The Only Exception

CHAPTER 16

It had been almost a week since my parents came and Trey asked me to barn dance. I stressed about the idea of going to a fraternity function; especially one that was all about drinking beer at some barn in the middle of the woods, but the thought of being there with Trey made it not seem as bad. I barely got out of the room when I heard Sam hacking a lung from the couch. She really needed to lay off smoking.

“What the hell are you wearing?”

I guess it wouldn’t be that easy to sneak past her. I slowly turned to where she was spread on the couch with a bag of chips in her hand. It wouldn’t be long before she either had her friends piling in or was out somewhere half-baked.

I grimaced. “It’s for a barn dance.”

She sat up, raising one of her painted-on eyebrows. “You’re seriously going to one of those stupid fraternity functions with Trey?”

Sam appeared to have gotten used to the fact that I was seeing Trey, or at least tried not to make too many comments about him when I was around, but I guess his fraternity was up for grabs.

I sighed. “Yes, Sam, I’m going to his stupid fraternity barn dance. I’m not thrilled about it, but sometimes you just have to grit your teeth and do it.”

Before she could get in another word edgewise a knock came at the door. I ran for it and quickly opened it to see Trey standing there with his hands in the front pockets of his jeans and his legs bowed like an awkward cowboy.

“Howdy, Miss Remy,” he said in a horrible, fake country accent that sounded more like a kid with a cold.

I put my hand to my mouth, trying to stifle my laughter. It was the first time I’d ever seen him in jeans, but he couldn’t get away from tucking his plaid shirt into them and wearing a pair of cowboy boots that probably came from a fancy department store. “You look like some sort of designer cowboy.”

“And you look like a liberal farmer,” he said, dropping the accent and pulling at the straps of my overalls.

“Ugh, you two are just too damn cute,” Sam scoffed from the couch.

“Nice to see you too, Samantha!” Trey waved.

I didn’t even look back to see her reaction. “All right we’re going, bye!” I quickly pushed him out into the hallway and closed the door behind me.

“Seriously, where did you get those things? You wear them to clean, and now you have them all dressed up with this fine plaid shirt.” Trey slid one arm around my waist and guided me to the elevator.

“A thrift store uptown. You’ve probably never heard of it. Only us liberal farmers hang out there.”

“If you’re there, then that’s where I want to be.” He nuzzled my neck before leaving feather-light kisses down it.

Originally the idea of being a couple was something I was reluctant to do and I was never big on PDA, but with his soft lips on my neck all I could think about was what else he could do with those lips.

“You sure you still want to do this?” I asked for the millionth time, walking in step with him through the underground parking garage to his bright red Mustang. Last time we did an Alpha Mu function I had to leave early and had been able to avoid going to anything else since. I’d also successfully avoided the Kappas and knew they would probably all be there as well.

“You know the answer to that, but you know we’re going any way. Do you know how many fundraising events Dad goes to in a day? He probably doesn’t want to go to half of them, but he does. The least I could do is show up to an Alpha function every once in awhile.”

“If you’re going to use your political voice with me I’m staying home.”

“Fine.” A large grin spread on his face before he turned me around and pulled me against him. I inhaled his scent, a mixture of his expensive cologne and mint. “I’ll just use the crazy-for-you voice.”

He pressed his forehead to mine, his words a whisper on my lips. “I don’t enjoy any of this. The drinking, the hanging around a bonfire and yelling random slurs, and I can’t stand half the guys there. But I do it because I made a pledge to be loyal to these guys. And as long as I have you by my side; I can be happy anywhere.”

“I’m sure we can be just as happy sitting at your apartment and watching a Western.”

He groaned. “Monica, look, I don’t want to do this either, and I’m tired of fighting you on this. You always expect the worse in everything, but sometimes everything doesn’t need some grand expectation. Once in awhile you just have to jump in with both feet, and if you come up knee-deep in a situation you don’t think you can handle then you know what to do for next time.”

I let out a deep breath. That was easy for him to say. He probably never had to face his fears head on. He probably didn’t have any. I survived my first night with him at the Alpha Mu house and didn’t have too bad of a break down. Maybe I really was on the road to recovery, and this could just be another stone on that path.

***

We pulled up to the Alpha Mu house, and it was in all its natural glory. Guys in cowboy hats stood on the front lawn with a beer in one hand and the other on the ass of some girl in a short skirt with a tied up plaid shirt.

Trey parked out front and ran around, opening the door for me before I could even protest. At that point I wouldn’t have. I felt like all eyes were on me as soon as I got out of the door. Maybe it was because I was the only girl who was actually covered.

“Hey, little bro, you made it!” John Boy shuffled over to us, holding onto his cowboy hat.

Trey briskly shook his hand. “Yeah, I never go against my word.”

John Boy stumbled back a bit, spilling some of his beer on the ground. He widened his eyes at me. “Holy shit, and you got the lib to come with you!”

I smirked, noting the sarcasm in his voice.

Trey took it all in stride, taking my hand and intertwining our fingers. “I couldn’t very well leave her behind. We’ve seen what happens to republicans when they do any sort of left behind acts.”

John Boy laughed like a rabid hyena, and I rolled my eyes.

“You’re too much, son,” John Boy said before downing the rest of his beer and tossing the can in a nearby trash bin. “Now, come on and mingle before the bus gets here.”

Trey squeezed my hand, and I reluctantly followed him and John Boy to the waiting crowd. I recognized some of the Kappa girls hanging around a small space heater on the porch. It served them right for not wearing any clothes when it was thirty flipping degrees out. Not that it wouldn’t have been me doing the same thing a year before.

