Ride (Alpha Male Romance): In Between the Covers (Carolina Bad Boys #3) (8 page)

Jase guided my chin up. “Ave? Did you hear me?”

“What? I’m sorry. I zoned out.”

“I said, Ave, I wanted to ask you—”

Someone slapped Jase on the shoulder, and he broke away from me, leaving me unguarded, out in the open, in full sight of Duncan.

“So you snagged the new piece of tail. Nice one. Is she a sweet ride?”

My hand flew to my mouth. It was Cole Mayfield. He was smooth and suave and a seriously overprivileged bad boy if I ever saw one.

Why was I surprised Jase was friends with him?

The muscle at the corner of Jase’s jaw jumped, but he didn’t say anything to defend me. My heart dropped out of my chest.

Cole held up his hand to fist bump Jase. “Just looking out for her, huh? Looks like you’re doing her.”

Jase didn’t meet Cole’s fist-bump. Instead he let his fist fly so fast it whistled before it snapped into Cole’s mouth. The crunching sound of impact was so loud it jarred me. Blood jetted from Cole’s face.

“Wha’ the fuck, man?” Cole yelled, but his words were garbled.

“Don’t you ever talk about my girlfriend like that again,” Jase snarled. “I’ll fuck you up so hard you’ll be asking for political asylum in another country.”

Cole glared before stumbling away.

“Girlfriend?” I hoped Cole bled out as he made his escape.

“Fucking right.” Jase wiped his knuckles on his shirt then grabbed my hands. “Now, I’ve got something planned, so fuck all these twats. Let’s go.”

He took me away from the gathering crowd until we found a quiet field on campus. He pulled a blanket from his backpack and spread it over the grass.

“Milady?” He offered me his hand and guided me down.

“I’m glad you punched him.”

Jase halted from removing Tupperware dishes from his backpack. “No one talks about you like that, precious. Not ever.”

“I wanted to knee him in the nuts,” I nonchalantly mentioned as I took over where Jase left off. I found cloth napkins, two bottles of beer, plastic utensils and more containers of food. “So, a picnic?”

Jase sat still, staring at me with a huge grin. “You are so fucking incredible.” He pulled me into his lap.

I tried to break free. “I’m hungry! Let me go.”

“Not yet. Kiss me. Mean it.”

“I always mean it with you.” I twined my fingers through his soft shaggy hair and dragged his lips to mine.

The tantalizing taste wasn’t nearly enough. He slid back, keeping his grasp on my neck.

“Yeah, I packed a picnic for you. Consider it a starter course.”

“You know, Jase, us simple folk call it an appetizer, or an
all you can eat
salad bar.”

His laugh punched from his chest and filled me with so much hope my eyes teared up.

“
Shhh
.” He silenced me with a fingertip. “Just say
thank you, Jase
.”

“Thank you, Jase.”

“C’mere.” He made room between his spread thighs, hauling me between them. “Let me feed you.”

“Yes, Jase.”

His eyes danced.

Later, he laid me on the blanket and reclined next to me. He looked very serious, very determined as he tipped my face closer to his.

My breath hitched in my throat as I awaited his kiss.

His lips wandered up the side of my neck, landing against my ear. “I want to take you out to dinner, on a proper date. Just say
yes, Jase
.”

I arched my back with a quiet gasp. “Yes, Jase.”

Jase

AFTER OUR FIRST NIGHT when I showed superhuman restraint, I went to bed in briefs, Ave in panties and one of my T-shirts that hung huge on her. I kept everything top shelf—and, man, she had a rack on her—above cloth, except when my tickles on her belly pulled my wandering fingers closer to the generous curves of her tits.

God, her legs could only be described as coltish. They were endless. Seeing her in one of my shirts made me insane. That amount of bare flesh beneath a short cotton shirt should’ve been illegal. It was a crime to keep my hands off of her.

Christ
, I should’ve knocked Cole’s teeth out of his head when he’d talked smack about Ave, in front of Ave. The asshole. The one good outcome was I told her what I’d been holding inside. Ave wasn’t just my bed buddy. She was my lover.

