Months, I’d been sleeping with Tom down the hall. That was so creepy to even think about. Had I not come home when I had, would I have continued to have him sleeping just down the hall from me forever?
Boone grunted as he picked up my suitcase and pulled it up over the threshold. “You need new locks. Keep that motherfucker out.”
I squeezed my eyes closed. “I think you’re right.”
Thank God, I’d just gotten a new job. One that allowed me the type of salary that would leave me with a lot of extra to play with at the end of the month.
Boone left just as quietly as he arrived and waited at the end of the drive until my stepfather was no longer in sight.
Boone looked back at me and gestured for me to lock the door, and I sighed and did as requested.
When the door was locked behind me, I rested my back against the door and stared at the couch.
Jesus Christ.
What a day.
Thirteen
Today I’m wearing a lovely shade of “I slept like shit so don’t piss me off.”
—Creed to Odin
Creed
The first thing I saw when I got up was a message from Boone.
I’d asked him to keep an eye out for when Birdee got home, and that was what I fully expected to read as I pulled up the text message.
That was what I got, but with so much more.
Boone: Good news: Your girl is home. Bad news: your girl came home to find her stepdad camped out on her couch sleeping. Apparently, this isn’t an uncommon occurrence. I had to kick him out when he wouldn’t leave. She’s home safe, but I highly suggest that you get her locks changed ASAP.
Anger surged in my veins at finding out that her stepfather had violated her space.
I angrily shoved my covers to the side and jackknifed out of bed.
The outside cat that’d come with the house, that was now an inside cat, hissed and took off, knocking several things from my nightstand to the floor as he went.
I ignored him and everything he dropped and hurriedly got changed, brushed my teeth, and took a piss.
I was out the door without a second thought, heading straight for…
I barreled into someone who was practically standing on my front porch waiting for me. Or, more accurately, someone barreled into me.
My first instinct was to take that body that’d slammed into mine and pile drive it. However, my sister’s voice stopped me cold, forcing me to still the instincts that were honed over years in prison.
“Justin,” she whispered into my ear. “Justin, oh my god. I can’t believe you’re okay. Justin.”
The shock and awe I felt as I held her in my arms, sans chains, was everything and more. For years I’d wanted to do just this, but the chains and the guards, made that impossible. Even if they did allow hugs, that wasn’t the case for me. Hell, I barely even got to go to talk to my sister, let alone hug her.
Bernice dissolved into sobs, and I was left holding my sister as she broke down completely.
I was left with a wave of disgust for myself at making her think that I was dead for the last year. What kind of brother was I? I had subjected my sister to this, and I could’ve invited her here.
But then she would’ve had so much trouble…
I closed my eyes as I soaked in the feel of her in my arms, safe and sound.
