with the pink ribbons on them. You know, the thong that only has one string that runs up your ass? I want to see your ass in that Terri.”
CHAPTER TEN
Terri
At this rate I was gonna combust. One look at him and my blood roared and turned into liquid fire while my body melted into a puddle of desire. Justin should bottle whatever it was he had and sell it because it was some kind of magic. Talk about arousal. I was in a heightened state around him.
He made work difficult. I would find myself in a trance, thinking about the previous night or that morning, if we spent the night together. I’d decided to limit those nights, although he wasn’t happy about it. He was so consuming and it was all too easy to slip into the Justin mode. I didn’t want to lose the old Terri. I wanted to keep my friends and my life, and not drop everything and just be all about him. He could have me on the weekends he didn’t have call and one or two nights during the week. That was it.
I pulled out of the parking lot, headed to my place when my phone rang. Thinking it was Justin, I answered it without looking.
“I’m almost home,” I laughed.
“Terri?”
“Um yeah.” I knew immediately it wasn’t Justin.
“Hey, it’s me, Preston.”
Oh crap. Preston. My brother. The one that only calls or comes around when he needs something, like money for drugs. The ex-con.
“What do you need Preston?”
“Well, since you’re on your way home, I was planning on meeting you there to talk, so never mind. I’ll see you there.” Click. The call ended.
Damn it all. Justin would be pulling up right about the time Preston and I would be doing the same. Double damn it all.
I called Justin to warn him, but his phone went straight to voicemail. Triple damn it all.
A few minutes later, I pulled into my driveway and on my front porch sat a bedraggled Preston. Thirty seconds later, Justin pulled in behind me. He got out of his car and approached us with a dark look on his face.
Not wanting any kind of altercation, I immediately said, “Justin, meet my brother Preston. Preston, this is my boyfriend, Justin.” It should be noted here that I put a mountain of emphasis on the word boyfriend. I think Justin may have thought I did it for his sake, but I was doing it for my protection against Preston.
The two men eyed each other. Justin extended his hand while Preston twitched and his eyes darted between Justin and me. He finally took the extended hand and gave it a brief shake. I unlocked the door and we all went inside.
“So Preston, what’s up?”
“Well, sis, I was wondering if I could crash here for a while.”
This wasn’t good. My brother was a bad seed. He’d been in one mess after another, had done six months in prison and was still using.
“You’re still using Preston. Until you quit, you can’t stay here.”
His eyes flashed and his lips hardened. His whole demeanor changed and I was suddenly happy Justin was there. Justin moved next to me and put his arm around me, pulling me into his side.
“I need money Terri.”
“We’ve been over this time and again Preston. I’ll help you when you help yourself. No money, no place to live, nothing, until you get help and get clean. I mean it Preston. I’m not kidding here. I’ll not enable you on your life further down into the gutter in which you’re already living.”
“Why do you have to be such a fucking bitch?”
I felt Justin stiffen in reaction to Preston’s abusive remark. I prayed he didn’t do anything. The last thing I needed was some kind of quarrel between the two of them.
“I’m not Preston. I simply don’t believe in aiding and abetting a drug addict. Roll up your sleeves for me.”
“No! It’s none of your fucking business what I do.”
“Fine. Then you have no fucking business asking me for a place to stay or money to support your fucking drug habit. Now get out Preston. And don’t come back until you’re clean. I’ll be
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