Holy shit, I found myself whistling around the townhouse, like this was a fairytale. I’d already made future plans for us. We’d get married and take over the ranch side of the Everly business. She’d handle the vet needs. I’d do the books. We were the perfect pair. Of course I didn’t mention any of this to her. I didn’t want to scare her off, and her skittish side still lingered close to the surface for reasons I couldn’t fathom.

I felt free. Except for that one thing. The thing she couldn’t know about.

We lived together, loved together, and for the first time, I took a girl, my girl, on a date.

The night I hoped to make love to Avery, I escorted her to a nice restaurant. It was nothing flashy or expensive, but the food was great, the place cozy. I murmured in her ear, describing what I wanted to do to her later.

She was flushed, her breathing rapid and a moan slipped off the tip of her tongue as she listened. She liked it when I talked dirty to her. I got more and more explicit, whispering how I was going to suck her nipples until she begged me to go lower . . .

Then her eyes dropped the hooded look of pleasure. Her troubled blue gaze flashed across the restaurant.

I inched away and turned to look at the tableful I recognized from campus. They all thought they were hot shit. They whispered and laughed, pointing at us. I thought they were talking about me until I heard Ave’s choppy sigh.

“What’s that all about?” I jerked my head in the direction of the other table.

Ave pulled her sweater back on. Even with her armor in place, she cowered. She tucked her hands inside the sleeves and cast her eyes down. “Nothing.”

The fact that she could withdraw from me so completely pissed me off. “Bullshit it’s nothin’.”

“I’m not a virgin, okay?” She hissed, her head still down.

Shit. I wouldn’t have expected any almost-twenty-year-old to be a virgin, but given how chaste Ave had been when she’d first started rooming with me, I’d let myself hope so.

Swallowing my instinctual reaction, I said, “Oh-kay?” I tried to find her hand within the folds of her sweater but she flinched away. “And what’s that got to do with them?”

Her hands appeared on the table from the loose cuffs but only to compulsively fold and unfold her napkin. “He told them, he told everyone, it was consensual.”

I sat erect in my seat, fists forming, my heart thundering. “Who exactly is he?”

Her voice was almost too quiet to be heard. “Their ringleader, Duncan Locke.”

I knew Duncan. I knew all about him. I hadn’t liked him before, and now I was gonna kill him. “Are you telling me Duncan raped you?”

He was the one who couldn’t keep his eyes off Ave at that stupid frat party.

“I don’t expect you to believe me. My RA didn’t. That’s why I had to get out of the dorms.” Ave still wouldn’t look at me. In fact, she scooted her chair back, ready to walk out.

He’d raped her.

My rage hit the red line. He’d raped my girl, which had made her flee the dorms and move in with me. I was going to rip him limb from motherfucking limb then feed him his own body parts until he choked.

Ave stood uncertainly beside me. She was ready to flee again.

I grabbed her hands. The napkin she clutched fell unheeded to the floor. Gently, I pulled her back to her chair and waited for her to sit.

I pushed up her sweater cuffs and pressed her palms to my face after giving a tender kiss to each center. “You think I don’t believe you, Ave?”

“Why would you?”

“Because I love you.” My voice was hard, unyielding. “I love you, Avery.”

Her eyes shot to mine. Her lips fell open before she pursed them tight with a shake of her head.

“Don’t believe me?” My nostrils flared. When I received more silence from her, I shoved my chair back and stood. “Right.”

“Jase, I’m sorry! Don’t, don’t leave me.”

Her broken-voiced plea ripped right through me. Swinging toward her, I dropped a deep, full kiss on her lips. “Never leaving you. I’ll be right back.”

Rolling up my sleeves, I stalked to the table full of twats. I watched their shock as they took in my angry expression. My violence was barely held in check. With my knuckles rapping down on the table so hard their water glasses spilled and several of the girls gasped, I got into each and every one of their faces.

“Are you talking about my girlfriend over there?”

The dumb fucks stared at me.

“That’s what I thought.” My voice vibrated with rage. “Listen up, you preppy, prissy little shits. I don’t care who your daddies are. I don’t care if you’re varsity-this or sorority-that, I will fuck you up. I’ll ruin your social lives. I’ll destroy your academics. I will run you out of this school. You know who I am, right?”

One of the letter-jacket wearing pricks answered, “Yeah, you’re Jase Everly.”

