Beautiful Strangers (4 page)

   
He grabbed me up in his arms
and dashed to my bedroom. I inhaled his scent and buried my hands in his hair
as he laid me on the bed and began to undress me. When he saw I wasn’t wearing
any panties a primal growl escaped his throat.
                            

   
Jaxson took his time undoing my
bustier nibbling and suckling on each breast as they popped out of my top. I
pulled his shirt over his head, his gaze never leaving mine.

   
“Gracie you are beautiful,” he
said as I tugged on his jeans. My core was hot and aching to have him inside
me. He stood to remove his jeans and apparently he hated underwear as much as I
hated panties his erection sprang and I licked my lips, he looked delectable.

  
He pulled me to the edge of the
bed and knelt on the floor as he spread my legs apart and began strategically
kissing up each of my thighs. He was pushing me over the edge already and we
barley had gotten started.

  
He kissed his way up to my
stomach and on up to my mouth again. He began pinching my plush pink nipples
and I arched my back raising up to meet his hard member teasing my wet core. He
slid into me like our bodies were meant to be joined and began slowly circling
his hips thrusting in and out of me. Fast then slow, he repeated the motions;
sending my body into sensory overload.

  
Finally I couldn’t take it any
longer; I needed my release and begged him to fuck me harder and faster. And he
did just that, flipping me onto my stomach. I stuck my ass up as he entered me
from behind and fucked me blind. I was seeing stars or maybe it was spots but
damn he felt good. He soon found his release filling me completely.

   
I could have passed out then
but I needed a shower. Jaxson joins me for my shower. Even though it’s small we
fit inside okay. How sweet, he even helps me wash my hair, and he towels every
inch of me dry. I am hardly functioning at this point all my speed has worn off
and I am about to crash hard.

   
How would I shoot a music video
with this guy after being so intimate with him? What did I get myself into?
Jaxson leads me back to my bed and tucks me in.

  
“You don’t have to leave,” I
say, “but no pressure for you to stay either.” I let out a yawn.

   
“Yawning is very contagious you
know. And as much as I hate to, wham bam thank you mam, I really need to go,
but I will see you soon.” He looks to the photo of me and Jojo on my dresser
with a hint of sorrow. He kisses my cheek and as he turns to leave I whisper,
“Jax I had really great time.”

  
“Me too lover,” he whispers
back. I don’t think I even heard the door shut, and for the first time I slept
a good full eight hours.

Cravings….

   
I think I could have slept
longer if I hadn’t been awakened with stomach cramps and cold sweats. I hated
doing speed before breakfast but I don’t want to be sick either. Damn, that was
the last of it too. Looks like I will be seeing Evan sooner than I thought I
would.

   
I texted Evan and asked if he
was able to meet soon, and of course he was all too eager. I really need to
change that. Today we will finally have the talk I have been putting off the
past six months since I left him.
  

  
When I found out who he was I
never confronted him. I simply packed my Jetta full and crashed with Jocelyn
until I found this place. I didn’t dare tell anyone the secrets I had found out
about him, not even Jocelyn.

    
I wasn’t exactly sure what I
wanted. We had been together almost two years, and he never let on to having
any knowledge of my family. But looking back it all makes sense. Why he never
could attend my family dinners or he always had to work if my dad was coming to
visit.

   
Everything we shared was a lie.
He seduced me and turned me into a drug whore, all because my father had an
affair with his mother. Okay, so the drugs are my fault. I could have said no.
I should have been strong enough to say no. But I was nineteen and Evan was my
first real anything or so I thought.

  
I gave up on my dream of
becoming a writer and I left college to be with him. But it all stops today.
Jaxson Hayes may never call after we shoot his video but this is it for me. I
don’t want to die young and a drug addict. I will make a big buy and slowly
wean myself off this shit. How hard can it be?

  
Jocelyn would be there for me,
if I would clue her in but I have to do this on my own. I texted Evan back and
told him how much speed I wanted.

Evan: Damn Gracie, it may take me a few days to come up with that much,
do you have that kind of cash?

Me: Yes I do, and I need it today like in a couple of hours please.

Evan: No promises but I will meet you @ our spot at
noon

 
Me: C-ya then.

So long yesterday…..

    
I dressed down, in jeans in a
t-shirt. I don’t want Evan to think this a booty call as well. The nausea was
already starting. I took some Dramamine hoping it would help and nibbled on
some saltines. With an hour to go, I flipped on the TV and OMG, The Nashville
Gawker was on (a small celebrity gossip show that airs celebrity sightings
around Nashville) and there I was
being led by Jaxson Hayes to his truck.

   
Jocelyn would die if she saw
this. Here’s pretty much what the reporter said:

 
“A man rumored to be country super
star Jaxson Hayes is seen here leading an unknown female to his truck after a
night at hip local club Pandemonium.”

  
Then they cut to a picture of
Sadie Blake (princess of country music). “Wonder what this means for Nashville’s
hottest duo?” the reporter grinned. Jaxson Hayes and Sadie Blake are a duo
country group known as Blackened Sunrise.

      
Then my phone started going
off like crazy with Jocelyn texting me faster than I can read with WTF and OMG.
I told her I would explain soon, but first I needed to meet Evan and I
definitely need to speak to Jaxson. I don’t know what’s up with him and
Princess Sadie, but I would not ruin anyone’s relationship. I may be a lot of
things but I’m not that girl.

