Twist of Fate (16 page)

I rubbed my hands together. "Oh, this is going to be a fun night." Paige was wearing her toga so it looked a dress on her. It wrapped around her body, and over only one shoulder, exposing the other one. It took a ridiculous amount of restraint on my part not to run my hand down to touch her exposed shoulder. "Hey, we never finished that game of truth or dare."

Paige looked over, smiling. "I'm pretty sure we did."

I raised my eyebrows and plowed ahead, knowing that she'd find it hard to resist a dare when everyone was watching. "I dare you to do the next shot on me?" She looked confused, so I grabbed the salt shaker off the table, then handed it to her. "I dare you to lick the salt of my neck, and then take the lemon from my mouth." I smirked, right before placing a wedge of lemon in between my teeth.
 

Paige shot me a warning glare, but I didn't care if she was pissed or not. I just wanted to feel her lips on mine. She looked all around, stopping on Tommy who was holding back a laugh a few feet away. She grabbed the shot off the table, slowly approached me, then moved within an inch of my face. I swallowed hard, as I studied those ridiculously crazy green eyes. It happened so fast, I barely felt her lick my neck. She sprinkled the salt, gave me one last smirk, before literally sending me into a tailspin that I was afraid I wouldn't be able to come down from. The moment her lips hit mine, I couldn't help it, my hands immediately pulled her in closer. I didn't care I was in the basement with a hundred or so people screaming out to us, I didn't care about anything other than Paige's lips. It wasn't until Paige pulled the lemon out of my mouth with her teeth, grinning that I was able to bring it together. I let out a huge breath, while Paige bowed to everyone cheering her on. Tommy was just staring at me, and I couldn't tell if he thought I was an asshole or a fucking genius.

After the fifth shot I could tell Paige could use a break. I'd only had two, so I felt good.

I saw Kevin, another brother, strutting over to us as I was talking to Paige. He had that look on his face, like he saw something he liked, and was about to go in head first.
 

He nodded. "Ben."

"What's up, Kev?"

He eyed up Paige. "I thought this fine looking girl could use a spin on the dance floor."

I turned around to her, "Hold on a sec."

I grabbed Kevin, and pulled him aside. Paige was watching me from a few feet away. "Not a chance, man. She's mine."

He laughed. "Right! I was just told by Matt she's as free as a fucking bird."

"Well, maybe she was, but she's not anymore. I'm asking you to back off."

We stared each other down for a few minutes. "Looks like we're both too late," said Kevin, deflated.

My head snapped around to the dance floor. Matt had Paige in his arms, and they were dancing like no one else was in the room. Well, it looked more like he was holding her up, so she wouldn't fall over. Shit!

I grabbed onto Paige. "Hey, hey, I though I told you to stay put?"

Matt shoved my arm off of her. "Go find someone else, man."

I spotted Tommy watching from the corner. He shook his head, put his beer down, and made his way over.
 
He knew I was going to get in a fight with him if he didn't step in. That was one of the beauties of our friendship, he knew exactly what I needed without a word, just a knowing glance. "Yo, Matt. I need to talk you, bro. It'll just take a second." It was no secret that I couldn't stand Matt. He couldn't stand me. It was always that way. And, ever since I pulled Paige away from him the night of the beach party he had it out for me. Sometimes I was surprised they'd let me in, but I was liked by too many other brothers, and I always did what I was told to do. No questions asked. When they told me to jump, I asked how high?

I grabbed a hold of Paige, while Tommy was occupying Matt. "C'mon, I've got a secret stash upstairs."

"But, I was dancing, and having fun," she pouted.

"I'll dance with you upstairs. Now, c'mon." I grabbed her hand in mine, and literally pushed her up the stairs in front of me.
 
I couldn't get the feeling of her lips licking my neck and my mouth out of my mind. As soon as we walked in, I grabbed a tie, wrapping it around the knob, then shut the door. It was not that I planned to have sex with her, I just didn't want to be disturbed. Not tonight.

