The hands that gripped Grace's waist felt wrong, like they didn't belong.

She looked down at the man whom she was riding, and wished that he were someone else.

"God, I missed you." He groaned.

She liked the sounds of Josiah's groans better.

His thrusts upward were weak, like she were made of porcelain.

Grace preferred when it felt like Josiah's dick would break her in half.

Staring at the headboard, she tried to pretend that the man was someone else, except he wouldn't stop talking.

Not the sex talk she'd grown to love over the past few weeks, but 'I love yous' and 'I missed yous' .

She hated it.

So she decided to fake it and end this misery.

"Mmmm." Grace moaned, knowing Jaxon didn't know the difference between an orgasm and an orange.

"You're so beautiful."

He can't even make me have a fake orgasm. Grace thought, What the fuck is my life?

She squeezed her eyes closed and placed her hands on his chest, grinding slowly against him like she knew he liked.

Within the next minute or so, Jaxon came, pulling Grace into his chest, "Wow. You make the trip home worth it."

"Happy to help." She replied sarcastically as she climbed off of him, and reached for her clothes on the floor, "I think I'm gonna go home."

"Already? It hasn't even been that long."

Grace had actually been there for almost a week and was having withdrawals.

From Josiah of course.

It's hard to go from having sex with someone about five days a week for three weeks, to returning to...

Whatever the hell this was because it wasn't sex.

"Yeah my mom wants me back." She lied.

That was easier to believe than saying Isiah, as they both knew he likely didn't care where she was.

Jaxon's eyebrows creased in disappointment, "I wish we had more time."

"So do I. You'll be back next month though right?"

Grace wouldn't say Jaxon was her boyfriend, she'd say he was a friend with whom she had mediocre sex, and occasionally said 'I love you' to.

He was a great person, which was why she didn't have it in her to tell him that he wasn't what she wanted.

So he went to school, came home every month, and she pretended to be in love with him.

Selfishly, Grace kept him around because he was doting, catering to whatever she wanted and it made her feel loved.

One reason she didn't care when Josiah said he wasn't shit.

They were one in the same.

• • •

Isiah stared at Grace with a look of anger, "I'm unable to understand why you would feel the need to not only take those, but also send that shit to the people who works in my office."

Her eyes remained on the counter, not exactly knowing what to say in response to her father's question after she'd already told him the truth and he didn't believe her.

The truth was that she didn't send it to anybody.

Grace wasn't dumb enough to send nudes to anybody in this age of exposure. She was however dumb enough to lose her phone when she and Haiden went out the night before Jaxon came home.

It was Haiden's idea, and since she her boyfriend had just broken up with her, Grace agreed.

She didn't even know it was that serious since she'd never met him, but Haiden was beyond upset about it.

Grace chalked losing her phone up as a loss when she used the Find my iPhone feature and still couldn't figure out where it was. Fast forward to today, and whoever it was that took it, sent a mass email to Isiah's office, him telling her as soon she came into the house.

It was still a mystery as to how they got the email list since she didn't even have it, but more of a mystery as to why somebody would do that.

Isiah sighed and ran a hand over his face, while looking at Celina who was quietly cutting vegetables, "Does your daughter feel the need to take completely naked pictures of herself and send them out?"

"Celina pays her fucking daughter some attention." Mason spat angrily, "I hope that bullshit company goes bankrupt."

"And then what will you do Mason? That bullshit company is what keeps you living in this house! That bullshit company is why you can afford to put that shit up your fucking nose!"

Grace watched as Mason's hands clenched in anger, "Fuck you."

"You're both ungrateful." Isiah spoke through gritted teeth, "I don't ask you to do a goddamn thing and you don't even respect me in my own home!"

"What's to respect?" Grace chimed in, not about to let him take his anger out on Mason when he hadn't done anything, "You're never here, and when you are, you're in your office. You might as well move to the company."

"Do you realize that you're both are adults? A man and a woman, upset because I provide for my family while they do nothing? Would you rather live like that fucking bum Grace continues to bring into my house?"

Of course the bum he was referring to was Josiah, having seen him on the camera on multiple occasions.

Grace knew that when she brought him here.

Celina knew who he meant as well, and she had to bite her tongue to keep from losing her job in the moment.

"Get a job." Isiah continued, "Go to school. Do something commendable."

"Grace got into Columbia and you didn't give a flying fuck."

Whenever Mason and his father argued, it was rarely over anything between them, but because Mason was defending his sister.

And Isiah couldn't stand it.

"I heard when she told me. Should I have thrown a party? She hadn't even attended the first day."

With a sigh, Grace stood up, "Mase I'm going to meet Haiden."

"Thank you for telling me Grace. I care about you and what you're doing."

Isiah shook his head, "Celina I won't be here for dinner. There's no need to set me a plate."

As if anyone were surprised

• • •

Once she finished telling her about the nudes mishap, Haiden sat stoically listening to Grace tell her about Josiah.

She waited patiently until she was done to ask the one question she had been thinking the whole time, "You're fucking the help?"

It bothered Grace that Haiden referred to him as the help, but Haiden was, and always had been, rude.

"He's not the help."

"Didn't you say you met him at Isiah's party? Cleaning? Sounds like help to me."

"He has a job." she replied, feeling herself grow angry, "Who gives a fuck what it is?"

Haiden knew Grace well enough to know when she was getting irritated, still she kept going, "You should. It won't be worth it in the long run."

"What long run Haiden? We fuck, and that's all."

"Well as long as you know. How's everything else?"

She was attempting a subject change, but the mood was ruined for Grace and she now wanted to leave.

"I'm about to go actually." Grace said as she stood up, "We can talk later."

Haiden was looking at her phone by then, responding to a message, "That's fine. I'm about to go too."

As soon as Haiden finished that message, she was in touch with one of her 'friends' to ask about Josiah, a 24 year old man from Brooklyn.

Later on, she found out exactly what happened to make Josiah want to forget that night for the rest of his life.

_______

question: are you guys enjoying this book? i'm getting vibes that you're..... not lol. i'd rlly like to know what you're thinking.

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