Bound to the Fallen (Prophecy #2) (42 page)

I
watched Constance bite her bottom lip and draw each side of her mouth up into a sultry grin. “An orgasm for me,” she said and fluttered her lashes.

I rolled my eyes. “
Oh God, two dirty martinis, please.”

He picked up a glass and spun it in the ai
r, locking his eyes on Constance as he worked his way down the bar pouring different liquors and mixers into a stainless steel shaker. Constance turned to face me and smiled. “He’s hot.”

“He’s definitely
your
type,” I said. Leaning against the bar, I glared at her. “You couldn’t ask for a less perverted sounding shot?”

As the bartender
mixed our drinks, I noticed him stick his tongue out in a vulgar gesture and I caught the glint of his tongue ring under the dim overhead lighting. He walked back toward us and placed my martinis in front of me, then stepped back to the center of the bar.

Constance squealed with delight at the sight of his tongue piercing,
“Oh, hell yes!
Definitely
my type.” Her eyes lit up with instantaneous lust.

“Just don’t go home with him. G
ive him your number, but don’t go home with him.”

Her facial expression relaxed and she turne
d to face me. “I’m not, don’t worry. Geez, mom! I’m not the one who has one-night stands.” She jabbed me in the side as she stared down the bar.

The bartender handed Constance two shot glasses. “Here’s your orgasm and h
ere’s a cum shot, on the house,” he slyly said.

I snarled and took a sip from my martini glass. Constance threw back both shots
, slamming the empty glasses on the counter.

Th
e bartender leaned back over the top of the counter, moving in very close to Constance’s face. “Y’all gonna be ‘round for a bit?”

Constance shook her head and
flirtatiously brushed her silky blonde hair behind her ear. “Yep, right over there.” She pointed to the table Ashley was sitting at.

“Well, ‘aight then.
You jus’ let me know when you’re ready for another one of those orgasms.” He raised his hand to his face and I noticed a small ankh tattooed on the webbing between his thumb and forefinger. His fingers curled around his chin and he locked his eyes on Constance. Sticking his tongue out, he flicked it in the air like a serpent, the metal from his tongue ring clicking against his teeth.

I shook my head as we walked away. “So gross
!”

“Really?” Constance
gawked at me and pulled the aluminum chair out from the table. “The stuff you’ve told me that Gavin says to you and gets you all horny — and
let’s not forget
about the whole scene thing we went to. I saw your eyes light up over all that kink! Some guy flicking his tongue ring and handing me a cum shot,” she sucked in a quick breath, “that grosses you out?” She paused, arching one of her perfectly manicured eyebrows at me. “To be such a freak, you sure are a prude. Oh, my God, you’re a prudish freak!”

Ashley looked up from the thick book
, nodding as she spoke. “Oh, she’s a freak all right. I’m just waiting for their sex tape to hit the internet.” She raised her finger in the air and shook it. “Now, that, I’d pay some good money to see.”

I wrinkled my
brows at her. “You’re sick.”

“No, I don’t want to see you
. I just want to see if he’s really as dirty as you say he is. I just want to hear him say the word ‘fuck!’ ” She pulled her hair away from her skin, holding it up briefly as she fanned herself before letting it fall back down around her face. “Ah, that would be enough to do it for me.” She giggled and reached her hand under the table and shook my leg furiously. “Oh, I love to make you feel uncomfortable, Brooke.”

As we were debating over which song we should sing
, a waitress walked up and slammed three shot glasses down in front of us. “Jared said you guys wanted these?”

Ashley looked at the waitress with confus
ion. “Jared?”

“Yea
h.” The waitress pointed back toward the bar. Her bangle bracelets slid up her arm as she circled her fingertip in the air. “The guy behind the bar. He said to bring ‘em to you.” She paused and cocked her hip out to the side. “You don’t want ‘em?” She puckered her lips up and stared at us.

“Thanks,
” Constance said and picked up a glass.

The waitress slung the tr
ay down to her side and walked away.

Ashley and I picked up our glasses and raised them up
, clinking them together before tipping them back.

I smiled as my body warm
ed up from the alcohol. “This is fun! We so need to make this happen more often.”

Brooke

August 30, 2014

Three hours later we stumbled out of t
he bar. Ashley and I hung on to each other as we swayed from side to side.

Constance
was leaned against the side of the building, her foot propped against the brick, her knee slightly raised and her arms carelessly draped around Jared’s shoulders. His hand was rubbing up her thigh as he leaned in and kissed her.

“Good for her
,” Ashley said, steadying herself against a thin tree growing on the sidewalk.

I watched Constance and J
ared kissing and debated on calling Gavin.

Ashley drunkenly swung her arm at me
. She barely grazed the side of my hip as she tried to grab me. “You’re a voyeur,” she giggled and slumped down the tree, belching when she hit the pavement.

T
he cab pulled up and I yelled at Constance, “Come on, Constance, let’s go.”

