Page 10 of Protect Me
“Sure.”
“Are you going to stay?”
“Yes?”
He eyed me. I met the challenge in his stare. Old Katelyn would have cowered. Dropped his gaze, fumbled for a reply.
I wasn’t that girl anymore.
“Do you want me to?” I asked.
He grumbled. “Sure.”
“Then I’ll stay.”
He settled at the table, blinking as if he still was coming out of a haze. Micro grimaces appeared in the twitch of his lips, a ruffle of nose. My stomach clenched, more affected by his pain than I wanted to admit.
When he broke his arm in middle school, he’d walked around for days with his teeth clenched. I felt sick to my stomach the whole time. Vinita and I had stayed far away while he prowled around, surly and snappish. He never frightened me, but I hated the agony in his expression. Couldn’t stand the thought of not fixing his broken parts.
Unsure of what to do next, I headed back to the sink.
“So,” he drawled, sounding so much like the Vikram I once knew that it turned my blood cold. “Vinita sent you.”
I kept my back to him.
“She’s worried.”
“I didn’t know you were in the area.”
“I moved back to Pineville a few months ago.”
“Didn’t like Jackson City?”
I shrugged, “Kind of busy. Touristy. Wanted something a little more quiet.”
And a little more mine,I silently added.
“I work at the coffee shop.”
“You like it?”
“A lot.”
I reached for a towel and grabbed a glass that was drying on the counter. Seemed easier not to address the deeper question there. The one that saidwhy would you live here?
Or maybe it said something else.
“Thank you.”
He said it so quietly I thought I might have imagined it. I paused, set the glass down, and turned to face him. He stared at me from beneath a heavy brow.
“Sure.”
Before I turned back to the dishes—and tried to remember my plan to get out of here—he attempted to stand. In three steps, I stood in front of him, blocking his way.
“What do you need?”
He growled.
