Until Trevor (23 page)

“Are you okay?”

“Fuck no,” he says, holding me tighter.

“Well
, this has got to be the most interesting day that I have ever had,” I say, right before the doorbell starts going off. “That’s probably her dad.” I unwind myself from Trevor, but he stops me from going to the door with a hand in the back of my shirt.

“I’ll get it
. You stay with Lolly.”

“Sure.”

He bends, kissing my forehead, then heads to the front door, while I go back to Lolly, who is still laying down next to one of the chairs in the living room. “You’ll be okay, girl.” When Trevor walks back into the living room, Jen’s dad is close behind him; his face is bright red, and he looks ready for murder.

“M
s. Hayes, I am very sorry that this happened. Please accept my deepest apologies, and know that something like this will never happen again.”

“All due respect
, John, I'm pressing charges against Jen for what she did. Not only did she break into my house, but she drugged my dog, then had someone tie her to my and my fiancée’s bed,” Trevor says, his fists clenched at his sides.

“
I understand,” Jen’s dad says, before turning at the sound of someone walking into the house.

“John.”

“James.” The two men greet each other.

“Where is she? I would like to speak with her
,” Jen’s dad says. It’s plain to see that he’s holding absolute fury in check.

“She’s down the hall
, the last door on the right. She only has a blanket covering her, sir,” I tell him. He looks taken aback, and then shakes his head, walking down the hall to his daughter.

“You all right
, son?” James asks, looking at Trevor, whose jaw is so tight that I'm surprised it doesn’t break.

“Yeah
, but I still want to press charges.”

“Alright
, why don’t you and I go outside and talk for a few minutes, and you can tell me what exactly happened.”

“Sure
. Just give me a minute with Liz and I’ll meet you out there.”

James nods before he comes to me
, squatting down. “Hey, darlin’. You alright?” He asks softly, and I nod, thinking that I'm a big fat liar. “Sure you are.” He smiles, pulling me forward to kiss my forehead, then stands, walking out the door.

“You okay
, baby?” Trevor asks, squatting the same way his dad had.

“Yeah
, I'm just ready for this day to be over with,” I say, laying my head against Lolly’s side. Trevor’s hand runs over my cheek and back through my hair.

“Everyone will be gone soon.”

“Alright,” I whisper, trying not to think about what would have happened if I had walked in while Trevor was here alone with Jen. I would like to say that I am so secure in our relationship that I wouldn’t have assumed the worst; but the truth is, I, like a lot of women, would have jumped to conclusions, never thinking that this was some kind of sick setup.

“I'm going to be right outside talking to
Dad.” He bends, kissing my cheek.

Ten minutes
later, Trevor and his dad come back inside. Lolly is finally up and about, but still stumbling into things when she tries to walk.

“Are they st
ill in the room?” James asks, looking down the hall.

“Yeah.” Just then
, Jen comes down the hall, tears streaming down her face, her new bangs showing off her large forehead that she tries to cover with her hand. I bite my lip to keep from laughing at how bad she looks. Trevor, who is standing next to his dad, looks up when he hears her; his eyes go wide, then come to me. The look on his face makes me pull Lolly close and shove my face into her fur to muffle the sound of my laughter.

“Sheriff
,” Jen’s dad says. I raise my head slightly so that I can see their interaction.

“Mr. Carlson,
why don’t we talk outside?” James says, holding his hand out in front of him for Jen and her father to precede him. Jen hasn’t looked up; her dad places his hand against her lower back, leading her out of the house. When I hear the sound of the door closing, I can feel Trevor staring at me. I don’t look up; I just sit there and continue to pet Lolly.

“I didn’t know you wanted to be a hair dresser.”

“I didn’t.” I finally look up to see Trevor watching me closely. “Um…I may have gotten a wee bit angry.”

“Well
, remind me when I piss you off to never leave any sharp objects laying around.”

“Don’t piss me off.” I shrug
. He takes a step towards me, where I’m sitting on the floor, bending low so his mouth is next to my ear.

“You love my dick
, baby. Maybe even more than I do. And don’t think I’ve forgotten about the stunt you pulled today.”

“I already told you
; I never said anything to Jules,” I growl, pissed off.

“I know you didn’t
, and I was wrong to jump to conclusions. But you still turned off your phone, making it so I couldn’t get in touch with you; then you didn’t tell me about the visitor you had at the store.”

“Oh.”

“Oh.” He smirks. “What do you think your punishment should be?”

“
You’re not punishing me.” My eyes narrow; his eyes drop to my mouth. He leans in, giving me a quick kiss.

“We
’ll see,” he shrugs, standing back up.

“I’m serious
, Trevor; you’re not punishing me,” I say, beginning to panic.

“When
you get it, you won’t be thinking of it as a punishment.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“You guys okay?” James asks, walking in. My face turns bright red, wondering how much he might have heard.

“We
’re good, Dad. Just making plans,” Trevor says, looking down and winking at me. My mouth drops open. I have never seen him wink, and he has a good one, unlike mine. Once, when I tried to wink at someone, they thought I had something in my eye and offered me Visine. If that’s not an ego-crusher, I don’t know what is.

“
Mr. Carlson and Jen just left,” James says, walking into the kitchen, pulling out a note pad. Trevor holds out his hand, helping me up off the floor. He pulls me flush against him.

