On Solid Ground: Sequel to in Too Deep (41 page)

“Okay, okay! I would be honored to take the spot formerly reserved for my favorite band on the planet.” She bowed toward the band, and Calon grabbed the mic from Buzz.

“If you guys don’t mind, I’d like it very much if Gracie joined us for our whole show tonight. You all okay with that?”

Dumb question, of course they were. Gracie and the band let loose and had a blast way into the wee hours of the morning. My feet throbbed by two o’clock when we threw the lights up to get everyone to leave. But Gracie seemed like she was on crack, she was so revved up from the adrenaline from the night. I knew I’d never get her to sleep. Which could work to my benefit. It didn’t matter how tired I was, having Gracie in my bed would wake all my senses right the hell back up.

Sam texted me that he was staying with Ashley for the night since her roommate wasn’t home. Just as I texted him back, Gracie gasped and reached in her pocket for her phone.

“Who are you texting?”

“Daniel, the poetry TA. I had to let him know my final performance wouldn’t be on the corner of College and Allen. I let him know I scored myself a new gig and he’d have to come to
Mitchell’s
to see me.”

“Gracie, are you stoked about this?”

“Oh, Jake, you have no idea. It’s a bizarre feeling to be so excited about something you didn’t even know you wanted until someone set it right in your lap. I think this is it. I think I could do this forever.”

We walked into the apartment and she pushed me against the wall. “Jake Rockwell, would you like to shower with me?”

“Shower with a rock star? I’m not that kind of guy.”

“Well, you better start being that kind of guy. But only with me.”

“Good, because, I only want to be with you, Gracie.”

We never made it to the shower. We started kissing, and I backed her up into my room and gently pushed her down onto the bed. If I didn’t know any better, I would say our clothes took themselves off us, because I’m pretty sure we were naked before we even got under the covers.

“Jake, wait, not here.”

“Where?” My heart was beating through my chest. I was out of breath and I hadn’t even touched her yet. Just the fact we were both completely naked in the same bed had me so hard, it hurt.

“Jake, do you trust me?”

“Of course I do, baby girl. But I have to be honest, that look on your face is making me a bit uneasy.”

She grabbed the top sheet and wrapped it around her body and threw me a towel from the back of my desk chair.

“I’ll follow your lead, but I have no idea what we’re doing.” I stood and wrapped the towel around my waist. My movements were slower than usual because I was obviously perplexed. She raced out of the bedroom and to the front door. She grabbed her keys from the table along the way. She peeked out of the peep hole then pressed her ear against it. Her eyes rolled up like it would help her concentrate.

“On the count of three, run for the stairs...”

“Gracie Ann, we are bare-ass naked!”

“What, are you scared?” She gave me a disappointed but jovial glance.

I rolled my eyes, “I just—”

“One—two—three—
go!
” We bolted from the room and let the door slam, unlocked, behind us. We made a mad dash to the secluded stairwell and laughed our asses off while we tried to catch our breath. We heard a door below us open and slam shut, so we froze. But the voices got quieter along with the skipping sound of feet in descent, so we knew we were safe. We hustled down to the doorway to her hallway and peeked through the glass window. It looked safe, so she flung the door open and I followed. We got half way to her apartment when we heard the elevator ding. We were mid-hallway, too far away from both the stairwell and her apartment door not to get caught, even if we ran.

“Act natural,” were the only two words she had time to say before some girls came around the corner and stopped dead in their tracks. Gracie was closest to them but they didn’t even notice her; their eyes landed on me in nothing but a towel. It was as if I was wrapped in plastic wrap. I felt my face turn bright red.

I quickly passed them as they continued to stare. Gracie glanced back at me and giggled, because I obviously struggled with how to be polite and say hello while being publicly naked. I didn’t know what was so funny. She would have been doing the same thing if it was a group of guys. The girls turned as they walked past me. We reached her door, and she fumbled with my key ring trying to find her key. She got the door open and ran for cover, leaving me in the hallway alone for a mere second, but I headed through the door when the one girl opened her mouth and I didn’t want to know what she was about to say.

“Honey, when you’re done with her...we are all in Room 309, we’ll leave the door open.” They howled and giggled.

