Jealousy (13 page)

Heather received a hard glare from Peter.  He hated that she told Justin everything and often told her not to disclose their private information, but sh
e kept no secrets from Justin.  She ignored Peter’s stare and pressed Justin further.  She wanted details. “So?  What happened?”

“
We made out in the park.  A lot.”  Justin giggled.  “Then he gave me a blowjob in the car.”

She emitted a small burst of laughter, but the pain in her abdomen cut it short.

“And let me tell you, it was the best blowjob I ever got – and I got a lot of BJs in my life.”

“
I really didn’t need to hear that,” Peter said, with a smirk.

He was snippy, and Heather slowly turned in his direction.  Peter was in a bad mood today.  Actually, he
was been in a bad mood since she had been in the hospital.  He was probably just stressed about leaving someone else in charge of the store, so she let it go.

“
I want to talk to you about something, sweetie,” Justin said.  “Kenny’s off tomorrow night and I was wondering . . . since you’re getting around better, if . . .”

“
Go!  You don’t have to stay here with me every minute.  I’ll be fine.  I can live without you for one night.”

Peter smirked at her. 
“Since when?”

She ignored his sarcasm for the second time. 
“I’ll be fine,” she told Justin.  “You see how much better I am.  I want you to go.”

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she started to panic.  She wasn
’t ready to spend the night alone, especially if neither Justin
nor
Kenny were going to be there.  She tried to internalize her fears because she didn’t want Justin to put off his date because of her.  Her brow wrinkled with worry, and she rubbed her forehead with her thumb and index finger to hide it.

“
Will you stay with me tomorrow night?” she asked Peter.  “I know you like to sleep in your own bed, but can you make the exception?  Please?  Just for one night?”

Peter stared at her with a blank expression, and the room was silent while she waited for him to answer.

“It’s OK, sweetie,” Justin said.  “I’ll stay.  I won’t go.”

Peter put his hand up. 
“No.  I’ll stay with her.”

She spun her head toward him with surprise.  She never expected Peter to embrace the idea so quickly.  She thought he would at least put up a small fuss about it.  After all, he was always telling her she
needed to be more independent.

“
Really?” she asked.  “You’ll stay?”

Peter nodded and glanced at Justin for a second. 
“If you need me, Heather, I’ll stay.”

“
Thank you.”  She extended her hand to him.  “It means a lot that you want to be here for me, Peter.”

Chapter Twenty-Four:

Most of Heather
’s stay at the hospital was a vague blur, thanks to the large doses of barbiturates.  Even though she hadn’t seen Kenny in a few weeks, she remembered him well.  What stood out most in her memory was his kindness, how much she trusted him and, of course, his incredible green eyes.  She eagerly answered the door and barely greeted Justin before she threw her arms around Kenny’s neck and gave him a big hug.

“
How are you, honey?” he asked.  “You look fantastic.”

She was momentarily taken
aback by Kenny’s sparkling emerald eyes and his perfect white smile. “My God, I forgot how good looking you are!” she exclaimed.

Kenny laughed. 
“Me?  Look at you.  You’re beautiful.”

“
Thank you.  I guess I looked pretty bad in the hospital.”  She took both of his hands.  “I want to thank you for everything.  You were wonderful.  I don’t think I could have gotten through that first night without you.”  She smiled at Justin, “And I couldn’t have gotten through it at all without Justin.”

“
You don’t have to thank me, honey,” Kenny said.  “I’m just glad you’re OK.”

His eyes drifted to a series of framed photographs sit
ting on the mantle next to them and he moved in for a closer look.  He picked up her wedding photo. “Your gown was beautiful,” Kenny said.  “How long are you and Peter married?”

“
Almost six years.” She took the photo from Kenny’s hand and looked at it.  Peter looked happy.  They both did.  Their marriage was so different back then. Peter was different back then.

Kenny picked up a
nother photo.  It was also at the wedding, but it was of Heather and Justin.  “This is a great picture of the two of you,” he said.  “I never realized how much you look alike.  You could pass for brother and sister.”

“
I know,” Justin said.  “People tell us that all the time.  It’s the dark hair and eyes.”

Heather loved reminiscing over her collection of photos.  It solidified the happiest times in her life. 
“Did you see the pictures from when we were kids?” she asked Kenny.

He scanned the photos and picked one up for closer inspection.  Heather and Justin were six years old in the photo Kenny held in his hand.  It was taken on one of their many excursions to the beach, courtesy of her mother.  Heather was wearing a pink ruffled bikini and Justin was wearing red swim trunks.  They had their arms around each other
’s neck, and they both squinted from the glare of the sun.  They were standing at the shoreline with their knees covered in sand.

“
Is this you?” Kenny asked, smiling up at Justin.

“
Yeah.”  Justin smiled back.  “I still remember that day.  We just finished building a sand castle.”

As Kenny scanned the various photos from their childhood and high school years, Heather stared at him, enthralled by his go
od looks and his glowing eyes.

Kenny glanced at her and smiled.
He looked a little embarrassed.

“
I’m sorry,” she said.  “I didn’t mean to stare.  You’re just really cute.”

Kenny blushed.

Justin laughed softly and put his arm around Kenny’s shoulder in a possessive embrace.  “Back off, sweetie, he’s mine.”

