He hung up and moved towards the back of Seton and Lee where he knew the others were. “Tucker,” Keith called. “I need a word with you.”
“Keith,” Tucker said moving forward. “When did you get here?”
“Just pulled in,” Keith replied dismissively. “You spoke to Kristina today before she left?”
The smile on Tucker’s face faltered slightly. “Yeah… why… what’s wrong?”
“She was followed on her way back home.”
Tucker lost his smile completely. “Fuck,” he said, understanding the situation immediately. “You think Kovic’s trailing her?”
“One of the Chains certainly is,” Keith nodded. “And if that’s the case, it’s by Kovic’s orders.”
“Fuck,” Tucker said again. “But why Kristina? She’s a cute girl, but she has nothing to do with our business. She’s completely removed from it.”
Keith felt his face grow hot with guilt. She didn’t have anything to do with the Dragons or the gang wars, but she had been dragged into it nonetheless, purely because of her involvement with him. It was the same thing that had happened with Natalie, but this was worse because, this time, Keith knew better. He knew better and he had still allowed it to happen.
“Are your families’ protected?” Keith asked, sidestepping Tucker’s question.
“Everyone here who has a family has them looked after,” Tucker said.
“Good,” Keith nodded. “I’ve got to go now. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
Tucker nodded in confusion, but he waved him off without another word. Keith took off in the direction of the campus, and while he was riding there, he realized how familiar the route had become. It was second nature now; he didn’t even have to think about it. He left his bike outside Kristina’s building and walked in the direction of the building she had named. The campus was filled with signs and it was easy enough to find.
As Keith walked through the paved campus streets, he looked around, observing his surroundings with more focus than he would normally use. He was not unaware of the stares and glances he received. Women looked at him with curiosity and lust in their eyes, and the men had the wide-eyed suspicion of the intimidated written all over their faces. On another day Keith would have been amused by that, he might have even flirted with some of the women or shot threatening stares at some of the guys, but he had no patience for any of that on this day.
His thoughts were preoccupied with Kristina and her safety, and everything else just seemed unimportant. He looked around carefully trying to catch someone who didn’t belong in the throng of college students, someone who looked a lot like his kind. On the heels of that thought, Keith had to pause a moment. He was a different kind, certainly different to all the people that he had passed today. This was the world that Kristina belonged to, and at the moment, he was an intruder in it.
He waited at the steps of the building, looking up at the impressive architecture and thinking that Kristina probably knew exactly what kind of architecture it was. Keith, of course, had no idea. He had never been too keen on studying, and he hadn’t wanted to waste his life on trying to remember things he would never need in the real world. There had actually been a time when he had thought less of those who chose to pursue their education, but he was forced to see that there was a certain charm about it.
Suddenly, Keith was aware of how much he didn’t know. He wondered if that was the real reason he preferred to let Kristina talk. Perhaps it was his fear of appearing stupid in her eyes that kept him silent so often in her presence. Keith stared around him, trying to catch a face he might recognize, but there was no one around. He wondered momentarily if Kristina had imagined the incident. Then he wondered if she had made it up. Immediately, he omitted that theory. She would never make something like that up. She was not some silly little girl looking for attention. Keith was certain that if she had called him, it was because she had been genuinely shaken.
Almost an hour later, Kristina appeared at the top of the stairs. Their eyes locked on one another immediately, and Keith could tell she was happy to see him. He waited patiently while she descended the steps to join him at the bottom. She smiled at him but he could see the panic and worry in her eyes as they darted around looking for the stranger who had followed her earlier that evening.
“Is he here?” Kristina asked, almost frantically. “Did you see anyone you recognized?”
“No one,” Keith said gently, taking a step toward her. “And I’ve been here for over an hour.”
Kristina looked up at him. “You didn’t have to come so early.”
“I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t miss you.”
She smiled as her eyes softened at the gesture. “You really didn’t have to come,” she said.
“I wanted to,” Keith said shortly, fighting the urge to lean in and kiss her.
“Shall we… walk towards the dorm then?” Kristina asked uncertainly.
“Yes,” Keith nodded.
They started walking, and Keith could see Kristina scan the area, always searching and constantly watchful. “You seem shaken,” he said before he could stop himself.
As he had expected, she got defensive. “I’m not,” she said fiercely, and then her tone softened. “Well… that’s not entirely true.”
Keith smiled. “It’s ok to admit that you’re scared, you know,” he said gently. “It’s not a weakness.”
“How would you know?” Kristina asked. “You’ve probably never been scared in your entire life.”
“You’d be surprised,” Keith said softly.
Kristina was quiet for a moment. “I’m sorry,” she said in a quiet voice. “I didn’t mean to imply that you haven’t… been through things. I guess I just can’t imagine you being scared of anything.”
