powell?”

Mr. Lumsden picks up a piece of paper and studies it. “It says here that you’ll be taking her home?”

“Yes, but I need to know what to tell her mother.”

“Well, Mr. James, she’s a mystery. She won’t talk to anyone and has asked that she go home with Quinn. We usually don’t oblige students, but she’s prone to outbursts, and we feel in this situation it’s just best to send her home for the day.”

“Got it, thanks,” I say as I get out of the chair. I throw open the door and both kids jump. “Grab your stuff, let’s go,” I demand. They both stand, shouldering their backpacks and follow me out to the car.

The ride back to Liam’s is quiet and every time I look in the rear view mirror, they’re looking at each other. I can’t imagine what they’re plotting, but it won’t work. They exit the car quietly and follow me in the house.

“Downstairs, Quinn,” I say angrily. Quinn looks at Peyton before she heads into the kitchen. For the life of me, I can’t imagine why he would want to hurt another child. He knows how I feel about violence. I flip the switch in the studio, turning on the lights. He passes me and sits down on Liam’s stool.

I pull JD’s stool forward and sit across from him. “Spill it.”

“I can’t because I made a promise, and you said to always keep my promises.”

He’s right, I did. “I’ve also told you there are exceptions, and this is one of those times. What happened in school today?”

Quinn looks away from me and sighs. “My friend was being bullied on the playground and I asked the other person... ya know, the one being mean to stop, and he didn’t. He was saying all these really mean things, and my friend was crying. The boy touched my friend and my friend said it hurt so I hit him.”

Quinn doesn’t look at me when he tells me the story. I think he’s probably afraid of what my expression is or what my reaction is going to be. What he doesn’t know is that I’m extremely proud and angry at the same time. Violence is never the answer, but sticking up for your friends is. He knows what I went through, and I made him promise he’d always stick up for those who need help.

I tap his leg to get his attention. He turns and looks at me with tears dripping down his face. “I can’t be mad at you. I am disappointed that you turned to violence, but I understand. I don’t know what your punishment will be until I’ve sat and thought about it some more.”

I get up and pull him into my arms. Everything that I couldn’t be when I was younger, he is and he makes me incredibly proud to be his dad. I sit back down and move his hair from his eyes.

“Is Peyton hurt?”

“How’d you know it was her?” he asks, his face full of shock.

“Good guess,” I say, trying to bite back the smile forming.

“She doesn’t want anyone to know.”

I nod. “Okay,” I say respecting their bond. “I want to talk to her though, so can you go get her for me?”

Quinn reluctantly gets down from the stool and walks to the door. “I’m sorry, dad.”

“I know, buddy.” He exits, leaving the door open. I take these few moments to think about what I can do to help Peyton. Probably not much, but we are more alike than she’ll want to accept. I don’t even know what I can tell Katelyn without her freaking out and coming home early. She needs this vacation, but if her daughter is being bullied at school, she needs to know so she can deal with it.

Peyton appears out of thin air. I didn’t even hear her come down the stairs. She stands in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest. Now that I know what’s going on, this stance makes sense. She’s protecting herself and that breaks my heart.

“Want to come in?”

She shakes her head no.

“Okay,” I say. I move my stool closer to her and sit down. “We can talk right here.”

She drops her eyes to the floor. Either she really hates me, or she’s embarrassed. I’m going to go with a bit of both just to cushion my ego.

“Do you want to tell me what happened today?”

“You’re not my dad.”

“No, I’m not and I’m not trying to be, but I want to be your friend, Peyton, if you’ll let me.”

“I have Noah and Quinn.”

“You do,” I agree. “They’re some pretty great friends, aren’t they?”

“Yes.”

“Can I tell you a story?”

Peyton shrugs and still avoids making eye contact with me. So I start my story in hopes that she’ll understand that I’ve been through the same things she’s going through now.

“When I was four, I lost my dad. On the day he died, he kissed me goodnight and went to work. When I woke up, my mom was crying and she told me that he was gone. I didn’t know what that meant until we had his funeral. I was too young to understand that my life had just changed, that everything I knew was going to go away. I had to move from my big house with all my toys and friends that I played with every day, to a very small apartment and was only allowed to bring a few things. A year later when I started school, I was scared because I didn’t know anyone. My friends were all going to a different school. I was alone and some of the other kids picked up on that. They would pull my hair or make fun of my clothes. They would say hurtful things about my dad and laugh at me when I would cry. This didn’t stop until I graduated high school and no longer had to see those people.

“If you’re being bullied, I can help you. I don’t want to know who is doing it because there’s no use in talking to his parents. Besides, you’re more important to me than some idiot kid who thinks it’s funny to make fun of people. People like him will get nowhere in life.”

Peyton finally looks at me. I don’t know what I said, but whatever it was I’m thankful. I reach forward and wipe away her tears.

“Do you want to know what I used to do when I was younger to get rid of all my anger?”

“What?” her tiny, broken voice asks.

“Come here, I’ll show you.” I get up and move JD’s stool back to where it was and walk over to my drums. Peyton stands next to me. I pull her closer, lifting her up on to my lap. I thought for sure she’d balk and run away, but she doesn’t. I place a drumstick in each hand. She looks at me questioningly.

“Do you know what the mean kid looks like?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Good. Now picture his face on the drum and hit it.”

Peyton does, but only taps the drum.

“No, Peyton. I want you to hit it hard. Let it all out on my drums. You can’t hurt them, so don’t even worry about that right now.”

Peyton hits the drum again, but barely.

“Is that all you got?” I ask. I pull another set of sticks out and hit the drum hard. I do this over and over again, saying things that make me angry. Peyton tries again, this time much harder. We take turns hitting the drums until she has both sticks pounding down. I sit there, holding her steady in my lap so she doesn’t fall forward.

