Page 7 of Turn

Tristan held my gaze but I didn’t move away from the door. Finally he sighed and crossed his arms. “Hey Curt, I’m tired as hell and I know you’ve got to be up in five hours. Can we talk some other time?”

I really did have to be up in five hours. Tomorrow was my first day at Scratch but first I had to get breakfast for the boys and shuttle Brecken off to the middle school for his summer class. There was a bus that could take him but in the early morning hours there were also a bunch of weirdoes hanging around here and I didn’t want him waiting around on a street corner. Before this week I would also drop Tristan off at the high school but now that school was out I had to trust that he spent at least some of his time job hunting in the area. I hoped like hell he’d find something soon. Not just because of the money but because an angry, roaming teenager was a recipe for disaster.

“Fine.” I relented and twisted the doorknob open. “You need to be home by dinner tomorrow. I’ve got a new job. I’ll pick up something to eat on the way home and I expect to find you right here.”

Tristan smirked. “Shit, dude, you sound like Mom.”

The three of us had developed a habit of not discussing her. I didn’t care to start now.

“Would it help get my point across if I promised to kick the shit out of you?”

We both knew it was a bluff. I’d never lay a hand on either of my brothers, no matter how much they pissed me off.

“Nah.” He shrugged. “Shit kickings don’t bother me.”

I was out of ammunition. I didn’t know how to convince Tristan to pick a better path than the one he was flirting with. The only thing I could do was make life better so that he wasn’t tempted. Even though I knew it might not be enough.

“Go to bed,” I said quietly since the door was now open and I didn’t want to wake up Brecken.

Tristan playfully elbowed me on his way out. He was getting stronger every day. The idea made me both proud and fearful.

I took a leak, stripped down and brushed my own teeth before exiting the bathroom. The main room was completely dark and Brecken murmured in his sleep. No sound came from Tristan’s bed but I knew he was there. There was some comfort tonight in knowing that both my brothers were safe and here with me. I had accomplished virtually nothing in my twenty-two years to be proud of but that was all changing now. I had a real job, a legit way of earning money that would make it possible to lease a decent apartment. I would do anything to make sure that those boys finished school properly and didn’t become wards of the state or worse, sucked into the ugly underworld that hovered right outside this door. With Tristan I had my work cut out for me but I was up to the challenge. I had to be. Even if I’d be spending my nights sleeping in a chair and craving things I didn’t have the luxury of having right now.

As I settled into the chair my mind strayed back to the cute blonde I’d snapped at earlier today. Something about her had stuck with me even though she looked too soft for my taste, the delicate type who might deflate if you kissed her too hard. Remembering the shape of her pink lips got me hard and I had to push away all thoughts of her so I could get some sleep. She was only on my mind because I hadn’t been fucked in months.

That girl didn’t matter.

I’d never see her again, never even learn her name.

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