Shattered Edge(30)

Justin had gotten right into Preston’s face and he outsized him by a couple of inches and at least twenty pounds of pure muscle. Preston wilted like a delicate flower in the middle of the August heat. He turned around and walked out the door.

I, on the other hand, started shaking like a washer on the spin cycle. I hadn’t seen Preston in over a year and a half. The last time we’d spoken, I told him he wasn’t welcome here until he was clean. He told me he respected that. I hadn’t trusted him in a while and I’d always been a little bit scared of him. But this time he was a totally different guy. Not anything like the brother I’d grown up with. I was really frightened of this Preston. He wasn’t kidding. I read it in his eyes. This was a desperate Preston, needing a fix.

Justin was pulling me to the sofa and crouching down in front of me, saying something. The roaring in my ears made it impossible for me to hear him. His lips were moving, but I couldn’t understand him. Then I got really hot and his hand was on the back of my neck, pushing my head between my knees.

“It’s going to be fine. Try to take some deep breaths honey.” I heard his voice keep repeating those words. I finally responded and started doing that deep breathing thing.

“Good girl Terri. That’s right.”

When I lifted my head, I still felt a little clammy, but I wasn’t shaking anymore.

“Better?” he wanted to know.

“I think so.”

I didn’t even notice until then that I was gripping Justin’s hand. I gave it another squeeze and said, “He scared the hell out of me. He’s never done that before. He’s asked for money and stuff but backed off when I said no.”

“He’s getting more desperate. Typical behavior, I think, for a drug addict.”

“What should I do? What if he comes back here?”

“Honey, I think you should call the police.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, and your parents need to know too.”

I thought for a minute and agreed. “Yeah, they cut him off for the same reasons years ago. You know, tough love and all. My mom still cries about it.”

“What mother wouldn’t? That’s a difficult thing to deal with.”

I called my dad and he was at my house in minutes.

“Dad, this is my boyfriend, Justin Middleton. Justin, this is my dad, Sam Mitchell.”

They eyed each other for a few seconds and then they shook hands. My dad wasn’t nearly as tall as Justin but he was my dad and very protective of me. Dad thanked Justin for being there with me and handling Preston and it was obvious he was relieved I hadn’t been alone.

The police got there right about then. We ended up putting a restraining order on him, only the police said it really couldn’t do that much. They would send a patrol car around the house to check on things every day and night. But that was about it.

Justin called a security company to set up an installation. We all decided that I would stay at Justin’s until the alarm was installed. He was on call that weekend, so I would have his place to myself. By Monday, everything would be set in my house.

My dad was going crazy. Like me, he never thought Preston would stoop to this level. We all hoped when he went to prison, that he would come off the drugs and remain clean. That didn’t happen. It killed us but we learned to move on. We couldn’t live his life for him and he’d made his choice so we had to accept it.

Justin and I were in bed and watching TV that night when I realized that we hadn’t had sex. I looked at him and just stared. He must’ve felt my gaze on him because he turned his eyes toward me and smiled.

“What?”

“We’re laying in your bed and we’re not sexed up.”

“Speak for yourself sweetheart,” he laughed.

“What?”

“Babe, just because my paws aren’t all over you doesn’t mean I’m not sexed up.”

He was confusing me. “I’m not following.”

“Okay, then let me explain Terri. Sometimes there are things that are more important than sex. Like today for instance. You were crumbling on me. I was afraid for your safety. You’re hurting inside for your brother. Yeah, he made that choice. But honey, he’s still your brother. And it still hurts like hell. So sometimes, we might just need to be together. You know...talk, touch that sort of thing. And not always sex. I’ll always be sexed up around you. I’m a testosterone filled tool. What can I say? But I respect you and your feelings enough to know that’s not what you need right now. Am I making sense?”

That was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to me in my life. I wanted to curl up with this man and stay like this for the rest of my life. I really didn’t want to go all gushy on him, all girlie like, but damn it all, when he said that stuff, my eyes filled up like a pond after a heavy storm, and well, I just couldn’t blink enough to keep the overflow at bay.