by Vi Carter
“No drugs.” I ticked off my finger, he stiffened but nodded.
“Fine,” he answered.
“You tidy up after yourself.”
He hesitated like it was a big ask. “Fine,” he finally said.
“No women.”
Now he sat up. “I’m a man with needs.”
“I’m sure you can keep it in your pants for a few days,” I added. I stopped his protest. “You can do your business at their places, just no women here.” I got an unhappy fine. For the second time, I considered reinstating the few days. But I continued on.
"No drink," I said my final rule.
"Hell no, Grace. Now you’re taking the piss. What are you running here, a nunnery?"
“My place, my rules.”
He sat back putting his legs on the coffee table. “Maybe Derek would take me in,” he said, as if he was really considering it.
“Why don’t you ask him while I shower?” I said happily with my rules in place.
“Want company?” I closed the bathroom door on Craig’s question but found myself smiling at him.
I got dressed in fresh yoga pants and a baggy t-shirt, and checked my phone. Nothing. I texted Amber, she replied saying she still had the bug and promised she would text later.
Worry gnawed at my stomach. I would give her until tomorrow, and then I would drive to her place.
I got Craig organized before heading to bed. I closed my bedroom door to the noise of the TV that he watched. It didn’t take me long before I fell asleep.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
DEREK
AFTER GRACE LEFT WITH that dickhead, I returned to the park and jogged again. My mother had rung today, wondering where the hell I’d been. I lied, telling her I was off with a few friends. I didn't convince her. She would expect me to visit soon, so I couldn't put it off much longer.
Emmett hadn’t contacted me since the text. So, I just had to keep up the friendship until he gave me more instructions. Grace had become very distracting. A part of me was glad I didn’t have too much time with her. Craig being around might not be such a bad idea, though not all my body parts agreed with this. But I had to remind myself that this was a hands-off situation.
GRACE
My alarm woke me, I got up and got dressed for college. Craig still slept on the couch, the blanket discarded on the floor, leaving him in just a pair of black boxers. His arm was thrown across his eyes as he snored. I stopped for a moment, the tattoos that covered every inch of him, they told a story, all interconnecting. Glancing away; I didn’t want to read his story. I put on the kettle and banged the press deliberately, waking Craig up.
“Morning,” I said smiling at him, he sat up, grabbed himself, mumbled something I couldn’t understand, before he got up and staggered into my bathroom. He didn’t even close the door and when he walked back out, I stopped him. “Flush the toilet and wash your hands.”
He had only one eye open, now he opened both. “Grace?” he said as a slow grin grew on his face. He didn't seem the slightest bit embarrassed about standing in my living room in just boxers, instead the grin grew. “Take it in,” he said striking the stupidest pose, which had me laughing.
“Put some clothes on, or you’ll be late for college.” He dropped the pose, grumbled and started to pick his clothes off the floor that he wore yesterday. He walked back into the bathroom and this time he closed the door. I ate a bowl of cereal and washed up my bowl as Craig came out of the bathroom, looking fresh and smelling of cologne.
“Ready?” I asked, checking my phone. We had an hour until classes started. Craig nodded, grabbed his bag, and we left.
Craig did my head in the whole way to college, mocking me and telling me I couldn’t drive, then dictating every gear change I made. Boy, was I glad when we parked. “You have two choices, you can either walk next time, or keep your comments about my driving to yourself.” I told Craig as I locked the car.
“I pick option three,” he said with a sly grin.
“There is no option three.” I told him as Derek pulled in. His black shiny jeep made my poor car seem fit for the scrap yard. Derek gave me a nod when he saw me, so I gave him a wave.
“Oh look, it’s Dylan,” Craig said, and I narrowed my eyes.
“Derek,” I corrected, and he shrugged.
“My bad.”
I stood to wait for Derek to get out of his jeep, Craig stood too, I cleared my throat. “I’ll see you later,” I told him since he wasn’t taking the hint.