#

Heather liked Kenny – a lot.  He was the one who finally made Justin settle down and commit to a relationship.  Peter also took a liking to Kenny, which was a welcomed change to the trouble Peter had accepting Tyler.  Heather still couldn’t get Peter to go out with them, though.  He simply wasn’t interested in most of the things they did together.  She thought about canceling her plans with Justin so she could spend time with Peter today.  It was the first Sunday he had off in months.  She invited him to go shopping with her and Justin, but Peter laughed at the idea. She hoped Peter wanted to spend his day off with her, but he told her to go shopping.  He said he wanted to relax in front of the TV.

“
Are you sure?” she asked.  “I can stay home if you want.  It’s not a big deal.  Justin won’t mind.”

“
I’m sure.”  Peter leaned back in the recliner.  “Go shopping.  Can you get me my phone and my wallet before you go?  I don’t feel like getting up again.”

She decided to
bring him a fresh cup of coffee as well.

Peter handed her a crisp $100 bill from his wallet
.

“
What’s this for?”

“
Just some extra money,” Peter said.  “Buy yourself something, or buy Justin lunch or a manicure, or whatever it is you two do.”

Heather thought she was hearing things.  Peter wasn
’t free with money, and he always complained that she was too frivolous.  She didn’t want to take his money, but he stuffed it in her hand and sent her on her way.

As Heather drove to Justin
’s, she thought about the change in Peter.  He was taking time off work, giving her money, being nice.  She didn’t know what to make of it.  A small part of her thought there must be some ulterior motive, but she quickly dismissed the thought.  She didn’t want to diminish his kindness, but she still couldn’t believe he gave her $100 and she let out an excited laugh.

She ran up to Justin
’s door brandishing the $100 bill like she had just won the lottery.  “Can you believe Peter just gave me $100 to spend?”

“
On what?” Justin asked.

“
On anything!  We can have a ridiculously expensive lunch or . . .”  She stopped and covered her mouth with her hand, as soon as she saw Kenny asleep on the couch.  “I’m sorry,” she whispered.  “I didn’t know he was here.  Is it too early?  Should I come back later?”

“
No.  It’s fine.”  Justin said.  “Don’t worry about Kenny.  He can sleep through anything.  He worked a double shift last night and came straight here and fell out.”

“
Why didn’t he just go home?  He must be exhausted.”

“
Because he wanted to see me.” Justin displayed a proud smile and it projected the love he had for Kenny.

“
Are we still going shopping?” Heather asked.

“
Yeah, but can we wait for Kenny to wake up?  I guess he’s gonna sleep a few more hours at least.  Is that OK?”

“
Sure.  Call me when you’re ready.”  She headed for the front door, but Justin stopped her.

“
Don’t go.  Sit down and relax.  I’ll make us breakfast.”  Justin turned on the TV.

“
Don’t put that on,” Heather said.  “You’re gonna wake up Kenny.”

Justin lowered the volume. 
“I told you, when he’s tired, nothing wakes him up.”

She watched Kenny sleep.  He was on his side with his knees tucked up into his chest.  His long, blond-streaked bangs, usually so neatly swept to the side, fell
over his eyes.

“
I’ve never seen him with his hair messed up before.”  She gently smoothed the hair off of his face.  “He’s cute.  I really love him, Justin.”

“
So do I.”  Again, Justin boasted a proud smile.

Kenny stretched and turned over.  It startled Heather, and she quietly scurried
away.  Kenny stretched again and rubbed his eyes.  “What time is it?” he mumbled.

“
About 10:00,” Justin replied.  “Go back to sleep.”

“
I’m sorry.  Did we wake you?”  Heather asked.

“
No.”  Kenny yawned, stretched his arms over his head and sat up.

“
Do you want to go shopping later?”  Heather sat next to Kenny and affectionately placed her hand on his thigh.

He jumped at her touch and immediately closed
his legs.

“
I’m sorry.”  She withdrew her hand.  “I didn’t mean anything.”

Justin giggled and sat on the other side of Kenny. 
“Don’t worry, baby.  She’s harmless.”

“
It’s just affection, Kenny,” she said.  “I’m sorry if it made you uncomfortable.  I’ll try to tone it down.”

“
It’s OK.  I’ll get used to it.”  He smiled at her.  “Just don’t touch my hair.”

She laughed with surprise. 
“Oh my God!  I thought you were asleep.”

“
I was – barely.”  He covered his mouth and yawned.  “We’re going shopping later?”

She nodded. 
“But there’s no rush.  Go back to sleep.”

“
Cool.”  Kenny stretched again.  “I’m gonna go lie down in bed.  I’ll see ya later.”

“
I feel bad,” she told Justin after Kenny left the room.  “I always seem to embarrass him.”

“
He’s just shy.  You know how you fawn over my boys.  I guess he isn’t used to being touched all the time.”

She never really thought about it before, but she
was
overly affectionate with Justin’s boyfriends.  It was natural to her.  She was an affectionate person.  She and Justin openly showed their love for one another . . . but she didn’t share the same open display of affection with Peter.  He hated when she would “hang all over him”, as he put it.  It hurt her feelings and made her feel rejected.  She learned to accept it, but it still saddened her that Peter wasn’t more loving.

Chapter Twenty-Five:

Justin faced the tri-fold mirror and admired the stylish leather jacket. 
“Do you think it’s a little snug in the chest?” he asked the salesman.

“
Let’s see.”  The salesman ran his hands over Justin’s shoulders, felt how much room there was under the arms, and then slid his hands down either side of Justin’s torso all the way down to Justin’s hips.  It was totally inappropriate, but it still made Justin smile.  “It fits perfectly,” the salesman said.  “Look how it hugs your shape.”  Again, he ran his hands over Justin’s shoulders and this time around Justin’s waist.

I
t tickled, and Justin giggled.

The salesman smiled back at him.