Jealousy (19 page)

Kenny finally called and tried to convince her to go to the hospital, but she still refused.  Instead, he instructed Justin to clean the wound
and apply a butterfly bandage.

She knew Justin would take care of it.  She didn
’t need to go to the hospital.  He helped her to the couch, and she sat with her leg propped up on the foot rest.  She looked around the living room.  “Where’s Peter?”  He disappeared at some point when Justin was putting the bandage on her leg.

Justin went to the window. 
“He’s outside.  He . . . he just drove away.”

“
What?  Where’d he go?”

Justin shrugged.
“I don’t know.”  He sat next to her and put his hand on her thigh.  “Is everything OK between you two, sweetie?”

She wished she knew.  Things were a little better between them after they supposedly cleared the air after the big fight they had about Justin a few weeks ago.  Nothing happened since then that she was aware of, but Peter
’s mood swings were in full gear lately.  Heather tried to think back to when they started.  When did she first notice a flip flop in Peter’s behavior?  It had to be after the accident.  When she first woke up in the hospital, Peter was kind of detached and snippy, but after a couple of days he softened.  He was suddenly nicer to her.  She assumed her brush with death triggered some deep emotion or rekindled the love Peter had for her, but it didn’t last long.  His hostility and bad mood returned, only worse than she’d ever seen it before.

Sometimes Heather wondered if Peter hated her.  She reconsidered.
Hate was a strong word.  She knew Peter didn’t hate her, but that’s the way she felt at times, like now.  Instead of being compassionate about her injury or worried about her, he was jealous that Justin saw her in her underwear.  She didn’t understand what was going on with him, but she intended to find out.

Chapter Thirty-Nine:

Several hours later, Peter stormed through the front door.
He stomped across the living room and sat right next to Heather so there wasn’t a sliver of room between them.  He looked angry, and she shied away from the alcohol on his breath.  He made her nervous, and she wished Justin was still there.

“
What’s wrong with you?” she asked.

“
Do I really need to spell it out for you?”

“
Yes, Peter.  Why do you act like you’re mad at me all the time?  I thought we were starting over with a clean slate.  And why did you run out of here without making sure I was OK?”

“
You don’t need me.  You need Justin.  Or Kenny.”  He stood up and threw his hands in the air.  “I’m low man on the fuckin’ totem pole around here!”

He shouted at her, but she remained calm.
“Don’t be ridiculous.  You’re exaggerating.”

“
No, I’m not!”  He counted on his fingers.  “First, there’s Justin!”  He rolled his eyes with exaggerated drama.  “It’s
always
fuckin’ Justin!  Then, there’s Kenny!  Then me!   Most people have only one bitch to deal with, I get
three
!”

She stiffened, and he
r eyes opened wide with shock.

“
And another thing,” he pointed his finger dangerously close to her face, “I don’t want you prancing around in your fuckin’ underwear in front of him!”

“
I’m not prancing around in front of anyone,” she said matter-of-factly.  “I got hurt and he needed to look . . .”

“
I don’t care!  You were sitting there with a piece of fuckin’ dental floss between your legs!”

He screamed at the top of his lungs.  His eyes protruded from their sockets, and a vein bulged in his forehead, but Heather still remained poised and calm.  She wasn
’t about to let him bait her into a fight over something so totally asinine.

“
Stop yelling,” she said.

“
Stop sticking up for him!”

“
I’m sticking up for myself.  I’ve known Justin my whole life.  He’s seen me in my underwear a million times.”

Peter
rushed at her and stopped with his face an inch in front of hers.  She recoiled from him and leaned to the side on the couch to create some distance between them.

“
Why would he see you naked a million times?” He yelled in her face.  “What the fuck are you trying to say, Heather?  If you tell me you fucked him, I swear . . .”

“
WHAT?
”  She jumped to her feet.  Her leg throbbed, but her anger pushed through the pain.  “I said in my underwear, not naked!”  She poked him in the chest with her index finger so hard that it almost bent backwards.  “Don’t you
EVER
accuse me of sleeping with Justin!”  Her breath heaved in and out of her lungs as she tried not to cry.  She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction.

Peter
snarled at her, and his face turned the deepest shade of red that she ever saw.  He didn’t say anything. He just stood there and scowled at her.  She stared back at him.  It was another one of their many stand-offs.  Usually she was the one to walk away first, but tonight he hit an all-time low.  He could yell and scream and try to intimidate her all he wanted.  She was standing her ground. Nothing would make her back down.

She didn
’t know how long they stood like that, but eventually Peter turned away and marched up the stairs.  About halfway up, he stopped and stared down at her.  His eyes were softer, but only slightly.  They still had fire behind them.  “Just keep your fuckin’ clothes on around him.  And Kenny, too,” he added with exaggerated sarcasm.

Heather waited until Peter was upstairs and out of sight before she began to cry.  She sat on the couch and buried her face in her hands.  He was being cruel, and she didn
’t know why.  At one point he quietly listened to her crying from the top of the stairs.  She thought he was going to come down and apologize, or at least try to talk about it, but he didn’t.  Then she heard him go into the bedroom and shut the door.

Chapter Forty:

Heather finally confided in Justin about the problems in her marriage.  She couldn
’t hide the friction between her and Peter.  It was blatantly obvious, especially during the first few days that followed their massive blow up.  After a few weeks went by, Peter acted like nothing was wrong, and Heather followed his lead, but she had no idea where they were supposed to go from here.  How long could they carry on with their charade of a marriage?  She had the feeling that everything was on simmer, and the pot was getting ready to boil over.

