50 Shades of Drake 3 and 4

Chapter Fifty-Five

    When Destiny entered the kitchen, Brian was standing at the stove cradling his cell phone between his ear and his shoulder. His hair was still damp from his shower and his tall, lean frame was clad in a plain white t-shirt and gray sweatpants. "Yeah. Tomorrow is fine. I'm sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. I was out all day. Yeah."

    She leaned over and braced her elbows on the counter while watching him cook. After showering, she'd dressed in a white tank top and pinned up her hair.

    He arched a glance at her and held up an index finger. "Yeah. Nine o' clock works. I'm taking the day off tomorrow. All right. Sure, yeah. Goodbye."

    "The detective?" she asked him.

    He set his phone down on the counter beside the stove. "Yeah. He wants me to go in tomorrow morning."

    "What else could they possibly ask you?"

    With a shrug, he stoked the sizzling stir fry vegetables in the wok. "I guess I'm going to find out tomorrow."

    "I can't wait for all of this to be over," she muttered.

    "You and me both," he said. He covered the wok with a glass top and turned to face her. Narrowing his eye, he braced his elbows on top of the island counter, mimicking her position. "How are you holding up?"

    "Fine."

    "Are you sure?" he asked her, his brows furrowing. "When I walked past the bathroom, I thought I heard..."

    She broke eye contact with him. He would have heard crying, because after about ten minutes of trying to wash myself, my head was flooded with memories about Aubrey and the times we shared in the shower. The memories had come at her so strongly, that she'd pressed her back against the shower wall, slid down the wall, and cried with her arms wrapped around her knees. What is that saying? You can't run away from your problems, because they'll always catch up to you?

    Worry was visible in Brian's eyes. "We can talk about anything. Even Aubrey, if you want."

    "I don't even want to hear his name," she said sharply. The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. She sighed and added, "I'll be fine. Between him and the scare with Jeremiah... these memories have just been...attacking me, one after another. But I'll get over it."

    "As far as the Jeremiah situation is concerned, I'll never let anything like that happen again," he told her. "And when it comes to Aubrey...You love him very much and now he's out of your life. That's a very big deal, and it takes a toll. I've been through it. Dealing with it isn't easy. I'm not going to lie to you. But you'll get through it."

    I don't know if I ever will, she thought, unable to look him in the eyes. Desperate to change the subject, she cleared her throat. "Today was a nice distraction from...everything."

    "It was pretty fun, wasn't it?" He straightened his posture and turned back to the stove. "I think we both needed that."

    "I think so, too."

    Instead of eating in the dining room, he suggested that they dine in the living room. They sat at opposite ends of the large couch, Destiny sitting Indian-style with her plate propped on a pillow and Brian leaning forward to eat from the plate he'd set on the coffee table.

    The stir fry he made was a simple dish, but delectable.

    He told her more about his childhood, and asked about hers. "Your first kiss?"

    "Oh God...Bobby Schumer. The seventh grade. It happened so fast, sometimes I doubt whether or not I imagined it. Yours?"

    "My babysitter, Kelsey," he responded, gathering vegetables onto his fork.

    Destiny stared at him in shock. "How old were you?"

    "I was ten, she was fifteen."

    "Unacceptable."

    He laughed. "She did it on a dare, I think."

    "That's horrible," Destiny said, shaking her head. "No wonder you have issues with authority."

    "That was nothing in comparison to some of the things I've seen."

    "You keep saying things like that without going into detail," she noted.

    He pushed damp hair out of his eyes. "Because there are just some things I'd rather forget."

    Just what I need. Another man with secrets. She frowned down at her plate of vegetables.

    Brian lapsed into silence, and then said, "The high school teacher, who hit on me...she didn't just hit on me."

    Destiny raised her eyes and looked at him.

    A haunted look shone in his eyes. "I lied. I told you that nothing happened, because it was easier to say that than to say what really happened."

    "So, she..." Destiny couldn't even bring herself to finish the sentence.

    "She did more than just hit on me," Brian finished for her. "A lot more."

    "Did you tell your parents?" she asked him.

    "Throughout the years, I mentioned to a person here or there that a former teacher hit on me. But the entire truth? I didn't tell anyone. Ever." He dropped his gaze. "Until now, I guess."

    "Brian..."

    He shook his head. "It was a long time ago, okay? And it's not something that I still think about, not really. It is a part of why I distrust authority, but that's the extent of its effect on me."

    "That's horrible," she remarked.

    "Shit happens," he said, forking vegetables into his mouth.

    "What...what made you tell me, if you haven't told anyone else?"

    His gaze slid over to her as he continued to chew his food. When he was finished chewing, he told her, "I saw the look in your eyes when I tried to gloss over it. You looked...suspicious of me. I don't want to give you any reason to be. Anything you want to talk about, anything you want to know, I'm willing to talk about it - even when I'd rather not. That particular event, I prefer not to talk about it. Talking about it makes me remember it, and remembering it...is hard for me."

    "I'm glad she's in jail," Destiny said, feeling a sure of anger rise within her. "How could someone, especially a woman, take advantage of a child like that?"

    "It's in the past," he said, leaning forward and grabbing his wine glass from the coffee table.

    "Things like this really make me miss journalism. Writing articles."

    He gave her an amused look. "Would you write an article about this?"

    "Not your story specifically, unless you gave me permission," she said quickly. "But I hear more and more stories about teachers getting caught having sex with their students. Something needs to be done."

    "Things like this have been happening for a long time," he advised. "It's just easier for teachers to get caught now, because this is the age of the camera phone. The events are being recorded, or text message conversations are being saved."

    "Ugh."

    He smiled at her. "It's sweet of you to feel so protective of me."

    She rolled her eyes.

    "Can we change the subject? This is depressing me."

    "There's a lot of that going around lately."

    "We're a sad pair, huh?" he asked, swirling the wine around in his glass.