Jordan’s Deliverance Read Online Free Page B

time. Then guess who shows up sans bimbo? You guessed it—Riordan. Then all of a sudden fire ants are in my tent, and he and I are huddled together in his rinky-dink GI Joe tent. I was up all night—he snores like a grizzly bear choir—and then…”
    Jordan paused to grab another mug and turned back around to face David. He was staring at her with his mouth wide open, his eyes wide.
    “Let me touch you. Are you feverish? When did you catch the stupid-as-hell disease?” he asked. “Do you know what’s going on?”
    “I’m being stalked by an idiot. Yes, I know…”
    “No, dear, he is waiting for you to ‘see’ him. He’s not going to court you outright because you constantly give off the fight-or-flight response, but he doesn’t want you to forget he’s there, either. Let’s look at the signs,” suggested David. “You have gone out to eat, camped, shared food, attended parties, you have friends in common, you’ve slept in the same room, and he’s threatened another man over you. Yup, you are dating. Now you just need to tell him you want to make this official.”
    “I don’t want to make this official at all, David. I just want him to leave me alone,” she said softly, her expression changing from frustration to defeat.
    David pulled her toward him in a hug. “Aw, Jay, you and he are so turned on by each other it’s obvious to everyone but you. Give the big guy a chance. I’m asking you as a friend who wants you to be happy. I’m not saying give him the keys to the store and your bank account numbers but at least find out if he’s capable to being trusted in the special way you need. Be honest with him and honest with yourself about what you want in your life. Don’t let fear win this time.”

Chapter Six
     
     
    Jordan thought about her conversation that afternoon with David as she slowly stripped the damp sheets off her bed and dumped them on the floor along with her wet sleep-tee. Padding on bare feet toward her kitchen, she reached for her customary plastic cup, filled it with ice and water, and let the cool liquid ease her burning throat. The silent screams and heavy panting always left her parched and unsteady. She’d kept a set of plastic water glasses in the cabinet for times such as these. After an especially bad night terror, a glass had slipped from her trembling fingers and shattered on her tile floor at 3:00 a.m. That was not an ideal time to be sweeping and picking shards of glass from your feet.
    Returning to her master bathroom, she pulled fresh white sheets from the linen closet and remade the bed just neatly enough to not be attacked by her bottom sheet during the night. Falling back into her many pillows, Jordan exhaled loudly and stared at the ceiling in frustration. The dreams were back.
    She had an inkling as to why but knew it couldn’t be helped. Her best friend’s wedding and the responsibilities she’d happily accepted were taking a toll on her already hectic life, and the episodes with Riordan didn’t help either.
    This was one of the things that made relationships so strained for her. She needed a man in her life who wouldn’t let her run roughshod over him, and yet when that character trait was shown she immediately went back into her emotional safe space. That safe space had kept her sane on many occasions when she was just waiting for the pain or isolation to end. It was hard to not go back there; hard for her to trust that line between negative physical aggression and positive, emotionally charged sexual expression.
    Riordan clearly was attracted to her and had the most entertaining wit she’d come across in a very long time. As a matter of fact, his laissez faire attitude about life was what had pulled her in and lulled her into a false sense of security in the first place. She believed she was emotionally safe with him. There was no emotional depth to delve into or complicated character traits to analyze. He was one dimensional, sometimes annoying, and