Being With You (The Redemption Series) (18 page)

D
r. Sheridan wasn’t overly concerned with Tristan’s latest emergency, but still requested he schedule an appointment. He was transferred to the scheduling desk and they’d found a sliver of time available with the doctor, but it was at the end of the week. He hoped to not have to go in at all, but at least they weren’t frantically jumping up and down for him to come in immediately, or worse yet by ambulance.

There was a bit of truth to it that he was a bit under the weather again, but not anything serious. He was mentally feeling better and things were clearer now that he was on some more basic medicines and also higher levels of some vitamins to help combat the lowered dopamine and serotonin levels in his body. He still had a tendency to overthink things if he didn’t focus on just going through one thing at a time, and his therapist wasn’t sure that would ever change.

Physically, however, he was worn out, tired, achy and a bit cranky in general. Tristan thought about his symptoms and concluded that a more natural remedy was in order. He needed to get laid. A full month celibate could be why he’d felt so strange lately…not completely sick, but almost listless, like his body knew he’d been alone for thirty whole days and wasn’t complete without a girl in his bed.

His crappy state could have also been because he was sentenced to living alone again without any adorable roommates who knew how to cook the best cheeseburger helper out of a box, and could get the booze stains out of his work shirts without obliterating them like he did. He didn’t dwell on it too much, hoping that his appointment with Dr. Sheridan would reveal that he was healthy as a horse, and his overactive brain was just that…
overactive.

It wasn’t as if Tristan couldn’t go for a certain length of time without sex, but he was stuck in the middle of a messy situation where two women were not really
vying
for his attention, but more like
holding
his attention. Intimately touching and holding Peyton again last night, even if it was briefly, had brought back all the things that were great about their relationship and how much he loved being around her. But, in the background, Susy was always around, and even though they’d stopped having sex, Tristan was still treating her more intimately than a platonic friend should.

He’d already been thinking strongly about how he would approach things with Peyton at this point, and right now seemed as good as any to sit down and talk. She was obviously interested in a future with him, but not given their current living arrangements. Now that Tristan agreed with Peyton’s assessment of the situation, he was willing to figure things out.

First, Tristan thought he would find a new apartment, move out and help Susy find a roommate. Once that was all done, then he would go back to Peyton and show her how serious he was about getting back together without anything else in the way. But it was going to take weeks for him to find a place and get Susy a new roommate and move everything…maybe even months. He wasn’t willing to wait that long. Now that he was sure what path he wanted to take…he wanted to get on it now, and run like hell for the finish line. Peyton was meant to be his, and they could make it work this time…he was sure of it.

With keys in his hand, Tristan tore out of his apartment and out into the mid-morning sun. It was still winter, but things were more like a sloshy mess now that it was late February and the temperatures were climbing a bit every day. This morning was already above freezing and the snow and ice patches were starting to melt.

Tristan knew that Peyton didn’t have to work today because she’d mentioned it the evening before in conversation. Based on her habits when they were dating, he knew she’d either be at the gym working out or at home; there weren’t many other things she did besides work, spend time at the gym and sleep.

He decided to start with her house first. It was a risk to start there, because Caleb may be home, too. But he’d decided that things were only going to improve between them if he was honest and didn’t hold anything back anymore. Including setting Caleb straight, if necessary. Tristan internally groaned as he told himself,
It’s gonna be necessary all right. And painful.

Tristan pulled into Peyton’s driveway and wasn’t really surprised that her car wasn’t there. He’d worked himself up into having it out with Caleb anyway, and felt this was as good of a first step as any.

After pounding on the door for a good minute, Tristan was starting to think that he wasn’t home. But there was music coming from somewhere inside and he assumed it was Caleb’s. It was some hardcore pounding metal music and he knew that Peyton didn’t listen to any of that shit, not willingly at least.

Not wanting to be deterred, Tristan worked the door knob, and was relieved it was open. He yelled inside, “Caleb? Peyton? You in here?”

No one answered, so he stepped in to the front door landing, and repeated it, this time a little louder. He waited and waited, and finally decided to check the downstairs because that was the direction the music was coming from.

Peyton had an issue with the basement level of the house when they were dating, so he’d never been down to this part before. He could see it from the landing to the front door, but Peyton would only come down here to do her laundry and then run back up. They passed through here on the way to the sunroom for their last date, but she didn’t take the time to show him any rooms or anything. There was something about this floor that scared the hell out of her, but it wasn’t something she was ready to share with him. Not yet…hopefully someday. He wanted to know everything there was to know and help her with some of the inner demons that haunted her, just like she’d done for him. Tristan was bound and determined that this time around, things were going to be more equal and they could lean on each other, not everything to be so one sided.

Lost in his thoughts as he walked into the last room, trying to find the source of the music, he didn’t notice the door shut behind him, but he heard the click. He spun around on his heel to see Caleb standing there, in just athletic shorts, with sweat pouring down his face.

“Well, looks like I’ve been given a sparring partner for today,” Caleb said with a menacing laugh.

Tristan held his hands up in mock surrender. “I’m not here to fight, Caleb. I came here to talk.”

Caleb shrugged. “Peyton’s not here, so that leaves you with me, and I’m not in a talking mood where you’re concerned, dickhead.”

Before even finishing the sentence, Caleb lunged at Tristan, knocking him off his feet with a shoulder into Tristan’s middle. The pair went flying backward and landed on something fairly soft. To get his bearings, Tristan looked around a bit as he pushed back on Caleb’s head, realizing they were in a homemade workout room with mats in the corner they’d flown into.

