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I wish I could find Jerry and tear him a new one all over again, but right now, what’s most important is taking care of my woman. Janie’s resilient and strong, so I know she’ll bounce back, but again, she shouldn’t have to because this never should have happened. That dirty old bastard was out of his mind, and the rage rises in my chest again.
I mean, WTF was Jerry thinking? Has he been following us this entire time? How? Why? I just don’t get it.
Janie sniffles again, squeezing me even tighter while clearing her throat. I smooth a big hand over her curls and then tip her chin up to look into those big brown eyes, currently filled with tears.
“What is it honey?” I ask in a low voice. “Tell me.”
She sniffles again.
“I just wanted to say thank you, Brand,” she manages between hiccups. “For saving me, I mean. I’m really glad you did because if you hadn’t come when you did, who knows what would have happened?”
“Yes, but I arrived at the nick of time,” I rub her back soothingly. “We shouldn’t think about the what if’s.”
She’s silent for a moment and then lets out a shuddering sigh.
“You’re right. But that jerk must have been following us this whole time. How else would he have known where we were?”
I shake my head.
“I have no idea, honey. Have you kept in touch?”
She jerks her chin with denial.
“No, definitely not! I told my mom I was at that nail tech class, remember? So Jerry probably thought I was there too, but I guess not.” Then she thinks for a moment. “But maybe I should have seen this coming because I’ve always suspected that he didn’t like me.”
“What?” I furrow my brows. “Why?”
She sighs.
“I’ve never been a fan of Jerry, needless to say, and I haven’t exactly tried to hide that,” she shrugs. “I didn’t like him when he and my mom first started dating so I tried to throw up roadblocks. It’s so immature, but I’d “lose” her messages, and I “accidentally broke” this one serving platter he gave Sheena for her birthday. I’d also fake sick so that she had to take care of me instead of going out with Jerry. I know, it’s so immature, but I thought he was so gross and believed Sheena could do better.”
I try not to laugh.
“You did those things?”
She nods with an ashamed smile.
“Yeah, sad to say, but I did. I just wanted my mom to come to her senses and realize that she could do much better than Jerry, but it didn’t happen. Obviously, she moved Jerry in with us, and that’s when things went from bad to worse. He was home all the time because of his “disability” and we got into spats non-stop.”
I frown.
“Yeah, but couldn’t Sheena see that you guys didn’t get along?”
Janie shrugs.
“Yes and no. I mean, my mom’s never home that much because she’s always at her salon working. Then, when she was home, Jerry and I had already been fighting all day, so things were usually calmer by the evening. Plus, I think Sheena thinks I’m going to move out soon, so it would only be a temporary situation.”
I nod.
“No wonder she’s been riding you about a career and all that.”
Janie sighs, looking dejected.
“Again, yes and no. I think Sheena wants me to move out so that she and Jerry can have their privacy, yes. But I also think that Sheena’s always been really tough and career-minded. She has to be, because she was a single mom. But to see me working retail and kind of floating around got her goat, I guess.”
I press a kiss to Janie’s head.
“It takes time,” I growl. “Not everyone comes out of the womb knowing that they want to be an astronaut.”
“Yeah,” Janie says with tears in her eyes. “But there’s more to it too, with respect to me and Jerry at least. A while ago, I went into our basement while he was down there and I found his extensive porn collection.”
I guffaw.
“His what?”
“His porn collection,” she repeats, nodding her head as I guffaw again. “He’s got stacks and stacks of the stuff. There’s all kinds of vintage porn down there, and honestly, most of it is really creepy. Like tentacles, women tied up in spiderwebs, and the Seven Dwarves doing things to Snow White that you wouldn’t believe. I get that it turns some people on, but when I saw it, I was really creeped out, so I threatened to tell my mom about Jerry’s cache. Needless to say, he was terrified that if Sheena found out, she’d kick him out.”
I snort.
“I would. Who wants that shit in your house?”
Janie nods.
“Exactly, right? But I think Jerry got scared because he doesn’t really have a job, so losing the roof over his head must have petrified him. I think that’s why he was tracing us. He probably wanted me to stay far, far away and when he realized I was actually on the road, I bet he figured that it’d be great if I never came back home.”
