Chapter 23: Chapter 23

Chapter 23: New Love?

Kendra’s P.O.V:

“You know you’re acting totally weird, right?” Grace asked me as we parked in front of Grace’s old apartment.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”I told her a little too quickly as I unbuckled the seat belt. “Besides, this apartment belongs to your brother now, it’ll be weird if I just waltz in and start taking stuff out of the closet. He’ll probably think I’m stealing.”

“Why on Earth would he think that?” Grace said as we both got out of Grace’s new car, a present courtesy of Mr. Daniel Italiano. “You’re my best friend and Tory knows that we often had sleepovers in each other’s place.”

“So you gossip about us with your brother?” I wondered what else had Grace told him about us...about me. Most probably, by now he thinks I’m a slut.

“No details, Ken.” Grace laughed. “Sometime when he’d call, I’d tell him you guys were coming for a sleepover.” And then Grace leaned in to whisper conspiratorially in my ears. “Don’t worry, I haven’t told him you drool in your sleep like a baby.”

“What?!” I immediately wiped my face with the back of my hand. “I don’t drool...do I?” I asked a bit uncertainly in the end.

“Only in your sleep.” Grace laughed and we began climbing up the stairs to her floor.

When we reached her door, Grace simply removed the doormat and there, sitting on the floor in plain sight was none other than the apartment key! “Are you bloody kidding me?” I said to no one in particular.

“Yep.” Grace shook her head before picking up the key from the ground and unlocking the door.

The room was dark inside. All the curtains were drawn and the windows and doors were closed shut. I vaguely remembered that Victor had been quite fond of the dark. He wouldn’t be able to go to sleep unless all the doors and windows in the rooms would be closed and the curtains drawn to plunge the room into eternal darkness. I also remembered sneaking in one night and completely losing my sight because of the darkness. I’d nearly fallen on top of a sleeping Victor that night but had been able to right my balance just at the right moment so that I didn’t wake him up.

A stream of light fell on my face, snapping me out of my trip down memory lane and I saw that Grace had been successful in opening all the windows along with the balcony door and the curtains were pulled completely to the side so the sun could enter the room freely. It was already nine thirty in the morning and I was wondering where Victor was when Grace marched straight into the bedroom. Perks of being the sister, I guess.

I walked to the bedroom door and stood leaning against the doorjamb as Grace pulled aside the curtains and opened the windows before calling out, “Tory! Get up sleepy head!” and pulled the covers off of Tory...to reveal not one but two sleeping figures.

I stood up straighter as I realized that one was definitely Tory while the other was definitely a female figure. I clenched my teeth and dug my nails in the palm of my hand as a sinking feeling set in my stomach.

“Graceee....” Tory whined in his sleep and turned into his pillows to hide from the light before realizing that he wasn’t alone.

“Jeez! Why am I always finding you both in bed together?” Grace sighed with her hands on her hips and the sinking feeling inside me turned into a numbing coldness the spread to my hands and toes, freezing me in place.

Both Tory and the girl next to him raised their heads as if noticing each other for the first time and even though I couldn’t see the girl’s face, I saw a sleepy smile light up Tory’s face as he reached up and tugged the girl to his chest. “I missed you so much, Gin!” He told her.

“I missed you too, Tonic!” The girl hugged him back and held on to him too tightly, long enough that it didn’t appear friendly.

And then I raised my eyes from Victor’s hand on the girl’s back and straight into his piercing green eyes. I clenched my hands into fists as the heat in his eyes made things inside me ache. But then the girl let go of him, finally, and the spell was broken, for good.

“Ken!” I had almost forgotten that Grace was in the room as well, so it gave me a start when she called my name. “Come on, collect your things. You have a bag right?”

“Yeah...” I asked almost unsurely before taking the extra carry bag out of my purse and going over to the dresser to stand beside Grace. “Who’s she?” I asked pointing towards the girl whose face was now visible to me.

She looked pretty and young. She had long brunette hair that reached the middle of her back; a small heart shaped face and sea blue eyes. She was petite yet I could tell she was pretty well developed in all the right places. The ugly green monster reared its head inside my mind and I tried my best to squish it out before I did something stupid.

Thankfully, Grace cut in at the right time. “Oh! I forgot you don’t know her! Gin, come here!” She called over the brunette and she came over instantly and gave Grace a big hug.

“Oh! I missed you too!” She said and planted a kiss on Grace’s cheek as Grace did the same to her. It made me feel like an outsider. This was a part of their life I knew nothing about. A time before I came into their life. And I didn’t like the feeling it stirred inside me.

“Ken this is Gina Hunt, our neighbor back in Clovefield and Tory’s childhood best friend. It used to be impossible to separate these two when they were children and that’s one thing that hasn’t changed even now.” And then Grace turned Gina’s attention to me. “And Gin, this is Kendra Millar, one of my best friends.”

