C12 Chapter 12

Finn ignored her ranting and went ahead and loosened the others. She continued to rant. Mumbling something about men and how everything came so easily for them. Something about her hysterical warbling triggered recognition in his brain. She was the woman from the video, he was sure of it. He wouldn’t have recognized her if not for the nonsensical railing at men and their apparent uselessness.

He pulled the tire free and slid the spare on. It was one of those skinny things that wouldn’t get her much further than the nearest tire and auto place. He tightened the wheel nuts and lowered the car on the jack. Meanwhile, the crazy woman kept pacing and cursing and he was just about sick of it. He packed the jack away in the back of her car and lifted the flat tire in as well before closing it and turning to face her. It took her a minute to realize that he was finished. When she did, she turned to him and blinked as if she were coming out of a trance.

“You’re going to have to replace this spare,” he said conversationally. “It’s only an emergency tire and shouldn’t be driven on for too long.”

“Thank you for man-splaining that to me,” she said with a curl of her lip.

Was it irrational for him to want to wipe that sneer off her face with a hard kiss? Her snarky attitude shouldn’t be turning him on, but it was. Even though he now knew who she was, he couldn’t help remembering how she had felt plastered against him and he couldn’t deny wanting to experience it again.

“The usual thing you say in a situation such as this,” he said, his voice calm and nonchalant, “is thank you.”

She huffed out a breath and blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. She really did look like a drowned rat and he felt pity for her. She was obviously having a bad day and he could understand the whole ranting to the universe, he just didn’t appreciate her railing against the whole male species because of her stupid fucking fiancé.

“Thank you,” she said. “I do appreciate your help, even though it might not sound like it.”

He grinned at her. It was his trademark grin, the one that had never failed to soften up a woman and get her interested in what he had to offer. She just rolled her eyes.

“It was my pleasure,” he said. “I never caught your name, though.”

“That’s okay Finn,” she said. “You don’t need to know my name.”

She slid into her car and started it before he realized that she knew his name. How the hell did she know his name?

“Thanks again Finn,” she called out the window as she waved to him.

The window closed and she pulled out onto the road leaving him standing there watching her drive away.

“What the fuck?”

Shaking his head, he got back into his car and started the engine. She was an enigma.

Of all the people to stop and help her, it had to be him. Peyton couldn’t believe that ‘Uncle Finn’ from the hospital had been the only person in all of the city and surrounding suburbs who would pull over to help someone in distress. When she had first walked into Riley’s room and saw him sitting there, her traitorous body had perked up. When she found out that he wasn’t Riley’s dad but his uncle, all her girl parts cheered. She had even flirted with him a bit. And then Riley had commented that ‘Uncle Finn’ was only there to perv on the nurses. Of course, he was. Hadn’t she learned that men were all the same? Had the whole Dale saga taught her nothing?

Peyton pulled her car into the underground parking garage and found a place to park. Her building didn’t have its own parking and she paid a tidy sum to walk two blocks to her apartment, but at least her car was safe. With a sigh she climbed out of the car, grimacing at the mess she had made on the front seat. She would need to contact someone to come and clean her car - her clothes would have to be thrown away.

She was a wreck - wet through and her hair was starting to frizz as it dried in the humidity. Fuck summer rainstorms; they were not in the least bit romantic, not like they were portrayed in movies. She grabbed the garment bag with her Wonder Woman costume and her messenger bag, which she slung across her body, before grabbing the bag of takeout food. She’d hit the drive-thru at McDonald’s on her way home, that way she didn’t have to get out of the car. Loaded up like a pack horse, she schlepped up the stairs to the sidewalk and headed home.

It had been exactly a week since she had found out about Dale. Exactly a week since Mia had uploaded that fucking video to YouTube and Facebook. Surely the attention would die down now. Her life really couldn’t be that interesting to the rest of the world. She’d had her fifteen minutes of fame and now she was happy for everyone to just move-the-fuck on and forget about her.

She saw the gaggle of vultures waiting around the entrance to her building and she contemplated turning around and heading back to her car. Maybe she could hide out at Cassie’s house for a while? Surely her sister wouldn’t mind…except that she was a newlywed and there was no way Peyton wanted to invade her and Brian’s love nest. Ick! Chloe might have let her move in for a while, but she was in the same boat. Newly married to the man of her dreams with a baby on the way. There was no way Peyton wanted to get in the middle of that. Mia would be no help, she lived in a shoebox.

Peyton stopped and tilted her head to the sky. The rain had stopped but it had left behind the heavy, steamy, wet-blanket feel that only a summer rainstorm can. She was tired, grumpy, and uncomfortable in her wet and muddy clothes. The last thing she wanted was to run the gauntlet of reporters who would gleefully snap her picture while she was looking her absolute worst. Someone walked past her and bumped her shoulder, causing her to stumble. She couldn’t stay out here on the sidewalk all day.

Taking a deep breath, Peyton squared her shoulders and strode with purpose towards her building. She pushed her way through the assembled gaggle with their long-lens cameras and up the stairs to the front door of the building. It seemed that they hadn’t recognized her. She pulled the door open but had to wait while Mrs. Feeney stepped out onto the stoop. The older woman glared at Peyton.

“This is all your fault, you know,” she said, loud enough that the paps close enough could hear.

“That’s her!” one of them said and started snapping pictures.

“Do you have anything to say about the video your ex-fiancé’s new wife posted?” another one of them called.

“Are you going to post a reply?”

What the actual fuck?

Peyton clamped her mouth shut and pushed past Mrs. Feeney and into the lobby, leaving the mob behind. She felt her body start to shake and she wasn’t sure if it was shock, rage, or the fact that she was still wearing wet and muddy clothes. With single-mindedness, she headed for the elevator. Thankfully it was already in the lobby and she didn’t have to wait for it. She hit the button for her floor and hummed while it rose. She just needed to keep it together until she got behind her apartment door. She could fall apart then. But not now. Not in public. Not even in the privacy of the elevator of her building. For all she knew, there were hidden cameras in here just waiting to catch her making a scene. The last thing she needed was for more publicity.

Her phone started ringing as the elevator doors opened. She ignored it as she strode purposefully down the hall to her door. She fumbled with the key but finally got it open. Once she was inside and the door was closed behind her, she fell in a heap. She didn’t even make it to the couch. Nope. Her knees just crumpled and she sat on the floor just inside the door. This was a nightmare. She was living in a nightmare. In the blink of an eye, her world had been turned upside-down and inside-out. She thought she was past the worst of it, but Dale’s new wife posting a reply to her video would just start the whole thing up again. God. She was so screwed.