Dave: Junior Year (Three Daves #2) (5 page)

“Good night.”

“Hey, David?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m glad we’re still friends after…everything.”

“Me, too.”

They hung up and Jen smiled, her mind full of happy thoughts about her friendship with David and her impending date with Dave.

Chapter 6

Jen felt like an idiot. She’d spent her whole night at Romans standing near the top of the attic stairs, waiting for Dave. He hadn’t shown. To make things worse, her only option for a ride home had left half an hour earlier. The party would start winding down soon, so she moved toward the edge of the dance floor to look for someone she knew, hoping to beg for a ride.

After about a hundred subconscious glances toward the stairs, her heart leaped at the sight of Dave’s studded leather jacket and messy golden hair. She watched him scan the room until he found her. He flashed a lazy smile and sauntered over.

“Hey, baby.” His eyelids stayed drooped so that his eyes were half closed. He’d clearly had a few drinks and maybe something else. Jen wondered if he even realized he was three hours late. “Let’s grab a drink,” he called over his shoulder to his companion, who’d followed him over. Jen was pretty sure the other guy was Jason, the one who’d driven them home from the Garage. “Want one?” Dave asked Jen.

“Sure.”

Dave and Jason disappeared into the thinning crowd, leaving Jen to wait alone. Again. They soon returned, and Dave handed her a beer. He downed his in a matter of seconds. Then he and Jason talked together in low voices, laughing between every other word so that Jen couldn’t understand a thing. She stood quietly by, sipping her drink and watching the dancers while she tried to control her temper. She didn’t want to blow the entire evening by starting a fight. At least he’d shown up, and he’d clearly come looking for her.

“Drink up, buttercup,” Dave said, finally paying her some attention as she lifted her drink. He tilted the bottom of her cup, spilling beer into her mouth and some onto her shirt. “Oh, sorry,” he laughed, wiping at her blouse while Jason snickered. “Look, I’m kind of messed up. Wanna get out of here?”

“Sure,” Jen agreed as she made one last swipe at the mess on her shirt.

“Don’t worry about that.” Dave lowered his lips to ear. “I’ll have you out of it in no time.”

Jen drank what was left of her beer, and they left. This time Jen and Dave had the back seat of Jason’s car all to themselves, and they made full use of it. Jason blasted Fall Out Boy up front and peeled away from the curb. Before they were very far down the road, Dave was on top of Jen, thrusting his tongue past her lips while his hands worked overtime.

She’d spent the last four days daydreaming about making out with him, so she didn’t complain when he unhooked her bra and kneaded one of her breasts. His other hand fumbled at her waist, attempting to unbutton her jeans. She had to protest. He was moving way too fast—and Jason was only two feet away! With Dave’s tongue jammed in her mouth, she couldn’t say anything, so she grabbed his hand and pulled it away from her pants. No matter how many times she repeated the motion, his hand found its way back.

Jen was so busy managing Dave, she hadn’t even thought about where they were going. She didn’t notice the car had stopped until she heard the front door slam shut. Dave broke suction and lifted a few inches off of her to look out the window. “We’re here.” He sat all the way up and opened the back door.

Jen refastened her bra before grabbing her coat off the floor and sliding out of the car. She followed Dave up to a shabby two-story house.

“
Mi casa
,” Dave informed her, holding open the front door.

She stepped into the house and heard voices coming from a bright room off to the right. She half-turned in that direction, but Dave clamped his long fingers around her hips and steered her up a dark, narrow staircase, guiding her to his bedroom, no doubt. She’d been in this kind of situation before—just not with anyone quite as commanding and persuasive as Dave. She’d have to lay down her ground rules the moment they got up there.

Dave directed her into his room and shut the door behind them. Jen turned her back on the pale moonlight that fought its way through thin curtains at the window. Before she could say anything, Dave lunged at her, sucking and biting at the side of her throat while he unhooked her bra again. This time he reached in with both hands to roughly claw at her breasts. She became more convinced he’d done something more than drink earlier that night. He was acting like a totally different person.

“Dave, I—”.

“Shh.” He brought his mouth to hers, sliding his hot, pulsating tongue into her. He was like a rushing train that she felt powerless to stop. He unbuttoned her shirt and yanked it off her, along with her bra. She didn’t mind some heavy making out—it’s what she’d been hoping for—but Dave clearly had something more in mind, and he wasn’t giving her an opportunity to tell him no. Without bothering to try to unfasten the button at her waist again, he shoved a hand down the back of her jeans.

