Page 18

Peyton

“Where are we going?” I questioned as Clay came out of the bedroom dressed in a nice pair of jeans and a sweater.

“I told you. We’re headed to dinner, and before you ask, you look perfect,” he said, walking past me and slipping his feet into his shoes.

I’d worn the only sweater I’d brought and a pair of jeans. I looked down at myself and pulled a piece of lint off my sweater before slipping my feet into my shoes as well.

“Yes, but where for dinner?” I questioned. “I wish I had brought something a little dressier.”

“You’ll see.” He smiled as he held my coat for me to slip into.

After our afternoon romp, we’d showered and then got ready to go out for dinner. I sat in the passenger’s seat as he drove through Vancouver, finally turning into an area I recognized.

“Wait, where are we going?” I asked again, this time knowing full well where he was headed.

“Well, Lorelai called, and she and your mom wanted to have us for dinner.”

Anger flooded me. This felt like a bit of a setup. Neither of them had called and spoken to me. Instead, they talked to Clay.

“No way. I told you, I’m not stepping foot in my brother’s house until he apologizes, and I don’t want you to go in there. He’s apt to kill you.”

“Look, we are going to be adults about this. We’ve been invited to have dinner with Dylan, Aurora, Candance, and Phil, and your mom, Lorelai, and Knox. He’ll behave. He will have too many witnesses otherwise.” Clay chuckled.

“You don’t get it. I want him to be the bigger person and to accept things for what they are. I want him to apologize to me. I won’t go begging him for an apology. He was absolutely awful to me and look at what he’s done to you.”

“That is what we all want. So that is what this night is all about,” Clay said, pulling into their driveway.

I sat there staring at the house, anger coursing through me. I didn’t move as Clay climbed out of the car, nor when he opened the door. Instead, I waited until he placed his hand inside, waiting for me to take it, but when I didn’t, he cleared his throat.

“Peyton, come on,” he said. “Let’s be an adult. This will pass over.”

“You’re impossible,” I muttered as I reluctantly undid my seatbelt and climbed out of the car. We walked up the walkway to the door, where Clay rang the bell. It was only a couple of moments before the door was opened and Lorelai smiled.

“Come in, you two. Don’t worry, the big bad ogre isn’t here yet.” She winked as we both stepped inside.

Immediately, she wrapped her arms around me, giving me an enormous hug.

“I’m so glad you came,” she whispered. “I’m sorry my other half is such an ass.”

“No need for you to apologize. I know what my brother can be like.”

“Well, things are going to be remedied tonight,” she said, taking my coat along with Clay’s. “Come on in. Dylan called. Aurora isn’t feeling great, so they are staying home, but Candace and Phil are in the kitchen with Reese.” She winked.

Clay didn’t wait. He placed his hand on my lower back and guided me to the kitchen where, the moment my mother saw me, she came right over and wrapped her arms around me.

“Darling, how are you feeling?” she questioned.

“Fine, Mom, don’t make a fuss, please.”

Mom hugged me again and then shook her head, turning to Clay. “Hey, Clay. I’m glad you got her here.”

“Of course,” he said, hugging Mom quickly and then letting her go.

“Your eye is looking much better,” she added. “I can’t believe my son actually did this to you.”

“If you think that is bad, you should see his right side,” I muttered.

Mom looked at me and then back at Clay. “What did he do?” she questioned.

“Don’t worry about it. That remedy you gave me worked wonders. I’ve had so many black eyes and nothing has ever worked as well as what you gave me. I’ll try it on my ribs.”

“I’m glad it worked well for you,” Mom said, smiling. “I’d like to see your ribs though.”

“No need, really. It’s almost healed.”

I shook my head as I watched Clay shake hands with who I imagined was Lorelai’s brother Phil before he turned and introduced us.

“Hey, Peyton, nice to finally meet you,” Phil added, coming over and pulling me in for a hug, then he turned to his wife and introduced me.

“Nice to meet you.” I smiled.

“We’ve heard lots about you,” Phil added. “And we won’t judge you based on anything Knox has told us.”

“Thanks.” I smiled, leaning into Clay while he placed his hands on my upper arms and rubbed them.

“Have a seat,” he whispered. “Want a water?”

I nodded and took a seat.

“How is the packing coming?” Mom questioned.

“Good, just about done. Hopefully, only another two weeks, and then everything will be ready.” I smiled.

“Perfect, and I wanted to let you know the apartment will be ready by then as well.”

“Great.”

We talked a little about things while we laid in bed last night, and Clay had expressed an interest in living together when I moved here. I wasn’t sure if now was the time to tell my mother or not. I looked over and met Clay’s eyes, but he only subtly shook his head, so I said nothing more.

“So, Aurora isn’t feeling so good?” I questioned.

Lorelai looked over at me and shook her head. “No, she was having some slight contractions today at work, so we sent her home early. She still wasn’t feeling too great tonight, and her doctor told her just to rest. I told her she should be off now, but she’s stubborn.”

“I hope she is okay.”

“She’ll be fine,” Mom added. “Dylan will call if anything happens. Lorelai made sure of that.”

Lorelai let out a laugh and nodded. “That I did.”

“I’m home. Everyone ready to eat?” Knox yelled as he shut the front door.

I looked over at Clay, who came over to where I sat and stood behind me, placing his hand on my shoulders to comfort me. He placed a kiss on the top of my head and whispered in my ear that everything would be fine.

