Chapter Eight
I actually ended up taking Stacey’s advice. Tonight, I was leaving the drama behind and heading out with Liv.
The Delta Upsilon sorority house was throwing a massive party, and if campus rumors were anything to go by, they were legendary for hosting the best events of the semester.
I stand in front of my bedroom mirror, carefully applying a layer of dark red lipstick before grabbing my handbag and checking my appearance one last time.
Thankfully, Bear wasn’t home. The apartment was dead silent, which meant I didn’t have anyone around to ruin my mood or start another intense, floorboard-shaking argument.
My phone buzzes with a text from Liv letting me know her taxi was idling downstairs. Hurrying out to the front door, I made a very conscious point of checking for my keys this time, locked up, and ran down the stairs.
“I am so ready to party!” Liv screams the second I climb into the back seat next to her.
“Me too,” I giggle, the nervous energy of the last few days finally beginning to melt away.
Liv leans in, nudging my shoulder with a knowing smirk. “Are we getting our mind off a certain tatted-up someone tonight?”
“Maybe,” I mumble, looking out the window as the taxi pulled away from the curb.
“You just need to talk to him, Danny,” Liv says gently. “Honestly, I don’t care if he just grunts back at you. At least you’ll know you put your feelings out there.”
“He scares me, Liv,” I admit, my voice dropping to a whisper so the driver wouldn’t hear. “I tell him to his face that I’m not intimidated, but I am. The guy has been to prison.”
“And?” she counters, completely unfazed. “They let him out, didn’t they? That means he obviously changed.”
“I guess,” I murmur, tracing a seam on my purse.
“Besides,” Liv giggles, her inner wild child taking over. “I bet a guy like that is totally into choking.”
A startled laugh escapes me, the tension breaking. “Honestly? It wouldn’t surprise me.”
The taxi finally pulls up to the massive Delta Upsilon house, the thumping bass from the speakers inside vibrating through the car doors. Liv reaches into her bag to pay the driver, and I step out onto the pavement. The second my feet hit the concrete; my heart violently stops. A cold sweat broke out across my skin as I spot a horribly familiar face standing near the front porch.
It was Jason.
“Shit,” I hiss, freezing in place.
Liv hops out of the car, follows my gaze, and instantly scowls. “Crap. Do you want to leave?”
“No,” I answer, a sudden surge of stubborn pride washing over me. “No, we’re staying.”
Squaring my shoulders, I march right up the front pathway, completely ignoring Jason as he tries to catch my eye. Liv and I push through the front doors, immediately heading for the kitchen to grab drinks, and let the crowded, chaotic energy of the house swallow us up.
Within an hour, we were actually having a great time. Liv had managed to charm a guy by the refreshment table, while I drift into a conversation with a group of girls named Bella and Chloe who were visiting from out of town.
“Danny.”
The voice cut through the loud music like a razor blade. I let out a heavy, miserable huff and turn around, glaring daggers at Jason as he stands hovering over our circle. “I don’t want to talk to you, Jason.”
“Yeah, piss off, asshole,” Bella snaps instantly, stepping into his line of sight. I had already given the girls the brief, horrifying summary of why he was my ex.
“I just want to talk to her,” Jason says softly, trying to look pathetic.
Suddenly, the guy Liv had been making out with shifts over, putting his broad frame between Jason and me. He had a thick Australian accent. “She said she didn’t want to talk to you, mate.”
Jason’s eyes flashes with annoyance. “It’s not your business.”
“I know it’s not,” the Australian guy replies calmly, not backing down an inch. “But she obviously wants nothing to do with you.”
“Stop ruining our night, Jason. Seriously,” Liv growls, stepping up beside me.
“I just want five minutes to talk!” Jason snaps, his frustration finally bleeding through.
I look at his desperate expression, then at the crowded room of people who were now actively staring at the confrontation. The scene was humiliating. “Fine,” I snap, cutting through the shouting. “You have ten minutes.”
