Page 42 of Saving Shepperd

The next best coping mechanism I had in a heavy situation was to just shut down. I couldn’t process any more deep conversation, so I hoped like hell my parents, or at least my dad, wouldn’t be home.

It was a short drive to my parents’ house, and that was probably a good thing. I didn’t have a lot of time to get worked up more than I already was. We turned down the long driveway, and my body temperature rose. Both of their cars were parked close to the house.

I groaned. “They’re both here,” I mumbled into my hands.

Law parked behind my dad’s sedan and scurried around to open my door. I would’ve thought this kind of treatment from a guy would annoy me, but I loved it. Every gesture, touch, or look reinforced how much he cared about me. Constantly being reassured that way gave me confidence I was so desperately lacking. The weirdest part about all of it was that I didn’t realize what I was missing until being around him.

God, don’t let me fuck this up and scare him off.

“They’re either going to be obnoxiously fake and friendly or just open fire on me. You should probably not say much either way,” I advised.

He just returned a blank stare, and I didn’t know what to make of it. Did saying that hurt his feelings? Maybe I was too blunt? In my own twisted mind, I was trying to protect him. It was too late to explain, though, because the front doorwhooshedopen with a flurry, and my mom stood beaming in the entry.

“Hey there!” she said brightly. “I thought I heard car doors.”

Total lies. My dad always blasted the volume on the television so loud that you couldn’t hear a conversation you were having in the same room. She watched out the window as a hobby. That’s why she knew we were here.

Whatever. It wasn’t worth pointing out the truth.

“Hey,” I mumbled.

“And who’s your friend, Shep?” she asked, wiping her hands on the dish towel she was holding, preparing to offer one in greeting.

“Oh, right. Mom, this is Law, my…ummm, boyfriend.” I looked at him with an uncomfortable shrug. I wanted to run and hide more than anything.

Luckily, Law took over and approached my mom. “Hello. Nice to meet you,” he said in his deep, sexy, and oh-so-confident tone.

Christ, just the sound of his voice sent shivers through my entire body.

“Hello. I’m Lisa, Shepperd’s mom,” Mom said as they shook hands. She made a big show of looking behind her to the empty space and then back to Law. “My husband, Dave, is around here somewhere.”

“It’s nice to be here. Shepperd’s told me so much about her family,” he said. It wasn’t the whole truth, but it wasn’t a lie, either—just the basic pleasantries someone said when meeting someone new.

“I’m just making dinner. Are you two staying?” she asked toward me with a hopeful expression. Was this really the same woman who threatened to commit me to an inpatient treatment facility just a few days ago?

“No,” I rushed out before Law got us into something that would surely be the death of me. “Just picking up some stuff. I’m going to be staying at his place.”

“Oh?” my mom asked in surprise.

I hurried past her and beelined toward my bedroom, towing Law behind me. The moment we were behind the closed door, I leaned against the thing and let out a huge gust of air. He watched me as if I had been a grenade with its pin pulled, not sure if he should take cover or dive on top and try to smother the pending explosion.

“I’ll just grab whatever I can. I knew I should’ve done this alone. This was a huge mistake,” I grumbled while frantically moving around my room. I was spinning myself up into a frenzy and getting nothing accomplished because of it.

Law stepped in front of me on one of the pointless laps I made around the room and wrapped me in his arms. He kissed the top of my head and held me close. “Calm down, darling. It’s fine.”

I scoffed. “You have no idea how fine it’s not. He’s going to be at that door any moment now. Once he has me cornered in here, things will get ugly. I’m not in the mood for this tonight. I knew we shouldn’t have come here.”

“Baby, listen to me,” he said, putting an arm’s length between us. “It’s fine. I’m not going to let anything happen to you, okay?”

Knowing I didn’t want to get into this with him again, I just sighed. “Let me just get some clothes and we can go.” I swung my head from side to side with no clue how to make that happen. My brain was locked up, and I was moments from a breakdown.

“Do you have a suitcase? A duffle bag or something?” Law suggested, clearly sensing I was coming unglued.

“Yeah, good idea.” I gave him a half-hearted smile. “Thank you.”

“I’m here to help you. Where should I start? Where are your pajamas and underwear?”

“You want to pack my panties and bras?” I smiled genuinely, letting some of the tension slip away.

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