Page 118 of Life of the Party

Grey just stared, his expression blank. The only thing that gave away the true fury of his anger was the clenching of his jaw, the hardness of his eyes as they bored into me.

“You mean Jack Turcotte did that to you?” He pointed accusingly at the bruise on my arm. “Even though you didn’t want to? He forced you?”

“No, well, yeah,” I wasn’t sure what to say, what might incur more anger, “But, I mean, I wanted to get high…I was just being a chicken about the needle.”

Grey was silent a long moment. His breath escaped in a hiss, his hands clenched into fists. “I’m going over there.”

“What?” I got up on my knees. “Why?”

“To kick that guy’s ass!” Agitated, Grey stood up and started dressing, hastily throwing on his jeans, searching for the rest of his clothes, lost amid my dirty laundry.

“No, no, Grey don’t.” I blanched at the thought. “It’s no big deal. He’s not worth it.”

“Do you have any idea what could have happened to you over there?”

I shook my head, my dark eyes wide.

“Ugh. I don’t want to tell you. I don’t even want to picture it.”

I gulped. “That bad?”

“Yes, that bad.” Grey glared at me again, like I wasn’t taking him seriously enough. “You are never to go over there again. Promise me!”

“I promise,” I answered quickly.

“If you want more heroin, you ask me, you get it from me and you do it with me. Okay? You don’t know how easy it is to…” He trailed off, closing his eyes, his entire countenance tense with anger. “You know what guys like that…do you know what they do to girls when they’re…like that? Do you?”

I shook my head again. The thought honestly hadn’t occurred to me; I wasn’t even a hundred percent sure what he was referring to. Something bad enough to make him react this way.

“I’m sorry, Grey.” I stammered shakily, alarmed by this new information. “Please don’t go. It’s my fault. I didn’t know.”

He stared hard at me a moment, his shirt in his hands.

“Of course you didn’t know.” He sighed. He ran a hand through his dark hair, his voice losing some of its edge. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to freak you out. It makes me crazy to think of someone taking advantage of you. I mean…” He looked up at me again, and there was some warmth back in his blue eyes. “You’re so…”

“Stupid?” I offered. I felt like a total idiot.

“No, no. You’re innocent.” He shrugged. “Trusting.”

“Like…naïve.”

“No. Well…maybe. But I like the way you are.” He shook his head. “You shouldn’t be involved in this shit, Mackenzie. You’re way too…pure.”

I frowned. Pure wasn’t that far off from kiddo. “Whatever.” It annoyed me when he talked this way, like we didn’t belong together…like what we had wasn’t right.

“You think I’m pure, Grey? I’ll show you pure.”

This time, when I pushed him down against the bed, he didn’t resist me.

It was later…much, much later when, wrapped up in the blankets beneath a haze of smoke, we heard Charlie return. Secretly, I was relieved. I knew she’d been at Jack’s house and given what I knew about the man now, I couldn’t help but worry for her.

Charlie’s arrival gave me an idea. I knew what she had in her possession, something I was suddenly desperate to do. I didn’t know how to broach the topic with Grey though; I wasn’t sure how he’d react. I propped myself up on my elbow and looked at him as sweetly as I could.

“Grey?”

“Hmm…?” He opened one eye quizzically, a smile on his lips.

“I was just wondering, do you think that…” I hesitated, biting my lip. “Would this be considered a special occasion? You coming home?”

---