by Naomi West
There wasn't really anything that I could do about it, though. I needed this degree to prove something to Dad, and to prove something to myself, too, if I was being honest. I was learning a lot. And I wasn't going to drop out just because of him.
The hallways were mostly empty as I made my way towards Gary's office. It was a Friday afternoon, so most of the classes had ended a while ago already, and most people were well on their way home, or out to their favorite bars or clubs. There was no one there to happen upon me as I walked slowly, full of dread, down the hallways.
I paused outside Gary's office and knocked hesitantly on the door. The place had once been such a sanctuary for me, but that wasn't the case anymore. I had started avoiding the place as much as I could, but of course, if he ordered me there, there wasn't much that I could do.
I spared a thought for Rip. He had said that he would do something to keep Gary from coming after me, but it didn't seem like he had followed through with his promises. That upset me, but it wasn't like I could call the man out. I should never have trusted Rip to begin with, just like I should never have trusted Gary. Every guy just wanted the same thing, it seemed. I had been naïve to think otherwise.
When I entered Gary's office, he eyed me hungrily, standing up from behind his desk. “There you are,” he said, smirking at me. “I haven't seen you in days.”
“I've been busy,” I told him shortly. Somehow I didn't think that that answer was going to cut it, though.
Ellsmith tsked and shook his head. “What sort of gratitude is that, given the grades that I've been getting you?” he asked.
I paused, momentarily taken aback. “What do you mean?” I asked.
“I've been making sure that you pass all your classes with flying colors,” Gary told me. “Making sure that you didn't have to devote so much time to all your coursework, so that you could spend more time in your father's little shop. And yet, you act as though that's-”
“My grades have had nothing to do with you,” I interrupted, appalled by what he was saying. “I've been getting those grades based on my own merits. I've been working hard.”
Gary laughed cruelly. “Is that what you think?” he asked. “Oh, dear.”
I scowled at him, folding my arms over my chest. “Why did you ask me to come by, anyway?” I asked. “I have to get home. We have lots of work to get done this weekend.”
“Get over here,” Gary said, gesturing toward where he was leaning against the front of his desk. And I could tell based on his posture and everything else that he was planning for me to …
I swallowed hard and shook my head. “No,” I said, feeling tears prick the corners of my eyes. But I knew that I was powerless to stop him if he really wanted to force himself on me.
Gary scowled at me. “I'm making sure that you have everything that you could ever want,” he reminded me. “I've made sure that your grades are the best that this university has ever seen. I'm making sure that you have internship opportunities for the fall. But if that means nothing to you …”
“I can do this without your help,” I interrupted, even though I wasn't fully sure that it was true. But I had gotten into the school without Gary's help, and I had to hope that I could get passing grades without his help. I definitely wasn't about to buy into the bargain that he was setting out.
Gary snorted. “What are you, some fucking virgin?” he asked, a sneer on his face.
I ducked my head a little, feeling silly. “No, of course not,” I muttered. And maybe this all shouldn't have mattered so much. It wasn't like he was asking me to devote the rest of my life to him; he just wanted to use me, and I had no doubt that then he would toss me aside and move on to whatever next young thing caught his eye. Maybe if I just let him have his way, it would get him off my back but ensure my continued place here in the department.
I felt sick. I couldn't believe that I was even considering this.
“Come here,” Gary growled again, and this time, I could tell that he wasn't playing any games. God, how could I have been so stupid as to come here again, even though I'd known what he wanted. I wasn't going to be lucky that time. We weren't going to be interrupted by the janitor or anyone else. Gary was smarter than that.
I was crying, I realized, but I could hardly spare any attention for the tears streaming down my face. “I didn't ask for your help with any of that,” I argued. “I could have gotten decent grades on my own.”
“And the internship in Cleveland?” Gary asked. “You think you could have pulled that off too?”
“I don't want the internship in Cleveland,” I told him. It was a lie. I wanted it, but even if it didn't come with these strings attached, I knew that there was no way Dad was going to let me go. And when it came down to things like having to … I shook my head, avoiding looking at Gary as much as I could. “Just stay out of my life, please,” I whispered, my voice sounding raw. “My grades, and everything else. Just let me ...”
“Just let you what?” Gary snapped. “I'll have you out of the program by the end of next week, I swear. If that's not what you want, then come here.”
I thought again about Rip, and I tried to summon some sort of courage. “You can't do that to me,” I told him. “Or you're going to be ...” I trailed off, because I didn't really know what Rip would do to the man.
“Or I'll be what?” Gary sneered.
I trembled a little but squared my shoulders. “I'm sure you've heard of the Hounds of Hades,” I told him. And I could see from the look in his eyes that he had. Good. “I have a lot of good friends who are part of that club,” I told him. It was a bit of a lie, but I only hoped that Rip would be able to back what I was about to say. “And if you do anything to me ...” Again, I let him use his imagination to finish the threat.
