Chapter Seven
Welcome Home
Drake finally convinced me to go with him after much kicking and screaming on my part. As we pulled up to a house just a block away, I realized he wasn't kidding about living right around the corner.
"Why do you even drive? You could walk faster.”
He grinned, the first one I'd seen since Nick, “I could, but then I wouldn't be able to show my car off to the ladies."
I rolled my eyes as I stepped out of the car and toward the house. It looked small from the outside, and as far as I could tell in the dim lighting on the street, it was either light blue or gray. He unlocked the door and held it open for me as I stepped inside. He flipped the light on as he closed the door behind us, revealing a small entryway that sat between a kitchen and a living room. A hallway led into darkness across from me, where I could only assume the bathroom and bedroom were. He hung his jacket next to the door and headed into the kitchen.
"Do you want something to drink?" he asked over his shoulder.
"Um, no I'm fine," I replied as I inspected his kitchen. It wasn't huge but it wasn't tiny either and while the appliances weren't brand new, they were nice.
"Do you own this place?"
He shook his head, "Nah, I rent off my Uncle Jack. He's currently deployed overseas so I'm living here by myself until he gets back, probably another year or so."
"Ah, I see. Well it's a really nice house."
He smiled as he leaned against the counter, "Thanks."
His expression turned thoughtful, "Are you really ok?"
I looked at the checkered floor tiles as I nodded, "Yes, I'm fine; I just want to forget about it."
And I did. I also wanted to forget about Nick lying in the parking lot still unconscious as we pulled away. I hope he gets mugged, I thought venomously.
"Please don't tell anyone what happened. Please."
Drake shook his head, "I won't but you really should call the cops before it's too late. He deserves to be behind bars, I'd like to kill him for what he tried to do to you."
The anger in his voice softened my heart. This man seemed to really care, even though he barely knew me.
"No, just drop it."
He huffed as he pushed himself away from the counter and headed toward the doorway.
"Fine, let me show you where the bedroom is, I’m sure you're tired. You can shower too if you want."
A shower sounded wonderful to me. I wanted to scrub every minute of the night off of my skin.
"Yeah, I could definitely use a shower, but I don't have any clothes to change into."
He seemed uncomfortable for a minute, bouncing from foot to foot as he spoke, "You can wear my clothes and I, uh, have some girl underwear and bras someone left here."
My eyes widened and I couldn't help but to ask why he had women's underwear in his house.
"Well, a couple of them left extra clothes but never came after them."
My cheeks reddened at his words. I had assumed he got around, but this was proof in black and white lace.
"Ok, that's fine. Just show me the bathroom and where they're at."
He led me down the hallway and flipped on a light inside the bedroom. The room was not what I'd expected from him, but then I remembered he was renting. The walls were a light cream color, bare of anything sentimental, almost as if he didn't really live here at all.
I giggled as I noticed the color of the carpet, "Really? Pink? You never struck me as that type of guy."
He rolled his eyes as he dug through a drawer and pulled out a pair of boy shorts underwear, "Shut up. I'm renting remember?"
I grinned, "Of course."
He threw the underwear at me and started digging again. There were an awful lot of silky looking panties in there.
"What size bra do you wear?"
My mouth dropped open at the question, "That's none of your business thank you very much."
He gave me a sly look, "I'm trying to find something for you, I guess you'll have to make me guess."
He stared at my chest unashamed for a full minute longer than was necessary in my opinion. My cheeks warmed and I crossed my arms.
He grinned and turned back to the drawer, "Let’s see, I’m going to guess D?"
Could my face get any warmer? It seemed like all I did was blush when he was around.
He finally pulled a bra from the drawer, something far sexier than anything I wore, and threw it at me. I glanced at the tag and smiled to myself. 36D, he'd nailed it first try. He pulled a pair of jogging pants and a t-shirt from another drawer and handed them to me as well.
"Bathroom is directly across the hall. Yell if you need anything."
I turned and headed across the hall to the bathroom. Just as I started to shut the door his hand caught it. He had a playful look in his eyes.
"Looks like I guessed right on the bra," he said as he laughed and closed the door in my face.