Keith shook his head with a small smile. “I guess I can understand that… and I’ll admit the whole point is for people to look at me and feel that way. But it’s just an illusion, Kristina. I bleed just like any other man. My scars are emotional just as much as they are physical.”
Kristina looked as though she wanted to say something but she stopped short at the last moment.
“What?” Keith asked.
“I… was just wondering… how deep those scars go?” Kristina asked.
“Deep,” Keith said after a moment.
He thought she would ask him another question, but she fell silent after that, and he didn’t press her. They reached her dorm room in silence, and he caught her staring at his bike.
“You’re lucky, you know,” Kristina said in a distant voice. “To experience that kind of freedom.”
“Freedom?” Keith repeated.
Kristina shook herself out of her reverie. “Sorry,” she said with an embarrassed smile. “I just meant… that riding must have been freeing for you, a way to get away from the world for a little bit.”
“It is,” Keith nodded. “You like it, don’t you?”
Kristina smiled. “I more than like it,” she replied. “I may actually love it.”
“I can teach you to ride one day,” Keith said without thinking, and he instantly regretted it.
“Really?” Kristina said, as her eyes lit up.
Keith felt the words dry on his tongue, as he realized that the last thing he should be doing was making promises to this woman. He glanced around at her lily-white world, removed from the muck and politics of the underworld, and he knew he didn’t belong there. More importantly, he knew she didn’t belong in his world.
“Actually… riding is dangerous,” Keith said as gently as he could manage. “It’s probably best you stay away from motorcycles anyway.”
He saw the smile drain from her face, though she tried hard to show him that she wasn’t affected by his rescinded offer. “Oh… ok,” she said weakly. She paused for a moment. “I really would like to learn,” she said quickly.
Keith looked towards her dorm room. “We’ll see,” he said evasively. “Do you have anywhere to go after this?”
<
br /> “No,” Kristina replied. “I’m done for the day.”
“Ok,” Keith nodded. “I’ll wait till you get inside.”
“You don’t have to leave,” Kristina said.
“I have a meeting to attend,” Keith said.
“Oh… ok,” Kristina said, as disappointment colored her tone. “I’m sorry for keeping you.”
“No, I wanted to come,” Keith rushed to tell her. “But I just…”
“Have to go now,” Kristina said, completing the excuse for him. “I know.”
“You’ll be ok now?” Keith asked, resisting the sudden urge to hug her.
“I’ll be fine,” Kristina nodded. “I feel silly now for calling you in the first place. I was probably just being paranoid.”
“No, I’m glad you called me.”
“He was probably just some guy taking a stroll… and I—”
“Kristina, it’s alright,” Keith hastened to assure her. “It could have been something, so it’s a good thing you called me.”
Kristina nodded slowly. “Thank you for coming.”
“Of course,” Keith replied. “If you notice anything strange, don’t hesitate to call me.”
“Ok,” Kristina nodded.
Keith turned and walked away, fighting the urge to turn back and glance at her. He got on his bike and watched as Kristina walked up the steps and disappeared inside her dorm building. Once she was well and truly inside, he started up his engine and took off back to Seton and Lee, hoping against hope that Kristina had just been paranoid and there was no one tailing her.
He felt a sense of déjà vu come on as he remembered what had happened two years ago with Kovic and Natalie. The situation was not exactly the same, but there was something about the way he felt that made the whole memory more vibrant and recent in his mind. There was a sense of impending loss, as though he knew he was about to get hurt and he had no idea how to stop it. Two years ago, he had the confidence of youth and he had never imagined that he could lose Natalie. It wasn’t until she was lying in his arms that he realized how foolish he had been to think he was invincible.
It had been at that moment that Keith had realized that being a part of the Dragons did not grant him immunity from the world. It was out there, waiting to get him, the way it had always been. The only thing that had changed was his perspective. He had believed he was safe and that had been his biggest mistake. He would not make the same mistake again.
Chapter Seventeen
Kristina
Kristina was glad to find an empty room when she got inside her dorm. She didn’t want to have to hide her feelings or mask her expressions from Marie. She just wanted the freedom of being by herself and letting her emotions hang blatantly upon her face.
She changed into shorts and a baggy t-shirt and climbed into her bed with her laptop. She started surfing the web, looking at nothing in particular, with her mind heavy with thoughts. Finally, admitting defeat, she set aside her laptop and stared at the ceiling. She hated how much Keith’s presence affected her. She noticed that he had looked a little out of place walking along the campus with her, but that meant very little to her.
What did matter to her were the looks he got from the girls who passed by them. She tried not to be bothered by that, but it was harder than she expected. His presence had gone a long way in calming her panic, so much so that she had almost believed that she had imagined the whole thing. She had a hard time picturing the man who had been following her; all she remembered was that he had been intimidatingly large and tattooed.