Justin pointed out that Peter was trying to make things better.  How
– because he started going more places with her?  It wasn’t enough, even if it was a step in the right direction. Peter needed to make a major turnaround in the way he treated her before she could forgive him.  Even now, Peter voluntarily joined them for coffee, but he had been outside on the phone since they arrived at the bistro.  They were only having coffee.  Peter probably wouldn’t be back until they were done and ready to leave.  He should’ve just stayed home.  Then, at least, she wouldn’t feel abandoned at the small table with Justin and Kenny. She was upset, and she wasn’t about to hide it.  She wasn’t letting Peter off the hook so easily anymore.

“
Don’t look so mad,” Justin said.  “At least he’s here with you.”

“
Really? He’s here?”  She smirked, sarcastically, and glanced at the empty seat next to her. “I didn’t notice.”

“
Just . . . sit tight.”  Justin stood up.  “I’ll go outside and see what’s keeping him.”

Kenny patted her hand.
“Don’t worry, honey. Justin’ll make him come back to the table.”

She didn
’t want Justin to
make
Peter come back to the table. If Peter had better things to do, or if he wasn’t sincere, he shouldn’t have come.  She tapped her foot on the floor and folded her arms while she waited for Peter to return.  She rehearsed the conversation she planned on having with him in her head. It wasn’t pleasant.  She thought she heard a familiar voice above the noise in the coffee house, and she strained her ear to listen closer.  Could it be . . . of course it was!

There was no mistaking Tyler Kennedy
.  A wide smile spread across Heather’s face as she watched Tyler swagger toward her. She threw her head back and let out an excited laugh.  No wonder Justin stayed with Tyler so long. It was impossible to be in a bad mood around him.

“
Gorgeous!” Tyler exclaimed.  “I don’t believe my eyes!  Is that really you?”

She jumped up and greeted Tyler with open arms.  He planted a kiss on each cheek,
as well as one on her lips.  She laughed at his flamboyance in a sleeveless white marabou jacket and signature lower-than-low cut black leather pants.  She fingered the ends of his long hair and ran her hands over the soft feathers of his jacket.  “I’ve missed you!” she said.  “You look fabulous, as always.”

Tyler put his hands on his hips and turned from side to side.  It caused the jacket to open and expose his bare chest. 
“You likey?”

“
I love it!”

Tyler slipped off the jacket and handed it to her.  The feathers tickled her nostrils and she giggled.  Several customers stared at Tyler
’s half-naked body, and she returned the jacket to him.

“
You better put this back on,” she said, with a small laugh.  “I don’t think this place is ready for you.”

“
I can see you’re still as gorgeous as ever. How’s Delicious?”

Tyler
’s nickname for Justin always made her smile. “He’s doing really good.”

Tyler put his hand over his heart and looked to the heavens. 
“How I miss that man.”

#

Kenny tapped his foot and wondered how long it would take for Heather to remember he was sitting there listening to their conversation.  Eventually, she turned to him and put her arm around his shoulder.

“
This is Kenny, Justin’s boyfriend.”

Tyler raised an eyebrow. 
“Boyfriend?  Don’t tell me you finally got that playgirl to settle down?”

Kenny answered with a cold, hard stare. 
“Yes, I did,” he said, after a significant pause.

“
Kenny, this is Tyler,” Heather said.  “He and Justin used to date.”

There was no need for her to explain.  He already figured out
that Tyler was one of Justin’s ex-boyfriends.  Kenny took in Tyler’s over-the-top appearance and vivacious personality with distaste.  He was a show off looking for attention.  They couldn’t be more different from one another.

“
So where
is
Delicious?” Tyler asked Heather.  “I know he didn’t let you out with his boy-toy all alone.”

“
He’s out front.  He’ll be right back.”

Kenny noted Heather
’s boisterous and flirtatious behavior.  Funny how all of sudden she forgot that she was pissed off at Peter.

As soon as Tyler turned to the entrance to look for Justin, he walked through the door. 
“Delicious!”  Tyler shouted and threw his hands up in the air.  It caused most of the people around them to simultaneously turn and look in his direction.

Justin was alone, without Peter.  Again, Kenny noted that Heather didn
’t seem to care anymore that Peter was ignoring her.  Two seconds around Tyler and Heather was transformed into a giggling mountain of happiness.  It made Kenny wonder what kind of magical spell that scene queen had over her.  He returned his attention to Justin and Tyler.  Justin had a dazzling smile plastered across his face and he was practically running toward Tyler.  Tyler bolted full speed across the room to bridge the gap between him and Justin as quickly as possible.  It was like two lost lovers reuniting and they couldn’t stand to be away from one another for one more second.  They embraced in what appeared to be a long overdue hug.

Kenny resented the enthusiastic reaction Justin had to
seeing his ex-boyfriend.  It made his insides burn with bitter distrust.  The chemistry Justin and Tyler shared was undeniable, and Kenny closely scrutinized their interaction.

Tyler
’s eyes sparkled as he grinned and eyed Justin from head to toe.  “Well, if you aren’t a sight for sore eyes,” he said.  “You’re even more beautiful than the last time I saw you.  You look positively divine!”

Justin chuckled
and his entire face lit up.  “Tyler, it’s so good to see you!  You look great, and you haven’t changed a bit.”

Kenny watched and waited
with his arms folded across his chest, strumming his fingers on his bicep.  The longer he waited, the more heated he grew, so he cleared his throat loud enough to get Justin’s attention.  Justin recognized the jealousy burning behind Kenny’s fiery green eyes right away. Message received, loud and clear.

“
Did you meet my boy?” Justin asked, escorting Tyler over to the table where Kenny stood with Heather.