“Fucking bingo. So you know what I can do, right?”

Bingo nodded and the others followed suit.

“And that is Avery Greene. She’s worth more than any of you can imagine. I love the shit out of her. You mess with her, you deal with me.” Straightening up, I crossed my arms over my chest. “You can tell Duncan I’m gunnin’ for him.”

I pivoted around and returned to Ave. Her face was burning, her eyes trained on the floor. Watching the group of shitheads rush to pay up and get out, I felt a little bit of satisfaction. But I was still enraged, so angry my ears buzzed. I couldn’t handle the idea some guy had hurt Ave, had raped her! There was going to be hell to pay, but I had to look after her first.

I pulled her from her seat and into my lap, holding her against me. Her breathing was erratic.

“I didn’t want any attention. Never wanted anyone’s attention, and when I tried . . . after what he did to me . . .”

That was why she dressed the way she did. Why she kept up the quiet mouse routine, except with me.

“Well, you got my attention now, Ave.” Tunneling my hand under her hair, I tilted her head. Her eyes met mine, so bright blue they reminded me of tropical waters, revealing a little less hurt, a little more hope. “You’ve got all my attention. I love you.”

Avery

JASE HAD MY ATTENTION, too. I couldn’t believe he loved me. He’d heard the most humiliating truth about me, and he believed me. He believed
in
me. He’d defended me. Since the first moment I’d met him, he’d somehow convinced me to go for what I wanted without worrying what other people thought.

We’d stayed at the restaurant although I was fairly certain Jase wanted to storm out of the place, hunt down Duncan, and beat the ever-loving shit out of him. Part of me wanted to watch. The other part wanted to let it all wash away now that the truth was out in the open.

Despite the interruption to our first date, we’d finished our meal. We’d held hands on top of the table and whispered together. Jase didn’t go back to telling me all the naughty, raunchy things he wanted to do to me. After learning about Duncan, he probably thought I wasn’t ready.

I was more than ready for him to have me.

We didn’t make love that night. Instead Jase held me very close and very tight.

In the dark, while he ran his fingers through my hair with a look of what I could only describe as awe, he’d asked, “Know what rhymes with Avery?”

I shrugged my shoulders slightly as he rubbed his thumb across my lips.

“Bravery.”

Tears had crested in my eyes.

He made me feel brave. Strong. Capable.

I told Benny the next day when she came over for coffee and an exam cramming session. I even got through it without crying, and then I held my breath and waited to see if she’d believe me or if my best friend would call me a pathetic loser liar like my RA had.

She pulled me into a hug, murmuring how sorry she was. That was when I started crying. I couldn’t stop. She just hugged me until every last tear was shed.

Then she sat me down and let loose a tirade the likes of which I’d never heard before.

“How could you keep that inside, Mouse? How could you think for a fucking second I wouldn’t believe you? Jesus Christ, I’m your best friend. I knew something was up but I don’t know, before this whole Jase thing, you were a little bit fragile sometimes.”

I’d snorted. Fragile was the understatement of the year.

“It’s seriously not funny, Avery. You were worse than fragile after that weekend, that stupid party I dragged you to just like I always do. Oh my God! I’m just like Duncan. I never take no for an answer from you. I practically pushed you at him.”

“Benny.” I grabbed her hands. “Shut up. It’s not your fault. Don’t even go there. I didn’t fight hard enough. I shouldn’t have invited him to my room.”

After she twisted her hands free, she pounded her fists on the table. “I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at myself, and I am going to kill Duncan.”

“You might have to take a number after Jase.”

“Nah, he and I can tag team. I’m gonna rape Locke with a broom handle shoved up his ass. See how he likes it.”

After Benny calmed down, I convinced her to get some studying done instead of going killer-psycho on Duncan. Not that he didn’t deserve exactly her brand of retaliation.

Just before she left, she tried to convince me to press charges.

I wasn’t that brave yet.

****

I was sitting at the kitchen table one afternoon, putting a study sheet together when Jase walked in from his classes. His dark brown hair stood at odd angles like he’d raked his fingers through it several times after taking off his motorcycle helmet.

He pushed his fingers into his hair as I’d imagined and caught me watching him.