  
Evan texted, he would be a few
minutes late, which was good for me. Giving me a few more minutes to mentally
prepare myself for what I needed to say to him. Saying goodbye is never easy.
And I still don’t know if I have the courage to do so, but on the way over here
I started thinking about Jaxson and how my life and my choices could hurt his
career if it were to get out that I have a drug problem.

  
Now it’s not just about me. Jax
may never even want to see me again but I owed this to myself and to him even
if I didn’t know why. The thought of him looking down on me really bothered me.

Two Years Ago

     
The August heat is burning
down my back as I try to remove the last of my totes from the trunk of my black
VW Jetta so I can finally finish moving into my dorm at Vanderbilt. I had hoped
to have an apartment this year since I am a junior but my partner in crime
Jocelyn bailed on me for her newest conquest. So here I am stuck back in the
dormitory and on my own. I stack the last two totes on the bumper and close the
trunk. Placing my keys on top of the totes, I turn around to head inside when I
suddenly find myself bumping into a really cute guy.
 

    
“Hey you know you have a flat
tire right?” He asks pointing to my rear passenger side. I turn and look. Shit!
Wouldn’t you know, he is right!

   
“Damn it!” I grumble.

  
 
“I can change it for you, if you have a
spare,” he offers.

    
“No, I don’t have a spare I
removed it, so I could fit all of my crap into my trunk.”

  
“Tell you what. I work in a
repair shop. I can bring you a tire this evening and you can thank me with
pizza and a beer. I won’t take no for an answer.” He grinned at me with the
most sincere look on his face. Flashing me the sexiest pair of dimples I had
ever laid eyes on.

  
Damn, he just oozes sex and
trouble. Two things I can’t resist.

   
That was how I met Evan, a day
that forever changed my life. I was working on my B.A. in English; I have
always wanted to be a writer. My life was going perfect until Evan came into my
life. I joked with him that the way we had met only happened in movies and maybe
that should have been my first clue to run the other direction.

  
But Evan was a total bad boy,
and like most girls who burn for the wrong ones, I thought I could fix him.

   
For a long time Evan was the
perfect boyfriend, he connected with me on a level like no one ever had before.
He was so supportive. He read every paper I had ever written. Hell, he even
brought me flowers and candy on a regular basis.

   
It wasn’t long before I moved
out of my dorm and into his apartment. I almost thought he was the one. I was
ready to marry him. Everything I had been working for was washed down the drain
the moment he stopped to change my flat tire. We had hit it off instantly and I
was spending every free moment with him.
 

   
Things were moving hot, heavy,
and fast between us. I was having trouble focusing at school and Evan suggested
I take a diet pill to help me stay awake to study. A year and a half later I
was consumed by my need for the rush I got from speed. Evan was too.
 
Neither of us could hold down a job and we
were desperate for cash to get our dope. A buddy of Evans told him he would
give him some coke for a night with me.

   
I never thought Evan would
agree, and when he said he was okay with it I went along thinking he would stop
it from happening but he didn’t.
 
I
stayed with him, even though I knew it was wrong. If he loved me he would never
have let me be used like that, no matter what.

   
After that night things started
to slowly change between us. He began to grow very distant towards me. But that
is what happens when you get on drugs and the life changes you, instead of you
changing your life. Evan started dealing drugs so we could have easier access
to them and we started partying hardcore. And I know I can’t place all the
blame on him, but it is much easier than accepting my part in it all.

My own guilt fuels my need for him and the drugs more and more, day by
day.

   
The following month I received
a phone call from my father’s friend and partner in his law firm Mr. Slade,
informing me that my father had passed away from a heart attack. I headed for North
Carolina as soon as Slade wired me some cash.

Truth
be
told….

   
My parents had divorced right
after I started college so I was all my dad had left. My mother wasn’t a bad
mom. We just weren’t close like I was with my dad. When I met with Mr. Slade,
he shocked me by telling me that my father was nearly broke, due to the fact
that a few years prior to the divorce my father had a mistress. When he refused
to leave my mother, she blackmailed him for cash not to expose the affair.

   
My mom eventually found out
when she supposedly discovered the checks my dad was signing over to some lady
named Olivia Brown. Excuse me, what was her name? I remember asking him, hoping
the name that came out of his mouth was wrong. Olivia Brown was the name of
Evans mother.

   
I’m not surprised Harry never
told you, he had mentioned that Olivia’s son John had threatened to ruin you. I
sat for what seemed like an eternity trying to wrap my head around everything I
just heard.

   
My world had been rocked hard.
I left Mr. Slade’s office with my father’s ashes and my heart in my throat.
Once I was back in my Jetta. I put it all together on my drive back to Nashville.
My dad never knew that my boyfriend Evan was actually John Evan Brown.

   
I had been played hard core. I
moved out of our shitty apartment and crashed with Jocelyn. She was my roommate
my freshmen year of college and my only friend other than Evan. She gave me a
place to stay and got me my job at Masquerade. My mom tried reaching out to me
when my dad passed but after the hurt of Evan, I only cared about one thing,
drugs.

     
This isn’t the life I would
have chosen for myself, but here I am. I have been knocked down, let down, and
put down, but it won’t always be like this. I should have put a stop to Evan
the moment I found out who he truly was, but there is still a part of me that
wishes Evan could be the man that I believed he was. Maybe that man is buried
somewhere within him, but I just can’t get past all of the lies. I believed in
him, in us, and he broke me.

   
I began pacing and fidgeting,
my nerves and withdrawal getting the best of me. I looked up and tried to
pretend everything was cool when I heard the familiar sound of his Harley. Evan
seemed to have a little pep in his step as he approached, too bad I was about
to crush his good mood.