Flipping Hearts

Chapter 10

Chapter 10 Jack's POV

The ride back to Peyton's house was quiet and tense. New pressures had been heaped on her capable shoulders and somehow she came out of that mess with everything she wanted. A new budget, a new time line, and a whole new respect from Harry. It was almost magical watching Peyton take over while everyone stood around trying to puzzle together how the vandalism happened.

"It doesn't matter how. It happened. This is how we're going to fix it," she said in a clear, confident voice. Her eyes were bright and I could see the cogs in her head turning faster each minute that passed by. She knew what to do and she was prepared to go to battle to prove it. If her silence was any indication, those negotiations took a lot out of her and I didn't know what she needed from me to help recharge her.

I knew perfectly well she had a support system and didn't need me, but I wanted to be that circle. Desperately. It surprised me how much I wanted to be involved in her life. It surprised me because I thought Danny would be the person to ease me back into life and here it was his little sister.

She turned off the truck and let out a big breath. "Dude. Today was..." She massaged her temples before turning to me. "I'm sorry today was a whole lot of standing around and me ignoring you."

I reached over to pat her knee. "Honestly, watching you deal with those investors was amazing. I think Danny could learn a few things about negotiating from you."

Tears welled in her eyes, which was the last thing I expected. She pushed her way out of the truck and headed to the house without another word. I hopped out and hurried after her. I wasn't sure what happened, but clearly I'd tapped a tender spot and I needed to soothe it before I could be okay with leaving her.

"Hey, do you want me to go get some takeout or something?" I asked, not waiting for an invite in. I pulled my boots off out on the steps before I followed her to the kitchen. I think she was ignoring me and I couldn't figure out why. I caged her against the counter with my arms on each side of her. When she looked at me my heart broke.

Tears spilled from her big coffee colored eyes and I was helpless to stop them. I really didn't like this feeling rearing up in me. Concern. I'd spent the last almost two years avoiding that emotion and here I was, aching to take away her hurt. "What's going on here?"

"Nothing. It's been a stressful day." She swiped at her eyes and my guess was she was pretty angry I was seeing this weakness in her. She pushed at my arms but I would not let her go. Her hands trembled on my arms and her breathing was ragged. I could tell she was fighting not to breakdown into sobs with me in front of her, there was no way in hell I was going to let her fall apart alone. I knew what that felt like and I wouldn't let her do it. I pulled her into my arms and let her push at me. I was surprised by just how strong she was and doubted my ability to hold her much longer.

Lucky for me, she decided to give up and wrap her arms around my waist. She took deep breaths but never made a sound. We stood like that in her kitchen for what seemed to be hours.

I tried to ignore the way her hair smelled so I wouldn't bury my face in her neck the way I wanted to. I stroked her back, satisfying the desire to touch and comfort her. It felt good to have her hanging onto me to gain control of herself. Too damn good. When her breathing evened out and her grip loosened, I tilted her chin up to look at me.

"Pey, you don't have to spill your guts to me, just know I'm here if you need me." Her damp lashes ravaged my insides. This was a different Peyton from the woman I'd watched verbally push those haughty business people around just a few hours ago. I didn't think it was stress, she handled stress just fine. In fact she seemed to flourish the moment she realized everything went to shit. I panicked and so did Harry. But she took a breath and took over. So she wasn't going to fool me that stress was making her cry. Somehow, I peeled open a scab when I brought up Danny. I might need to ask about that later.