A Couple is Three: The Beginning (book 1 & 2 Completed)

Chapter 19 - Growing Pains

Samantha continued to drag the boys, much to their confusion, back to Josh's trailer after asking where their fathers were. The boys had never seen Samantha like this and they were curious.

"What's going on Sweetie?" Jake questioned as they neared the trailer.

"Soon," came Samantha's breathless reply. She was moving too fast for the heat, but she didn't know what else to do. She knew that she needed to tell the boys about Cheryl since she didn't want them blindsided, but she didn't know how. Would they believe her without seeing the texts? Actually it wasn't the texts that she was worried about, instead it was the photos and videos. She didn't want them ever to see those.

Josh opened the door to trailer and motioned for Samantha to go into the trailer first. She gave them a small smile as she entered. She pulled out the phone from her pocket and opened it to see what else Cheryl had sent. There were more texts along the same vein as before, but thankfully there was only one new picture.

"What are you looking at?" Josh asked as he sat down at the dining room table.

Jake went to the fridge and grabbed out a few drinks. He offered one to Samantha who shook her head. He opened up one for himself and went to stand leaning up against the kitchen counter.

Samantha paced back and forth between the two of them trying to talk herself into spitting it out. She took a deep breath in, held it for a few seconds, and then let it out slowly. She squared her shoulders, turned to face them, and started telling them all about Cheryl's emails.

Josh sat there stunned balling up his fists. How dare Cheryl do that to Samantha. It was fine when she was harassing him, he could deal with it, but to start harassing Samantha was crossing a line.

Jake was glad that his drink was in a glass bottle . He was gripping it so tightly that he wouldn't have been surprised if he broke it. He slowly peeled each finger away from the drink as he placed it on the counter beside him.

"Give me my phone, Samantha," Josh demanded.

"No!"

"What do you mean no?" Josh questioned icily as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"I'm not letting you see the texts until I can ensure that you won't see the pictures or video," Samantha countered as she put his phone back in her pocket.

"It's not your problem to deal with. It's mine," growled Josh glaring at her. He wasn't really mad at Samantha and he knew that she didn't deserve the way that he was acting, but he was scared. He was scared that he was going to lose her. Cheryl could be horrible. He knew first hand how bad she could be and he never forgot what Jake had overheard her saying. He didn't want Cheryl to do anything to push Samantha away and the only way to ensu that was to keep the two as far apart as possible.

"What do you think I have been doing all weekend? I have been stepping in to protect you and I'm not stopping now," she snapped staring Josh in the eye. There was no way that she was going to back down. Cheryl was not going to get to sink her claws into Josh, at least not while she was there to protect him.

The two just glared at each. Each one standing their ground, not wanting to give an inch.

Jake watched the two of them. He understood where Josh was coming from. He had seen Cheryl at work with some other girls. She was bad news despite what Josh's mom and other adults thought. But at the same time he was so happy that Samantha was standing up to Josh. He had been trying to get Josh to tell his parents what was going on with Cheryl, but Josh wouldn't budge. It was okay when it was just text messages and notes in Josh's locker or bedroom, but now she was sending pictures and videos. Something had to be done.