“Hey, lib, you want a beer or something?” John Boy asked, completely ignoring his blonde, short-skirt-wearing date that saddled up to him.

I shook my head. “Um, no, I’m good. I don’t drink.”

“We got other shit than beer. Some of the Kappas made that fruity jungle juice shit that you girls like,” he said, grabbing another beer from a nearby cooler.

“No. I mean I don’t drink at all.”

He tilted his head back, laughing. “Oh man, never thought I’d see the day Trey would meet a liberal girl just like him. Looks like we’ve got our sober monitors and DDs for the after party.”

I opened my mouth to say something but before I could a noise that sounded like the General Lee, blasted from behind me. I turned and saw a giant, white school bus glowing from the inside like a cheesy disco ball; pull up to the front of the house.

“Looks like our ride’s here!” John Boy chugged his beer and then threw it to the side before charging after the giant, white bus.

I glanced over at Trey and saw his political smile plastered on. It looked like we were thinking the same thing. How did we ever get roped into going?

***

If the bus ride wasn’t bad enough, sitting on ripped vinyl seats while a guy who smelled like a bar sat next to us; the actual barn dance wasn’t looking any better.

We drove for thirty minutes of drunken songs before the bus pulled down a gravel path and in to a clearing where a large, looming red barn stood. It was open on both sides and a roaring bonfire blazed in the back while a DJ spun music on a wooden dance floor inside.

We were one of the last ones off the bus, but by the time we got off everyone was gathered around a plethora of kegs near the opening to the barn.

“If we’re going to do this, we might as well make the best of it.” Trey grabbed my hand and pulled me past the kegs and onto the hay-lined dance floor. “Let’s dance.”

The DJ played some sort of random dance mix I’d heard on the radio. I usually hated the song, but when Trey pressed his hands on my lower back it made every part of my body aware of his touch and warmth of his fingers. There was no way I could say no. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer, pressing my hips against his. He guided my body along to the beat of the music; his hands firmly pressed on my back. If there was one thing Trey could do that I didn’t expect, it was that he could dance.

Other people made their way to the dance floor, bumping against us and spilling beer all over, but with Trey’s emerald eyes locked on me, I felt like I was the only girl in the world.

Another song picked up and I turned my back to Trey, pressing my back against the hard contours of his stomach. He moved his hands down to my hips and pulled me as close as possible. His face was buried in my hair, and he placed light kisses down my neck, making my libido do somersaults below my panty line. I kept my lips pressed together to keep from moaning. My body didn’t seize up from his touch anymore but did the opposite and I became acutely aware of every part of him pressed against me.

“You move like you’ve done this before.” His breath was hot on my ear.

I grabbed his hands, intertwining our fingers and then moved my hips in a small circle, grinding my butt against the ever growing bulge in his pants. “You can say that.”

I felt his smile on my neck before he kissed it. “You amaze me.”

We moved together for another few songs before Trey pulled back and had to yell into my ear over some random auto-tuned mix. “I’m going to grab a water. Do you want one?”

“Yeah!” I yelled.

He released his grip on me and pushed his way through the crowd. It wasn’t very long before I felt a body pressed against my back. I didn’t think Trey made it back that fast and that was when a pair of calloused hands reached around my waist and pulled me against his beer gut.

That was when I remembered that I left the house without my mace for the first time since I started Central. I froze. His hands fumbled over my hips, circling very dangerously close to my thighs.

“I like the way you move, and I know I’ve got some better ones than your preppy-ass boyfriend,” the voice was wet on my earlobe.

I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. His calloused hands made their way down until they were right on my pelvic bone.

“Please, stop,” I whispered. But he didn’t. His hands didn’t stop until they found the treasure. His hips rammed against my back while his hands gruffly scratched at my front. I tried to wriggle away, but the more I struggled the harder he pushed.

“Please, stop,” I begged, the tears pricking at my eyes.

“Damn, Monica, those long legs look good in that skirt.” His hand moved up my thighs until there was a rough push onto my panties. “Does the carpet match the drapes?”

My body was stiff. My throat closed up, and I couldn’t breathe. I prayed if I didn’t respond he would just stop. He didn’t. Instead he slipped another gruff hand up my shirt. The only sound that could escape my lips was a rocky gasp when his cold fingers made their way under my bra and tweaked at my nipples.

“Hey, get a room, JDawg!” someone yelled from the crowd.

I looked at the girls dancing around me, pleading with my eyes and mouthing ‘help,’ but none of them did. They just turned their backs and kept dancing as he pulled me into the basement bathroom. I wanted to cry, to scream out, but my voice and body failed me. I was trapped.

“What the hell is going on?” I looked up to see Trey standing in the middle of the crowd with two water bottles in his hand. The crowd parted, leaving us standing in the middle of a small circle.

The calloused hand let go of me and pulled away. “It’s cool, man. We were just dancing.”

“Dancing?” Treys eyes were lit like a fire was brewing in them. “It didn’t look like that’s what you were trying to do to my girlfriend.”

I took a step away from the guy, toward Trey. I tried to keep my head down, but Trey put his hand on my chin, tilting it upward. “Are you okay?”

“Come on, man, your liberal bitch is fine,” the guy said, putting his hand on Trey’s shoulder.

In one fell swoop Trey pushed the guy’s hand off his shoulder and then his fist connected with the guy’s jaw. I heard a snap and then the ‘oomph’ of his back hitting the hay floor.

The DJ stopped the music and everyone stared at us, like a zoo exhibit.

Trey put his arm around my waist. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”