“Dave, stop!” She pushed back enough to break him away from her mouth. His hand remained in the back of her pants but stopped moving.

He tilted his head as he looked at her, breathing gusts of warm breath onto her face. Jen took in the shadows of his finely chiseled features. Wild flames flashed in his eyes, making them even more captivating. Despite being so angry a second ago, her first thought in that moment was,
God, he’s beautiful
. She found it hard to believe this gorgeous creature wanted her.

“I’m sorry,” she said more softly than she’d intended. “It’s just…you’re moving kind of fast.”

The tension in his perfect features relaxed. “I can slow it down.” He leaned in for another kiss.

Jen pulled her head back before he could connect. “I’m not going to—we can’t have sex tonight.”

“Aw, baby…” His voice was a deep, seductive purr.

She knew she shouldn’t have waited until he was so worked up to let him know her parameters. But as she’d said the words, she’d felt the truth of them. She couldn’t take that step with someone she hardly knew. So far their physical chemistry had overridden any genuine attempts to get to know each other—but that didn’t mean they’d never get there.

Yet Jen realized Dave was the kind of guy who usually got what he wanted from girls. She couldn’t expect him to stick around long enough to see if they could become something more if she never gave him anything. Leaning in, she bit playfully at his lower lip. “No sex, but there are other things…” She pulled at the closure of his jeans.

Dave’s mouth spread into a dirty smile. “I like the way you think, Gigi.”

She pulled his shirt up and off, running her hands over his smooth, firm chest. The stiff buttons of his nipples tickled her palms as her hands moved down his tight torso. When she reached his narrow waist, he pulled her to him, crushing her breasts against his bare chest and sucking on her mouth with the force of a vacuum. Jen fumbled blindly at his pants until she had them undone. She slipped her hand in and grasped onto the stiff evidence of his desire. He moaned at her touch and pulled his tongue out of her mouth. Jen stared up into his handsome face, gripping him with more confidence and pumping.

She worked her tongue and teeth down Dave’s chest and over his flat stomach, lowering to her knees. Yanking his jeans down with one hand, she cupped the other around his balls, drawing another deep moan. Her teasing tongue glided along the length of his erection before she opened wide and slid him into her mouth. She remembered everything David had taught her as she focused entirely on Dave’s needs, rocking her head at a steady rhythm.

Dave’s cat-like growl became a steady purr. With one hand on her head, he pulled at her hair, his grip becoming tighter and more painful. She grunted a complaint, but he didn’t seem to notice. His other hand came to the back of her hair, clenching the roots and jerking her head back and forth. She reached for one of his hands and pulled it away, yanking out a few stinging hairs in the process.

Dave clenched her hand tightly in his and shouted, “Oh, oh, oh!” He thrust himself all the way into her, touching the back of her throat. Jen felt a warm shot in her mouth and fought her gag reflex as she swallowed. He released her hand, and she released his dick. Kneeling on the floor, she ran her hands through her hair, rubbing her smarting scalp.

“That was superb,” Dave said. “Damn, Gigi, I never would’ve guessed you’re a frickin’ professional. Do I gotta pay you for that?”

Jen wanted to be flattered, but…was he calling her a hooker? She was too stunned to give any response and stayed on the floor, drawing her hands over her naked chest, suddenly feeling exposed.

Dave tossed Jen her shirt and bra. “Instead of Gigi, I’m going to have to start calling you Digi—Dirty Girl.”

Jen didn’t want to be Digi. She liked being Gigi. As she absently got dressed, Dave pulled on his briefs, kicked his jeans to a corner, and fell onto his bed. “I’m beat, Digi, and I’ve got to get up early tomorrow, so…”

“You want to go to sleep?”

“Yeah.” He stretched a long leg diagonally across the twin mattress. “Sorry this bed’s too small for two people. But you probably want to get back to your place, anyway.”

Jen sat zombie-like, crushed by the abrupt dismissal after what they’d just done together. Where were the tender embraces? The confessions of developing feelings? Hell, at that point, she’d have been grateful for a friendly pat on the head.

“Jason should still be around somewhere. I told him you’d need a ride home. If you hurry, you can probably catch him.”