“Hi!” Gina waved at me enthusiastically. “It’s nice to meet you! I’ve heard a lot about you and Tatiana from Tonic, but it’s nice to officially meet you! It’s a pity that I couldn’t meet you when you guys came over to visit after graduation.”

I instantly noticed that the enthusiasm that she showed towards me had been utterly false and I also noticed that her voice had hardened when she’d mentioned the trip after graduation. And then there was the fact that she kept shifting her eyes from me to Victor, who was sitting up on the bed, enjoying the show. Grace seemed to have missed the undertone of tension in the room, but I was very sure that Gina knew exactly what had gone down between me and Victor that summer.

“That’s alright, Gina.” I smiled tightly at her. “I’m glad we could meet now. I’m sorry if I’m intruding, I just came here to get my clothes.” I pointed with my thumb at the dresser behind me.

“Nonsense!” Grace waved her hand in front of her face. “You’re a part of the family, just like Gina here. There’s no way you can intrude on anyone!”

“I agree.”

I whipped around to look at Victor, who had a sly smile playing on his face. I didn’t know if I should feel insulted for being put in the same category as Gina or relieved that Victor thinks I’m a part of the ‘family’. Whatever the reason, Victor agreeing with Grace didn’t quite fit right with me. So I went over to the dresser where my clothes were kept and began shoving them into the bag I’d brought with me.

“Do you guys want breakfast?” Grace asked everyone in the room, to which Victor and Gina instantly nodded their agreements. Grace turned to me for an answer.

“Nope. I’m going shopping.” I shook my head at her. “You still want to meet up for lunch?”

“Absolutely, but...” Grace looked conflicted as she looked from me to Victor.

“It’s alright, Grace. I won’t mind.” I assured her. “I’ll finish shopping and then we can all meet up for lunch at our usual place?”

“Sure.” Grace smiled in relief before turning to Gina. “Come on my little minion, let’s get cooking!”

Grace and Gina left the room in giggles and I was left alone in the room with Victor. Not wanting to talk, I started getting my clothes as fast as I could, without bothering to fold them neatly. I closed the drawer once I was done and when I turned around, I almost bumped into Victor.

I gasped and jumped back in surprise, the bag dropping from my hand, which wasn’t a good idea because now I was trapped between the dresser and Victor, who held me in place by putting his hands on either side of my head, trapping me in.

“Can’t wait to make an escape, can you?” Victor leaned in to whisper in my ears, his hot breath tickling my cheeks.

“I’m not a thief that I’d need to escape!” I snapped making sure no one else could hear my voice. “Now move so I can leave.”

“But why?” Victor asked feigning innocence. “You only just arrived.”

“Victor! Move!” I pushed at him with my hands on his chest and instantly realized my mistake. Victor was shirtless and his only article of clothing was his boxers. It made my eyes travel down his toned body and notice the slight bulge in his pants. I gulped, my throat suddenly feeling dry.

“Like what you see, huh?” Victor voice was husky against my ears as he used one hand to cup my breast.

I gasped at the boldness of his touch, my eyes immediately going towards the door where I’d seen Grace and Gina disappear only a few seconds ago. “What’re you doing!” I whispered urgently as I found Victor lowering himself to the ground.

But I didn’t have to guess for long as I felt his hands on my calf just as his lips pressed to my thighs. My heart slammed against my chest as I felt his hand rise up my leg and once again, I was helplessly defenseless against his touch. Victor slipped his hand under my skirt and without wasting any time, went straight for my vagina and with one finger, traced the shape of my lips over my panties.

My back hit the dresser as I fell back against it, not being able to hold myself up any longer. My mind had gone completely blank, so much so that I was unable to answer when Grace called out from the kitchen, wanting to know if I was okay.

“Yes sis, she’s fine. Just knocked down her bag!” Victor answered for me, effectively snapping me out of my shock.

“Y-yeah! I-I’m fine...” I managed to get out as my breath caught once again as I saw Victor rise back up, his hands trailing my sides.

“Careful, Kendra. Or I’ll think you don’t want to continue this little game anymore.” Victor has a huge smirk playing on his lips and it made me realize just how big of a jerk he’s really become.

“I don’t!” I snapped at him. “So stay the fuck away from me.”

Victor tsked. “For someone who doesn’t want my touch, you sure act pretty lewd.” He placed the bag I’d dropped earlier, in my hand. “You see, I seem to know for a fact that you crave my touch and you don’t want this to end so soon. Just as I know that you’d masturbated yourself to an orgasm last night, wishing so badly for it to be my cock and it’s that same gut feeling that tells me you’ll come here again tonight, begging for another taste. And if you want to prove me wrong, don’t come.”

With that said, Victor walked out of the room, his boxers hanging low on his hips and with my head feeling like it was about to explode.