“Alone?” he questions, casting a nervous glance at my wall of defenders.
“Whatever. Follow me,” I mutter. I turn and march through the back hallway, exiting through a screen door into a quiet, secluded corner of the backyard where the grass was overgrown and the party noise was muffled. I stop, violently crossing my arms over my chest. “Talk.”
“Danny, baby, I am so sorry,” he bursts out, taking a step toward me. “If I could go back in time and completely un-fuck your mother, I would do it in a heartbeat. Please. Just take me back.”
“I can’t, Jason,” I growl, the raw betrayal burning in my throat. “You hurt me. Of all the horrific things you could have done to break my trust, you chose the absolute worst.”
“She blackmailed me!” Jason insists, his voice frantic. “She said she was going to tell you I was selling weed on campus if I didn’t do whatever she wanted!”
I raise an eyebrow, completely disgusted. “And she wanted sex?”
“Well... no. Originally, she just wanted me to come over and do her garden,” Jason stammers, his legal defense falling apart instantly. “But then she seduced me, and... we had sex.”
I visibly cringe, the mental image making my stomach violently roll. “I literally cannot believe I ever dated you.”
“Just give me one more chance,” he whispers, stepping closer, reaching his hands out toward me. “I’ll be so good to you, Danny. I promise.”
I stare at him for a long beat, a cold, calculating thought forming in my mind. “Alright,” I say smoothly. “But only if you answer one question honestly.”
His face instantly lit up with excitement. “Okay. Anything.”
“When was the absolute last time you slept with my mother?” I ask, tilting my head.
Jason froze. The color drains from his face, and his tongue trips over his teeth as he scrambles for a lie. “Um—well—I think—uh—”
A dark, bitter smirk spreads across my lips. “It was last night, wasn’t it?”
“Yes,” he mumbles, looking down at his shoes.
“Go fuck yourself,” I snap.
I spin on my heel to storm back toward the house, but before I could take a single step, Jason’s hand shot out. His fingers wrap violently around my wrist, pulling me backward with enough force to make me stumble.
“Goddamnit, Danny, stop being such a total bitch!” he snarls.
I wince sharply, twisting my arm to break his grip, but his fingers only dug deeper into my skin. “Jason, let go! You’re hurting me!” I whimper.
“You are mine,” he hisses, his face contorting into an expression I had never seen on him in three whole years. He looks completely unhinged. “You don’t get to just walk away. You can’t be with anybody else.”
Panic flares to life in my chest. “Jason, let go right now,” I say, my voice shaking.
“Not until you realize that I’m the only one for you,” he growls, tightening his hold until my bones felt compressed.
“Jason, please!” I whisper, tears finally spilling over my eyelashes. My wrist stung fiercely where his fingers were grinding into the flesh.
“Just take me back!”
“I can’t!” I scream, the tears blinding me now. “You did something absolutely disgusting, and I will never, ever forgive you for it!”
Whether it was the volume of my voice or the absolute finality in my words, something made him suddenly release me. The second my arm was free, I turn and sprint toward the front road, not looking back once.
I collapse onto the concrete ledge of the gutter at the edge of the property, my hands trembling violently as I pull my phone from my bag. My thumb hovers hesitantly over the contact list before finally pressing Bear’s name.
He had forced me to take his number after the disastrous date with Adrian, muttered something about safety, and walked away.
I press call, holding the phone to my ear as I sob.
He answers on the very first ring.
“Bear,” I whisper, a heavy, pathetic sob tearing out of my chest. “Can you... can you please come pick me up?”
“Where are you?” he growls through the line. The gravelly voice sounded fiercely protective, vibrating with an immediate, lethal tension.
“The Delta Upsilon house,” I choke out.
“Be there in ten.”
The line went dead. I pull the phone away, burying my face in my hands as I sat on the curb, the heavy tears soaking through my fingers. I hate how incredibly sensitive I’d been lately, but as I sat in the dark waiting for a self-proclaimed ex-con to rescue me, I couldn’t stop the crying.