by Day, Laura
“Yes, Yes!” Ivy cried out as he thrust into her and he sped up as she moaned and grabbed his legs and pushed back against him. “I’m so close,” Ivy whispered as pleasure poured through her body. She grabbed onto Blake and held him close as one final thrust pushed her over the edge and she came screaming his name over and over again.
They collapsed in a pile in the bed. Ivy’s heart began to slow down as the buzzing in her veins stopped. Not that she would ever admit it out loud, but she could see why people had the desire to film themselves having sex. It was so passionate and it felt so good; why not preserve it for posterity. If only she and Blake had the tape instead of Darryl.
She fell asleep without realizing it. Resting in Blake’s arms feeling more comfortable and relaxed than she had in a long time.
She woke up at six-thirty to Blake’s alarm blaring. They were spooning and she had been in a deep sleep. Her eyes popped open as Blake groaned and hit the off button.
“Sorry,” he mumbled. “It’s set automatically. Go back to sleep.” He wrapped his arm around her again and she felt his warm breath on her neck as he settled down next to her. He was breathing deeply within seconds, but now that she was awake Ivy realized how badly she had to pee.
As quietly as possible she slipped out of Blake’s arms and went to the bathroom. She came out and slipped into a pair of panties and one of Blake’s t-shirt. She wandered into the living room and dug her phone of her purse. She glanced down at it and saw that she had a few missed calls and texts from unknown numbers, but she ignored those.
She checked her email, wondering if there was anything from work. But instead of clients there was an email with the subject line: To The Moon And Back. It was the same phrase from her card. It had to be from Darryl. She debated opening it, but her curiosity was peaked. Darryl had never actually suffered a punishment before. But he had spent the last few days in jail and she needed to know if it had changed him.
You think you can mess with me I will ruin you and I will ruin him just for the hell of it. End it with him or I will make sure he never sees daylight again.
Ivy looked down at the message and then at the apartment around her. Of course he was still contacting her from prison. Did she really think that prison could hold him back? Darryl loved nothing more that stalking her and ruining her life; why would he stop his favorite hobby just because he was in jail.
Chapter Thirty
Blake woke up alone. He reached over to the other side of the bed, but Ivy was gone. He could see her soft body in his mind’s eyes, the curve of her hips and breasts, her legs and arms that only a few hours ago were wrapped around him.
He pulled his head up and frowned to the empty room. Where was she? He stood up and pulled on a pair of boxers and walked out into the living room. Ivy was standing there fully dressed staring out the window.
“Hey, it’s still early. Come back to bed,” Blake said.
“I think I should go,” Ivy said turning around to face him. She wasn’t crying. She looked at him, her face void of any emotion.
Blake looked at her in confusion, “go where?”
“Home. I don’t think we should do this anymore.” Blake started to speak, but now she was the one talking over him. “I know what you’re going to say Blake and part of me agrees with you. But this relationship has been rocky from the start. Our parents are getting married and we’re going to be stepsiblings. Now you’ve been arrested and you can’t fight. This feels like the universe is giving signs that you and I shouldn’t be together.”
What was she saying? Where was this coming from? Blake didn’t know what to do or what to say. “Is that how this looks to you? What about all the good stuff, Ivy? What about the good memories we’ve made in the last few days? Do those not count anymore? Are they not part of the universe’s plan?” Ivy shook her head. She grabbed her purse from a chair and moved towards the door, but Blake blocked her. “What’s going on?”
“I can’t do this anymore,” Ivy whispered looking up at him. Her jaw was shaking a little and he could feel the tears she was holding back. But she was determined to stay strong. “My job might be over; this is just too much. I’m sorry. I’ll help you with the interviews and stuff tomorrow, but we’ll have to tell them that we’re just friends. Blake, I’m sorry, it’s just...after what happened I don’t see how we can be together. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I got you into this much trouble.”
She tried to move past her but he just took the same step and continued to block her. He needed to keep her here in this apartment. He needed to find out where this was coming from. Had something happened? Was it possible she was really ending this without a reason?
“Please let me leave, Blake,” Ivy said. She wasn’t looking at him. What was he going to do, keep her there against her will? If she wanted to leave there was nothing he could do to keep her.
He stepped away from her and said, “Ivy, don’t go. Tell me what’s wrong. Let me help you.”
“You helping me is how we got into this whole mess,” Ivy said with a smile. She looked over her shoulder at him. She took a deep breath and then said, “I’ll talk to you later, Blake.” The door opened and closed and she was gone.
Blake was stunned. He couldn’t move or think. What had just happened? Had he really just lost everything? Just like that.
He loved Ivy, so how could he let her walk out the door? He should have fought for her, should have begged her to stay. Would that have helped, he had no idea. But it might have helped. He stared at the door as if he expected her to walk through it any minute.
