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“You know what, as much I feel like I might regret this, I need to trust you, but I also want you to promise after tonight, you will not be hanging out with him alone.” He looked at me with sad eyes, and for a second, I thought I saw a tear. This must be hard for him since he had never trusted anyone in a relationship. He had never been in a true relationship since he’d been back, and now that his walls were down, he felt more vulnerable than ever.
“I promise, baby. Thank you for having faith in me. It means the world to me,” I said, kissing him on the cheek. I was glad he could trust me even though I knew how hard it must be for him. I wouldn’t let him down.
Chapter 22
Hudson
Laurel didn’t seem like the type of girl to lie. She had always been quite candid. As much as I didn’t feel like I could depend on anyone, the one person I should trust was her. She helped me overcome many obstacles in the last couple months, and I needed to be there for her when she needed my trust.
It wasn’t as if I thought she was going to sleep with the guy. It was more of me being worried about her safety. The story she told me didn’t make this guy seem like he was very stable. The last thing I wanted was for her to be in any type of danger.
I texted my sisters to meet me at my mom’s. I needed advice. I didn’t want to fuck this up. Laurel was the best thing that had happened to me in years. Losing her would kill me. I must tread lightly on this one.
When I arrived at my mom’s, she was anxious. Although, she was constantly uneasy about me. I was her little boy, and she wanted the best for me always. I could grasp her worry. Before Laurel, I wasn’t doing so great. However, ever since she came into my life, it’d been considerably better. I woke up every day joyous and ready to spend the day with her.
The door opened, and my sisters walked in. They knew something was amiss. “What’s going on? Why the sudden need to meet up?”
I didn’t want any bad feelings between my sisters and Laurel, so I didn’t tell them the whole story. I didn’t want them to think she was cheating on me. Although, I didn’t think anyone in this family would believe that to be true anyway.
“I need some advice from ladies. Laurel’s ex, who’s still a friend, came into town this morning unannounced. He lost both his parents recently, and she feels like he is on the brink of a mental breakdown. She asked me to let her go over there tonight and try to get him back to his normal self. Is it horrible I want to be there for her?”
Christina chimed in immediately, “No, not at all. She just wants to know you trust her. You do, right?”
“Hell yes, but I am also worried. Not that she will be doing something with him but that he will do something bad to her.”
“Do you think that’s possible?” Kassie asked worriedly.
“Yes, from the sound of it, he doesn’t seem very happy she is seeing someone,” I replied. I didn’t want to freak them out, but I needed their opinion. I didn’t want to be that guy with Laurel, but I couldn’t help how I feel. Something in my gut was telling me something horrible was going to happen if she was there alone with him.
“My opinion is to be there, at least in case something does go awry. She doesn’t have to know you are there. I think she will understand you just want to defend her. That should make her feel better.”
My primary concern was that Laurel would think I didn’t trust her. She wanted me to, and I did, but my gut had never steered me wrong either.
“Thanks, guys. I’m going to go and stay hidden. If something happens, I will be there, and if not, well at least I will feel better knowing I was there just in case.” I got up and hugged them both.
I needed to figure out where she was going. I had no idea where this guy was staying. She did tell me she wasn’t going to leave until around five, so I could make it over to our building and follow her over to the hotel room. She wouldn’t be able to tell I was trailing her. My military experience would make that easy.
Chapter 23
Laurel
Imade my way over to visit with Shawn. Optimistically, he had gotten some rest and felt better. This morning, he scared me. I thought it was going to end very differently. I wanted him to know I was here for him, but he needed to know that I had a boyfriend. He must be okay with that for this to work. I wasn’t looking forward to this talk, but it must happen. Hudson had faith in me, and I needed to keep that trust. I made sure to dress very casually. I didn’t want to give him the wrong idea.
When I entered his hotel room, he seemed fine. We sat down on the couch and talked about his parents. His choice, not mine. I didn’t bring them up. In fact, I didn’t plan on it because I didn’t want him to break down again. I wanted to stay away from that topic, but he brought it up. He must want to talk about it. His parents died of legitimate causes. There was no foul play involved. Everyone thought he was weird when we were teenagers because his parents were the age of most kids’ grandparents. Gwendolyn and Joseph had never been able to have kids on their own. They tried until they were in their late forties and then gave up completely and switched to the thought of adoption.
When Shawn was a couple of months old, his mother abandoned him like he was trash. When he entered the foster care system, the workers were confident he would get adopted fast since he was so young, and they were right. Within the first week, they came to visit the foster home and fell in love with Shawn. They had always wanted a little boy, and now they had their chance to become parents. Shawn never tried to find his mother because why would he? She abandoned him. He was lucky to get adopted and be brought into a family that loved him.
That was why losing them was so rough. He didn’t know anyone else except for me. I could imagine losing them would cause marbles to become loose. All the while talking about his parents, I noticed he was becoming agitated again. That was exactly what I wanted to avoid when coming here. “Calm down. No need to get worked up again. How about we talk about something else?” I asked, hoping he would catch the hint, but he didn’t.
“So how long have you and your boy toy been together?” he asked me. I wasn’t sure how to respond. Of course, we did start dating a month after I arrived here, but I didn’t want him to think I just moved here and immediately started dating someone. That could set him off again.
“We just started dating a couple of months ago,” I replied with a smile. I didn’t want him to know that this conversation was going in an uncomfortable direction.
“Didn’t take you long to get over me, did it?” he asked with a grim look that petrified me. I couldn’t move. I knew it was coming. The only question was when. I didn’t think he was ever going to be okay with me dating another man.
“Shawn, I moved, and you stayed behind. You didn’t even bring up the fact that you would be willing to move. What did you expect?” I said, wanting to make him feel bad. This breakup wasn’t just on me. He didn’t reject it. As a matter of fact, until a couple of weeks after, he didn’t even act like it bothered him. I was not with someone because of convenience. He shouldn’t be either.
“Don’t you dare try to blame this on me, bitch. You left me behind. You never gave a fuck about me, and now you are here in my hotel room, flaunting the fact you are with another man and happy,” he said as he put his hands around my throat. I couldn’t breathe. I tried to touch his cheek, but he swatted it away. “You aren’t going to make me fall in love with you again. Don’t fucking touch me. You make me sick. You are a manipulative bitch, you know that?” He started hitting me over and over. I never thought of him as the type of man to put his hands on a woman, but apparently, I was wrong. Over and over, he kept hitting me until I could barely breathe. I begged him to stop, but he didn’t listen. Right now, he was breaking. From this point on, there was no going back.