Dropping his hands, he splayed them on the table. The ink on his wrist curled invitingly into the cuff of his shirt. His fingers were strong and long. I knew they could do wicked things, but they hadn’t in the week since our date.

“Ave, can you take a break? Do you think we could go talk in the other room?”

A heavy weight fell over me. He’d acted differently since he found out about Duncan. He didn’t want me anymore, not like he had before.

I followed him to the living room on feet as heavy as blocks of cement.

“I’m so sorry, Jase. I shouldn’t have told you about Duncan. I ruined everything, didn’t I?” I blurted as soon as he tugged me down beside him on the couch.

“What are you talking about? Are you fucking crazy? Of course you should’ve told me. You should’ve told me weeks ago, the first day you came here.” He pulled me onto his lap. “Precious, I’m beating myself up that all this time you kept that crap inside of you. You tried to deal with it on your own.”

He cradled my face in his hands and kissed me softly on the lips.

“I think you need to talk to someone else though. I mean, I really think you need to tell someone exactly what happened so you can start getting over it. You can’t keep it bottled up.”

His words sent me into a panic. I flew off his lap.

“No, no, no. I don’t . . . I can’t do that. I am getting over it. I can’t tell anyone what he did to me. I can’t.”

Wrapping my arms around myself, I doubled over. The thought of anyone else knowing sent splinters of pain deep into my belly.

“Ave. Ave. C’mon, precious. C’mere.” Jase’s gentle tone worked its way through my panic attack. He guided me back to the sofa and I shuffled forward. When he sat me next to him, he stroked the hair off my face. “What about your mom?”

My eyes slammed shut. “No, Jase. Please. This will hurt her. I can’t do that to her.”

“She’d want to know her baby girl got
hurt
. She’d want to help you, just like I do.”

“I can’t.”

His hands moved to my back, gliding up and down, up and down until I opened my eyes again.

“Okay. What about a campus counselor? They’ve been trained for this.”

“They won’t believe me. No one would believe it. I’m too ashamed, Jase.” Tears came quickly. They spilled down my face.

Jase
shhh’d
me with his arms around me. When I quieted from the sobs that had started coming from nowhere in the past few days, he whispered, “I believed you. Benny believed you. No one’s going to think you made it up.”

I shook my head. I’d made his shirt damp with my tears.

Tipping my chin up, he swiped a tissue over my face then gave me another so I could blow my nose.

“Okay. Then I want you to tell me.” His voice was stark. He swallowed roughly. His lips sealed tightly together for a moment. “If you won’t talk to anyone else, I want you to tell me everything he did to you.”

“No.” I started to get up as fresh tears surged to the surface.

Jase caught my wrist and dragged me back down. “You are not walking around with this
shit
Duncan did to you inside. Now, Ave, you will tell me.” His words were firm. His expression bleak. Yet he caressed his thumb over my wrist in soothing circles.

“Jase,” I pleaded.

“Please, Avery. Let me help.”

When I looked at him, his beautiful brown eyes were wet. He blinked quickly and brushed his knuckles beneath them.

“Okay.” I sniffed. “Okay. I don’t know where to start.” I trained my eyes on my lap.

“Wherever you want.”

I started hesitantly. “It was just a party like that one we were at together. I only had a couple of beers. I didn’t dance. I didn’t talk to anyone except Benny, but then she snagged some hot guy. She wasn’t going to leave with him. She said she’d stay with me—the buddy system. But Benny always put me first, and that wasn’t fair. I told her I’d head straight home.”

“She should’ve stayed with you.” Jase’s voice turned dark.

“She’s not my keeper, and I’m not her responsibility, Jase.” I frowned, remembering that night.

It had been hot, the fall term had begun a few weeks before, and all I’d done was work and study on repeat. I’d finally broken down and let Benny convince me to go out. I’d even left my hair loose and dressed up a little bit. I’d felt so foolish about that afterward.

“I knew the rumors, and I was always careful. No one ever came onto me anyway.”

Jase growled under his breath.

“What?” I turned to look at him.

Fire sparked in his irises. “They’re a bunch of fucking fools, those boys. And I’m damn glad no one saw you clearly enough to make a move because that would mean more arms I’d have to break off, and I think I’m gonna have my hands full enough with Duncan.”