Finally, he moved. His legs took him over to the couch where he slumped down and put his head in his hands. He had lost everything: his sponsors, the chance to fight, the woman of his dreams. With a punch to a rich prick’s face Blake’s whole life had come apart and he had no idea how to put it back together.
He had left his phone on the coffee table the night before and it buzzed as he sat on his couch. Blake sighed, and reached for the phone hoping it was Ivy telling him she had a momentary episode of insanity, but she was feel much better and was on her way over. But it wasn’t that. It was a text message from Tim.
“Blake, is this you?”
Blake opened the message and saw that there was a short video file attached. He pressed pay and watched as the grainy footage came to life. It was taken with night vision so everything was tinged with green. It took him a second to realize he was looking at his own bedroom.
Blake’s heart stopped in his chest and cold flooded his body. The sounds of a woman in pleasure filled his empty apartment. But it wasn’t any woman’s voice. It was Ivy’s. Blake looked in horror at the screen as he watched the events of the other night, the result of his and Ivy’s card game.
He was fucking her against his dresser and she was screaming the word yes.
“Where did you get that?” Blake demanded the moment Tim answered the phone.
“It was sent to me about twenty minutes ago,” Tim said. “It’s been posted online to PornHub. Is it you in the video? Is there any chance it’s a lookalike?”
“It’s me, but I didn’t take it.”
“Darryl did,” Tim finished. “Listen, Blake, I’ll call PornHub and get them to take it down, but that’s a stopgap measure at best. It’s online now. People have a copy; they’ve saved it to their computers. There’s no taking it back.”
“How many people have seen it?” Blake asked.
“As of last count the original has over two hundred thousand views. And five stars, if that’s any consolation.”
“Two hundred thousand views?!” Blake demanded.
“And five stars.”
“Get it down, Tim. I didn't consent to it and neither did Ivy. I want that made very clear. But don’t say Ivy! I don’t want people knowing it’s her.”
“I don’t think it will take people long to figure out who the other person is.”
“Just deal with it,” Blake said. He hung up the phone and tossed it
onto his couch.
How was he going to tell Ivy? How was he going to break the news that their most intimate moment together had been broadcasted online for anyone to see?
Chapter Thirty-One
Ivy dropped her purse onto her couch and slumped down next to it. She put her feet up on her coffee table and stared off mindlessly into space. She had no idea what to do with herself. But she wanted to do something. Darryl had been chipping away at her life for too long and she was ready to do something about it. He had started with little things, strange phone calls and gifts and Ivy thought she could handle it. It got worse, vague threats and personal visits to her apartment, and she thought she could handle that. But the list of things he was capable of just kept growing and she wasn’t sure she could handle it anymore. He had involved Blake. That was the breaking point. It wasn’t just her and Darryl anymore; Blake was stuck in this mess now, too. She was like that little boy with his finger in the dyke. Darryl was constantly creating new holes and she was running out of ways to stop the coming flood.
Ivy put her head in her hands and sighed. She didn’t know if leaving Blake’s had been the right move or not, but it was important for her to try to minimize the damage Darryl did to the people she loved. She didn’t know any other way to protect him other than leaving him. It had been Darryl’s order, but Ivy’s decision. She wasn’t happy, though, and she wasn’t sure if it had been the right thing to do.
There was a knock on her door. Ivy sat up straight and looked over towards the white solid wood of her door. Darryl was still in jail; she was sure of that. But she knew he didn’t work alone. He had friends who provided alibis and other friends who sometimes did his dirty work for him. They weren't friends, really; Darryl obviously had no friends. They were people he paid. So it might be one of his employees at the door.
Ivy took a deep breath and walked the short distance between her couch and her door, her treading quietly over the hardwood floors. She looked through the peephole. But it wasn’t Darryl standing there. It was her father. Confused and wondering if she should have been expecting him, Ivy quickly opened the door, but the face that greeted her wasn’t a pleasant one.
Jonas looked haggard. His thin hair was messy on his head and there was dark, heavy bags under his eyes. His clothes were wrinkled and the lines on his older face seemed to stand out more than they usually did. But what struck Ivy the most was that he looked unhappy. Normally anytime she saw her father he had a smile spread from ear to ear. He was always so happy just seeing her, but this was different. He looked miserable.
“Dad,” Ivy said. “Is everything okay? Where’s Ellen?”
“Ellen is with Blake,” Jonas said. Ivy moved aside to let him in. Jonas moved slowly and delicately, as if the act of walking was painful. He was wearing a scarf and he slipped it off from around his neck and then sat down on the couch still in his coat. He didn’t say anything else. He just sat there and stared off into space, the same thing Ivy had been doing only moments before.
“Is everything all right?” Ivy asked as she closed and locked the door and walked over to the couch to join him. She sat down next to him leaving a space between them. Something about her father was off and wrong. She had never seen him like this before. Normally he was jovial and sweet and always smiling. But, now, it was as if there was a heavy cloud hanging over his head.
