Page 33 of Protect Me
Twilight sparkled when I pulled up to Vikram’s townhouse.
My hand trembled as I shoved the car into park. I should have texted him to confirm I could still stay. Let him know I was on my way. After turning the key in to Teddy and doing one last sweep of the little space, though, I’d run out of courage.
I just drove.
Now, I sat in my car, out of place, conspicuous, and desperate to get inside. Rule #4 sped through my mind—don’t go anywhere new alone.
Well, this wasn’t exactly a new place.
It just felt like it.
I swallowed hard.
“C’mon, Kate,” I muttered. “You can do this.”
With the last gust of bravery I had, I shoved the car door open. Vini always said that the most important step into a better life was the next one. To think of the step ahead or behind would only distract. I clung to her wisdom, one step at a time.
I pulled my messenger bag over my shoulder as I walked up the short flight of stairs to the front door. My car lights beeped as I locked it. No sound issued from inside when I gently rapped on the door.
My heart sat in my throat, making it hard to breathe. Feet approached, then slowed. The door knob twisted and Vik’s dark eyes appeared.
His curious gaze softened into a little smile.
“Hey.”
Electricity shot all the way through my body, cracking out from my toes and back into the earth. The world shifted underneath me, and I wondered how he didn’t feel the aftershocks.
The door widened as he opened it with his left arm. He stood on both feet now, only one crutch under his left armpit. Everything about him swamped me with relief. Thoughts of homelessness and Timothy fled.
For the first time, Ifeltlike I’dcome home.
With a tilt of his head, he said, “Come on in, Kate. I’ve got everything ready for you.”
ChapterTen
VIKRAM
Katelyn reminded me of a cornered rabbit.
Darting.
Quick.
Suspicious. Frail, but tenacious.
Together, we unpacked her car in a few trips. I carried a clothes bag, a laundry basket, and a few other smaller things she’d stashed into the passenger seat with my right arm while I hobbled with my left crutch. The injured knee took the weight I offered it. Kate carefully lugged boxes behind her into my living room while I shoved dinner onto a back burner and grabbed a few extra bags in the back seat.
After she looked through her car and came inside, she closed the door. Thesnickof the lock closing behind her startled me, but when I looked over, she was slipping out of her shoes. Her hand fidgeted with the end of her sleeve.
“Come on. I’ll show you the room in the back.”
Out of instinct, I grabbed her arm to tug her toward the hallway on the right. She immediately resisted, body tightening. Without missing a beat, I let go and chattered about dinner, as if nothing awkward had happened.
Amma always told me I was too touchy by half. It was one of my greatest issues in high school. Girls misinterpreted my attention all the time, and I rarely meant it as seriously as it might have come across.
Still, Kate’s response was . . . interesting.
“Your room is down here, right next to mine. We’ll have to share the bathroom, if you’re okay with that. You’ll take the room on the right, I have the left.”