“I should stop. You don’t need to know this, Jase.”

He slumped back. “I’m sorry. Jesus, Ave. I won’t say anything else, I swear.”

“Are you sure?”

His Adams apple bobbed, and he nodded.

“I was heading toward the door. That’s when
he
approached me. I thought he was cute. I didn’t see the way his eyes looked hard and cruel, not until it was too late.” I gasped. “Oh . . . of course. Someone cute and popular paid attention to me, and I fell for it. Oh my God, you must think I’m so stupid, Jase. Just because a guy flirted with me, I stayed at the party. I invited him back to my room!”

“I don’t think you’re stupid. Don’t you ever think that.”

“I was though. We danced and kissed. I thought he was nice, and I was lonely.”

“Did he drug you?” Jase asked.

“No. Sometimes I wish he had. That might’ve been easier. I remember everything so clearly.”

Jase gripped my hand until it almost hurt before letting go.

“In my room, I should’ve reacted faster. I told him
no
as soon as he pawed at my breasts. His breath stank of beer. I can still smell it. His fingers were rough when he pushed them inside my jeans, under my panties. He’d laughed at my panties, they had little bows on the side. I can’t remember what he called me then . . . something like a teasing little slut who deserved what I got.”

“Just like Duncan deserves to get beaten to a bloody pulp, so help me God,” Jase muttered in a dangerous voice.

“I kept trying to avoid his kisses, but he pinched my cheeks between his hand and drove his tongue into my mouth. I bit him once, and he yanked my hair so hard I almost passed out. And I was too scared to pass out.” I started crying, the words coming out in gasps. “I didn’t know if he’d do something even worse than raping me.”

Jase stroked my hair, and it was the only thing keeping me grounded while the same pain ripped through me. Tears blinded me and made a wet mess of my face.

“I was so dry, Jase. He didn’t care. He thought it was funny. He said it would make my cunt grip his cock tighter.”

Jase’s hand briefly clenched on my hair. His jaw turned to carved stone.

“He pushed me onto my bed. He destroyed my shirt, and smacked my face when I started to scream. He tore off my jeans. He pinched my nipples and pulled them up so far I thought he’d rip them off. When I tried to scramble away, when he got his jeans down just far enough to shove on a condom, Duncan flipped me onto my belly. He pinched my thighs, pressed them open. He said he preferred me that way better so he didn’t have to look at my ugly face while he fucked me.

“The pain was . . . it hurt. It hurt so much. I muffled my screams in the pillow. He went hard and fast, always spitting insults at me, and it was disgusting. He was so turned on. I tried to buck him off, but he laughed at me then dug his fingers into my hips to hold me still.”

Jase’s hand trembled through my hair. He pulled it away to clench in his lap.

I took a deep breath. “He didn’t last long. When he came it was with the worst kind of praise about how well I took him, and how he couldn’t wait to fuck me again. He spat on my face before he left. He didn’t even bother to shut the door.” I shuddered and whispered, “I thought I’d be bleeding. I was surprised I wasn’t.”

“Fuck, Ave. Tell me it wasn’t your first time. Please tell me it wasn’t your first time.”

“It was my first time, Jase.” I bit down on my lip because it quivered so hard I could barely speak. “He took my virginity. He raped me.”

I heard a hoarse sob. When I looked over, Jase’s face was buried in his hands. My tears joined his as I struggled to finish.

“I stayed awake all night after a shower. A long shower. I wanted to sleep in the shower but the water turned cold. I didn’t want anyone to find me there. I didn’t want to see anyone. I spoke to my RA first thing in the morning. She laughed at me. She told me Duncan Locke was the catch of the campus, and I should be thrilled he even bothered to look at me twice. In fact, she told me I better stop spreading lies about him before I found my scholarship dried up.”

“I want that RA’s name. She’s out of a job tomorrow.” Jase composed himself. He spoke in a hard-edged tone.

“Jase—”

“Don’t. Ave. Some people have to pay for this. I’m gonna make sure they do.”

“I found your roommate ad. As soon as I got through my classes, I biked over here. It hurt to sit on my bike seat.”

Jase crushed me to him. “I was such an asshole that night. I’m so sorry, precious.”

“You didn’t scare me.”