Life of the Party (50 page)

“Would
you?”

“I don’t know.”
She shrugged again. “I mean, there goes all hope of us having like,
a real relationship, you know? But, I don’t see why we can’t still
be … friends.”

“You’d want to
be friends?”

“Yeah, I would.
I don’t know how to explain it Mac. He’s like … he’s like, the only
one for me. I’ve never known anyone so … perfect. I don’t know.”
She looked up at me sheepishly. “Does that make me pathetic?”

“No.” I decided
resolutely. If Grey had cheated on me, I’d feel the same way. “I
know exactly what you mean. Are you going to tell him though, that
you know?”

“I guess we’ll
see if he tells me or not.” Charlie sighed. “And maybe this is weak
of me, but if he asks me for another chance, if he asks me to
forgive him, I already know that I will. Even knowing that he’s
cheated on me doesn’t change how I feel about him. It just hurts
more.”

“Yeah. Well,
you deserve to be happy, Charlie. Whatever that entails.”

“Thanks Mac.
And you look beautiful, if I do say so myself.” She smiled at me.
“Go look in the mirror.”

I did look
beautiful. Maybe it was just my heroin-induced haze, but Charlie
had worked her magic, yet again. My long dark hair hung in
shimmering waves to tumble around the teal shoulders of my sweater
that hugged down my torso and flared slightly at my hips. The jeans
I wore could have been painted on, they were so tight, emphasizing
my long, lean legs. My eyes were smouldering, dark and lined with
black—my lips a natural, shimmery red that went well with the
sweater.

Charlie was
packing up her things as I went back to thank her. She grinned at
me.

“No problem
Mac. I owe you that much, for being such a jerk to you for so
long.”

“Don’t worry
about it.” I brushed it off. “I totally understand.”

She smiled at
me and looked down at her watch. “Well, Grey’s going to be here
soon. I’m going to go out, give you guys the place to yourselves. I
think Courtney and I might swing by Jack’s again, should I get some
more … stuff … for you?”

“Mmm, yes,
please.” I found my purse and dug through it, pulling out almost
the last of my tip money from the week. “Here. But you don’t have
to leave just because Grey’s coming over.”

“Yes. I do.”
She took my cash and gathered her things. “Have fun tonight.”

“Thank you.” I
gave her a quick hug. “And tell Courtney hi.”

Charlie nodded
on her way out the door. I heard her limber footsteps trailing off
down the old wooden stairs, and then she was gone.

I had nothing
to do then but wait. I lit a smoke and sat down gingerly on the
couch, careful not to muss anything. I was itching a bit as the
heroin slowly faded from my system, but it was bearable. Secretly I
hoped that Grey was bringing some China White with him, thinking
that surely, this was as special an occasion as any. I still
cringed at just the thought of using a needle—though shooting up
was faster and more satisfying, seemingly snorting lasted
longer.

My heart jumped
when finally I heard the crunch of car tires pulling up into the
drive. I flicked the TV off and hurried to the front door. Grey was
getting out of Zack’s car, saying his goodbyes. I couldn’t see much
more than his outline. My breath hung in the cool fall air,
panting; excited as I raced down the front steps. The car was still
backing out of the driveway by the time I was in Grey’s arms again,
crushing him close to me, a wide, glorious smile upon my lips.

Grey chuckled.
“Hey.” His arms were warm around me, hugging me to him, nestling
his face against my neck. His stubble tickled my skin.

“I’m so happy
you’re back!” I squeezed. I didn’t want to let him go, not even
just to get inside. He pulled away from me and his blue eyes were
warm, shining with happiness. A smirk curved his lips.

“It’s good to
be back.” He admitted. I knew what he was really trying to say.
With a happy giggle, I took his hand in mine and led him up the
steps.

“What are the
guys up to?” I wondered idly, though I didn’t really care what they
were doing. I was just thankful to have Grey all to myself.

“They’re just
going to head home and unpack and stuff. They figured we’d want to
have some … time, to ourselves.”

“Well, they
figured right.” I smiled slyly and opened up the door for us. Grey
set down his bag and took off his heavy coat and shoes. I stood
just inside the entry, waiting for him, my pulse racing with
anticipation, my flesh nearly aching to touch him, to have him
close to me, to feel his body against mine and his lips on my skin
again. If it were possible, he had grown more gorgeous in just the
week we’d been apart. His dark hair was in its usual perma-mess—I
couldn’t wait to run my fingers through it—and his cheeks were
darkened with stubble. His skin was still dark and tan though
summer was long over; it intensified the brilliant blue of his eyes
as they finally rested on me—smouldering, cloudy already with the
charge of sheer lust that thickened the air.

