Chaotic (Imperfect Perfection) (23 page)

My schedule quickly became filled
again once school started back up with studying, homework, work, friends, and
Justin. Didn’t sound like much, right? But I guess it was what most college
students dealt with, so if the average person could handle it, I surely could.

I had kept my promise to my
roommates and also Justin. While it was tempting to stay at his house more
often than a few nights a week, I still liked to spend time with my friends at
our dorm. Callie and Drew were still going strong while Zoey seemed to be a
serial dater. I never wanted her to feel left out because she didn’t have a
serious boyfriend, so we often ended up spending a lot of our free time
together.

I was beginning to become nervous
about Justin’s upcoming graduation that would take place in a few months. I had
never expected for things to get this serious when we started out, but now I
was worried about how his career would affect our relationship.

His mom, Leann, had assured me,
time and time again when we got together at least once a week for a family
dinner, that being in a relationship with a cop was tough, but manageable. I
knew Justin still had the summer, but he had all ready been accepted into the
police academy which would take up most of his time. And then all he would have
left to do was find a job, which I’m sure wouldn’t be very
hard since
his dad was a lieutenant and all.

“Hey Della, do you want to run over
to the library with me?”Zoey yelled from the hallway, pulling me out of my
worrying thoughts. I really needed to stop doing that. One day at a time was
what really worked best for me or things would just eat away at me until I was
over-thinking everything.

“Sure,” I dropped my pen into my
bag where I was attempting to study in the living room and stood up to slide on
a pair of shoes. Apparently, I wasn’t getting anything done here, so hopefully
a different atmosphere would help.

“Let’s go girlie. Cal is out with
Drew for awhile so it’s just you and me. Maybe we can grab something to eat on
the way back.”

“Sound good.”

We ended up finding a quiet table
at the library, and I was able to get much needed studying done and even start
on a paper that was due in the next couple of weeks. Who knew Della McGregor
would ever be considered an overachiever?

“Do you care if we stop at Shorty’s
for dinner?” Zoey asked as she looped her arms through her bag and grabbed a
tall of stack of books that wouldn’t fit. “I know you’re probably sick of that
place, but their wings sound really good right about now.”

“That’s fine with me,” I answered
quickly and she gave me a knowing smile. “Let me guess, Justin’s working,
right?”

The parking lot wasn’t too full
when we pulled in, and Kassie was able to find us a table right away. “I’ll
tell J you’re here. I think he’s almost up for a break pretty soon.”

“Thanks,” I replied, setting down
the menu that she had handed to me. I could probably recite that thing in my
sleep. Zoey nudged me sharply in the side with her elbow. “Ow, what was that
for?” She tilted her head towards the table that was next to us and I saw a
girl staring back at us. She didn’t look familiar so I wasn’t really sure what
the deal was. “Do you know her or something?”

“Well, I don’t
know
her
know
her, but Callie does. They had a class together last semester and she’s pointed
her out before.”

“O-kay,” I dragged out, shrugging
my shoulders. “Why is she staring at us like that?”

“Pretty sure you’re the one she’s
staring at. Remember when you and Justin first started dating and we told you
about the girl who claimed she had hooked up with Justin when we knew you were
with him?”

“How could I forget? It’s not
something I really liked to hear, but Justin told me nothing happened.”

“Okay, well that’s her. Maybe she’s
stalking Justin or something. Speaking of,” she added in a whisper and I turned
to see Justin walking towards our table, a wide smile on his face. He lifted me
out of my seat and twirled me around before his lips landed on mine. His hands
cradled my face while devouring every inch inside my mouth before sucking my
bottom lip in between his teeth and letting it go with a grin. “Ew,” I heard
Zoey mutter behind me, but I didn’t really care.

“What was that for?” I asked as he
sat me back down and pulled up a chair to sit next to me.

“Do I really need a reason?” His
brows shot up, and I shook my head no. I guess if he wanted to greet me like
that every time we saw each other, I really didn’t have a problem with it. I
settled back into my seat and realized that the girl at the next table was
still looking at me, but now she was glaring.