“Wow, so much love, Grace.” He pretended to sound hurt as Derek joined me. “See you later,” Craig said and winked at me before turning around towards class.
Derek didn’t say anything for a moment. “I respect that he is your friend. I don’t like him, but I will respect it.” He was amazing and so mature.
“Thank you. It means a lot,” I said, while finally looking at him. He didn’t look overly happy, but I would take what I could get.
“He’s still a jackass,” he said, and I rolled my eyes. So much for being mature.
“He feels the same way about you. But I hope we can all get along,” I said, hoping this wasn’t going to be a constant battle.
We walked into college and said goodbye before we parted, but also said we would meet up for lunch. Claire texted; she wanted to go for a coffee later. My fingers glided over the buttons as I texted her back saying I would. Still, nothing from Amber. My concern was growing; I would try to get to her tonight.
***
Lunch was nice with Derek, he made me laugh and blush a lot. I did notice Craig enter the cafeteria, but he left us alone, thankfully.
“So, besides jogging, what else do you like to do?” I asked before taking a bite of my salad sandwich.
“Horse riding,” he said. I smiled. I could so see him on a horse, topless, hair down, a slight breeze. "My family has a ranch, so my girls stay there."
“Girls?” I questioned curiously, suddenly feeling jealous.
“Yeah, Liz and Lucy.” He deadpanned.
Oh, Horses. I laughed at how sincere he was being. “Liz and Lucy,” I repeated just as Craig arrived.
“What you guys talking about?” he asked sitting down beside us, he had turned the chair backwards and rested his chin on the back of it.
“Derek’s horses,” I said. As much as I wanted to have this time alone with Derek, I couldn’t be rude. He was my friend, after all. But I noticed that Derek stiffened as he closed himself off.
"Ah. I thought you would have been a more of a bear guy," Craig said casually. I eyed Craig with frustration. What the hell?
"No. What about you? Do you have any hobbies? Besides women, drink, drugs, etc.," Derek raised an eyebrow as the bite of his words added fuel to the fire and Craig smiled through narrowed eyes.
“Don’t be like that Dave. I was only asking?”
“It’s Derek,” I said through clenched teeth. “You promised,” I added feeling disappointed.
“I didn’t say anything wrong, he’s the one who insulted me.” He said with indignation. I glared at him, but he was kind of right. Now I looked to Derek.
“He made a Goldilocks reference,” Derek said dryly, and it clicked. Now I got the bears. I tried not to laugh, even though I was mad at them both.
Craig held up his hands while smirking. “I’ll leave you girls to it,” he said and left. Lunch was over anyway, so we returned to class.
***
Craig waited by my car. I looked for Derek’s jeep, but the space was empty. On the drive home, I told Craig about meeting Claire at the coffee house later, so he would have the place for a few hours.
“Why are you meeting that mad bitch?”
“Craig, she’s my friend. What is wrong with everyone? Why can’t you all just get along?”
“Now you’re talking about Danny, look I’ll ease off him.” I gripped the steering wheel trying to keep my cool. I refused to say it’s Derek. He knew full well his name was Derek.
"No Craig. I
mean all of you. You don’t like Claire, Claire hates you, now you and Luke aren’t talking, and Amber isn’t your biggest fan. Oh, and you keep insulting Derek."
“So, what you’re saying is nobody likes me and it’s all my fault.” I thought for a moment about what I said. I suppose he could take my statement that way.
"No. I’m just saying ..." I pulled up to the apartment. "Just try to be a little nicer." I stopped the car and removed the apartment key from my keyring.
Craig looked at me, “On a serious note, whatever she says about me is a lie. She’s psychotic.”
I narrowed my eyes at Craig. "What kind of things would she say?" What was I walking into?
"I really wish you wouldn’t meet her."
"I wish a lot of things too, Craig. But none of them get granted." I started the car back up.
“Fine. See you later.” Craig got out and slammed the car door, and I wondered what the hell he did to Claire.