I showered quickly and slipped on the borrowed clothes. I smelled Drake’s shirt as I slid it over my head. He always smelled so good, a mixture of his body wash and his natural male scent. This was getting ridiculous, even his scent turned me on. I stepped out of the bathroom and yelled goodnight down the hall toward him before making my way into his bedroom. I curled up in his covers, which also had that amazing Drake smell, and closed my eyes.
I tossed and turned, but I couldn’t seem to get comfortable. It wasn’t the bed really, my thoughts were in total chaos after what had happened to me. If Drake hadn’t come out of that bar, who knows what would have happened to me, besides the obvious. Rape. It was such a dirty word, and it brought tears to my eyes. No! You are not going to cry again. I sniffled as I shifted under the covers yet again.
Sometime later in the night, I woke up screaming as the images of my nightmare followed me into consciousness. I sat straight up in bed as I tried to control the sobs racking through my body. I had relived it all again, only this time I had been running from him. Suddenly, I felt arms around me and I screamed again, thinking Nick really was here.
“Shhh, it’s just me, you’re safe Chloe, I won’t ever let him touch you, I promise,” Drake mumbled into my ear as he rocked me in his arms.
At the sound of his voice, I relaxed. I owed so much to him, he had kept me safe before, and here he was again, protecting me.
“Thank you, I mean it. If you hadn’t been there… If you hadn’t been here now…” I trailed off, unable to continue.
He hugged me tighter and kissed the top of my head, “Don’t worry about it Chloe, I’m here for you. Lay back down, I’ll stay with you until you fall asleep.”
My distrust from earlier was gone, and instead of being afraid to have him in the bed with me, it made me feel better, safe. I snuggled down into the covers beside him and laid my head on his chest, wrapping my arm around him.
“Will you stay with me tonight? I don’t even want to think about waking up alone again.”
He hugged me tight, “Of course I will, just close your eyes and get some sleep sweetheart. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”
I smiled at him and closed my eyes, snuggling into him as tightly as possible. Within a few minutes, I had a new fear. Being this close to him, smelling him, being wrapped around him, had me going insane. The thoughts running through my head weren’t helping either. I had never been so comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time in my life. I slid my hand down his chest to his stomach, trying to get comfortable, and I felt him stiffen.
I pulled my hand back suddenly, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable Drake. All you had to do was tell me, I’ll roll over.”
He grabbed my arm as I started to roll away from him. “No it’s not that Chloe, it’s just, I have this beautiful girl in my bed wearing my clothes, snuggled up against me, and I can’t touch you, no matter how much I want to. I would never do that to you after what happened.”
My heart did a nervous flop. He wanted me? I couldn’t see how he would even notice me when he had all of those women following him around. He had to be joking with me; there was no other explanation for his words. I scooted up and looked at him grinning.
“Yeah right, I bet you say that to all the girls lying in your bed.”
Instead of laughing at me, he frowned, “I wasn’t kidding Chloe. I’ve wanted you from the minute I saw you that first day in class. I have never seen someone as beautiful as you.”
My face burned and I looked away from him before he could see how much his words bothered me. He laughed as he put his fingers under my chin and pulled my face up to look at him.
“And I’ve never seen any other woman blush as much as you do.”
I felt my face grow hotter at his words but he still held my face up to his, so that I couldn’t turn away.
“Drake…”
“No, it’s alright. I wouldn’t ever try anything on you, especially now. Just go back to sleep Chloe, I’ll be here when you wake up.”
He let go of my chin but I couldn’t look away. He was being so kind to me, and making me feel so special. I scooted up a little so I could lay my forehead against his.
“Thank you Drake, for everything.”
He gave me a tiny smile as he stared into my eyes. Without thinking, I leaned in just a few more inches and brushed my lips gently against his. He gasped as I pulled away and grabbed my face, pulling me back in. His lips found mine and he kissed me like I had never been kissed before. There was so much force behind it that it scared me, but not in a bad way. The feeling of having his lips pressed against mine sent thrills throughout my body.
I leaned closer, hungry for more as I deepened the kiss and felt his lip piercing bite into my lip. It was the single most erotic feeling of my life. Suddenly, he pulled away from me gasping for air.
