Chapter 6
SIX
GRACIE
My friends talk and laugh around me, though I don’t hear a word.
Ever since the night at the club, I’ve been distracted, unable to pull my thoughts away from the guy I spent the night with and searching him out everywhere I go, even though I have no idea what he really looks like.
He called me by my name, so he obviously knows who I am, yet I have no idea of his identity.
It could be anyone. It could be someone I know well, someone I only know in passing, someone I share a class with…
It’s beginning to bother me that I slept with someone I know nothing about. I’ve always thought of myself as the type of girl who would wait until I’d been on a handful of dates with a guy before letting him in my bed, but I guess that’s not the case.
I have no idea what came over me that night, since I’m usually the type to play it safe.
But not with him. I felt safe with him, which is freaking ridiculous since I don’t even know his damn name.
The only thing I do know about him is that he knows how to use my body like it was made for him.
The way he touched me was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. My body lit up for him, responding to him more with one touch than it ever did in the entirety of my relationship with my ex.
Though if I’m being honest, that isn’t exactly a hardship. But my mystery guy took things to a whole new level, and I’m not sure anyone will ever be able to live up to the memory of him.
Would it really be so bad to see him again? How would it even be possible? He was like every fantasy I’ve ever had come to life, and there’s some moments where I find myself wondering if it really happened or if it was my mind dissociating from reality.
But no. I know it was real. I can still feel his hands caressing my skin, still hear his grunts and groans and his deep, raspy, and somewhat familiar voice.
And that right there is the kicker.
Why did he sound so familiar?
I can’t stop that deep seated feeling in my bones that I know him.
But I was so lost in pleasure that the familiarity didn’t register, and even though I can still hear his voice without the modulator circling my mind, he was so gone to his own pleasure that it probably sounded deeper than it does normally.
Misty’s fingers snapping in front of my face snaps me back to reality and I focus on her and Freya, only to find them staring at me.
Misty looks mischievous while Freya has a deep line between her brows as she frowns at me, clearly concerned. The looks they’re giving me are familiar, since the expressions on their faces right now basically reflect their personalities.
I clear my throat. “Sorry, what did you say?”
They share a glance before focusing on me once more.
“Where did you get to on Thursday night? We barely saw you,” Misty says, a twinkle in her eye and I have to fight the urge to cringe.
To be honest, I don’t know Misty all that well.
We met freshman year because she shared a class with Freya and the two of them became friends.
Freya and I grew up together, and she’ll always be my best friend, but sometimes I get tired when I’m around them both so much. Misty is nice, but she can be… a lot.
“I had a headache, so I hung out at the bar for a while before heading home,” I murmur, hoping like hell they believe my lie. I’m not ready to talk about what really happened with anyone yet, though by the look Freya’s giving me, I know she doesn’t quite believe me, but I know she won’t push.
Misty on the other hand, looks completely normal as she pouts. “I wanted to be your wing woman and hook you up with someone.”
Definitely not necessary.
I shrug. “I’m fine with the way things are, you know I don’t have time for anything like that.”
Lies.
I have more than enough spare time, but the thought of going out to find a random hookup makes me itchy.
Another night with him on the other hand…
No, it’s never going to happen.
Even if I did have a way to figure out who he is, I’d never be able to find the courage to approach him.
Some things are best left in the dark.
She rolls her eyes, giving me a look of derision. “Oh please. It’s been far too long. I still think you should fuck one of your brothers’ friends,” she says, wiggling her eyebrows as I make a gagging motion.
“Fuck no.”
She doesn’t understand why I don’t find them attractive, but I never have.
We grew up together, and I’ve always seen them as somewhat older brothers. They certainly have the brotherly overprotective thing down pat.
If one of them got wind of what happened on Thursday night, they’d hunt the guy down and kill him. It’s one of the reasons I don’t date, because I know they’d get involved and either scare the guy away or do something that would make me regret the entire thing.
Those guys take being overprotective to the next level, and I’m honestly surprised I’ve managed to get away with having as much freedom as I do.
They’re all a year older than me, and when I first came to BU, they tried their hardest to get me to move into the spare room of their cottage but fuck that.
I knew with absolute certainty that if I moved in with them, I wouldn’t be able to get enough space to breathe. I love them all to death, but they don’t seem to understand that I’m a grown ass woman and can take care of myself.
So, I ended up moving into the dorms, although they wouldn’t let me have a roommate.
They figured if I was going to live on my own, then I needed to live on my own. Not sure how that makes sense in their minds, but whatever.
They also installed security systems on my door and windows and made me promise to call one of them if I needed anything.
It’s been over a year, and I’ve never had to call them for anything like they were so sure I would need to.
“They are hot,” Freya chimes in, her smile knowing. She knows I’ve never felt that way about any of them, but sometimes it’s easier to just agree with Misty or you never hear the end of it.
I guess—objectively speaking—they are good looking, but I’ve never thought of any one of them that way, and I never will.
“So is your brother,” I shoot back with a smirk, and she huffs out a breath before changing the subject, thank God.
She’s used to people fawning all over her hockey playing brother, so it usually does the trick to get her to back down. I guess I know the feeling, too, because this isn’t the first time it’s been brought up to me, and I know it won’t be the last.
Her and Misty start chatting about their plans for Halloween and I zone out again, not caring much about dressing up and going out again.
I’ve never been a fan of that particular holiday, so I may have lied and told them that I’m heading home for the weekend to see my mom.
In reality, I’m going to be hiding away in my dorm doing absolutely nothing, please and thank you.
My mind drifts to that night, but rather than thinking about what’s been replaying on my mind for days, I focus on the beginning of the night. I’d completely forgotten about it, but now that I think about it, I remember watching Cole slinking off to find the new girl, Lana.
There’s been rumors swirling around about the two of them and I’ve been itching to ask him about it, but I know he’ll only deny it right now. My brother likes to hide behind his mask of indifference, but I know deep down that he’s nothing like that.
And Lana seems like she would be good for him. I’ve already seen a difference in the way he acts around others since they met.
I don’t know her in the slightest, but I could gleam just from the looks he gives her that there’s something there and I honestly have no doubt that they’ll end up together since I’ve never seen that look on my brothers face before.
He would be good to her, I know that for certain. And I’m betting that she’d be exactly what he needs, since my brother definitely needs someone to put him in his place every now and then.
Of course, my mind then drifts to the next part of the evening, of the mystery guy saving me from the unwanted advance, to me asking him to go someplace else. The way he took me on the table, almost as if he knew I wanted to be nowhere near that bed. The way he had me bend over it while he—
Stop thinking about it.
Pushing the thoughts of that night and everything related to it out of my mind, I try to focus on the conversation around me.
I need to forget about the guy wearing the mask and everything that happened.
It was a one-time thing, and I’ll never see him again.
We pack up after finishing our lunch and I check the time on my phone to make sure I have enough time to make it to class, but what I see has adrenaline pumping through my veins and my blood running cold at the same time.
Unknown
Have you missed me, love?
That nickname. There’s only been one person to ever call me that and it’s him. The guy my mind won’t stop wandering to.
Why is he texting me? How the hell did he get my number? What the fuck am I supposed to reply to that? Should I even bother replying? It’s all feeling a little… stalkery.
I wanted a night of hot sex, not my very own stalker.
I try to focus on my breathing as I slip the phone into my pocket without opening the message, putting it to the back of my mind for later, though I know it’ll be fruitless.
I’ll be thinking about the damn thing all day.
So much for forgetting about him.