She gave one final kiss to J
ared and skipped over to the curb; the straps of her high heels were clutched in her hand.

We climbed into the cab and drove off.

“Man, he’s sexy,” Constance said as she laid her head on my shoulder.

The rest of the
ride was pretty silent. Ashley was busy texting, I’m assuming it was Colton. Constance was texting her new boy toy and I was swiping through the pictures of me and Gavin on my phone.

The cab
rolled to a stop in front of Ashley’s apartment. We tumbled out and went through the breezeway to Ashley’s door. She stuck her key in, rammed her shoulder into the door and it opened. I heard something fall from the door jam. Ashley bent down and picked up an envelope, then pulled her keys loose from the lock.

R
eaching in, I felt around on the wall for the light switch.

“What in the hell?” Ashley mumbled as she flipped the sealed envelope back and forth in her hands.

She ran her pink fingernail under the flap and pulled out a folded piece of white paper. She quickly unfolded it and I watched as her expression changed from one of confusion to fear. Her keys fell from her hands and she blindly reached back to dead bolt the door.

I reached for the paper. “What’s it say?”

“Oh, my God. I think someone’s stalking us.” Ashley handed me the letter and fished through her purse. “I’m calling Colton,” she said, her voice quivering.

She dial
ed his number as I read the typed letter.

Hello Girls (Brooke, Ashley, and Constance),

I just wanted to tell you how lovely the three of you looked this evening. I especially appreciated the short skirt you had on Constance, it left just enough to the imagination. I think it’s so sweet that the three of you have become such good friends. I love it when you all hang out, makes my life much easier. Then I don’t have to choose which one of you I want to see, I can just see all of you at the same time.

Now, what I would really love is if the three of you decided to slip on some nice lingerie and have a pillow fight. It’d be nice if you girls would do something for me
, give me something to rub a good one off to. Oh, and Brooke, you should wear your pink and white striped thongs more often… they
complement your skin tone nicely – I’m sure Gavin would agree!

My
chest tightened. The hair on my arms stood up as fear pricked is way across my skin.

Ashley had tears
streaming down her face. “I can’t get Colton.”

Consta
nce put her phone up to her ear, pacing nervously in front of the couch. “I’m trying Adam.”

Y
anking my phone out of my pocket, I dialed Gavin’s number. It rang twice and then I heard him pick up. It sounded like the phone dropped and then I heard his half-asleep voice answer.

“
Brooke?”

I
burst into tears as soon as I heard his voice. “Gavin, come get me.”

“What’s wrong?
Where are you?”

“I’m at Ashley’s… someone left a note.” I picked the letter back up and scanned over it. “They’re talking about w
atching us, they used our names. I’m scared, Gavin!”

“What?” I heard him slam a drawer shut.

“Somebody left a note in Ashley’s door while we were out. It talks about watching us —” Gavin cut me off.

“Lock the door, I’m on my way,
” he said and the line went dead.

I
tossed my phone on the couch and walked back to the door to check that it was locked.

Constance threw her phone down.
“They won’t answer. Maybe they’re still playing?”

Tightening the blinds, I said,
“Gavin’s on his way.”

Ashley looked up at me from the floor
, her face was white. “Can we go with you? I don’t want to stay here.”

“Yea
h, I’m not leaving y’all here by yourselves.”

Constance
moved in front of the bar and continued pacing. “We should call the cops. Right?”

Ashley grabbed the letter.
“Damn right we call the police.” She walked into her bedroom with her phone.

I could hear her talking to someone
, telling them what had happened. A few minutes later she came out with the receiver to her ear. “Do you guys have any idea who it might be?”

Constance and I
glanced at each other and shook our heads.

“Amy… Nicole…?” I shouted out as she walked back to her room.

Ashley came out a few minutes later. “They said to save anything else any of us receive, but until we know who it is there’s not much they can do.”

“Great!” Constance exclaimed as she
flung herself down onto the loveseat.

I
glared at Ashley. “Ashley, you think it has something to do with the shit you posted of Nicole on Twitter?”

Ashley
covered her face. “Damn, I don’t know.”

Constance lifted her head off of the pillow she’d had it buried in. “What about somebody from those damn parties you
‘ve been going to?”

Ashley
shot an annoyed look over at Constance. “No, stop being stupid, Constance.”

The three of us sat there silently. My mind was racing t
rying to figure out who would’ve left that note. After about ten minutes of silence we all heard a car door slam, followed by loud footsteps on the pavement in the breezeway. We became very quiet and our eyes were attentively fixed on the door. A loud bang resonated from the door and the handle jiggled. Constance jumped from the sudden volume of it.

“Brooke?
” Gavin’s voice came from the other side of the door.

“Thank God,
” Constance said as she released a sigh of relief.

Ashley reached over and slid the chain out
. She quickly unfastened the deadbolt and the lock on the brass door knob and yanked the door open.

