Chapter Three

By the time her brother returned, Valerie had managed to set up her bathroom and put all her clothes away. She even squeezed in a quick shower, letting the scalding water pummel the tension out of her neck and shoulders, and changed into a soft lavender sundress for the party. As she gave herself a once over in the dresser mirror, she felt good about the way she looked. Her dark hair framed her oval face perfectly, accenting her dark green eyes, and the outfit she wore pushed her breasts upward a little so that her cleavage tempted to hidden treasures worth plundering. The dress also hugged her hips and cupped her round ass in a way that would draw men’s eyes. And tonight, she wanted to draw attention to herself just to prove she still could. She felt better about the direction she was taking with her life and determined to make the most of this new chapter. Brent’s misogynistic mindset would no longer influence her behavior. She was the queen of her life, the navigator of her course, and she would never again allow another man to treat her the way her husband had.

A knock came at the door as Valerie slipped into her living room from the hallway, causing her to divert her course from the kitchen to the front door. Opening it, she saw her brother standing there, a couple of bags dangling from his fingers with the booze he had promised to get for tonight’s party. He had changed into a clean outfit as well, and Valerie smiled, wondering if her brother wanted to draw attention to himself as well. He deserved it after helping her out over the past week, and she hoped he found a bit of fun tonight.

Lifting the bags in the air slightly, he grinned at her. “Well, you ready for your party?”

She stepped to the side, allowing him to enter. “My party? When did this become my party?”

“When Damien said let’s get everyone together so you can meet them,” Jake said as he walked through her apartment to the kitchen and set the bags down. “You’re the reason everyone is coming over.”

She shook her head. “I kind of think they’d find another excuse just to get together and drink,” she said with a soft giggle. “After what you’ve told me of your friend, and how eager he was to throw this little get-together, I could see him saying it’s Tuesday, let’s party.”

Jake chuckled, turning to face her. “Well, I won’t say you’re wrong exactly, even though today is Saturday, and most people party at least a little on the weekend.”

“Uh huh.” Valerie simply shook her head as she moved to grab a couple of glasses from one of the boxes they carried in earlier. She grabbed one for both of them before turning back to her brother. “Any idea how many people to expect?”

Jake shrugged, his lips downturned a little. “I have no idea, to be honest. With Damien, you can never tell. It could be a handful or the whole damn roof could be full of people.”

“Great,” she sighed. “I would have rather edged into this slowly, but I suppose no time like the present. You ready?”

“Always ready for a party,” her brother said as he grabbed the bags again. “Lead the way. The stairs to the roof are toward the back of the hall once we reach Damien’s floor.”

She just nodded as she grabbed the glasses and headed for her front door.

As they reached the stairs leading to the roof, they could already hear the music playing. The party had started, and seemed to be in rare form. She opened the door, holding it for her brother since his hands were full, and then stood to the side a moment to take it all in. The roof was empty except for some chairs and benches along the edges, a couple of tables with umbrellas to protect from the heat, and a few plants that appeared in desperate need of watering scattered about. A foldout table sat near one of the walls, already full of finger foods and drinks with a cooler of ice tucked underneath. As Valerie followed Jake over to the table, she noticed about fifteen people scattered about, most with drinks in hand as they talked in small groups.

Holly noticed her first, her eyes going wide a little as she left whoever she was talking to and made her way over to Valerie and Jake. “I’m glad you made it,” the small redhead said. “I was worried you would have worn yourself out bringing your things upstairs. Sorry we didn’t lend a hand, but once Damien got this party in his head, it was full force ahead. That man does nothing small.”

“Jake! Val!” the familiar voice rang out.

As Valerie turned, she noticed Damien crossing the roof toward them, his arms already out as he raked her with his hungry gaze. The look he gave her made Valerie’s sex throb as she sucked in a slight breath. She couldn’t believe he would look at her this way with his girlfriend standing right there. As soon as he reached them, he wrapped his arms around Valerie and squeezed her tightly, smashing her breasts into his chest and almost taking the breath out of her as his hands fell to just above her ass.