Gary shook his head, looking amused. “Darling, you clearly haven't been around bikers for long enough if you think they're just going to come to your aid for free,” he said to me. “But then again, that's what you thought I was doing, isn't it? Maybe you are just that dumb.”
“It's not for free,” I snapped. I paused, wondering if I should say it, but I knew that I had to. I tossed my head a little. “I'm sleeping with Rip Harris,” I informed Gary. “He just so happens to be J.T.'s right-hand man.”
Gary stared at me for a long moment, as though wondering what to say. I was sure that he didn't believe me—that he wouldn't believe me until Rip was in there in person, making the same claim. But it didn't seem that Rip was too keen on getting involved in any of this. I had to wonder if he'd even come by to see Gary. But I doubted it, based on Gary's apparent surprise that I might have anything to do with the Hounds.
I swallowed hard, hoping that this declaration would at least buy me a bit of time with Gary.
“Fine,” Gary said finally, disgust evident in his voice. “If that's the way that you want to play, then fine.” He shook his head. “But I hope you've thought long and hard about this, because I won't extend the offer to you again. And when you manage to scrape by in this program with the bare minimum of passing grades and find it impossible to get an internship—well, I hope that when you find yourself unemployable in this field, maybe you'll give things a second thought. But by then, it'll be too late.”
There was nothing that I could say in response to that, but I wasn't about to do whatever he wanted me to do so that I could ensure my future in the program. Instead, I groped blindly behind me for the doorknob. I tumbled out into the hallway and ran, hardly able to think.
I finally reached the parking lot and my car, and I tried to get my keys out to unlock it. My hands were shaking hard enough that I kept dropping my keys even after I'd located them in my pockets. But no one came after me, and eventually, I was able to get into my car, take a few deep breaths, and start off for home.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Rip
I wasn't expecting Jessi to come barreling into the Hounds of Hades clubhouse that night, and when she did, to be honest, she kind of looke
d like shit. But from the way she looked around the place and immediately locked eyes with me, before even going to the bar to get a drink, that was the least of her concerns. I was halfway out of my seat before she was even near me, ignoring whatever dumb catcalls the guys were giving me.
“What's wrong?” I asked as Jessi approached the table.
She shook her head, looking as though she didn't even have words for whatever had upset her, and she practically fell into my arms, pressing her face into the hollow of my neck.
“Easy there,” I murmured, wondering what had happened. I knew that she and Mick had been at each other’s' throats for a bit now, but I didn't really think that things had gotten this bad around the shop. So that left…
I got a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach as I thought about the university, her other big stress at the moment. Surely nothing had happened there, though, right? She was on top of all her projects, as far as I knew, and I'd seen some of the designs that she was churning out. She was way ahead of her class as far as those were concerned, I was sure.
Jessi trembled a little against me, her arms holding me tightly. “I'm sorry,” she whimpered, and I could feel her tears against my skin. “Can we go someplace private?”
I was taken aback by her tears, and I wondered just what had happened. “Of course,” I said soothingly. I glanced around the clubhouse, grimacing a little as I saw that practically everyone was staring at us. Of course they were. Rip Harris wasn't the guy that chicks came crying to. Unless maybe I had dumped them for their friends or some shit like that. Usually that just made them livid, though.
But with Jessi … well, it was no secret that I hadn't been sleeping around since I had started sleeping with her. I wasn't dating her or anything like that, nor did I have any intention to, really. She was from a totally different world than me, and she would always be too much of a good girl for me. But all the same, I respected her in a way that I normally didn't respect the floozies I slept with.
“Come on, let's get out of here,” I told her, steering her out of the club and toward my bike.
Jessi pulled away from me before we reached the bike, looking embarrassed. “I drove,” she said, holding out her keys.
I rolled my eyes at her. “I'm not going to be caught dead driving whatever it is that you drive,” I told her.
She flinched a little and ducked her head. “Then I guess I'll drive behind you,” she whispered, hugging her arms around herself.
I frowned at her. “Or you could just hop on the back,” I told her. “I assume you know how to ride a bike, given your chosen career path.”
Jessi tilted her head to the side, even though she still wasn't meeting my gaze, opting instead to pick at the hem of her sleeve. “Yeah, I know how to ride,” she said. “But you told me that no one except you ever got to ride your bike.”
She sounded so nervous and uncertain that it was almost heartbreaking, and it took me a second to process her words. “Yeah, well,” I finally said, holding out a helmet toward her because I honestly wasn't too sure what to say. This was the first time I had ever let a woman ride on my bike with me, sure. But I didn't want to make this a thing. It was just that I wasn't going to drive Jessi's car, and she clearly wasn't in any shape to be driving herself. It made the most sense for me to take her on my bike. That was all.