I rounded the corner into Gracie’s room, slammed the door, and leaned against it while I caught my breath. I ran my hands through my hair and held onto two handfuls on the top while I shook my head from side to side.

“I don’t know how Calon does it. I really dislike feeling like a piece of meat. Those girls wouldn’t even care what my name was. They just wanted to fuck me.”

Gracie howled with laughter. “Did you hear what you just said?”

I chuckled and pushed myself off the door then headed to where she was leaning against the arm of the couch. I realized how ridiculous that sounded coming from a virile college guy. I wrapped my arms around her and leaned down to kiss her on the nose.

“Now, what exactly made you force me into public humiliation?” I nuzzled into her neck and felt her body shiver.

“I want you to show me how much you love me.”

“Okay, but I was about to do that upstairs. Why the change of venue?”

“I wanted to make new memories. Can you show me here?” She looked up at me, and the small portion of hard-on I’d lost on our trek downstairs returned beneath my towel.

“Baby girl, I can show you anywhere.”

“You made that perfectly clear in the planetarium.” She winked.

She took my hand and led me to the couch. She hooked her finger in the tucked part of my towel and pulled. At the same time, she let her sheet drop to the floor. I sat back on the couch, and she straddled my lap, leaving a large gap between us.

“Jake?”

“Yeah, Gracie.” I was breathless.

“Can I show you how much I love
you
?”

“You know I’d never say no to that.”

She stood but then went down on her knees between my legs. She hadn’t done this to me before. I assumed it was due to something she’d experienced with Noah. I didn’t need her to do it; I didn’t want her to think I expected it.

“Gracie, you don’t have to—”

“Jake, shut up.”

“Gracie, if it’s not something you—”

“Jake, just watch. I said I wanted to
show
you how much I love you.”

She wrapped her hand around me and I couldn’t breathe. When she took me into her mouth her lips hugged me and her tongue lapped at the underside and then began to circle. I closed my eyes.

“Jake. Watch.”

Her mouth moved up and down the entire length of me. The world fell away. There was no holding back, my hands were in her hair, and I moved them around to where her lips connected with my hot skin. My hips worked in the opposite direction of her mouth. I held it for her. There was something so hot about that. I was so hard, I thought I’d explode, and as soon as I looked down and her eyes lifted to mine, I lost it. I came so hard, I called out her name and slammed my hands into the couch, grabbing as much of the fabric as I could fit in my fists.

She stood slowly, put her hands on my knees, leaned over, and pressed her lips to mine. I could taste myself on her mouth, and I was instantly hard again.

“My turn to show you how much I love you.” I pulled her onto my lap and eased myself into her as she lowered herself onto me.

We made new memories on the couch, against the kitchen wall, on the bathroom counter, and more places than I could count. A few hours later, we were spent and limp in her bed when I realized we hadn’t locked my door.

“Dare you to race me upstairs.”

“You’re on!” She grabbed the sheet and took off.

Getting back to my apartment proved almost as interesting as going down to hers. I rarely stayed in her apartment, so there were absolutely no clothes I could slip on to get back upstairs without being guilty of public nudity. Unfortunately, the girls in 309 got a good look at my ass when I lost the grip on my towel as I passed the small room where the vending machines were. They whistled and squealed.

Gracie giggled for hours over that.

Fifty-four

Gracie

I had yet to open my eyes on this Saturday morning, but the phone was ringing. No one I knew would be awake at this hour. I reached for my phone and blindly hit the screen trying to answer.

“Hello?” Only the second syllable was audible, but I assumed whoever was calling would figure out on their own what I’d said.

“Miss Jordan?” Who the hell calls me that? No one.

“Yes.” I rolled over onto my back and rubbed my eyes.

“Miss Jordan, this is Criminal Investigator Doug Peterson from the Knoxville Police Department. You dropped off some DVDs with one of our officers a couple weeks ago.”

My eyes sprung open. “Yes.”

“Miss Jordan, in preparation for a pending case involving Sigma Chi, I was asked to watch the videos to determine if they could be used as evidence.”

