Chapter 17 Grayce

Call me a prude, but college parties had never been my thing.
I’d been to a few repeatedly, but it was always the same thing. The night starts all right with drinking, laughing, and having fun before you find yourself on your hands and knees, hovering over the porcelain throne as some stranger you’ve just met holds your hair back and whispers sweet nothings in your ear.
Seriously, though. It’s the same every time. Had I not made the conscious effort to steady my liquor intake out of sheer awkwardness alone, tonight would have been no different. The last thing I needed to do was make an ass out of myself in front of Jaxon and his posse. Hen, I was now hiding in Jaxon’s closed bedroom, away from the pounding of the music and the squeal of drunk college girls. I was sitting on the edge of his bed in the dark when the door opened and Jaxon came in, closing the door behind him. He must not have seen me at first, because it took a couple of steps into the room before he spotted me sitting on the edge of his bed with my cell phone in my hand.
“Did you seriously come to my party to text another boy all night?” Jaxon asked. “In my private bedroom, of all places?” He was teasing, I think, but I felt my face flush hot anyway. Two hours into this party and bedtime sounded so lovely already. Not because of Jaxon, necessarily, but because there were only two people here that I could tolerate and who weren’t giving me the skanky side-eye every time I showed my face in Jaxon’s crowd of jock friends.
“It’s my mom,” I said. I held up my phone to show him a picture of the two of us. Jaxon looked at it for a moment and smiled. “She’s my best friend. She must keep tabs on me, you know. Like a good mom does.”
“Does she live here?” Jaxon asked. He took a seat on the edge of the bed next to me, an innocent move that sent tremors of anticipation down my spine. I cleared my throat.
“She lives with her new husband and son in California.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, and I realized how bad I just made it sound.
“Nothing like that,” I added quickly. “My mom’s new husband is a good guy, and my kid brother is the cutest thing.” I shrugged and slipped my phone back into my pocket. Jaxon didn’t budge from his place next to me, and I realized that I actually didn’t mind. He smelled good, per usual. “She’s happy, so I’m happy.”
“Do you see her often?” Jaxon asked.
“Not often enough.”
“That’s rough.”
“It’s whatever.” I shrugged, feeling like our conversation was slipping into dangerous territory. “My mom deserves the happiness she has now. She’s an amazing person. A saint.” I didn’t want to get into it, especially not with Jaxon, so I quickly changed course. “What about you?” I pushed. “Are you close to your parents?”
“No,” Jaxon said. He didn’t offer anything else. Part of me wanted to push for an answer, to get him to talk, but the other part of me knew that I should give him some space. Jaxon was making it pretty clear that he had no desire to get into it, and I wasn’t sure I had the energy to engage socially for much longer.
“I should get going,” I said, mostly because I wasn’t sure what else to talk about that wasn’t so awkward. I got to my feet to head out the door. “Early morning classes.”
“You don’t have to go,” Jaxon said, reaching out to stop me. His fingers wrapped around my forearm, gently, as if trying to coax me back into my seat, and my skin burned where he touched me. “I enjoy your company.”
“Yeah, well, you have plenty of company here,” I reminded him, but sat back down anyway. I couldn’t resist. Not this time. “They’re all waiting for their golden boy to make an appearance.”
“I already did,” Jaxon said quietly. “Everyone out there is fine without me, I promise.”
I looked at Jaxon, meeting his eyes, and I’m not sure if it was the booze that made me do it, or the fact that I just didn’t know what else to do, but I leaned in towards Jaxon, closed my eyes, and kissed him.
I expected some sort of freak out on Jaxon’s end, but he didn’t freak out. Not even a little bit. Instead, he kissed me back. Hesitantly at first, and then with more passion, more want, more desire. He dropped the empty bottle of beer, letting it slide between his fingers and onto the floor, then with his free hand he gripped my chin, breathing me in, scooting over until we were touching, nearly on top of each other. I knew I should pull away, knew I should get out while I still could, but I don’t.
I can’t.
A moan escaped my lips as Jaxon kissed me back, hard, pushing me down on his bed until his sculpted body was pressing into me, molding us into one. My legs wrapped around his midsection and one free hand grabbed his upper arm and squeezed. I wanted him. God, I wanted him bad.
Jaxon’s hand sneaked up to squeeze my breast, and a shiver of excitement shot through my body. I moaned, quietly, and Jaxon continued to kiss me, trailing his lips down my bare neck, the other hand reaching between my legs, teasing me. My hips shot up to meet his touch and I shivered.
“Are you sure about this?” Jaxon asked, pulling back a few inches, leaving me hot and wet beneath him. He sounded breathless. I was too.
No, I wasn’t sure about this. And he knew it.
“I should probably go.” Without waiting for an answer for Jaxon, I rolled off the bed, still fully clothed, and made a beeline for the door. Jaxon watched me go, silent, and that’s all the excuse I needed to bail out of there.
Once I stepped back into the living room, I took a deep breath and looked around, scanning the room for Alex. I spotted my best friend cuddled up on the couch with a drink, her slender legs thrown carelessly over a girl I didn’t recognize who was rubbing her inner thigh suggestively. Before I could head in that direction, Jaxon came out of his bedroom right behind me. He looked a bit out of sorts, but so was I, so I didn’t say anything.