***
“You came.” Claire greeted me with a hug. “I am so sorry I haven’t contacted you,” she said as we sat. “It’s just my head is all over the place. And after everything that happened with Craig. I mean he’s a lunatic. And now Amber isn’t talking to anyone, and Luke is on the warpath. I don’t know, Grace. I think I’m done with our group. Except for you, of course,” she paused. I hadn’t even had a chance to say hi.
“Okay. You are going to have to explain all that to me,” I said. Bernie arrived at our table. “Why are you working?” I asked.
“Amber’s sick?” she said it like a question.
“Oh yeah, she has a bug,” I said, remembering.
But Bernie had an odd look on her face. “Hmm…I was sure she said a toothache.”
I cleared my throat. “Yeah bug and a toothache. Poor thing.” I got that glance off Bernie that said I wasn’t very smooth. She took our orders and left.
“Where shall I start?” Claire said with a dramatic sigh while shaking five little packets of sugar in preparation. Our coffee arrived, and she tore them open, pouring them all in at once.
“Craig used me, Grace. He slept with me and then just left.” I groaned in my head. Of course he did. That’s what Craig did. He never returned for seconds. That was his motto. Tears filled her eyes. I squeezed her hand. “When we meet now, he looks at me like I’m dirt." She sniveled.
"I’m really sorry, hun. I wish there was something I could do?" She took a sip of her coffee.
"Actually, there is." I hid the surprise that I could do something about this situation.
"Guys like him, Grace, need to be taken down." She paused.
"I’m not following you, Claire."
“You need to help me destroy him.”
I pretended to consider her proposal. “No,” I said as our sandwiches arrived.
“What, you think he doesn’t say stuff about you?” she said it smugly, like she was happy I wasn’t exempt.
“Like what?” I asked.
She shrugged. “Really? Take your pick. He said you were unstable."
That really hurt me. I sat back. "What else?"
Claire leaned in like this was such great gossip, like this wasn’t killing me. "He said you were a prude, and that you didn’t drink because you’re a control freak. For the record, I disagreed with everything Grace." My cheeks reddened with hurt, and I didn’t believe for one second that Claire didn’t join in. “He also said–"
I raised my hand. “I get it. Really, I’ve heard enough. I don’t want to talk about this anymore," I added.
“So, you won’t help me?" She was angry.
“No, Claire. I’m not playing games."
“I thought you were my friend?”
“I am.” I answered.
She grabbed her jacket and stood. “You are such a bitch. You think you’re so special.” She moved into my personal space. “You’re not. You are just like the rest of us to him.” She said and left. I didn’t dignify her with a response; people were looking at me already. We had caused enough of a scene, and this is where I worked. Bernie was at the coffee station and she was looking at me above her glasses. “Sorry,” I mouthed. She didn’t look happy. When I went to pay, I apologized to the patrons closest to me.
Driving home, I had to focus on the road. Claire had drained me. I didn’t want to see Craig, especially if anything Claire had said was true. My hands tightened on the steering wheel just thinking of the things he had said about me. I ended up knocking on Derek’s door. But like everything in my life, he didn’t answer. I turned around glumly and knocked on my own door, too tired to get my keys out. Craig let me in on the first knock. I strode past him and he grabbed my arm. “Whoa, whoa. What happened?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” I couldn’t even look at him, I was afraid I was going to cry.
"Grace."
I pulled my arm out of Craig’s grasp. "Just because you’re staying here, doesn’t give you any right to butt in on my personal life."
His eyes darkened, “What did she say?”
“Are you not listening to me? I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Grace.” His raised voice shocked me. “Tell. Me. Now,” he said each word carefully. A vein in his neck fluttered; he was trying to control his anger. Mine deflated.
“Nothing I wasn’t expecting. It’s fine, Craig,” I said, his own anger seemed to extinguish. But he wasn’t letting it go.
“That’s not an answer.”
"I’m upset, okay? I don’t want to give you an answer. Right now, I want to go to my room and stew. Please?" I walked away, and this time he didn’t stop me.