“Chloe, please stop. I can’t do this.”
I dropped my gaze to the bed spread as shame and embarrassment took over. What had I been thinking, kissing him like that?
“I’m so sorry, I don’t know what came over me. I’m so embarrassed.”
He took a deep breath before he spoke, “Listen, it’s not that I don’t want to kiss you, I do. Badly. But I’m not going to take advantage of you tonight. You’re vulnerable and not thinking clearly after what happened.”
I nodded still looking at the bed, “You’re right, but I think it would be better if you went back to the couch, I’m ok now.”
I glanced up at him and saw sadness in his eyes. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. If you need me, you know where I am.”
He stood and left the room, looking back as he shut the door behind him. I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding and fell back onto the pillows. What the hell had I been thinking? I shock went through my stomach as I thought about him saying he wanted to kiss me. Was he serious, or just trying to be kind and not hurt my already screwed up feelings? I closed my eyes and eventually drifted off to sleep, my last thought before sleep took over was the feel of his lips on mine.
The next morning, I managed to crawl out of the bed and into the bathroom. Looking at myself in the mirror, I groaned. There was nothing like morning Chloe to make men run from the room screaming in terror. I rummaged through his vanity drawers hoping to find a brush and hair tie. The third drawer down I found what I was looking for. Running the brush through my hair, I managed to get it tied back in a bun to contain most of it. Next I grabbed the toothpaste and the unopened toothbrush he must have set out for me the night before and went to work on my morning breath.
Feeling slightly better about my appearance, I made my way from the bathroom into the living room. Drake was still asleep on the couch, and good lord, he was only wearing a pair of basketball shorts. No shirt. I tried not to look at him but it was impossible. Staring at him half naked, I felt that familiar tingle between my legs I always seemed to get when he was around. I had been right about him being ripped.
He shifted on the couch and I noticed something glittering on his chest. My mouth dropped open as I realized he had both nipples pierced. It took every ounce of willpower I had not to walk over to him and run my hands across the hard muscles of his stomach, but not before gently tugging on those nipple rings. I quickly turned and walked into the kitchen before I made an idiot of myself. Glancing around, I decided to see if he had any food to make us breakfast with.
Surprisingly, he had actual food in his kitchen unlike most guys. I pulled some eggs out the fridge and started searching his cabinets for a pan. Finding one, I threw the eggs in pan and put a few slices of bread in the toaster. Once I had the eggs fried and the toast buttered, I started searching for glasses to put some orange juice in. Just as I reached up to open the cabinet above my head, I felt hands wrap around my hips and I screamed and spun around flailing my arms at whoever was touching me. My hand came in contact with skin and I heard a yelp of pain.
“Shit! Chloe it’s me! Ouch damn it, stop!”
Drake grabbed my hands as I smacked at him again. My heart was racing and I looked up at him.
“Jesus Drake! You scared the f*ck out of me!”
He grinned down at me, “I had no idea, I just thought you liked being rough.”
I rolled my eyes at his innuendo, “You’re such a charmer. Seriously, tone it down, I can barely contain myself over here.”
I turned back to the cabinet and pulled two glasses out. Turning back to him I shoved them in his hands, “Go pour some juice into these. I made breakfast.”
“Wow breakfast for me? You shouldn’t have.”
I ignored him as I grabbed the plates and carried them to the table. I sat down in my chair as he brought the juice over and sat across from me.
“This looks great Chloe. Thanks.”
I glanced up from my plate to smile at him, but my mouth froze as I noticed he still wasn’t wearing a shirt. The piercings in his nipples glittered in the sunlight shining through the window and I couldn’t seem to remember how to move my eyeballs away from his chest. They had to be the sexiest things I had ever seen in my life and I mentally fanned myself.
He cleared his throat and my eyes shot up to his. They were sparkling with mischief and I knew I had been caught.
“What are you looking at Chloe?’
I glanced down at my plate before meeting his gaze again. I gestured to his chest first, then to his face at the piercings in his eyebrow and lip.
“Those piercings you have, they had to hurt.”