“Don’t leave on account of me,” Jaxon said, catching sight of Alex on the couch. “I’m sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing? You did nothing wrong. I kissed you.”
Jaxon doesn’t say anything to this, but he doesn’t have to. Instead, his eyes meet mine once more and Jesus Christ all I want to do is push him back into the bedroom and fuck him silly.
“Try and have a little fun,” Jaxon says. “Enjoy the party.”
“We’re not all you and Alex,” I said. “Some of us have responsibilities. Besides,” I made it a point to look around. “You have plenty of people and plenty of booze here to keep you entertained for the rest of the night. You don’t need me.”
“I like your company,” Jaxon said again. “I like being around you.”
“You keep saying that, but I know it’s because I keep you in check,” I said. “Finally, someone here who isn’t afraid to remind you to pull your head out of your ass.”
“You think you know me so well,” Jaxon said. “But you don’t. Because if you did, you would know that my head will never deflate to the point it will come out of my ass.” He took a sip of his drink and sighed heavily, then looked over at me and winked. I shook my head and reached for my jacket lying near the front door.
“Hey man,” someone said behind Jaxon, approaching us. He squeezed Jaxon’s shoulder and looked at me. “You haven’t introduced me to your new friend.”
I looked at Jaxon, then back at the guy. He was grinning at me, but it wasn’t a polite or even a friendly smile. It seemed almost menacing like he was imagining shitty things in his mind.
“Tyler, this is Grayce,” Jaxon said. Something in his tone was different suddenly. Annoyed, almost. I forced myself to smile at Tyler and offer my hand. He took it, and his skin was warm and clammy. I had to resist the urge to pull away and wipe my hands on Jaxon’s pants.
“Grayce,” Tyler said, mulling the word over on his tongue like fine wine. “You’re the reporter.” It wasn’t a question.
“I’m a journalist, actually,” I said. “Reporters are on TV.”
“She’s sassy, isn’t she?” Tyler asked Jaxon, his eyes never leaving my face. “I like her.”
“Grayce was just leaving,” Jaxon said. His words were urgent, almost protective. If Tyler took notice of Jaxon’s change in demeanor, he didn’t let on.
“Nice to meet you,” I said, but didn’t offer my hand a second time.
“Ditto,” Tyler said. Our eyes met briefly once again before he shot a glance at Jaxon—one I couldn’t read—and walked away.
“Okay.” I shouldered my way past Jaxon to where Alex was still dry humping some chick on the couch. “It’s time to go,” I said.
“Aww, baby, stay for a bit,” Alex purred. She was looking at me, or at least trying to, but she was clearly drunk and couldn’t focus long enough on one spot.
“We should go,” I said. “I’m ready to go home, but I can’t leave you here.”
“I’m fine, gorgeous,” Alex said. Fortunately, before I had to raise my voice and make a scene, Jaxon stepped up behind me.
“Sorry, Alex,” he said. “Party is about to wind down, anyway. I need some sleep.”
Alex looked at me and then back at him, less than impressed.
“Fine,” she groaned. She pushed the horny female specimen off her and stood, swaying, glaring at me. “You’re always such a buzzkill,” she said, heading for the door. I looked at Jaxon, who was still holding his drink as he watched her go. Then he looked at me.
“I have to go,” I said, and Jaxon followed me to the door. Before he could bid us goodbye, however, Alex doubled over to vomit into a fake plant decoration.
“Yikes,” Jaxon said, and I was a bit surprised when he ditched his party for a moment to lend a hand.
“Either we can help her to a bathroom and hope she doesn’t barf all over the hallway, or we can let her clean out into this plant,” I said, gathering Alex’s hair to hold it back for her. Jaxon stood on the other side of her, steadying her, making sure she wouldn’t fall over. He looked at the plant, pursed his lips, then looked back at me.
“I never liked this thing anyway,” he said. “Can I help you get her home?”
“We'll be alright,” I said. Alex straightened up and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, swaying. She looked at Jaxon as if surprised to see him standing there.
“You’re the football guy,” she said.
“Yeah.”
“You’re cute.”
“Aren’t you, like, gay?” Jaxon asked.
Alex stared between him and me.
“Yeah,” she said. “But she’s not.” Then she doubled over to vomit again.
Jaxon looked at me.
“Okay,” he said.
“Okay,” I replied.
“Let me help you guys home.”
“I promise we're okay.” I slung Alex’s arm over my shoulder so I could support her and then flashed a smile at Jaxon. “Get back to your party, Tate. Those people are in there for you, you know.” He smiled back, and it took everything I had not to let my knees buckle as the dimple appeared on his cheek.
“I’m sorry I made you come tonight,” he said. “Seems to be more issues than it’s worth.”
“Sometimes, that’s just how it goes,” I said, making my way towards the elevator as I supported Alex. “We’re not enough alike, Jaxon. We run with different crowds. Some people just can’t be friends without it upsetting the natural balance of things.” I stepped into the elevator with Alex and pushed the button to close the door.
“I beg to differ,” Jaxon called, but the door was already closing before I could respond.