“I love you
, baby.”

“Always?” I ask
, standing on my tiptoes.

“Always.” Kissing my lips
, then my forehead, he turns me around, scooting me towards the kitchen.

“So
, you’re going to need to sign a few things and decide if you want to apply for a restraining order.”

“Do you think that will be necessary?” I ask
, worrying my bottom lip.

“I never thought you would need to press charges against Jen Carlson
; so the question you need to ask yourself is: can you trust Jen to leave you alone?”

“I don’t know
,” I say quietly. This is just one more thing that I did not want to deal with right now. Trevor rubs circles along my back, his touch helping to calm me. “What do you think?” I ask, looking over my shoulder at Trevor.

“I want you safe. I know that a piece of paper is not going to stop her if she tries to do something stupid
; but if we do this, she may back off.”

“She didn’t attack me. She was here trying to get you back
; she just went about it in a really stupid way. How did she even get inside?” I ask.

“She claims to have a key.” James says
looking at Trevor.

“You gave her a key?” I ask looking at Trevor as well.

“Fuck no.” He growls his jaw ticking. “And I don’t know how she got in. All I know is she broke into our home and drugged our dog. I would say that both those things point to her being unstable wouldn’t you?”

“Yes.”
I sigh, ready for this day to be over.

“So
it’s settled; we’re getting a restraining order, and if we don’t need it, good.”

“
I think that would be the smart thing to do,” James says, looking between Trevor and me. “So, Susan says the wedding is planned for two weeks from now.”

“What?”
I’m shocked. I have no idea what he’s talking about.

“Mom called today
, baby. Well, actually, it was a conference call between both of our moms. They tried to get ahold of you, with no luck, so they called me. The pastor that married your mom and dad is only available that weekend; after that, he flies back to Nicaragua, where he’s helping to build a community center and won’t be available for a few more months. So I told them to go ahead and book him.”

“You told them to go ahead? You do know that I haven’t even gotten my dress
, right? Our moms have completely trampled me.”

“You can find a dress
. I don’t care if you show up in jeans; I am not waiting any longer for you to be my wife.”

“Why do we need to rush this? We already live together.”

“We’re living in sin.”

“We
’re living in sin?” I repeat, shaking my head. Then I look over at James, and when I see his giant smile, I want to scream.

“You better find your dress
, baby, because even if I have to carry you down the aisle over my shoulder in two weeks, you are going to be Elizabeth Star Mayson.”

“This is crazy,
you’re crazy, and our moms are crazy,” I ramble. “I have no idea what I'm going to do.”

“Calm down
; it’s going to be okay.” I look up at Trevor, who now looks worried. Good. He should be worried. “They said everything was taken care of; all you have to do was show up.”

“Do you know that little girls start planning their weddings from the time the
y’re young and get their first Barbie doll? They dream of what it’s going to look like, the colors they will choose, the style of their dress…” I trail off, shaking my head.

“You did that?” He ask
s incredulously, looking down at me with wonder.

“No.” I shake my head at him. “But if I had
, it wouldn’t matter, because they have taken over everything. I thought,
At least I get to pick out my dress
, but it sounds like they have taken over that as well.” I watch as Trevor and his dad start laughing. “What the hell is so funny?” I yell, as the guys laugh. Lolly comes into the kitchen; she’s no longer stumbling around. I breathe a sigh of relief that she’s going to be okay.

“Nothing
, baby. If you want to pick your dress, you pick your dress.”

“They already did
,” I pout, making Trevor shake his head and look at his dad.

“I will tell them that you’re getting your own dress.”

“Fine,” I harrumph, and cross my arms over my chest like a bratty five-year-old.

“But you need to have it in two weeks. I don’t know how much time it takes to pick a dress
, but you better get started.”

“
Fine,” I say, and Trevor smiles at his dad.

“Do you need anything else
, Dad?” he asks, then looks back down at me and suddenly, I don’t want James to leave.

“No
, son. I go—”

“No
! Don’t you need me to, like, tell you what happened?” I cut him off.

“Trevor already told me
, honey.”

“But he told you what
he
saw. What about what
I
saw?”

“Like Jen
’s bangs?” James asks, smirking.

“Ugh…I…
um…well, you know. Oh, look at the time! It’s getting late. You should go,” I say, standing quickly. I can hear Trevor chuckle, so I elbow him in the ribs while smiling at James.

“Yeah
, I need to drop these papers off at the station before I head home.” He pulls me in for a hug. “Love ya’, honey,” he says, bringing tears to my eyes.

“Love you
, too,” I say, wiping my eyes, taking a step back into Trevor, who wraps his arms around me. He rests his chin on the top of my head.

“You’re gonna need to come down to the station tomorrow to fill out the papers for the restraining order.”

“We’ll be there,” Trevor says, walking us forward, following his dad to the front door. “Later, Dad,” he says, shutting the door behind him.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

“You tired?”

“No, not really.”

“Good
. Then it’s time for your punishment.”

“No
!” I squeal, trying to get free.

“Oh yeah
,” he says, spinning me around, pressing me into the wall. His mouth crashes into mine, his hand going to my breast, and his fingers pinching my nipple through the material of his tee shirt that I'm wearing. He takes my hands in his, pulling them up over my head. “Keep them there.”