Happenstance (11 page)

I can tell
it’s
killing him to keep his
hands to himself so he doesn’t hold back any longer. He all but rips my dress
away from my body and runs his hands along my skin. Pushing down the cups of my
bra he grabs my breasts and presses lightly on my nipples. My legs practically
give out on me and I sit down on his lap, groaning.

“Jared,” I gasp. He places his lips over one of my nipples,
sucking and pulling. I am barely clothed but his fingers pull at the fabric as
if they can’t get to my skin fast enough. He quickly removes my bra and pulls at
my panties, ripping at them till they’re just a pile of fabric on the floor. I
grab his cock and position him so that I can slip him inside of me. I lean back
and place my palms on his knees for support and grind into him as fast as I
can,
my thighs strong and steady.

A strangled moan escapes his lips and I can briefly make out his
words, “Oh baby, just like that.” He grabs my ass while I move my hips rocking
into him a few more times till I feel the spasms of desire shaking through me,
followed by his release shortly after. He lets out a breath and I rest my head
on his hard chest, my hair loose and the roots wet with sweat around my face.
He gently pushes my hair away and strokes my back, then my arms, and back to my
hair.

“The food is ready if you’re hungry,” I tell him breaking the
silence.

“Oh, I’m hungry alright,” he replies and picks me up so that legs
are still wrapped around him. He takes me to the dining table and lays me down,
spreading my legs further apart as he leans over me. He moistens his lips with
his tongue which immediately causes my inner thighs to get wet.
“
Very
hungry.”

The lasagna lies in the oven, untouched.

Chapter Twelve

October 2011

Victoria

I wake up with a smile on my face. Today is his birthday and I’m
hoping he will want to spend the whole day with me, but not sure what plans he
has. I rub my eyes and look over; he’s staring at me from the edge of the bed,
looking tired and tense. In fact, his eyes narrow when he realizes I’m awake.

“Hey,” I say softly, not
sure what to make out of his expression.
“Happy Birthday.”

“Who
the fuck is Steven?”
He
asks. My blood drains from my face and I clutch the comforter. I stare at him
frozen, afraid to move a muscle.

“I was going through your
playlist on your phone, trying to find a song to play you this morning and a
nice little text popped up.

Let’s have a good time again, Sexy.

Steven.

Sexy?
Have a good time? What the
fuck
, Victoria?” He throws the phone so
that it lands next to my bed and I look down to see that sure enough, that is
what it says.

“It’s not what you think,
Jared.”

“Really?
I’d love to hear this story. How many other
people are you
casually
dating,
Victoria? What number am I on the list?” I know that he is upset and using
words out of anger but they hurt.

“There’s no fucking list!
If you would just let me explain—”

He runs his hand through
his head and cuts me off, “You know what? This is bullshit. I have to go.”

“Jared, wait.” I jump out
of bed, grab a t-shirt, and put it on as I walk after him. My heart is caught
in my throat. Is he really leaving? How can I stop him?

“Please, just listen to
me. This was before us,” I tell him.

“This was before we met?
Before we had sex?
Before
what
,
Victoria?”

I don’t answer him for a
second and he takes that to mean Steven is a recent fling.
“Just
fucking great.
Bye Victoria.”

“No Jared, please,” I try
to grab his arm but he pushes my hand aside.

This can’t be happening!
I had finally
just
let us
be
intimate again. I suddenly know the moment I have to tell
him the truth is now, regardless of what he will think of me. “I tried to stop
him,” I whisper. Jared stops dead in his tracks. He turns his head slightly but
doesn’t answer me as if unsure of what to make of my statement. I take this
opportunity to walk right up to him and put my hand lightly on his back. Will
this be the last time I get to touch him?

“I told him no. It was
just that I was drunk. Everything was a blur.” I’m not sure what else to say. I
can feel my face pink with embarrassment and my whole body is trembling with
nerves.
God, what is he going to think of
me
? “I’m sorry,” I say and lower my head. He slowly turns around and walks
over to me.

Lifting up my chin he
looks me dead in the eyes. “Victoria. I want the fucking truth. Did you tell
him no?”

I nod my head and my eyes
fill up with tears. “Yes. I’m sorry. We had been drinking--”

“When was this?” Jared
interrupts.

“The
week I got Lucky.”
I try
to avoid the weight of his stare and look down. He lifts my chin with his
finger. “So this
fucktard
took you out on a date, got
you drunk, and then took you to his place and raped you?
Now
is when you are telling me this?”

“I didn’t know what to do.”
I can’t stop the tears that are flowing freely down my cheeks.

He pinches the bridge of
his nose and closes his eyes, exhaling. “Victoria, where is he now? Where does
he live? Do you remember where he took you?”

I let out a breath. “I
don’t know. We came here.”

Jared looks up at me once
again, glaring.
“To
this
house?”
He asks with clenched teeth. I can only nod, not sure what to
say. I knew he would be upset but not like this.
What was he thinking? Was he just angry at what Steven did or did he
find me disgusting?

“Tell me what happened
exactly,
Victoria.”
Oh, God. Why was he asking me to do this?
But I tell him of course,
while he paces. Well,
not everything exactly, not details of
the actual act
but where he took me and what we drank—the drinks I could
remember anyway. Stopping to answer the questions he threw at me:
Did he buy you every drink? Yes. Did he
drive you home? Yes. Where was his car? His friend drove it for him. Where was his
friend during all of this?
Fuck.

Jared stops pacing and
narrows his eyes. “Victoria.
Where.
Was.
His.
Friend?”

I swallow hard and avoid
his gaze. “Look at me,” he says.