Paige took a seat on the edge of Tommy's bed, watching me cautiously. "Feel like a drink? I keep a secret stash up here." I pulled out the Cabo Wabo, and two shot glasses.
 
I poured them, then handed one off to her. She sat up straighter, then clinked her glass to mine. "To friends."

"To friends," I mimicked, then slammed it back without taking my eyes off her.

I realized I wasn't going to get anywhere if I kept feeding her shots, so I made her drink a bottle of water. I didn't want to end up holding her hair back again, and I had questions that needed to be answered.

"So what are your plans for break?"

She fell back onto his pillow. "I'm going east to spend some time with my father."

"What? For how long?" I asked not hiding the surprise and disappointment from my voice.

She hiccuped. "Two weeks."

Shit! Shit! Shit!
 

Okay, I needed to move past this. I stumbled around the room looking for something, anything. Paige looked like she was about ready to pass out, so I placed my iPod on my Bose system, hitting play. Luckily, nothing crazy came on. It was one of my favorites, "This year's love," by David Gray.
 

I held out my hand to her. "I think you owe me a dance."

She looked up. And, I melted a little when she smiled, it was the same one that reeled me in year's ago. Suddenly the feel of her hand was in mine. "I love this song," she murmured.

I pulled her closer to me, and whispered in her ear, "So do I." I held her so close, the only thing keeping us apart was the damn knot on the sheet. Her hands went around my neck, her head dropping onto my chest, and she just stayed there. And it was perfect. Without thought, I settled my cheek on top of her head, letting the music drown out any negative thoughts of where tonight could lead.
 
I couldn't think of anything but the words coming out of the speakers, and how this song couldn't have come on at a better time.
 

But, I knew there was something holding her back, keeping her from me, and I had a feeling it had something to do with this damn secret she was hiding from me. I stopped dancing, leaning her back some so I could see her face. "I have something I want to ask you."

She looked up at me with these huge innocent eyes. "Sure. What is it?"

"I only want you to tell me if you're ready. But, Paige. I just need to know what's going on with you? What happened at your last school?"

She took a step back, cocking her head to the side, with her eyes fixed on mine. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because, Paige. I want to make sure you're okay. I want to help you, " I pleaded. "Please tell me."

A few tears trickled down her face, but to her credit she wiped them away, and laughed. "I'm gonna need another shot if you want to know the story."

I was confused, but I poured it anyway, and grabbed one for myself. I thought if she needed one to tell me, I'd need one to listen.

She didn't drink it right away, she sat it on the floor beside her. She patted the spot on the other side of her for me to sit.
 
"Come sit next to me," she said.

I didn't waste anytime. Once I sat, she threw the shot down her throat, sighing loudly. The next thing I knew, Paige laid down on her side placing her head in my lap, she was awake, but completely silent. Her body trembled for a slight second, but once I started to run my fingers though her hair, it seemed to calm her down. I could tell she was scared to tell me, but I wasn't quite sure why.

"If you don't want to, you don't have to." I hated to see her in so much pain.

She turned over to stare at me. "No. I want to. It's about time I did."

As another song tuned out, and another one came on, Paige took one deep breath, then smiled softly.

PAIGE

Chapter 19

I wasn't sure if it was all the shots, or if was the feel of his hands running through my hair, but I didn't want to move. Not even one inch. But, I did. I needed to see his face, no I had to see his face. Those big puppy dog brown eyes, tore me up inside when I looked into them, but they also made me feel something special.

"Where do I begin?"

His fingers brushed my hair a few more times, keeping his eyes trained on mine. "How about from the beginning."

I took one last deep breath and began to tell him everything. "I thought I was in love. I was dating this really nice guy, who was perfect in every possible way. But, he started getting clingy, and I wanted to have more fun, and experience college. He started talking about moving in together for our Sophomore year, y'know how it is?"

"Actually I don't. But, keep going."