I could hear a knock on the door later that night, lowered voices, then a knock on my bedroom door. “Go away, Craig,” I said.
“It’s Derek.” Derek was in my apartment? I smiled, then frowned. I was a mess.
“One minute,” I said and tried to brush my hair and straighten the wrinkles from my clothes. Then, I remembered Craig was out there alone with Derek. I left my bedroom in a rush and nearly walked straight into Derek. I looked around him, and the living room was empty.
“He said he would give us some space,” Derek said, I wasn’t sure what to make of this. Was this Craig being really nice, or really guilty?
“What else did he say?” I asked.
“That you were upset.”
I nodded, taking this in. “And he didn’t insult you.” Derek was still standing in front of me. I was being rude. “Sorry, please sit down.” I moved around him and got the blanket and pillow off the couch, so he could sit.
“No, he was normal for once. Do you want to talk about what happened?”
I sat down in the chair opposite the couch, and inhaled. The smell of Derek had my stomach in knots. “Not really,” I said honestly.
“What about a jog?” I asked, and he smiled.
“A jog it is.”
I changed my clothes and met Derek outside five minutes later. I had texted Craig, telling him I left the key under a large stone at the main door in case he was back before me. We set off towards the park. This time, I didn’t try to talk. I focused on jogging and pushing my body hard. The only things I tried to consider were my breathing and the noise of my feet hitting the pavement. I didn’t notice the smell of Derek that blew into my path every time the wind dictated it. I didn’t notice his large frame beside me. Nope, I didn’t notice him at all.
CHAPTER TWELVE
GRACE
AFTER THIRTY MINUTES OF intense jogging, we started to slow down. I was still pretty breathless and gasped for air. I finally looked at Derek. Yeah, he was pretty fit. We slowed down to a walk and then stopped. We sat on one of the many benches that were scattered around the park.
“How long is he staying with you?” Derek’s question was loaded, but the way he said it made me believe that he was careful with how he sounded.
“I’m not sure, he said a few days. But...” I trailed off; I wasn’t exactly going to kick him out after only a few days. I glanced at
Derek and he nodded his head. He looked thoughtful, a crease appearing on his forehead. “Penny for your thoughts,” I said, and he looked at me. My stomach knotted. I wanted to tell it to knock it off, as he considered what, I don’t know. But you can see that moment when someone decides not to. I didn’t know him well enough to push him, so I accepted his lame answer.
“I was thinking about Liz.”
I pretended to really think about this. “Liz?” I questioned, and he grinned, “Yeah.” He stuck his hands in his hoodie pockets and leaned forward. He had to glance back to look at me, and right now he glanced back with a smile. My poor stomach couldn’t take any more.
“While you’re jogging with me, you’re thinking of Liz?” His smile widened, and he looked away from me for a moment before looking back, he was serious now.
“Does that upset you?” Wow. I could keep joking and tell him in a joking way that I really liked him, but he would want to be clueless not to get that. Or I could become serious and be honest. I opted for my safety net.
“Not really, I would be more concerned about Liz finding out.”
“Ah. I see.” He smiled, but it wasn’t like the other times, and he looked away. Was that disappointment in his eyes? Oh shit, I’d messed up. I raked my brain for something to say and came up with zero. The silence was heavy, almost like a visible thing weighing down on my chest.
“I like your hair.” I blurted out like a total loser. Now Derek sat back but kept his hands in his pockets.
He didn’t smile but just looked at me for a moment, “I like how random you are.”
I smiled. “I like that you like how random I am. Because I can be pretty random.”
Now he smiled. “I know you’re random, that’s why I brought it up and told you I liked it. But it’s cool that you like that I like that you are random.” I laughed. I really couldn’t compete with that. “And I’m glad you like my hair,” he added before standing. He reached out his hand to help me up, and I looked at it like it was a foreign object. Why was I so hesitant to touch him now? Don’t think about it, I told myself before placing my hand in his. His hand covered mine easily. He pulled me from the bench, I glanced at our hands. His made mine looked so small and petite.
