Chapter 4 - Grace Stewart

Grace POV

“Oh my God, where were you? I even considered calling the cops.” Amber says as soon as I call her back after getting home. Lying on the couch with my arm covering my eyes, I listened to how worried she was and how she got everyone, including some of the guys from the football team, to look for me. 

“I’m fine, I’m home,” I say and she takes a deep breath after filling my ears with the amount of worry, especially after what happened last night. 

“Okay, wait up. What happened last night?” I sit up straight on the couch and Amber takes her time. “Amber…” I say in a warning tone. 

“Someone walked into the party and broke loads of stuff and beat the crap out of Angelo when he tried to stop them. They stole some of his stuff,” Amber says, and my eyes widen. 

“Is he okay?” I ask, and she takes a deep breath. 

“He’s got a broken nose, and a broken arm, he was asking for you, he was worried about you when we couldn’t find you, everything happened in his room, where you were sleeping,” Amber says and I scrunch my nose remembering what Dash told me this morning. “I am not a rapist, I would never have sex with someone as drunk as you were, I like my girls very aware of what I am doing to them, how I am fucking them, if anything I got you out of a sticky situation, maybe you should thank me instead of accusing me of doing something I would never do.”

A chill down my spine makes me stand up and hug my own body before I walk into my room, grabbing my glasses and putting them back on. 

“Did you just hear what I said?” Amber asks, and I am brought back to the present. Shit. I didn’t hear what she said.

“No, sorry,” I let out in a whisper. 

“Where were you?” She asks, and I take a deep breath. I am not ready to tell them where I was or who I was with. I am not ready to answer the questions my friends will have for me. I want this to be my secret. It’s not like I will be seeing Dash anytime soon, anyway. 

“I woke up not feeling well, and I walked home,” I say, lying and hoping Amber won’t catch up to me. “I’ve been asleep till now,” I lie again. 

“We went to your house. You were not there, Grace. Why are you lying to me?” She asks and I close my eyes for a split second, making a mental note to ask them for my keys. 

“Amber, I have to go. My parents are calling me,” I lie once more, ending the call, not giving her a chance to ask any more questions. I throw my phone on the couch and take a deep breath, remembering those blue eyes staring into my soul. The way Dash smiled made me weak to my knees. 

I try to push away the memories of him and I decide a shower is the best option. After finding out I puked all over him and myself, I feel dirty. He told me about my friends changing my clothes and Angelo trying to kiss me while I was passed out. But he didn’t tell me anything about beating Angelo. It has to be some sort of coincidence, right? 

Dash didn’t look like the type of guy that would slam a fist into someone’s face. The water falling down my back does nothing to push away Dash from my memory. The way he touched me and how my body ignited to his touch. Argh. I have never felt anything like this before for anyone. And I even wasn’t bothered when I thought he had sex with me. Even though I have never done it with anyone else. 

I allow myself to enjoy my fingers touching my pussy while I think of him, how my body would react to his touch, how my skin would burn and my insides twist for him. If I got weak to the knees just watching him without a shirt, how would I survive seeing the man naked? I never thought of anyone like this. I never had the curiosity of having sex with anyone. I always thought my virginity was something special and something I would like to offer to someone that would treat me right and I never met a guy that was worthy. Except him. 

Well, I don’t know if he is a good guy, but the way he was looking at me seemed like he wanted me as much as I wanted him. I wish he had kissed me. But after he whispered his name, I freaked out so much that I literally ran away. What a freak. I bet no girl has ever run away from him as fast as I did. Hell, I bet no girl has ever denied him, or walked away from him when he looks at them like that. 

I bet he sleeps around, and why not? A man like him can have any woman and I know I am not the type of woman he would go for, I bet he likes those bimbos, blonde with a huge rack, probably fake tits, and a huge ass with those tiny dresses that do nothing to cover their bodies. 

He would never look at me, and I bet the way he was staring at me was just because he felt bad for me. He saw a girl that needed to be saved and he did it, but he didn’t want anything with me. I shake my head, pushing away Dash from my memory. I need to move on from meeting the most beautiful man I have ever met in my life. 

I did just that. For the next few days, I barely thought of him. Focusing on my schoolwork and my volunteering work, but when Saturday arrived and my friends invited me to go out for dinner, Dash popped into my head again. I managed to dodge all their questions during the week, but I know tonight I won’t be able to run away from them. 

My phone rings with a text from Jamie announcing they are downstairs waiting for me. I move as fast as I can, grabbing my jacket and my purse. The weather is getting warmer, but it still gets cold overnight. We went to the same restaurant we go to every week and once we were all sitting on our designated seats, I could see all three pairs of eyes on me. 

“Nowhere to run now,” Jamie announces, and Amber nods while Hannah smiles. I watch as my three best friends in the world decide to gang up on me and ask loads of questions. They know I lied and they know I was with someone. They just don’t know nothing happened, and I ran away from him. 

“So, are you going to tell us where you were, or do we have to ask a thousand questions until you decide to spill the tea?” Hannah asks, going straight to the point. 

“Okay, I was with someone, no we did not sleep together, no I will not tell you his name or who he is, and no he doesn’t go to school with us, he is older, and yes he took care of me,” I say and they all smile and Hannah even claps her hands. 

“Tell us his name,” she pleas and I shake my head. I did the wrong thing, and I googled him. and what I found out about him made me even more nervous to think about him. He is very well known in New York and I honestly don’t know how I have never crossed paths with him before. He usually attends all the events I have to attend with my parents. 

“Nope,” I say, popping the p before I bring my iced tea to my lips and taking a large sip. Jamie looks at Amber and then at me and she smiles. 

“Angelo has been asking about you. He even asked for your phone number,” Amber says and I immediately shake my head. 

“No, I don’t want to talk to him,” I say and they all frown, looking at me. Of course, they don’t understand where this is coming from, and I don’t really want to go into details with them. 

“But I thought…” Jamie says and I shake my head, staring into her brown eyes. 

“I don’t want it, okay?” I snap and they all look at each other and Amber raises her hands in surrender before they all look down at their menus before they look at me again. “I am sorry, I just…” I take a deep breath, realizing it’s probably better to tell them. 

“The guy, he caught Angelo trying to kiss me while I was passed out,” I say and they all open their mouths in horror and Hannah’s eyes tear up straight away. 

“Oh my God, Grace, I am so sorry. We left you in the room because he said it was safe to leave you there,” she says and Jamie nods. They all start shooting apologies all at once and I smile at them, telling them it’s okay, I am fine and nothing happened to me. Thankfully. 

“That bastard, he deserved the beating he got then,” Hannah says and Jamie gasps covering her mouth. 

“Was the guy that saved you that did that to him?” She asks, and I shrug. I can’t really say yes or no. 

“He didn’t say anything about it, so I don’t think so. He just said he took me away from him, that he was trying to kiss me,” I say and they all nod as they stare at me.