“Blake’s arrest has been all over the news. Everyone is waiting for his statement. I saw the footage of the two of you leaving the courthouse.” His voice was low and even and he refused to look at Ivy. “Some reports are suggesting that you and he have a romantic relationship. Is that true?”
“Yes,” Ivy said. In the instant before she spoke that word she went through about a million possibilities of what she could say. She could have lied. She could have tried to buy herself some time with half-truths and empty words. But, the truth was, she was in a relationship with Blake. She loved him, more than she had ever loved anyone else. She knew in that instant that if she couldn’t be with Blake, she would never be with anyone. She would rather be alone.
“But now that Ellen and I are engaged the two of you are calling it off, right?” Jonas asked.
Ivy didn’t say anything. She stood up and slipped her hands into the pocket of her jeans and looked at the floor as she debated what to say. “We...it actually started recently and we wanted to see where it could go. You know how close he and I were back in high school.”
“Yes, back in high school when you were both kids, but you’re older now. I thought you had learned your lesson about Blake. He broke your heart in high school, if you remember.”
“I do remember. But he’s different now and so am I, and, at the same time, we’re exactly the same. We’re really good together, Dad. There’s no other way I can explain it.”
“Ellen and I are getting married.”
“I know.”
“That will make you and Blake stepsiblings.”
“I know,” Ivy said. Her voice was barely above a whisper and even though she and Jonas were in the same room and having a conversation, neither could look at the other.
“And you’re okay with that?” Jonas demanded and Ivy could hear the tinge of disgust in his voice.
“I wish it could be different. But it is what it is. I don’t want you and Ellen to break up-”
“So you and Blake need to end it,” Jonas said interrupting her. “Ellen and I want to spend the rest of our lives with each other. We are in a serious, committed relationship. You and Blake are just fooling around. I’m asking you to end it, Ivy.”
“We’re not just fooling around,” Ivy countered. “Blake loves me. He protects me and he’s good to me. We’re serious about our relationship, too. I had my doubts, Dad, but Blake doesn’t think the stepsibling thing is a big deal. He and I are both adults and we weren't raised together. It’s not as weird as it sounds.”
“I have reputation in town, Ivy,” Jonas said. He was twisting his scarf around in his hands, rolling it between his fingers and stretching it out. He finally looked up at her and continued, “The hardware store only does well because the people of the town support me. If this rumor were to start going around it could ruin my business and my marriage to Ellen. Can’t you see that? Can’t you see how wrong this is? And what happens when you and Blake inevitably split up, which you will? Are you still going to be able to stand each other during holidays? What if you have children? Your kids would have one set of grandparents between them.”
“They would only have one set because my mom is dead and Blake’s dad is a deadbeat who he hasn’t heard from since he was six. Why are you making this so hard? I thought you wanted me to be happy. I am happy with Blake.”
“What about my happiness, Ivy?” Jonas demanded and his words were like slap to Ivy.
“Of course I care about your happiness. But can’t we both be happy?”
“Maybe you can, but I can’t. I’m not okay with this. I don’t approve of this relationship and I think you should end it. Until you do, I think I might need some space.” He looked at Ivy who looked back at him shocked. Was her own father asking her for space? Did he really not want anything to do with her because she was dating Blake? Who was this man and what had he done with her kind and loving father?
“Dad, don’t do this. I don't like the fact that Blake and I are almost stepsiblings. It’s not something I want, but our feelings for each other are so strong that I can’t ignore them. I deserve to see what they are and see where they go.”
“Didn’t you already do that in high school?” Jonas demanded. “You were together, he broke your heart, you missed prom. Why on earth would you want to do that again?”
“Because it’s different this time. He’s different. I’m different. We’re both older and more mature. We love each other.”
Jonas stood and looked at Ivy. “I’ve made my feelings on this matter clear,” he said and then he started walking to the door.
Ivy watched his movements;
she had never been more confused in her entire life. Where was this coming from and how could she fix it? But then something else bubbled up inside of her. Some long dormant aspect of her teenage rebelliousness snuck up and out of her subconscious and she wasn't confused anymore; she was mad.
Her father couldn’t tell her who to date. She wasn’t living in his house. She didn’t rely on his money. There was nothing he had to offer except his love and support. He was holding those things hostage and forcing Ivy to choose between him and Blake. In a lot of ways, it reminded her of Darryl. Both men were trying to control who she was with, but she wasn’t going to let them do it.
Ivy crossed her arms over her chest and moved aside so her father could leave. She didn’t say anything. She knew the moment he left she was going to grab her phone and call Blake. She should have ignored Darryl. She should never have given into her demands. People were trying to tear her and Blake apart and if she didn’t stand firm against them they would win.