“Yep, bout time you got your ass home!” Phil yelled, winking at me.

“God, who the hell invited you?” Knox chuckled as he came around the corner, a smile on his face, until he laid eyes on Clay and me.

“What the hell are you two doing here?” He frowned. “Lorelai, a word, please.”

Lorelai glanced over at us and rolled her eyes and followed Knox down the hall to the bedroom, where we heard the door slam. Muffled voices carried down the hall for a bit, and then Lorelai appeared, her eyes red and glassy.

“Ready to eat?” she said, smiling through what I was sure were tears as she nodded toward the table.

“Clay, Peyton, how about you take the seats down there? Phil, Candace, how about you guys sit across from them? Reese, please take the seat beside Peyton. I’ll sit here, and Mr. Grumpy Pants can sit at the head of table.” She winked in my direction and gave me a fake smile before heading to the kitchen, where she began bringing full dishes to the table.

The moment she sat down, Knox appeared and took a seat without so much as even glancing in our direction. The table was quiet as the food was passed around, and once all the main dishes were back in the center of the table and we’d dug into the food, Phil cleared his throat. I glanced over at Clay, only to feel his hand on my thigh and give it a gentle squeeze.

“For fuck’s sakes…” Knox muttered under his breath. “If I’m going to be forced to allow you to eat at my table against my wishes, the least you could do is respect where you are and not grope my sister. After all, I think you’ve done enough,” Knox muttered.

I could feel tears welling in my eyes at Knox’s words. I looked over at Lorelai, who sat there with a frown on her face and a look of disbelief. Phil then met my eyes and cleared his throat.

“How are the wedding plans coming, Lorelai?” Phil questioned, as if nothing had just happened.

“Fine, we are trying to still decide on invitations and cake flavors.”

“Oh, have you narrowed it down?” Candace asked.

“I have picked three invitations and two cake flavors. It’s my other half who is undecided. He doesn’t like any of my choices.”

“I never said I didn’t like your choices. I said it really didn’t matter to me which invitation you chose. However, you know my feelings on the red velvet cake,” Knox muttered, keeping his head down.

“I just wanted your input. It’s your wedding as well,” Lorelai said, glancing across the table at us.

“Jesus, can’t anyone just do what I tell them to. I told you I was fine with the invitations, any of them. Pick one. The cake, I wanted vanilla, not butterscotch, not that stupid orange, whatever it was called, and I hate red velvet. As for the meal, put the damn choices down on the card and let the guests decide what they want to eat.”

I looked over to see Lorelai was now really on the verge of tears. My mother wore a shocked expression, and then I glanced over at Clay. It was at that moment that Knox threw his napkin down on the table and stood up.

“Where are you going?” Mom questioned.

“I’m done.”

“Done what?” Lorelai asked.

“I’m done with this meal. It clearly doesn’t matter what I want, or who I want to share meals with. It was as much as told to me twenty minutes ago down the hall what I was going to do. So, I’m done. I’m going out.”

Knox took off toward the door, and seconds later, we all jumped when we heard the door slam shut.

“I’m so sorry. This is so embarrassing,” Lorelai cried, while Mom did her best to console her.

“I’ll go after him,” Phil said, getting up from the table.

We heard the door close moments later. I’d lost my appetite. I knew this outburst was because we were here, and I felt terrible for Lorelai, who’d worked so hard on this wonderful meal.

“I think considering everything, Clay and I are going to go,” I mumbled.

“No, Peyton, please don’t leave,” Lorelai said. “Eat your dinner. I invited you here, and therefore you’re allowed to be here. I should have cleared it up with him and told him what my plans were, to have the two of you to work things out. I figured dinner would be a good time to do that. I’m so sorry that the pair of you had to witness this.”

“Lorelai, don’t you worry. I’ve seen this man throw plenty of fits over the years. One more will not change my thoughts on him now. He’s angry, he’s hurting, and I’m sure he feels betrayed,” Clay added. “He’ll also get over it.”

“Yeah, but he’s doing this to you. Someone who has lost so much already. He should be happy for you that you have found someone who makes you happy.”

“I know in my heart he will be once he gets over everything. Somehow, I knew he’d react this way to the news. I’m sure he thinks Peyton is just another notch on my belt, but he is so wrong,” Clay added.

“Well, I’m glad to know that,” I whispered.

Cadence, Mom, and Lorelai all laughed at what I said, while Clay took hold of my hand in his.

“Guess I’ll see you in a couple of weeks,” Clay said, his forehead resting against mine as he squeezed my side, kissing me.

The rest of the weekend had flown past, and while nothing had gotten resolved at dinner that night, I’d wondered what the meaning behind Clay losing so much meant. I finally broke down and asked him on Sunday morning, and he shared his story with me. It broke my heart knowing what he’d been through. Shortly after, he’d promised me he’d work on talking with Knox at the next practice. They had two games left of the second round, and they were down by one game, so if they didn’t win the next one to tie it up, they would be out of the playoffs.

“Maybe wait until after you guys play the next game,” I whispered, not wanting to bring more stress to the team than was already present.

“Why?” he questioned. “I’m only going to talk with your brother.”

“If you talk to him before the game, and then you lose, he will blame us even more for the loss. Please, just wait.”

“Alright, I’ll wait,” he said, pressing his lips to mine. "Don’t stress over it. Things will work out.”