Gavin walked in and shut the door behind him. He stood in the entrance momentarily. I could see his pulse beating in the side of his neck
. The intensity of it caused his necklace to glimmer in the light. He had on a tight wife beater; his nipples were hard underneath from the cool night air. It looked as though he’d thrown on the same gray slacks he’d worn to work that day, and he was bare foot.

“Where’s the note?”
Gavin demanded. His eyes were on fire with anger.

Grabbing
the note from her end table, Ashley handed it to him. She stared at him, her hands wringing as he read over it.

I could see his jaw clench and the muscles tighten as
he digested the words. I glanced down at his fist and watched him ball it tightly at his side. He looked over at me, the note still grasped in his hand. “Do any of you have any thought of who the hell this might be?” he asked.

Ashley and Constance shook their head.

“Brooke,” Gavin paused and lowered the letter to his side. “Do you?”

I
inhaled. “Not really, I mean, I thought maybe Nicole or Amy just because of everything that’s happened but…”

Gavin shook his head. “N
o. I don’t think so.” His voice was shaking; he gritted his teeth, and crumpled the letter in his hand. “They know what kind of underwear you wear!” Closing his eyes, he lifted his chin up before taking in a long, deep breath, and slowly releasing it through his nose. “I swear, when I find out what sick pervert left this, I’m going to kill him!” He opened his eyes. “No one’s going to fuck with you. I
will not
tolerate it!” He was shouting.

I
knew he meant what he said. I’d never seen Gavin with such anger on his face. The vein running across his temple was pulsating.

Constance and Ashley looked at each other
, eyes wide.

L
eaning against the barstool, Gavin tossed the letter down. He raised his fist up and punched the counter. “Damn it.”

We all jumped from the unexpected thud.

He ran his fingers through his hair and pulled his wavy hair back into his fist. “That rose — they obviously know where you live.” He looked at me sternly. “You’re not going back to your apartment, at least not without me.”

He
peered over at Ashley, staring at her before redirecting his gaze to me. “No one’s going to hurt you. You understand me? No one.”

Ashley cleared her throat, “Gavin, can we go back with you? I’m freaked out and don’t want to stay by myself.”

Gavin stretched his neck and then turned back towards Ashley. “Where’s Colton?”

“I can’t get him. They were playing downtown tonight.”

Gavin shook his head. It was obvious he was agitated. “Damn it, I guess I can’t leave the two of you here.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door. “Come on,” he growled.

Ashley and Constance
jumped up and followed us out to the parking lot.

Releasing m
y hand, Gavin reached for the silver handle of his passenger door and opened it. He reached into his console and grabbed the remote to his garage door.

“Man, this is a sweet ride.” Constance exclaimed as she
craned her neck to peek inside.

“I’m assuming you are all too intoxicated to drive?
” Gavin asked. He looked over at Constance and Ashley and shook his head. “Of course you are. Ashley, give me your keys. I’ll have to drive your car so you all will fit.”

Ashley pulled her keys from her
purse and handed them to him.

Gavin opened the passenger door. Ashley walk
ed over to the door and Gavin stopped her. “I don’t care if this is your car or not, Brooke’s sitting in the front seat.”

Ashley
froze. A look of shock fell over her face.

I couldn’t believe how rude Gavin was being.

I was embarrassed of how ugly he was being to my friends. “Gavin! Why are you being an ass?” I snapped at him.

He pointed in the car.
“Just get in the damn car, Brooke.”

I sat down in the passenger seat
, slightly stunned. Gavin had never talked to me like that before.

He shut my
door and walked around to the driver’s side. Constance and Ashley clamored to climb into the back seat.

Leaning
up through the seats, Constance whispered, “He’s pissed. He’s
scary
as hell when he’s pissed.”

“Ye
ah, he kinda is, and is kinda being a complete dick!” Ashley said as she stared nervously at him through the window.

Gavin
opened the door and turned the keys in the ignition. The engine started and he wrapped his fingers around the leather steering wheel. I watched his knuckles turn white from the strength he used to grip the wheel. He backed out of the parking space and slammed the gear into drive. The car sped down through the lot. Gavin stopped at the intersection, and then floored the accelerator as he turned onto the street. The tires squealed on the pavement and I felt Constance grab onto my head rest.

No one said a word on the way
back to Gavin’s house. We all sat in silence as he drove. His anger with the situation was evident in the way he was driving. He sped down the interstate, weaving in and out of traffic, and took turns harder than needed. At one point I was afraid he’d flip Ashley’s car over if he took the turn any harder.

We pulled up in his
driveway and Gavin pushed the remote to his garage. He shoved the gearshift into park, turned the car off, and flung his door open. Slamming his door shut, he walked to the door of his house. I sat in the car for a moment because Gavin always opened my door for me and would make a fuss if I tried to do it for myself. He insisted that I allow him to treat me like a “true lady.”

Constance
jostled my seat. “Let me out of this death trap. I felt like I was at the Daytona 500.”