I glance up and run my
sweaty palms on my thighs. “His friend came inside the house too.”

Jared lets out a curse
and bangs his fist into the wall breaking through the drywall.

My mind is circling a
million thoughts not sure what will happen next. I feel dizzy and like I’m about
to be sick. I run to the bathroom just in time to gag but nothing comes up
since we didn’t end up having dinner last night and my stomach is empty. I put
down the lid and place my forehead against the cool cover until I feel strong
arms wrap around my waist, gently lifting me up.

“Do you understand that
you were raped and I’m going to fucking kill him?” He asks.

“Jared, I’m sorry, I wish
it was you that was there with me that night. This is
all my
fault, I’m an idiot.”

His eyes soften and he
pulls me to his chest.

“Hey, it’s not your
fault,” he pulls away to look down at me again. “You hear me? I want you to
stop saying you’re sorry, you did
nothing
wrong.” I nod but I’m anxious, not sure what he is going to do next.

“We need to file a
report,” he says.

“No Jared,” I say firmly
and hug him tighter.

“Baby, you have to. I’ll
go with you.”

But I just shake my head.
Having to speak to someone about it is terrifying and I’m not ready to face
that.

I feel him take in a deep
breath and exhale. I look up and his lips are in a straight line and he’s
looking over my shoulder. I can see the wheels turning in his head and I start
to panic.

“Are you going to leave?”

“Yes,” he answers,
crushing my soul. “I’m going to the hardware store to change your locks. Just
in case. God knows if he will want to come back here in the future.” He turns
around and heads toward the door. On his way out he looks over his shoulder
again. “Oh, and I’m getting you another mattress.” He slams the door.

~

November 2011

Victoria

“Where are we going?”

He grins at me mischievously and wiggles his eyebrows. “It’s a
surprise.”

I poke him in the chest but I can’t help the smile that spreads
across my face. I like surprises.

“Well what do I wear?”

He glances down at my feet and his eyes travel all the way up,
slowly, across my legs. His heated gaze has my stomach in knots and I place my
hands behind my back so I can rub them on my back pockets.

“Sneakers,” he presses up against me and brings his hand to my
outer thigh. “And short shorts,” he finishes as he runs his hands from my
thighs to my ass giving it a squeeze.

I swallow. “Ok,” is all I manage to
say.

When I come out of the bathroom dressed, I take one look at him
and poke him in the chest.

“Seriously!”
I cross my arms across my
chest and shake my head.

He rubs his chest where I poked him and feigns being hurt. “What?”

I run my hand up and down in front of him indicating that I’m
talking about his attire. “Do you have a shirt for everything?”

His chosen shirt of the day is a white three-quarter sleeve
Raglan shirt with a baseball glove, bat, and ball. Underneath the image in blue
letters it says: “I’d hit that.”

“I told you, I have a collection.” He leans forward to give me
a peck on the lips.

“Well I do love the hat,” I say and pull down on his New York
Yankees baseball cap.

“I do love the short shorts, and I’d definitely hit that.” He
slaps me lightly on the butt.

“These are from when I played. They get smaller each year.”

I can see the twinkle in his eyes as he bits his lower lip. I
slap his arm, not so lightly.

“No funny comments, smart ass!”

He puts up his hands in front of his chest as if to surrender.
“I didn’t say anything!” he laughs.
“Grump.”

“The shorts do get smaller, that’s the problem.” I glare at him
but he just continues to laugh until I’m laughing with him.

To my surprise, he picks up Lucky as well. “Let’s have some fun
with this little one too.”

Little one.
My thoughts drift for a
second.

“Abu, I’m pregnant!” I
hold up the sonogram pictures so she can take a look.

She gasps and reaches
for her glasses.

“
Mija
!
I’m so happy, this is wonderful news!”

I giggle and rub my
belly, greeting my little one.

“What did Eric say? He
must be over the moon!”

I glance down at my
belly and avoid her eyes.

“I haven’t told him yet
. . .” My voice catches in my throat and I can’t finish my thought.

She grabs my hands in
her own.

“Why
not?”

Finally I glance up at
her and squeeze her hands.

“He’s been so busy
lately,
I’m not sure how he’ll react.” I bite my lip and
wait for her lecture or the pity in her eyes. But she doesn’t give me any of
that.

“Oh, mi
amor
, I am sure he’ll be thrilled. Don’t worry about
telling him.”

Fingers snap in front of my face bringing me back to the present.
Jared is looking at me and frowning as he holds Lucky under one arm. He glances
down at my stomach.

“What are you thinking about?”

I notice now that my hand is absently rubbing my belly and I
quickly stop so I can reach for my purse.

“Nothing.
Sorry, ready to go?” I look up
and smile brightly up at him, but I know he doesn’t buy my sudden cheeriness. I
decide to not wait for his answer and walk past him out the door. I need to get
a
grip,
he’s probably thinking I’m daydreaming about
our future children!

Over an hour drive and I realize that we are nearing Tampa. He
pulls up to a secluded little park. It has a nice open field and a playground
on the other end. Lots of big oak trees give plenty of areas shade, especially
a few picnic tables.

“So this is a dog park?” I ask bringing up again one of the
suggestions I made earlier.

He shakes his head. “Not exactly, but it’s always so secluded
here that I doubt anyone will mind or kick us out. We’ll probably be the only
people here.”

We set up a small bag of food and cooler onto one of the tables
and begin to play catch with Lucky.

“Damn, baby! You sure it’s been years since you’ve played?” he
rubs his palm with this other hand and feigns being hurt.

I smirk. “I didn’t know I had to hold back.”

He grins at me. “And I thought I did.”