When she’s done, she drops the sticks and turns in my lap. Her face is red and puffy from tears and it breaks my heart to see her going through so much pain.

“I’m so sorry, Peyton, no one deserves this much pain.”

“Your daddy went to heaven too?”

“He did.”

“Did you cry?”

“I did. He was my best friend.”

“So was my daddy.”

“I know.” I pull her into a hug and she squeezes me as hard as she can. I don’t know if this is a turning point for us or not, but right now, I’m willing to accept whatever she needs to dish out, whether it’s good or bad. “You can come down here anytime you want.”

“You won’t be mad?”

I shake my head. “No, not at all.”

She turns and picks up the sticks and taps them down a few times. She touches the cymbal and laughs at the different noises it makes.

“Harrison?”

“Yeah, sweetie?”

“Will you teach me to play?”

My heart soars with relief. I try not to think too much into what she’s asking, but if this is a way for us to connect, I’m running with it.

“Anything for you, Peyton.”

CHAPTER 32

Katelyn

I lose the contents of my lunch. Josie holds my hair back, just as she did when I had morning sickness with the twins. Every time an image flashes in my mind, I heave. I was so stupid to think that Harrison was genuine in his fondness of me. He only wanted one thing and apparently he didn’t just need that from me. The mere thought of him being with her brings up another round of the dry heaves. I’m out, empty. The burning in my stomach and chest are stark reminders of the amount of pain I’ve dealt with for over a year now. In one moment, Harrison brought it all back, rushing like water rapids and dragging me under.

I wash my mouth out and pat my face dry. I don’t want to look at Josie. I don’t want to see the sadness etched across her face. I know that look well, no need for a reminder. I leave the bathroom and head to my room. The two-bedroom suite Liam booked is a godsend, as it allows for privacy. Privacy that I didn’t think we’d need.

I fall onto the bed and bury my hands underneath the pillow. I sob into the pillow, allowing it to muffle the sound. I’m utterly and completely broken. I know now that I moved on too fast. If I had waited, I would’ve seen his true colors. He would’ve shown the
real
Harrison before too long. But no, I gave in. I pursued him, even though that was never my intention. I let him get close. I allowed him to woo me with thoughts of togetherness as a family. He baited me with my children. I was a fool to allow all of this to happen.

He’s hurt me, and he’s going to hurt my children. I can’t have a man like this around them. And to think, he had the nerve to tell me he never has any women around Quinn – that’s because he’d tell his mother.

I can’t believe I was so stupid to fall for his charm.

There’s a knock at the door. I sit up and drag my hands over my face roughly. I don’t care what I look like. This vacation is over. The sooner I get home, the better. A lot of things need to change.

Josie walks in with a bottle of wine and two glasses. Even though it’s the last thing I want to do, drinking to forget sounds like a damn good idea right now. She hands me my glass and sits down next to me. I bring the glass to my lips, hesitating for only a moment before tipping my head back and downing the sweet liquid.

I hold my glass out and she fills it again silently. I repeat my action, letting the wine drown my sorrows. Josie has yet to take a drink as she sits next to me, refilling my glass.

“Do you want to go home?”

I scoff. What kind of question is that? The sad thing is, I don’t even have an answer. I shake my head. “Yes and no. I don’t know what I want, except to go back and forget I ever met him.”

“Katelyn,” she says softly, but the underlying tone is there.

“Don’t you dare defend him, Josie. Just don’t. I should’ve never listened to you or Liam, and now look at me. He’s a lying bastard, a cheater, and I don’t have time for him in my life.”

“Katelyn, just listen to me for a minute.” She stands and places her glass and the wine bottle on the nightstand. She kneels, taking my empty hand in hers. “I’m not saying anything to defend anyone, but I think you need to look at this with clear eyes.”

“I am,” I bark out.

“You’re not. Something isn’t adding up. Liam wouldn’t lie to me, and he’s told me many times that Quinn’s mom is out of the picture –“

“Well, obviously Harrison is lying to Liam.”

“Oh Katelyn,” she says shaking her head. She stands and takes my wine glass from me. “I’ll call the airline and have our flight switched.” She’s closed my door before I can respond.

I never thought in a million years that my best friend would take the side of a man who just ripped my heart out.

Nothing about my trip to California will ever make sense. The way Harrison treated me, the way he made love to me like I was the most precious person to him, and the way he told me that he wanted the world to know I had stolen his heart – all lies. He played me like he plays his drums, with perfection.

We’re a day early, and I know there will be questions. I’m neither ready nor willing to answer them. Josie drops me off in my driveway. I stand there while she pulls away. I stare at Mason’s truck, then my car. The girls’ toys have been picked up and the lawn mowed, probably for the last time this fall.

I drag my suitcase behind me and slide my key into the lock. Twisting the knob, I push the door open. I hate coming home to a dark house, but no one knows we’re back yet. I asked Josie not to say anything to Liam. I don’t want Harrison anywhere near me. It’s not that I need time to think. I just need time to compose what I’m going to say to him.

I flip on the switch. My lower lip quivers as my hand covers my mouth. Hot tears stream down my face. A
Welcome Home Mommy
banner hangs in my living room. There are flowers everywhere and a wrapped present on the table. I wipe my face angrily. Why did he do this? I touch the hand painted letters one by one. The girls have painted their names in the corner. I’m so tempted to take it down, but I can’t. It will break their hearts not to see it up tomorrow when we come home.

The slamming of a car door alerts me to his presence. Of course he’d be at Liam’s house. It was stupid to come home early. I should’ve stayed in Los Angeles by myself to figure this shit out.

The door is open and he’s there before I have a chance to lock it.

“What’s wrong?” he asks. I want to scream at the top of my lungs that he’s what’s wrong, but I don’t. I shrug and look away.