Being With You (The Redemption Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B
Author: Hazel St. James
today and because it was his day off, he was lounging about, not really in a hurry to do anything. Susy had the day off, too, and they were planning to have a house warming party that night with some of their friends. Most of their joint friends were people they’d met at the restaurant, and Susy invited some of her own friends over, too.
Tristan didn’t have a core group of people that he associated with anymore, and had no desire to see any of the assholes he used to consider his friends not so long ago. They weren’t exactly the greatest buddies anyway. Most of them were employees of his Uncle Morgan, and honestly would fuck you over rather than give you a hand any day of the week. Plus, he was sure they’d all heard he’d landed himself into a mental institute and was working on his own shit. Yeah…that would make great conversation over a round of beers with the assholes.
But he did know one person he needed to have that conversation with…and soon. Susy needed to know…not because he was afraid he would hurt her in the night or keep her awake, but she needed to know because she was genuinely becoming an important part of his life, and he wanted to be honest with her. She wasn’t pushy or bossy, or overbearing, and he hoped she wouldn’t jump to try to solve his problems or get in his face about things. He had no desire to go back to sitting once a week in a sterile shrink’s office talking in circles and getting nowhere. In fact, most of his therapy appointments made him feel worse, not even an iota better.
A small tap on the glass door behind him brought him out of his meandering thoughts. Tristan turned to see Susy standing on the other side with a strange look on her face; she had her eyebrows drawn together to the point where they’d formed a crease, and her eyes were glassy. A tight smile crossed her lips as Tristan slid open the door and stepped back inside the warm space. He hadn’t realized how intensely cold it was outside until he came back in; his skin was covered in goosebumps and his body was shivering in protest.
Susy reached up and ran her fingers over his lips intimately and a tear slipped out of her eye in direct contradiction. She sniffled and told him, “Your lips are starting to turn blue, Tristan. Are you okay?”
Shit …must have been out there longer than he realized.
He worked his facial muscles around a bit to work blood back into the tissues and smiled as he told her, “Yeah, I’m good. Just thinkin’. Got time to sit and talk with me for a bit, my little Sus?”
Tristan tried to lighten the moment with his words and even accentuated it by tucking a stray hair behind her ear. She smiled easily and sighed, “Yeah…I do, punk.” Using the nickname she’d graced him with in return for the one he’d given her, the pair smiled broadly at each, easing the tension in the room for just a moment.
“I’m okay, Susy,” he added. “I just have some things I need to tell you…things I should’ve said before you agreed to be my roommate.”
Susy sat down on their couch, pulled a throw blanket around herself, and Tristan sat close enough to wrap a portion of the material around himself as well. She scooted in to his body with her feet in his lap and maneuvered the large wool square around the both of them, tucking it around her feet and his legs. “There,” she said with a humph. “Now, what have you been holding back from me? Are you a secret agent who pretends to be a bartender at night and kills people during the day? No…that’s backwards…”
Tristan laughed and tried to interrupt her, “No, Sus…”
“No, wait, wait, wait!! I wanna guess! You’re really a woman…No…I’ve felt what you bring to the party that day at the restaurant,” she teased and laughed in earnest. Tristan growled playfully and worked at getting his hands around her waist and tickling her sides. She thrashed back and forth for a bit as he laughed at her antics, and she flailed
Tristan didn’t have a core group of people that he associated with anymore, and had no desire to see any of the assholes he used to consider his friends not so long ago. They weren’t exactly the greatest buddies anyway. Most of them were employees of his Uncle Morgan, and honestly would fuck you over rather than give you a hand any day of the week. Plus, he was sure they’d all heard he’d landed himself into a mental institute and was working on his own shit. Yeah…that would make great conversation over a round of beers with the assholes.
But he did know one person he needed to have that conversation with…and soon. Susy needed to know…not because he was afraid he would hurt her in the night or keep her awake, but she needed to know because she was genuinely becoming an important part of his life, and he wanted to be honest with her. She wasn’t pushy or bossy, or overbearing, and he hoped she wouldn’t jump to try to solve his problems or get in his face about things. He had no desire to go back to sitting once a week in a sterile shrink’s office talking in circles and getting nowhere. In fact, most of his therapy appointments made him feel worse, not even an iota better.
A small tap on the glass door behind him brought him out of his meandering thoughts. Tristan turned to see Susy standing on the other side with a strange look on her face; she had her eyebrows drawn together to the point where they’d formed a crease, and her eyes were glassy. A tight smile crossed her lips as Tristan slid open the door and stepped back inside the warm space. He hadn’t realized how intensely cold it was outside until he came back in; his skin was covered in goosebumps and his body was shivering in protest.
Susy reached up and ran her fingers over his lips intimately and a tear slipped out of her eye in direct contradiction. She sniffled and told him, “Your lips are starting to turn blue, Tristan. Are you okay?”
Shit …must have been out there longer than he realized.
He worked his facial muscles around a bit to work blood back into the tissues and smiled as he told her, “Yeah, I’m good. Just thinkin’. Got time to sit and talk with me for a bit, my little Sus?”
Tristan tried to lighten the moment with his words and even accentuated it by tucking a stray hair behind her ear. She smiled easily and sighed, “Yeah…I do, punk.” Using the nickname she’d graced him with in return for the one he’d given her, the pair smiled broadly at each, easing the tension in the room for just a moment.
“I’m okay, Susy,” he added. “I just have some things I need to tell you…things I should’ve said before you agreed to be my roommate.”
Susy sat down on their couch, pulled a throw blanket around herself, and Tristan sat close enough to wrap a portion of the material around himself as well. She scooted in to his body with her feet in his lap and maneuvered the large wool square around the both of them, tucking it around her feet and his legs. “There,” she said with a humph. “Now, what have you been holding back from me? Are you a secret agent who pretends to be a bartender at night and kills people during the day? No…that’s backwards…”
Tristan laughed and tried to interrupt her, “No, Sus…”
“No, wait, wait, wait!! I wanna guess! You’re really a woman…No…I’ve felt what you bring to the party that day at the restaurant,” she teased and laughed in earnest. Tristan growled playfully and worked at getting his hands around her waist and tickling her sides. She thrashed back and forth for a bit as he laughed at her antics, and she flailed