“Do you know her?” I whispered into
Justin’s ear, tilting my head in that direction. He flicked his eyes over that
way quickly and turned back, shaking his head sharply. “Nope, never seen her
before. So you guys decide what you want yet?”He changed the subject quickly,
and I tried to not let it bother me.

 Maybe they had hooked up before we
got together. I knew that had obviously happened, there was a string of girls
before me, but for some reason this one was bothering me.

Justin stayed with us for a few
minutes longer, but insisted he needed to get back to the kitchen even though I
knew he normally got thirty minute breaks. He muttered something about being
short handed before kissing my forehead and disappearing into the back.

By the time Zoey and I finished up
our dinner, the other girl was gone, and I pushed her out of my head. No reason
on dwelling on something that Justin was denying. I trusted him and had no
reason not to believe what he was telling me was the truth. I think I was just
being a little paranoid for some reason.

                                                                                 
*********

“Hi Grams. Yes, I promise that I’ll
be over for dinner on Sunday…Justin too of course…yes, I know…Okay, I have to go.
Love you.” I hit the end button, throwing my phone back into my bag and turning
to see Callie grinning while she merged onto the highway. “I take it Grams is
in love with Justin too?”

“How could you tell?” I asked
sarcastically. “I think she might even have a teensy crush on him.”

“Well, it’s pretty hard not to. At
least she likes him that much. My parents still haven’t warmed up to Drew for
some reason. He tried his hardest over winter break when he came to visit for a
few days, but they just didn’t take a liking to him for whatever reason.”

“How is that even possible? Drew is
the sweetest, and you can tell he worships you. Maybe they just don’t want to
see their little girl growing up.”

“Probably. It sucks being the only
child sometimes. But anyway, enough about our love lives, today is all about
shopping.”

Zoey couldn’t come along today
because of a last minute dinner with her parents but insisted we go without her.
I think she was actually a little relieved because Callie and I were serious
shoppers, and I had some money to spend.

“Okay, let’s start over on the side
with all of the little boutiques and then work our way back towards the front.
Then we can stop for a pedi and grab lunch.” I nodded in agreement. Callie’s
game plan sounded perfect.

By the time we were finished, I was
carrying two bags filled with clothes, one filled with only sexy lingerie that
Callie had helped me pick out, and one filled with shoes. Our toes were pretty
and our bellies were full, so we headed back out to the car and somehow managed
to fit everything into the trunk.

“Do you mind dropping me off at Justin’s
place on our way back?”

“Ah, need to surprise him with some
of that new lingerie? Maybe I should go surprise Drew too,” she said, wiggling
her eyebrows at me as she pulled off the exit closest to Justin’s house.

“Good luck,” she called out while I
waved at her and headed towards the back porch where I knew there was a hidden
key under one of the garden gnomes. You would think with a family full of cops
that they would be worried about security or something, but this time, it would
work in my favor.

I kept all of the lights off until
I reached Justin’s bedroom, turning on the small lamp that was on his
nightstand. My overflowing bags ruined the tidy room, but he always told me how
much he loved seeing my mess around, so I guess he didn’t really mind.

I laid out all of my selections and
finally settled on a deep red corset that flared slightly at the bottom, a
matching thong and a pair of garters attached to a pair of knee highs. By the
time I finally had it on, I had some major boobage going on, and I felt like a
dominatrix or something. I so should have gotten the whip that Callie
suggested.

I pulled out a book to read while I
waited for Justin to get home, but obviously it wasn’t too good because I ended
up falling asleep. When I woke up, I heard voices coming from the living room.
The first one I recognized instantly as Justin’s, but the second one I just
couldn’t put my finger on. “J, where in the hell are your cigs around this
place? Did that girlfriend of yours make you quit that too?” I panicked when I
realized it was Nate and I was dressed like this. What in the hell was I going
to do?

“Actually, I quit on my own dude,
but I better not hear you talk shit about Della again or you can get your ass
out now.”