Now, after being in Keith’s presence, she could feel the relief of calm settle over her, and it was easier to believe that she had just been paranoid and hasty in her call to him. Silly as she might have seemed to him, Kristina didn’t regret calling Keith. She could sense somehow that he would not seek her out on his own, but she also sensed that he would not ignore her if she sought him out. Kristina was not above using that to her advantage. Her impending graduation had lit a fire underneath her, and it seemed to have burned away all of her caution and common sense.
Kristina closed her eyes and pictured Keith standing in front of her as he had done only moments ago. He had been wearing dark trousers and the usual sleeveless t-shirt that put his well-toned arms on full display. His ash blonde hair had a habit of falling onto his eyes, but they still couldn’t conceal the bright blue of his eyes. She imagined what it would have been like to walk down the same path, hand-in-hand, somehow of all things, that was the one thing she couldn’t picture.
Kristina remembered the expression on his face when she had made the assumption that he had never been scared in his life. She heard the emotion heavy in his tone when he had replied, ‘You’d be surprised.’ She had instantly regretted the assumption, but her apology didn’t do anything to convince him to confide in her. She wasn’t sure why she needed him to tell her things…that was something that you expected out of real relationships or friendships, and at the moment, Kristina wasn’t sure they had either.
The campus grew quiet as the sunset and darkness slipped in through the window. Kristina hadn’t even realized that so much time had passed; she could so easily lose herself in daydreams. She stretched her hand out and turned on her bedside lamp. Immediately, light filled the room, but she could not stop feeling lonely.
“Stop it,” she said out loud to herself. “Stop it now. He’s a passing ship. After graduation he will just be a person in your past.”
She said the words, but she could hear the doubt in her tone as she said them. Keith Lee was becoming more to her than she had ever anticipated, and it was starting to worry her. Kristina knew she had to be careful. Quite apart from the fact that she wasn’t sure she had what it took to be a part of his world, she was very sure that Keith was not interested in pursuing a relationship with her. At the moment, the only thing that held them together was the lust that stood between them. Kristina was sure that once passion had left, Keith would too.
She was busy contemplating whether or not she would allow herself to be used just to prolong her relationship with Keith when a sound crashed through her ears and she felt pin pricks of pain erupt on her skin. She wasn’t sure if she screamed, all she was aware of was her heartbeat pounding fiercely against her eardrums. Blinking carefully and removing her hands from her eyes, Kristina looked around her room. Her window had been shattered and thousands of tiny bits of glass lay scattered around her.
Breathing heavily, Kristina looked around the room and noticed the large brick that had been thrown through the window. She saw immediately that a piece of paper had been wrapped around it, held in place by a vine of string. Kristina felt the panic crash over her and the calm she had felt a moment before had vanished into thin air. She dusted off the glass on her slippers and gently eased her feet into them, making sure that there was no glass there that would cut her. Slowly, she stood up and reached for the brick.
She unwound the string and peeled the paper free from the brick. She opened it out and stared at the untidy scrawl written on the yellowing paper: ‘Do you know what happens to little girls who fuck big bikers named Keith. They die. So I’d be careful… there are monsters in the night and they’re watching you now.’
Kristina realized—once she had finished reading—that the words on the page seemed to be shaking. It was only after a moment that she realized that it was her hands that were shaking. She read the note again and then a third time. By the time she had reached her sixth read she could feel nausea threaten the back of her throat. Quickly, she glanced at the time and realized that Marie would be home soon. Quickly she stuffed the note in her bag and threw away the piece of string. Just in time, Marie opened the door and walked in. She froze when she took in the broken glass that littered their room.
“Oh my God,” she exclaimed. “What the fuck?”
“It happened a few minutes ago,” Kristina said. “Someone threw a brick through the window.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
Marie said, her voice rising two octaves. “Did you see who?”
“No,” Kristina replied. “I was in bed.”
“Oh God…”
“What?” Kristina said in a panic as she looked around. “What is it?”
“You’re bleeding,” Marie pointed out as she came closer.
Kristina looked down in the direction of Marie’s stare and realized that the side of her arm had a thin trail of blood running down. “Oh… I… it’s fine,” Kristina said distractedly. “I didn’t feel it.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Marie said. “We need to get you looked at. You could have been seriously hurt. I can’t believe anyone would do this. The kids on campus are usually not this fucked up.”
“They were probably just drunk,” Kristina suggested, hoping that Marie wouldn’t assume anyone else had anything to do with the brick. It wasn’t that she wanted to protect the people who did it; she just knew that if she told Marie the truth, Keith would get the blame.
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