She hesitantly accepted the helmet that I held out to her and put it on, still looking at me with wide eyes.
I rolled my eyes and swung onto my bike. “Well, do you want to join me or not?” I asked.
I felt her hesitantly climb on behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist. “Are you sure?” she asked, as though she thought I was going to kick her off now.
I reached a hand down and lightly squeezed her arm, hoping to comfort her a little. Words had never really been my strong suit, but I kicked the bike into gear and drove off down the road toward my apartment, going a little slower and more carefully than I normally would have. The last thing I needed was to scare her half out of her mind with my speeding and sharp turns, I figured.
She was silent as we walked up the stairs to my apartment, and once inside, she stood hesitantly in the hallway, looking uncertainly around herself as though she were waking up and suddenly not sure where she was.
I frowned at her, wondering just what had happened, but I didn't want to press. She would tell me when she was ready. “Come on,” I told her, guiding her into the open floor plan with a hand on her shoulder. I got her seated on the couch, and after a moment's hesitation, I wrapped a couple blankets around her shoulders. She seemed to be at least a little bit in shock; her eyes looked glassy, and she was pale as a ghost.
“Water?” I offered. “Coffee? Whiskey?”
Jessi blinked up at me, looking pitiful. She coughed to clear her throat a little. “Whiskey?” she said uncertainly.
“Coming right up, darling,” I told her, giving her a warm smile. To be honest, she was beginning to freak me out a little. I hoped the alcohol would loosen her up, so I poured her a triple shot of whiskey into a short glass and brought it over to her. She accepted it gratefully and took a sip, swirling it around her mouth for a moment before swallowing.
I sat down next to her on the couch, reaching out to rub her thigh. But I was surprised to see her pull away from me.
“You never went to talk to Ellsmith,” Jessi said accusingly.
I frowned at her, a bit taken aback. “I haven't yet,” I agreed. “Your dad's been keeping me busy over at the shop Monday through Friday, working on J.T.'s bike. I haven't had the chance to swing through the campus during the normal class hours yet. But we're getting things done quickly on J.T.'s bike, and after that, I should be free to-”
“That's not soon enough,” Jessi interrupted, her voice merely a whisper. I could see tears starting to form in her eyes again, and she took a big sip of whiskey as though she were trying to hide them.
“Hey,” I said, reaching out to stroke back her hair. “What happened?”
Jessi shook her head, though, causing a couple crystalline tears to fall slowly down her cheeks. “Nothing,” she choked out, even though I could clearly tell that it was a lie.
I started to get agitated, imagining all the things that he could have done to her to get her this upset. “If he's failed you on one of your projects just because-”
“He hasn't,” Jessi told me. She bit her lower lip and turned away from me.
“Come here,” I said, pulling her into my arms.
She flinched away from me, though. “You're going to think that I'm so disgusting,” she sobbed, and I felt my blood run cold.
“Did he ...touch you?” I asked, with barely controlled anger.
Slowly, haltingly, she began to recount the man's advances on her in his office and the way that he had tried to force himself on her. By the time she was finished, I was livid. “I'm going to castrate the fucker,” I snarled, already halfway to my feet.
Jessi whimpered, wrapping her arms around herself. “Don't,” she begged me, her face buried against her knees. “Just—please, don't. Don't make a big deal out of it. I deserve it. I shouldn't have led him on, and I shouldn't have—I mean, you told me that he does this, that he sleeps with his students. I should have believed you, and I shouldn't have-”
“No,” I interrupted firmly, sitting back next to her and pulling her close. “Oh, Jessi, no. It's not your fault. God, I should have gone to talk to him already. I'm so sorry that I haven't. Trust me, I'm-”
“Maybe I should just drop out of the program,” Jessi said, her voice barely audible. “I just don't think I'm cut out for this whole business.”
“Bullshit,” I said succinctly. “Jessi, I've seen your designs. I seriously doubt that Ellsmith has really had anything to do with the grades that you've been getting. I think he was just saying that to scare you. And rest assured that if he does anything to try to get you booted out of the university, the Hounds and I are going to go after him. I'm going to-”
I leaned down to kiss her forehead lightly, pausing there for a moment, trying to sort through the tangle of emotions that I was feeling. It would be so easy to ignore everything deeper than the anger that I was feeling towards Ellsmith. It would be easy enough to act like the dumb biker dude and go storming over to his house, to pound on his door, and then punch his lights out once he answered.
But I could tell that that wasn't what Jessi wanted to see from me. And for some reason, what she wanted from me mattered.
“Jessi, you're one of the best designers that I've ever seen, anyway,” I told her. “It's been exciting to watch you work on J.T.'s bike with your dad. And beyond that, you're exceptionally beautiful, even when you're covered in grease and dressed in your baggiest, most holey overalls.”