His eyes raked
me over, up and down, so slowly that I nearly couldn’t bear it.
With agonizing exaggeration, he crossed over to me. All was silent
but the sound of my breathing, fast and shallow. Grey rested his
hands on my waist, holding them there until I could feel the heat
through my sweater. I traced my hands slowly up his arms, thick
with muscle, and then down his chest … feeling every contour of his
definition beneath my fingertips. I met his eyes—hazy, eager.
Without another word he grasped me to him, up in his arms, and then
carried me down the hall to my bedroom.

“I love your
hair. Have I ever told you that?” Grey wondered, his fingers
trailing through my dark silky tresses. It felt amazing, sending
shivers up my spine. I smiled.

“No, you
haven’t.”

“Hmm. I guess
there’s a lot I haven’t told you.”

“Is there?”

He shrugged.
“It’s not all easy for me to say.” He brought a handful of my hair
to his nose and breathed deeply. “You smell so good.”

“That’s a new
one, too.” I smiled at him, sprawled upon my stomach on the bed,
half-covered by blankets. He was curled up next to me, tracing his
fingers down my naked back and arms. It was so serene, such a
wonderful, happy moment. I sighed contentedly.

“The first time
we met, at the club, I saw you first.” Grey admitted then. “And
then when I saw Riley, it was the perfect excuse to come over.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. And the
whole time I told myself, ‘Grey, don’t do it. Don’t do it Grey.’
But … I couldn’t stop. You just … you stood out.”

“I did?”

“Yeah.”

I shook my
head, fondly remembering that first night. “I think I fell in love
with you the moment I saw you on that stage.” I giggled. “I felt
like an idiot all night, trailing you around like a lost
puppy.”

“Nah. You were
cute.” He chuckled. I made a face at the word.

He smirked.
“You were adorable.”

I slapped him
playfully. Grey grinned, seeming to remember something.

“Kiddo.”

“Don’t call me
that!” I twisted around and tried unsuccessfully to wrestle him
down against the bed. His hands wrapped around my arms like a vice
and pinned me back down, his blue eyes laughing. I giggled as we
play fought until unwittingly, mid-wrestle, Grey grasped me by the
elbow.

“Ow!” Abruptly
I cried out, all trace of humour gone. He stopped immediately,
regretful as he looked down at my arm.

“Oh, sorry.” He
frowned down at the yellowish-purple bruise staining my forearm,
the bruise he had just accidentally grasped. His brow furrowed.
“What happened here?”

“Oh,” I
struggled a moment, trying to decide how to tell him. I chose to
play it casual; shrugging like it was no big deal. “I took Charlie
out the other night, you know, to cheer her up about Zack, but they
didn’t have any of the China White stuff, like you had, so we shot
up instead.”

I watched as
Grey took in all this information. His eyes narrowed; his dark brow
creasing. “Okay, wait a minute. You went out the other night, to
get heroin?”

“Yeah.” I
nodded. “I wanted to cheer Charlie up.”

He considered
this a moment. “Where did you go?”

“I don’t know.
We went with Charlie’s friend Courtney, maybe you know her, she
works at the Aurora. Anyway, we went to this Jack guy’s house
….”

“Stop.” Grey’s
face was suddenly hard, his body tense. He glared at me intensely.
“Jack? As in, Jack Turcotte?”

“I don’t know
his last name.” Instinctively I cringed back from Grey’s heated
stare. I had a distinct feeling that I was in trouble. Big
trouble.

“Big guy?
Blonde?”

I nodded.

“Fuck. Are you
serious? Oh my ….” Grey cursed. He dropped his head into his hands
and shook it back and forth in vexation. His entire form was rigid.
I sat up in the bed, pulling the blankets over myself and watching
him anxiously.

“What is it?” I
wondered, biting my lip. “What’s the matter?”

“You went to
Jack’s house, alone?”

“No, not alone.
I was with Courtney and Charlie.”

At this Grey
scoffed, rolling his eyes—but I continued, stupidly, wanting to be
honest with him. “I didn’t really want to shoot up, I was scared of
the needle, but then Jack did it for me. I think I bruised because
I was trying to pull away from him.”