Valerie worried Holly would get upset over such an intimate embrace as he just gave her, but the other woman merely laughed, shaking her head as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Valerie smiled as Damien released her, his hand grazing the top of her ass as he pulled away to hug Jake with hard pats on her brother’s back. “Good to see you both,” the man said as he stepped back from Jake. “Holly here worried you would be too tired to make it, but I assured her Jake Dreyer never misses a party.”

Jake chuckled, giving Holly a sheepish shrug. “What can I say? I know how this man likes to have fun and didn’t want to miss it.”

“Come on, let’s get you a drink,” Holly said as she moved over to Valerie, wrapping an arm around her, and leading her to the drink table.

Once she had a drink in hand, Holly took Valerie on a tour of the roof, introducing her to everyone. Most were names she would more than likely forget the first few times, but everyone seemed nice enough and welcomed her to the neighborhood. “And here is Nick Mason,” Holly said as she pointed to a tall, dark-haired man holding a glass of whiskey. “He works at the college in their humanities department.”

The man smiled as he reached out and took Valerie’s hand in his, shaking it. “Pleased to meet you. Damien said you’d be joining us in the literature wing. I’m looking forward to working with you. If you have any questions, please, just let me know. I’d be more than happy to give you a tour of the campus.” As he said it, he dropped his gaze to the tops of her breast, and his smile grew a little more salacious before he glanced back up into her eyes.

A tremor went through Valerie’s body as she felt the blush warm her cheeks. “Thank you. That would be nice.”

Nick just dipped his head slightly as Holly ushered Valerie away.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Holly giggled, leaning into Valerie a little. “That man has a reputation on campus from what Damien said. He loves giving his personal tours to all the female students, but most of the time, they never leave his office once the door is closed and locked. I think someone even stole one of those Do Not Disturb signs from a hotel and hung it on the man’s door. He just laughed it off but never removed it.” She shook her head. “Just be careful if you take him up on his offer.”

As they neared two other women, Valerie could hear them giggling as they whispered to each other, their eyes wide with dirty secrets.

“What are you two all giddy about?” Holly asked as she drew closer. “Missy, Brie, this is Valerie Tanner. She just moved into the second floor today and will be starting at the college Monday. Val, these two are devious little wenches, so be forewarned if you ever hit the bars with them.” She turned back to the other two. “Now, what’s all the giggling about.”

“I was just telling Brie what Ethan made Sally do Friday night,” Missy said, grinning from ear to ear as she glanced around to make sure no one else was watching them.

“Oh?” Holly leaned in closer, her grin growing. “Do tell. What was it this time?”

Valerie stared at all of them for a moment, shocked that they would find a man making another woman do anything funny.

“He took her out to buy some new underwear,” Missy said. “And then he made her go in to try them on, but he told her to leave the dressing room door slightly ajar. She had to strip completely to try things on, and anyone who walked by could see her.”

“Oh, my god,” Holly said, her eyes going wide as she covered her mouth with her hand. “That’s so evil.”

“That’s not even the worst part,” Missy continued. “He called most of the guys to tell them what he was doing. There were more men in that store than women.”

The other ladies just laughed as Missy finished the story.

Valerie could only stand there and stare. “And she did this willingly?”

“Oh, honey, Sally does a lot of things willingly,” Holly said, placing her hand on Valerie’s arm for a moment. “She’ll say she hates to do things, but that’s because her parents taught her they were wrong. But that’s why she has Ethan. He takes her to different towns and makes her do the things she says she doesn’t want to do.”

“But if she doesn’t want to do them, why does she…well…do them?” Valerie didn’t get it at all. Seemed like the woman was being forced to do things against her will.

“Because she’s already told Ethan she truly wants to do them but can’t push past the guilt that comes with her upbringing,” Missy said with a shrug. “She likes to be the little slut but has to be told to do it.” She waved off the rest of the explanation. “All I know is everyone gets a kick out of what those two do.”

“Everyone knows?” Valerie still couldn’t believe the depravity of what she was hearing. Who were these people she was suddenly letting into her life?

“Not only do they know, but everyone gives Ethan ideas,” Brie said. “Hell, you should hear what they’re out doing tonight.”