A small smile escaped my lips. "So, I was walking back to my dorm from getting lunch when this random guy stopped me, and asked me if I was still dating, Mike. Well, I said yes, then he told me to be careful because someone in his frat was after me. I got really scared, because he just walked away and never said anything else. I told Mike, and I described the guy to a tee, and he said he thought he knew who he was. Anyway, as it turned out this "guy" wasn't out to hurt me, he wanted to date me. He saw me everyday, and wanted to approach me, but I was always with Mike. So he didn't. Are you with me so far?"

Our eyes were still focused on each other. He was staring down, as I was staring up. "Yes. Keep going."

"I broke up with Mike, not because of the other guy, but because I didn't love him and I thought it was unfair of me to keep it going. Long story short, the other guy found out, hunted me down, and begged me to go on a date. I said yes, and within a few weeks I was going out with one of the most sought after guys at my school. Every girl wanted him, and he picked me. I was over the moon."

"Of course, he picked you. I feel kind of bad for Mike, though."

"Shut up, and listen."

I heard the footsteps outside the door just as I was getting ready to tell him more. There was a knock at the door. "Ben open the fucking door. I need something real quick."

I rolled off of Ben, letting him get up to open the door. "This better be fucking good, Jack?" He snarled.

Jack scanned the room real quick. "Sorry, Paige. I just need to get something." He fumbled over to his dresser, opened the top drawer, grabbed a condom, then ran out of the room.
 

Ben yelled out, "Like you couldn't borrow one from someone else?" Then he slammed the door shut, locking it.

I adjusted my toga nervously a few times, staring down at my feet. "Maybe I should go?"

"No!" He practically yelled out. He started to get back into position, grabbing me by my hand, yanking me down to him. "Stay."

I sat back down next to him, our legs pressing up against one another. "Where was I? Oh, so we dated and got really close. Everything was going great. I had the perfect boyfriend, at least I thought I did. One night he was with his friends, and I could tell he was on something, and he got a little crazy with me. Just play rough, but nothing over the top, but enough that I should have seen the signs. A few nights later I was at a mixer with his frat, and I was in the corner talking this guy who I knew. It was totally innocent. He didn't think so. He was furious with me, and again, I thought he was on acid or something. At least those were the whispers going around the party."

Ben closed his eyes, and stiffened underneath me. "Please tell me this story doesn't end up with you being raped?"

"Well, the therapist I saw after I ran away from school and saw up until I came here said it was, but I always blamed myself since we'd had sex so many times before that night. And, I never said no that night, I was too afraid to say it. I'd never been so scared of anyone in my entire life."

"Paige it doesn't matter if you didn't say it. He raped you.
 
And, Jesus, I am so sorry you went through that." He raked his hands through his hair, clearly upset.

"There's more."

He swallowed hard, then instead of pouring a shot, he took a heavy swig from the bottle beside him. "More?"

I just nodded.

"I thought I was being so strong leaving him, but all I did was run away from my problems, y'know? In the end it only made me feel weak.

"How so?"

"Don't you see Ben, if I had told someone that night, he wouldn't be able to do this again, and he might. It's all my fault if someone else gets hurt."

"No! It isn't. You have no clue if he'll do it to someone else. And, you are strong, Paige. You left. Some women never leave and get the shit kicked out of them their entire life. You were strong, you are strong. Don't let him take that from you."

"That night he did it to me, I hid in a friends dorm, and then she sat with me at the bus station until it was time to leave. I wish I told my mom as soon as I got home. I had every intention of telling her, but it was a Saturday, and when I got there, she wasn't alone. My brother and sister were visiting at my dad's for the weekend, and she never expected me to walk in on them. Let's just say, I was surprised." I shrugged, "He left after I got there, but I hid in my room, and completely shut down for three days. I didn't eat, or leave other than to pee. My parents came together, and pulled some sort of intervention on Tuesday. She stayed home from work, while my dad made the four hour ride. They put the kids on the bus and marched straight into my room. I wasn't expecting it, so I hadn't had time to cover up the marks around my neck.