I did a silent fist pump for my
boyfriend as I searched through the dark room for some actual clothes, there
was no way this was going to be wasted on Nate, but paused when I heard Justin
sigh loudly from the living room.

“Okay, fine. I promise I’ll behave
myself,” Nate replied. “So what’s the deal? You’ve been acting like your dog
got ran over. Do we need to have some girl talk?” I rolled my eyes, but stood
at the door, my arms crossed over my chest. I really didn’t like to be the
spying girlfriend, but Justin was never in a bad mood, so I wanted to hear what
the problem was.

I only heard a muffled response, so
I cracked the door open slightly and tiptoed into the hallway.

“Dude, you can tell me whatever the
hell it is. Just get it off your chest. It’ll probably help,” Nate replied in a
serious tone. I was actually sort of surprised; maybe
that
was why
Justin was still friends with him. He seemed to actually have a decent side to
him.

“This girl came into Shorty’s the
other night when Della was there,” he started and my stomach instantly
clenched, a cold chill running throughout my entire body. I really didn’t want
to hear the rest, I could only guess what it was, but I couldn’t pull myself
away. “She kept staring at us the whole time, but I swear I don’t know who the
fuck she was. Maybe a one night stand I had in the past, but never while I was
with Della.”

I felt relief wash throughout my
body, and I really wanted to hunt that girl down and bitch slap her for letting
me ever doubt my boyfriend. He was perfect.

“O-kay,” Nate dragged out. “I
really don’t see what the issue is then.”

“The issue is that seeing that girl
brought out some major guilt that I’ve been feeling. I really fucked up, man,
and I don’t know what to do.” Hold up, rewind that thought. What in the hell
was going on? My heart started to race, all of the different possibilities
running through my head, and none of them seemed pretty.

“You know things between Della and
I didn’t really start off as a serious thing, even though I was really into
her. She just didn’t seem ready for a solid relationship and truthfully I don’t
know if I was either.” I heard him blow out a deep breath, like he was mentally
preparing himself for what was to come next. It had to be bad, it certainly
couldn’t be good. And I knew for sure whatever was to come next, I would never
be prepared to hear either.

“We agreed not to see other people,
but I messed that shit up. So I went out and did the worst thing possible, I
found some random girl at the bar one night and we fucked out in the alley,” he
finished quietly, the guilt apparent in his voice, but I really didn’t give a
shit. The last thing he said just kept repeating over and over in my head, like
a broken record.
We fucked out in the alley. We fucked out in the alley.

I covered my mouth when a whimper
tried to escape my mouth. Flattening myself against the wall, I shook my head
repeatedly trying to erase what I had just heard, but even if that were
possible, it still would have been true. And he just kept on going, breaking my
heart apart even more.

“I felt like complete and utter
shit after we were done, I don’t even remember the girl’s name. So I went out,
found Della at some party she was at with that one douchebag I told you about,
and told her that I wanted a serious relationship with her. I knew that was the
main reason I felt like shit, the guilt was eating me alive at what I had just
done. I know I should have told her, but I didn’t want to ruin such a good
thing. Now I don’t know what the hell to do. I feel like I should tell her.”

“Was that the only time it
happened, dude?” Nate asked, even though I could really care less about the
reply. It happened once and that was enough in my book. He had destroyed
everything.

“Yeah, but…” he paused and I heard
him suck in a deep breath. Oh god, did I really need to hear this? “That chick
showed up on my doorstep one day. I don’t know how the fuck she found where I
lived, but apparently she wanted a repeat of that night.”

“Damn,” I heard Nate mutter and I
couldn’t tell if it was because he felt bad for Justin or wished he was him.

“Nothing happened though. I told
her to leave me the fuck alone and slammed the door in her face. I haven’t seen
her since.”

Tears were streaming down my face
at this point, as I collapsed onto the floor, feeling like our whole
relationship had been one big lie. I knew exactly what night he was talking
about, he had seemed to be acting weird, but I just shrugged it off as him being
pissed about Nash.