His focus was obstructed again as the much larger man pinned him down and held him there by his throat. He’d risen up and growled, “You hurt her…I hurt you. Simple as that.”

Knowing what he had to do, Tristan pulled up his knee to clip Caleb in the groin, but he was easily blocked. It put him off balance long enough for Tristan to slip out of his hands and try to scramble away to the side. Caleb didn’t waste time coming after him, he just stood up and paced toward him like a panther stalking its prey. The bastard had a fucked up smile across his face, and it was making Tristan nervous…fucking scared for his life right now, was closer to it.

“Okay, Caleb,” he said with his hands risen up in surrender, “I get it. You hate me. But I’m trying to make things right with her, man.”

Before Tristan could even react, Caleb was standing toe to toe with him, and his fist connected squarely with Tristan’s eye socket. The resounding thud was heard before the deafening pain reached his brain. He was fucking pissed off now, and mentally readied himself to launch back his own fist. Even if the man was military and could crush him, there was no way he would go down without a fight.

Rearing his arm back and focusing on Caleb’s position, Tristan stopped dead when he heard it. “What the fuck are you doing?”

Caleb turned to face his sister, and Tristan dropped his hands. Peyton looked from her brother to him and she gasped while pulling her hands up to cover her mouth.

“Pey, relax. I wouldn’t have killed him, I was just showing…”

With a stomp in her step to rival any German soldiers, Peyton pushed past her brother and yelled, “You’re a fucking lunatic, Caleb!!”

She stood in front of Tristan and gingerly reached up to touch his face. “Your eye is going to swell shut. Let’s go get some ice on it.”

Without a word in response, Tristan let Peyton take his hand and lead him from the room. His eye was swelling fast, and it hurt like a bitch. She stopped when they were at the door, looked down at their joined hands for a second, and then back up to Tristan’s face. “I’m sorry if I’m being an overbearing pain in the ass, but you’re gonna have to suck it up right now. I can’t let you possibly lose your eyesight because of my dipshit brother.”

Tristan laced their fingers back together and used the knuckles on his free hand to tenderly brush across her cheek. “Peyton, I came here to talk to you about all that. I just got sidetracked by Mr. Personality there,” he used his head to motion behind to Caleb. “You don’t need to change who you are for me. Let’s go upstairs and talk.”

Peyton nodded her head solemnly and her head snapped back up to glare at Caleb as she said, “I know that we share ownership of this house, but I can’t live with you here. I’ll be out as soon as I can find a place to live.”

There were tears rolling down Peyton’s cheeks and she was swiping them away as she walked up the stairs. Tristan followed behind and into the kitchen where she let go of his hand and opened the freezer. It nearly broke his heart when a sob broke through as she pulled a bag of frozen peas out. Seeing his girl so hurt by her own family was making it hard for him to remember they weren’t officially a couple, but he was here to correct that. Without another thought, he pulled a trembling Peyton into his arms and cooed in her ear. “Don’t cry, honey.”

Peyton automatically nestled into his arms and tucked her head under his chin; he could feel the wetness against his shirt as she cried. “I’m so sorry he hurt you,” she kept repeating.

Finally, she pulled back and wiped her eyes with the backs of her hands and sniffled. She gave him a timid smile and winced as she saw his mangled eye. “It will help if you’re lying down, so the best place to rest will probably be my room. Why don’t you go lie down on my bed, and I’ll be right in with some supplies, okay?”

Tristan could tell that Peyton was fighting everything inside her to order him to go and fuss over him like was in her nature. She’d fumbled a bit with the words, and it nearly broke him to see her trying so hard to be someone else…for him.

“Okay, but I still need to talk to you, so I’d love it if you lay down with me, Peyton.”

She nodded and he leaned down to softly kiss her lips; she didn’t hesitate in letting him. “Okay, I’ll be right there, sweets,” she said with a smile. Not just the friendly smile she gave acquaintances or people in general. The sweet as hell, full of promise,
I’m yours
, smile that she’d reserved only for him.

He didn’t realize how much he’d missed it, until he saw it again…reminding him of what he needed to feel complete. Peyton was his home, his shelter from the storm, his life…

W
ithin minutes, Tristan was lying down on Peyton’s big fluffy bed, his eye covered with an extremely cold bag of frozen peas. He’d taken the pain killers she’d offered him because his head was already throbbing and he knew the pain was only going to get worse. He’d had a few black eyes from different scuffles in his life, but this one was going to be a doozy. The swelling had already closed his eyelids together, and his good eye was light sensitive. Peyton had dimmed the lights, and was lying on her side next to him, deep in thought.

“Wanna tell me what’s going on in that pretty little head of yours, Peyton? I’d like to talk about you and I, if you’re ready.”

Peyton took a deep steadying breath and smiled. “I was thinking about where I’m gonna go…” she closed her eyes and was fighting back tears.

Tristan rolled to his side as far as he could and still have the make-shift ice pack stay on his eye. He reached out to touch her quivering lips. “Don’t worry about that right now, honey. I think I have a solution for you. But first, let me tell you something I realized…”

Peyton sniffled and nodded to him. She sat up on her knees to get directly in his line of vision and grabbed a hold of both his hands.

Tristan smiled at the contact, and started, “You were right, Peyton. Susy has become more than a friend for me, and I was scared to lose her. It felt good to be needed and she got me in a way that no one else ever has. Anyone else except
you
. I think my biggest hang up with our relationship was that I was so dependent on you, and felt so inadequate…like I was just a piece of shit guy you
had
to take care of, and wasn’t worthy of you.”