In a fog, Jen looked around for her coat. Everything felt thick and fuzzy, like it wasn’t really happening. Her shock made it impossible for her to have any proper reaction—such as clawing off Dave’s testicles—so she merely picked up her coat and stumbled out of the room to the dark, creaky staircase. Alone. Had Dave even said goodbye? She couldn’t remember. She fought back the tears that screamed to bust out. She had to keep herself together until she got back to her apartment.

Sticking her head into the living room to see if Jason was there, she instead saw David studying at a table across the room.
Shit!
She hadn’t thought about him being Dave’s housemate. Of course he was there. Before she could duck her head back into the hallway, David looked up. Jen plastered on a big, fake smile. “Hi. Is Jason around?”

“He just left.”

Shit, shit, shit!
“Oh, okay.” Desperation slammed down on her. It was with tremendous effort that she kept the false smile on her face while she zipped her coat and prepared for a cold walk home. With each button, the prospect of the dark, lonely night became more appealing. It so perfectly matched her mood. “Well, good night.” She turned toward the door, hoping David hadn’t heard the tremble in her voice.

“Hold up,” he called. “Let me grab my coat.”

“No!” She was desperate for solitude. She whipped around and noticed Ellie sleeping on the couch with a science text lying open on her chest. “I’ll be fine,” Jen whispered. “My apartment’s not that far.”

“Don’t be stupid. I’m walking you home.” He came over and wrapped a scarf around Jen’s head, glancing sideways at Ellie. “She won’t even notice I’m gone.”

Jen was too fragile to argue. As they walked through the frigid night, Jen was grateful for the scarf, not only because it kept her head warm, but because it also kept David from seeing the misery etched onto her face. She burrowed her head deeper into the scarf while David pulled up the collar on his wool coat.

“I gotta get a car,” he complained.

The cold weather kept conversation to a minimum, so Jen was able to torture herself by replaying the last hour in her mind. She wasn’t Gigi anymore. But wasn’t that what Dave wanted? Hadn’t he been pushing her to be bad? So why when she gave in did he suddenly want nothing to do with her? She wondered if there was something else that’d changed his mind about her. “David?”

“Yeah,” his muffled voice answered.

“Have you ever said anything to Dave about you and me…last year?”

“No.” He sounded offended. “That’s nobody else’s business.”

“Okay.” She believed him, which led her to a worse theory. A sick feeling of dread crept in on her. Dave had used her. He’d wanted to get the good girl to do something naughty and he’d succeeded. Now he had no more use for her. Unless it was the drugs or whatever that had made him act like such a jerk.

They finally arrived at Jen’s building. She wanted to dash to her bed, climb under the covers, and let her tears flow freely. But it was bitterly cold outside, and David still had to make the return trek to his house.

“Come inside to warm up before you head back,” Jen ordered.

They stepped onto the inside landing and stood under the harsh light of a bare bulb. Jen turned her head so David wouldn’t notice the few, silent tears that had escaped, but he reached his cold fingers under her chin and angled her face toward him, wiping away a tear with his icy thumb. “What did I tell you about going out with guys who won’t walk you home after dark?”

“Jason was supposed to drive me,” she explained.

David tilted his head and pursed his lips. He knew she was full of crap. Jen looked into his soft, brown eyes and saw pity there. It was more than she could handle. The dam broke, and Jen’s shoulders shook as she let her tears loose. David directed her head to his shoulder. She pressed her face into his coat and cried and cried and cried while he gently stroked her hair.

Her breathing eventually regained a normal rhythm. For a while, the only sound in the entryway was Jen’s sniffles and the lightbulb’s quiet buzzing. David broke the silence. “Don’t call him.”

Jen pulled her head away from David’s coat. She was caught off guard by the venom in his voice. He looked at her intently, and she wrapped appreciative arms around his waist, pressing the side of her face back against his chest. “You know I don’t call boys.”

“Good rule.” He wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

Even though his wool coat scratched her face, Jen felt like she could’ve stood in David’s protective embrace all night. But she was tired, and he had to get home to Ellie. She thanked him for walking her home, and he ventured back into the cold, stopping with the door halfway opened. He reached into his pocket, and held something out to Jen. She took it, seeing that it was a CD case.

“Enjoy,” he said and disappeared.