Free Hazel St. James - Fighting For You (Redemption#1)[ by Hazel St James Page B

woman and walk away without sex.
    He pulled back from her, but didn’t let go of her face. He leaned in and kissed the tip of her nose, then released her and got out of the car. He opened up the backseat door and grabbed all the bags and pulled them out of the car, setting some of them down on the driveway. “So I’ll see you on Monday, then?”
    Peyton was looking a little bit stunned sitting there, and she pulled out of her stare when he spoke. “Oh, um, yeah. Monday. Hey, didn’t you want help with a project?”
    Tristan thought for a minute about a project that he was going to tell her about, and then he remembered asking her to help him with something before she laid down the law about what their relationship could be. “Oh yeah, I did. I need to check on where most of my old stuff ended up and I thought that maybe you could help me to retrieve what’s left? Plus, I should see what I can do about getting my car back. Might need some help with all that.”
    Peyton was grinning from ear to ear now and gave him that gorgeous smile he was damn near ready to take a picture of, so he had it with him all the time. “You bet, sweets. You sure you can handle all those groceries? I could help you put everything away.”
    “No, baby. I got it. Thank you, though. See ya tomorrow.”
    Tristan was practically walking on sunshine as he went back to the discarded grocery bags on the driveway. He was absolutely elated for the first time in a very long time and had to keep himself from whistling as he carried all of the stuff up to his apartment. He made it through the door and stumbled on the way to the kitchen, barely making it before the handles on the plastic bags started to rip into pieces. He laughed at his luck and thought that maybe things were starting to turn around for him.
    Tristan usually was a lucky person, but he decided that maybe what was happening to him was more a product of karma. Peyton was proof positive that karma was real, and that good things come to those who wait.
    Even more important, he wanted to believe this positive streak wasn’t the calm before the bi-polar storm.

Chapter Ten

    M orning was slow to come. Tristan was wide awake at five in the morning after a series of nightmares. He wasn’t feeling the greatest right now and knew that it was only going to get worse. He was completely awake, yet unable to close his eyes. For when he did, the demons seemed to appear. It wasn’t just Valerie that he saw in his dreams anymore, they’d evolved, turned into something even more painful. Something that Tristan tried harder than hell to never remember.
    He was in a small house. So small that there was just one bedroom and a kitchen and a couch. The house smelled awful and was so cold. Dark and cold. There was a single light on in the bedroom, but it was so dim that it didn’t reach this far out into the house. Tristan felt small…younger. He could hear the faintest sounds coming from the bedroom…they sounded like a lullaby. Like someone singing. Tristan knew that voice. Knew who it was. He started walking towards it and could feel the dread creeping across his skin. He shouldn’t go in there. He was told not to. Supposed to stay outside.
    Tristan snapped himself out of the memory, aware that he was in his own apartment. He’d broken out in a cold sweat and was shivering lying in his bed, all the covers on the floor. He tried to take a deep breath, but his lungs protested and he sputtered a few times and coughed. His eyes hurt, his head started to pound, and the pain was spreading across his body, engulfing every one of his limbs.
    Tristan knew this was a panic attack, brought on by a memory trigger, since that was normal for him as of late. But this was a new image, a new waking nightmare for him. One that hadn’t been there when he was in the hospital. Everything focused around the severe manic episode he’d had when Valerie was hurt, and that was it.
    He’d spoken with his therapist about his