Why was he calling me to tell me he saw Noah and me having sex. How humiliating. “Thank you for calling. I—”

“Miss Jordan, there’s more.” He cleared his throat. “What we have is one sexual encounter burned onto ten different DVDs. And that encounter involves a female and five males.”

I gasped and my hand flew to my chest. “Oh my God. I’m sorry, Detective Peterson, those aren’t the ones I dropped off. The DVDs I dropped off were...just...me and my ex-boyfriend.” I was so embarrassed to admit that to someone I didn’t even know.

“Miss Jordan, maybe you should come down to the station so we can talk this out.”

“That won’t be necessary. The videos you’re referring to are of someone else.”

“Miss Jordan. Could you come down to the station to—”

“Detective Peterson, thank you for calling, but I don’t understand why you need me.”

“Miss Jordan, we made a positive ID of the victim.”

“That’s great.” I didn’t think it was police protocol to give out that kind of information to someone who wasn’t part of the findings.

“The DVDs you turned over to us are ten copies of a gang rape.”

I was suddenly nauseated. I swallowed hard. “So, what exactly do you need me for?”

“Miss Jordan, we need to speak with you about pressing charges. You are the one in the video, and, with this recording, we could charge five Sigma Chi brothers with rape.”

END CALL.

I burst through Jake’s apartment door barely able to see through my tears. I didn’t remember leaving my apartment or running up the stairwell. I collapsed onto the floor in a heap and sobbed uncontrollably.

Sam ran from his room. “Holy shit, Gracie! What’s wrong, honey? Gracie. I’m here, you’re safe. I got you, I got you.” He dropped to the floor next to me and pulled me into his lap. His strong arms held me close to him and he rubbed my back. My body convulsed violently as I cried, but Sam rocked me gently and pressed his mouth close to my ear. His deep voice resonated against my face, but I could barely hear his words over my sobs.

“Jake, it’s Sam. God, dude, you gotta come home. It’s Gracie. Jake, she’s a mess.”

I had no idea how long Sam held me before Jake burst through the door in the same way I had. All of a sudden, I was sandwiched between Jake and Sam, and they both rocked me.

“Gracie, baby girl. Shhh. God, Gracie. What happened? Baby, calm down so you can tell me what’s going on.”

My body shook, and I choked through the sobs. My mind was spinning, but I tried so hard to not let my thoughts stop on what I’d just learned from the investigator. I ran to the kitchen and bent over the trashcan. I wanted that truth out of my body. I vomited over and over in a psychological attempt to rid myself of remnants of each of the guys who shared me the night that video was taken. My rapists.

I had been raped.

And Noah had let it happen.

I woke up in Jake’s bed. I could barely see, my eyes so swollen from hours of tears streaming from them. My body still wretched every couple breaths, reminding me the undeniable wound remained.

“Gracie?” Jake’s voice was so soft, but the sound of uncertainty hung in the air. I felt the bed sag on my side.

I rolled toward him. His blue eyes were bloodshot, and his face was taught. He held out a steaming mug, and I pushed myself up to a seated position and set the mug on my knees drawn up in front of me. I took a sip.

“Mmm, cider. Thank you, Jake.”

“Gracie Ann, baby girl, is it Noah? Did something happen?”

I nodded.

“I’ll kill him with my bare hands.” He stood and started to pace. He ran his hands through his hair and gripped it tight at the back of his head. “Gracie, tell me what happened.”

I cleared my throat and tears started their familiar descent once again. “Jake.” I choked because of my raw throat. I took a sip of the cider to soothe it so I could actually speak.

“Gracie, please. This is killing me. I’m in knots, and my heart is breaking for you. You’ve got to tell me. I need to know.”

“Jake, can you sit?” I patted the bed next to me. He was going to need comfort when he heard what I had to tell him. I put the mug on the nightstand, and he climbed into bed next to me and took me into his arms.

“Gracie.”

I lay my head on his chest and curled my legs over his lap. He squeezed me into him and held me tight. His strong arms were tense, and his cheek was pressed against the top of my head.

“Remember a couple weeks ago, I had that awful dream I said I couldn’t talk about?”

“The one you had the night you downed all of Stacy’s vodka.”

“Yeah, that one.”

“So, this is another dream that’s got you so upset? You had another nightmare.”