Page 8 of Steeling Her
He shakes his head to me and interjects, “Upstairs is nearer, lets go there.” He grabs my hand and pulls me up the steps, leading me back through people heavily making out and grinding on each other. He swiftly opens up a door that leads to a bedroom and I walk towards another door to open it to see if it’s the bathroom.
What the—?
I thought the doors were locked? Feeling his hand wrap around my wrist, he pulls me closer to him, sliding his shirt off his back.
He’s ripped, but something doesn’t feel right. Stepping closer to me he pulls my hair back making my head go back. He takes my waist and trails his tongue up my neck, kissing it. I try to push him off and I hear banging on the door. He snaps his head and yells “We’re busy in here!” before turning back to me to carry on. “You’re so sexy in this dress!” he says seductively but I’m frozen in place.
I don’t know what to do. How do I get out of this? I don’t want to be here anymore. I feel so uncomfortable and out of my depth. The banging starts again, except harder. It’s so hard, the door starts to vibrate.
“I said were busy in here!” he yells, louder and angrier. But the banging keeps going, and the guy storms over to the door, unlocking it and swinging in open wide to see TJ and Haley behind him. “What the fuck do you want?” The guy gets in TJ’s face but TJ pushes past him and grabs my arm gently, pulling me out of the room. “Dude! She was fine! TJ, don’t cock block me!” the warning in his tone makes TJ spin around but allows me to walk over to Haley.
Walking back up to the guy, he gets in his face and tells him in a warning tone, “Touch her again, I’ll fuck you up, and so will Nick. You’ve been warned!” We walk outside and wait for TJ to come back with a bottle of water for me. I’m so scared right now, all I want to do is go home. I don’t want to be here anymore. I want to curl up in my sheets and just sleep for the night.
“Haley! Where are you going?” Hearing his voice again heightens my nerves. I see his girlfriend by his side but he steps a little out of her touch.That’s a little unusual to do to your girlfriend,I wonder to myself.
“We’re going back to our dorm. Carter got grabbed and was taken upstairs but TJ rescued her. So, we’re going home.” My eyes dart around in the open air and my hands take hold of my arms, stroking them and keeping people away from me. I make eye contact with his gaze, feeling the wetness in my eyes and averting them down to my feet. I just need to leave as I shuffle my feet around. This is why I don’t come to these things. I ruin everyone’s night, as well as my own.
“Haley? Look who grew up! I love your dress!” I hear another female voice speak up to complimentHaley, but she ignores her by the looks of it and doesn’t respond. His girlfriend is so pretty, no wonder he’s with her. The dress she’s wearing hugs every inch of her body perfectly, and her brown eyes focus on Haley. Her blonde hair being swept up by the cool wind makes her look like a Victoria’s Secret Model about to hit the runway. Her smile is beaming towards my roommate, who brushes her off and stares at her brother with a pointed look. “Babe, lets go. Before I get tired . . .”
Nick rolls his eyes and asks his sister, “Do you need me to walk you girls back to your dorm?” I take a step away from him. I don’t need to be babysat and I don’t need another guy feeling me up. I can’t have him near me, he’ll find out about my family and only befriend me because of that. I need to stay away him, from them all. I can’t be used again.
“No, it’s cool. TJ said he’d walk us back to our dorm—” I rest my hand on Haley’s shoulder and say lowly. I actually borderline whisper it.
“You guys can stay here, I can walk myself home.” Then Haley turns herself to face me as I stand a short distance behind her. I just need to go home, go to bed, and just cuddle up to myself.
His girlfriend whispers something in his ear for him to turn around and angrily say, “Give me a fucking minute to talk to my sister, will you?” I could see she was bothering him. Maybe they had a fight? Why am I even thinking about this? A guy like that will never like a girl like me. He’s taken and would never see me like that. I can admire him from, afar I suppose.Or not at all,my subconscious tells me.
“After what just happened to you? No way. We’re not leaving you to walk home by yourself, Carter.” I see TJ jog out of the house with some water in his hands over Haley’s shoulder. He starts to hand it over to me before Nick snatches it out of his hand. Turning it upside down, he squeezes the bottle and studies the cap.
What is he doing?
Then he opens the bottle and proceeds to pour it on the grass.
What is he doing? Wasting good water.
“It was open, that means it’s been spiked. Next time, TJ, check before giving any of them water, or any drink for that matter.” I stare mindlessly at the water splashing the grass. I look up, dumbfounded at him and meeting his piercing stare again for the umpteenth time tonight. I feel a small surge ignite in my body.
His eyes study me hard for a short time, like he’s thinking of something. I don’t know. I haven’t known him long enough to know what is going on in his mind. Do I want to know what he’s thinking? Is he judging me on what happened tonight? Does he think I’m easy because I left with that guy? Does he think I’m a slut? Does he think I’m a drama queen because I needed TJ’s help? I will never know.
Once the water is gone from the bottle, he crushes it in his bare hands, twisting the body of the plastic around. I send him a thankful smile, but I know it was an awkward looking smile. Much to my surprise, he sends me one back.
“Come on, I’ll walk you girls home.” I hear the girl beside him groan out loud, like were bothering her, but he removes her hands from him while his best friend steps forward.
“I can take them, Nick. It’s cool. You look . . . busy.” The look he sends to his best friend is like he’ll be up for murder, but his friend just smiles. He takes TJ’s hands to give him a handshake with a secret message. I decide to walk away, leaving the party behind me. I hear the click of heels. I know it’s Haley and Danielle close behind, but she’s struggling to walk in them.
TJ walks beside Haley, keeping close to her. Seeing their hands brush off one another’s arm from the corner of my eye. I smile to myself. I wonder how long they’ve kept their feelings for each other from Nick? It’s obvious they both like each other.
“Are you okay, Carter?” TJ asks me on the walk back. I simply nod my head but don’t say anything for a while.
I speak up minutes later in the dead of the night. “This is why I don’t go to parties. I get into stupid situations and ruin everyones else’s night . . .” I mumble quietly.
“Hey, you didn’t ruin my night. I’m glad I get to walk you all home. So, I know you’re safe.” I feel TJ’s large hand rest heavily on my shoulder, weighing it down. I know he’s looking at Haley when he said he wanted us to be safe.
He’s sweet. But it’ll all change when they find out my last name. It always does.
Chapter Three
You a Steel Fan?