“I’d be lying if I said they didn’t hurt like a bitch, especially the ones in my nipples, but it attracts the girls, so in my opinion, they were totally worth it.”
“You really only think with one part of your anatomy don’t you?”
His eyes brightened and he threw that sexy smirk at me, “Always.”
We ate in silence for a few minutes before he spoke, “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“You ignored me before when I asked if you had anything else pierced besides your belly button that I should know about. So do you have any hidden piercings?”
I coughed into my orange juice as I noticed his eyes dropping to my chest.
“No, definitely not. I like being able to walk through metal detectors, thanks.”
“What about ink? Surely you have something hidden away?”
I shook my head, “No, but I’d love to get a tattoo, I just don’t think I’m brave enough. I don’t handle pain well.”
He rolled his eyes, “What a baby! The pain isn’t even that bad, I was dozing off when I got this.”
He pointed to his back. I stood and made my way around the table to stand behind him. The tattoos I had seen peeking out from under his sleeves were actually one large tattoo that extended from his upper arm, across his upper back, and down his other arm, stopping just above his elbows on both arms. I traced my finger over it and felt him tense. It was some type of abstract tribal tattoo with the initials D and L right at the center.
“Why did you get this?”
He shrugged his shoulders as I pulled my hand back and made my way back to my chair.
“I just felt like I needed something to impress the ladies with. I mean who’s in a rock band and doesn’t have tattoos?”
He seemed uncomfortable and I was sure he was lying to me, but I let it go. He was entitled to his secrets, and I wasn’t about to push him. I glanced back up at him and noticed he was staring at me.
“What?”
He shook his head, “Nothing, just wondering if you have anything picked out if you ever man up and get one.”
My insides clenched and I debated on telling him the truth. He had, after all, just lied to me. Deciding it wouldn’t really be telling him anything, I nodded.
“Nunquam Amavit.”
It came out as a whisper and I quickly stood and took our plates to the sink, hoping to avoid his questions. I felt him come up behind me and place the glasses in the sink with the plates. His body radiated heat and I shivered at the sensation.
He leaned down and I could feel his breath on my neck.
“What does it mean?”
My stomach dropped at the question and I closed my eyes to regain my composure.
“Never loved.” I whispered.
I picked up a plate and started scrubbing as I prayed he’d leave it at that. As always, my luck was shit.
“Care to explain that to me?”
I shook my head and continued to scrub the already clean plate. “It’s nothing really, I’ve had a shit life, but it’s not something I broadcast.”
He grabbed my shoulders and turned me to face him slowly. His fingers went under my chin and he pulled my face up to look at him.
“You know I’m here for you right? Just like Amber and Logan, you’re my friend and you can talk to me.”
I nodded my head as tears filled my eyes, “Thanks Drake, that means a lot to me. I don’t really talk about it, but let’s just say my mother won’t be getting parent of the year anytime soon.”
He pulled me into his chest and hugged me tight, “I understand. Like I said, if and when you’re ready to talk about it with me, I’m here for you.”
“I know. It’s just complicated and really boring. Anyway, I better head home before Rachel sends out a search party for me. I never sleep anywhere besides our room and I’m sure she’s freaking out.”
I pulled away from him and made my way back to his bedroom to gather my stuff. After I had everything together I turned to leave and noticed him standing in the bedroom doorway.
“Listen, about last night…” he started but I interrupted.
“I know what you’re going to say, and seriously, it’s fine. I was drunk and had a lot of stuff going through my head after everything at the bar. I know you don’t feel that way, you don’t have to lie, so let’s just forget about it and go back to how we were before my stupidity took over.”
He looked down at the pink carpet and nodded, “Ok, yeah. I’ll try to forget you threw yourself at me like the skank you are.”
I laughed at his teasing and walked across the room to punch him in the arm.
“Good to know where we stand little man whore.”
He looked up at me and grinned, “Now that we’ve got that settled I’m kicking your ass out,” he motioned toward the door, “Hop to it, I’ve got things to do.”
I glared at him as I stomped past him and to the door. I flipped him off as I opened it and threw a “Later douchebag!” over my shoulder. I grinned as I made my way down his sidewalk and toward the bar, where my car was still parked.