Sea Breeze 04 - Just for Now

up his hands to hold me off. “I’m nasty. Let me get a shower first.” He didn’t say anything else. He just stalked to the bathroom and closed the door. Loudly.
    Was he mad that I was still here?
    My phone played the text song, and I reached down to get it.
Jason: I got an invitation to your brother’s wedding.
    Willow must have sent it when she’d thought there was something going on between us.
Me: Are you going to come?
    Please, God, no. Preston wouldn’t be nice to him. I wouldn’t be able to talk to him if I wanted to keep Preston calm.
Jason: I want to.
    What did I say to that? I couldn’t be rude. Sadie and Jax were coming.
    The bathroom door swung open.
    “I’m sorry I was in such a bad mood when I got back,” Preston said, walking out of the bathroom.
    I looked up from my phone. “It’s okay. I was worried you wanted me to leave. I can if you have things to do.”
    Preston frowned and closed the distance between us. “God, no. I want you with me. I just had a bad afternoon. I hated having to leave you.”
    “You weren’t gone that long. We have plenty of time to spend on the beach before the sun goes down.”
    Preston bent down and kissed me.
    My text alert went off.
    Oh, crap.
    Preston pulled back and looked down at my phone.
Jason: You didn’t tell me no. I’m taking that as your approval.
    I didn’t move. Preston had read it. Trashing it now wouldn’t change that. I wasn’t even sure if this was going to be a big deal. So I waited for a reaction.
    “Jason? Jason Stone?”
    I nodded. The angry snarl in his voice told me this would be a very big deal.
    He took the phone out of my hands, and I let him. I hadn’t said anything wrong.
    He scrolled up and read through our texts. When he got back to the last one, he lifted his eyes to meet mine.
    “That’s what you want, Manda? Private jet rides to NYC?” He threw my phone onto the table and stormed into his room. I jumped when his door slammed behind him.
    My eyes filled with tears. He hadn’t even let me explain. He’d just stormed off. I hadn’t said that was what I wanted. I was being polite.
    The door opened, and I backed up, not sure if I should leave or if I should plead my case. I wasn’t used to having a man mad at me. It was scary. My dad had never yelled at me, and until the night Marcus found out about Preston and me, neither had Marcus. My heart was racing in my chest, and I felt like I was going to throw up.
    Preston pointed at my phone. “You talk to him often? Hmm?”
    I shook my head. “No-o-o,” I stammered.
    “Sure as hell sounds like it. He’s got money. Your brother sure as hell approves if he’s sending him a wedding invitation.”
    “I didn’t know about the invitation until just now.”
    Preston let out a hard, angry laugh. “You knew about the jet ride to New York City, though, didn’t you? Looks like you were the one texting him today too.”
    “I had forgotten to text him back the last time he texted me. I was trying to be polite. He’s Jax’s brother,” I explained.
    Preston turned around and slammed his fist into the wall. “Fuck that, Manda. You texted him. You wanted to talk to him.”
    A tear trickled down my face, and I couldn’t think of the right thing to say to make him understand. He was so angry. For the first time ever, I wanted to leave his apartment. I wanted to go somewhere alone and cry.
    I walked over and got my phone off the couch, then picked up my beach bag and headed for the door. I didn’t look back at him. I couldn’t or I’d break down crying right now.
    I didn’t want him to see me cry. I wanted to be mad at him and yell at him and tell him how stupid he was being, but the lump in my throat was stopping me.
    I hurried out the door and down the steps. When my foot hit the bottom step, I burst into tears. I hadn’t been able to make it to my car. Wiping at my face, I slipped on my sunglasses, which had been on top of my head, and started out toward my car.
    The sound of heavy steps running down the stairs startled me, and I turned around to see Preston running after me.
    “Manda, wait. I’m sorry. Please don’t leave.”
    A smart person would’ve kept walking. I wasn’t a smart person.
    Preston’s panicked face as he begged me not to leave was more powerful than common sense.
    “I’m an asshole. God, baby. I’m so sorry. I was upset when I came in, and then I saw the text and it set me off. I’m not going to lie, I’m jealous as hell. You’re mine,