Jonny's Redemption (Gemini Group Book 7) Riley Edwards (ebook reader screen .TXT) 📖

her dead husband and had done it smashed. The good news was Mrs. Spencer hadn’t crashed or hurt anyone, but she had been pulled over. It was not Anita who called her son to bail her out of jail or pick her up.

No, it was worse—one of Jonny’s former colleagues had called.

That was when my big, strong Jonny had hung his head in shame. He also shut down and pulled away. It was so immediate it shocked me. His temper, I could handle. His flying off in a fit of rage and throwing a glass jar against the wall didn’t scare me. Not for a single second did I think I was in danger. I actually welcomed the slip of control. I wasn’t happy Jonny had been in pain, frustrated, and embarrassed by his family’s actions. However, I was happy that he hadn’t bottled it up which was what he normally did. What he’d done after he hung up once he finished speaking to his friend Vaughn.

I wasn’t so naïve I thought since Jonny had finally admitted he had feelings for me that it would be smooth sailing. I knew there would be bumps in the road. I knew he’d pull away. I just hadn’t thought it would happen so quickly.

After we silently packed and Jonny walked me to my car where he told me he’d call me later after he dealt with his mom, he woodenly stalked to his truck.

Silly man.

If he thought I was going home and leaving him to deal with his mom on his own, he was wrong. We were ten minutes outside of Cliff City, the turnoff I needed to take was coming up and I was mentally preparing for the call I knew Jonny would make when I didn’t make the left and followed him instead. He was going to be pissed—or I should say more pissed. And since he’d had an hour and fifteen minutes to stew, I figured he was more tweaked now than he was when we’d left Dewey Beach.

My bumper had barely passed the exit when my phone rang.

So predictable.

I hit the answer button on my steering wheel and smiled.

“Jonny,” I greeted.

“You missed your turn.”

Yep, predictable. And so was the bite in his tone.

“No, I didn’t.”

“Bobby—”

“Nope. You can bark and bitch all you want. But you’re not doing this alone.”

My interruption was met with silence. Unfortunately, I misinterpreted that to mean he wasn’t going to argue. I should’ve known better.

“This shit is not happening.”

Oh, silly, silly, growly Jonny.

“I’m not letting you face this by yourself.”

I watched Jonny’s truck in front of me swerve right before he cursed and straightened. I would bet his face was pinched and his knuckles were white.

“Goddamn it, Bobby. I don’t want you there.”

Okay, that stung—a little. Logically I knew he didn’t want me to see his mother. But someplace deep inside of me, I’d hoped he would be relieved I was with him.

“I’m coming with you.”

“So you don’t fucking care I don’t want you coming.”

“Why?”

“Why?” he repeated.

“Yeah, Jonny, why don’t you want me there?”

If he’d given me a good reason, I would’ve turned around and gone home. I would’ve left him to handle his business and called him later.

“Because I don’t.”

“Jonny—”

“None of this is your business.”

“So you’re not my business?”

“No. Not this. Not when she’s involved. My family is not your business.”

Welp, that stung more than a little. Actually, that hurt—a lot.

Regrettably, he went on and he did it nastily. “Just because I’m fucking you doesn’t mean you get to butt into my life. If I wanted you to witness this shitshow, I would’ve invited you. I didn’t, so have a clue, go home, and I’ll call you when I’m done.”

“Stop talking. Now, Jonny, you’ll stop talking if in the future you’d like the opportunity to fuck me again. You’ve got five minutes until we get to the station to come up with a reason why I should go home and leave you to clean up yet another mess you didn’t create. And here’s your warning, your reason better not have anything to do with embarrassment, shame, or trying to protect me. Alternately, you can use the next five minutes to think about how you’re going to apologize for being an asshole. See you at the station, I’m hanging up now.”

I hit the disconnect button and let out a frustrated sigh. I wasn’t known for my tolerance. I was too impulsive, too short-tempered, two things that didn’t mix well when what I needed was a truckload of patience to help Jonny work through his issues. Especially when we hadn’t scratched the surface. I had grit and strength but all too often I let my attitude get the better of me. Which meant I went from happy-go-lucky Bobby to raging-bitch-Bobby in two-point-five seconds. Most anyone who knew me understood this. They also knew not to push me there. Jonny was the exception to that because he, too, had a short fuse.

The difference between him and I was that I let my crazy fly when I was pissed, hurt, or felt threatened. Jonny locked his hurt away. No, he buried it and he kept burying it for twenty years until he’d finally cracked. He’d quit his job, gone into hiding, and pushed all of his friends away. Three days of outrageously good sex and conversation wasn’t going to heal that. It would take me a long time to dig through the rubble—something I desperately wanted to do. But I wouldn’t be tunneling through the wreckage his family buried him under while he was shoving shit at me.

That we would talk about, just not while his mother was in county jail after being arrested for a DWI on his dead father’s birthday. No, I was smart enough to wait until clearer heads prevailed. Then I’d tell him where he could shove his nasty comments.

All too soon Jonny pulled into the parking lot of the sheriff’s department and I followed. He parked and was out of his truck