Grey just
stared at me a moment, his expression blank. The only thing that
gave away the true fury of his anger was the clenching of his jaw,
the hardness of his eyes as they bored into me.

“You mean Jack
Turcotte did that to you?” He pointed accusingly at the bruise on
my arm. “Even though you didn’t want to? He forced you?”

“No, well,
yeah,” I wasn’t sure what to say, what might incur more anger,
“but, I mean, I wanted to get high … I was just being a chicken
about the needle ….”

Grey was silent
a long moment. His breath escaped in a long, drawn out sigh, and
his hands clenched into fists. “I’m going over there.”

“What?” I got
up on my knees. “Why?”

“To kick that
guy’s ass!” Agitated, Grey stood up and started dressing, hastily
throwing on his boxers and searching for the rest of his clothes
among the piles of dirty laundry that inhabited my floor.

“No, no, Grey
don’t.” I blanched at the thought. “It’s no big deal. He’s not
worth it.”

“Really?” Grey
spat. “Do you have any idea what could have happened to you over
there?”

I shook my
head, my dark eyes wide.

“Ugh. I don’t
even want to tell you. I don’t even want to picture it.”

I gulped. “That
bad?”

“Yes, that
bad.” Grey glared at me again, like I wasn’t taking him seriously
enough. “You are never to go over there again. Promise me!”

“I promise.” I
answered quickly.

“If you want
more heroin, you ask me, you get it from me and you do it with me.
Okay? You don’t know how easy it is to … all it takes is some
fuckup trying to be funny ….” He trailed off, closing his eyes, his
entire countenance tense with anger. “You know what guys like that
… do you know what they do to girls when they’re … like that? Do
you?”

I shook my head
again. The thought honestly hadn’t even occurred to me, and I
wasn’t even a hundred percent sure just what he was referring to.
Something bad enough to make him react this way.

“I’m sorry,
Grey.” I stammered shakily, alarmed by this new information.
“Please don’t go. It’s my fault. I didn’t know.”

He stared hard
at me a moment, his shirt in his hands.

“Of course you
didn’t know.” He sighed. He ran a hand through his dark hair. “I’m
sorry. I didn’t mean to freak you out. It just … it makes me crazy
to think of someone … taking advantage of you. I mean ….” He looked
up at me again, and there was some warmth back in his blue eyes.
“You’re so ….”

“Stupid?” I
offered. I felt like a total idiot.

“No … no.
You’re innocent.” He shrugged. “Trusting.”

“Like …
naïve.”

“No. Well …
maybe. But I like it, the way you are. I don’t even really know how
to describe it … kind of … the opposite of jaded. Just … fresh.” He
shook his head. “You don’t belong in the drug world, Mackenzie.
You’re too … pure.”

I frowned. Pure
wasn’t that far off from kiddo. “Grey, I belong in whatever world
you’re in.”

“No.” He shook
his head. “You don’t.”

“Yes I do.” I
sat up and grasped his hand, pulling him back to the bed. “I love
this world. I love every part of it.”

“That doesn’t
mean you belong.”

I rolled my
eyes. “Whatever.” It annoyed me when he talked this way, like he
wasn’t good enough for me … like what we had wasn’t right. It was
ridiculous. He was my dream come true. Before he could even think
to continue, I stopped him with a wicked smile.

“You think I’m
pure, Grey? I’ll show you pure.”

This time, when
I pushed him down against the bed, he didn’t resist me.

It was later …
much, much later when, wrapped up in the blankets beneath a haze of
smoke, we heard Charlie return. Secretly, I was relieved. I knew
she’d been at Jack’s house and given what I knew about the man now,
I couldn’t help but worry for her. It wasn’t enough for me to tell
Grey about it though, as horrible as that was … I couldn’t stand
the thought of him going over there and getting in a fight. Not
that I doubted Grey, I was certain he could take Jack. But how
would he fare against Jack and all the other sweaty, shifty eyed
men that also resided there? I knew it wouldn’t be a fair fight.
And I didn’t want Grey getting on the wrong side of such dangerous
people. Not for me.

Charlie’s
arrival had also given me an idea. I knew what she now had in her
possession, something I was suddenly desperate to do. I didn’t know
how to broach the topic with Grey though; I wasn’t sure how he’d
react. I propped myself up on my elbow and looked at him as sweetly
as I could.