Page 97 of Protect Me
Vikram.
Kiss.
Ohmygoshwhatjusthappened.
The shock ran through me in waves. Gradually, at first, then in greater, spreading ripples that I couldn’t justify away. This hadn’t been a dream. Vikram reallycaredabout me, just like Vini said.
She’d never let us forget it, either.
A giddy laugh bubbled out of me, like a lovestruck high-school girl whose dreams had just come true. Wasn’t that perfect, though? It’s exactly what happened. The frightened, teenage Kate inside just received her heart’s desire.
The kiss replayed back through my lips in a wave of heat. The play of his hands on my body. He sat next to me while we ate, both of us contemplative. His hands didn’t leave me the whole time. Always on my skin, my body. The tenderness of his touch sent a cascade of warmth through me now.
For the tenth time, I looked at the clock.
Two more hours.
The urge to be near him, to reaffirm what we’d spoken over stolen time at lunch, agitated me. Too soon after the declarations had been made, Vikram had to return to work. The sushi had been cleared away, a lingering kiss exchanged, tepid, but sincere. The distance to thinkwas welcome but also loathed.
Soon, I’d want confirmation. The whole day felt like racing fire. A match lit, the blaze begun.
No going back.
With a muttered swear word, I shoved off the couch and stalked to the closet, where the vacuum awaited. An interminable two hours to kill before he returned home. I could call Vini and tell her everything—she’d exclaim over it the whole two hours if I let her—but I wouldn’t. This fledgling, precious thing belonged to me and Vik for now. A fragile bubble to hold, extended between our hearts, until we had truly figured it out.
History lay in between us like a bulkhead, and I needed to understand what it meant that he cared now. That I cared ever since we’d met. Did such a thing build us together stronger, or work against us? We flowed together in life so easily, it was like twirling stars. I couldn’t imagine our power fading.
With a bolt of inspiration, I reached for my car keys and my phone. A quick text message to Bethany accompanied me out the door.
Katelyn:Thanks for the help! I don’t think I’ll need the showing anymore :)
With two hours left, I knew exactly how to kill the time.
My retreat to Tempest Lake was intentional.
Azure skies swept me there. Fluffy clouds. Twittering birds. The gentle hum of the mountains, which was really no sound at all. Gravel ground beneath my shoe as I stepped into the parking lot, drew in a deep breath, and cast my gaze around.
No one else.
A prickle deep in my chest warned me that rules existed for a reason. Blatantly ignoring them out of sheer euphoria was foolish, at best. Years of structure couldn’t just be erased, they told me.
You’re right,I said.But there is also life to live, and safety to create away from hiding.
My hand went to my pocket, where I still carried my can of pepper spray. My phone lay in my other hand.
I had this.
I ignored their apprehensive cries.
With a backpack full of snacks, water, a change of clothes, and a towel, I set onto the trail. Bushes and trees trapped the heat in a lush stretch as I wound through the forest. Without Vikram to share my exclamations, the still-wondrous experience rang empty. The rough brown mushrooms. Deer prints. Sticks that formed an arrow pointing down the trail, no doubt set there by some clever hiker.
Fun.
But not fantastic.
The sunshine left a persuasive kiss on my skin as I approached the lake. At the edge, I stopped, closed my eyes, and pulled in a deep breath. For years I’d been by myself at times, but never wild. Weeks sometimes passed where I hid away from the world, attempting to recover my courage.
Today, fears didn’t accompany my solo jaunt into the world. They didn’t follow me here. What Timothy did to me had been a violent tragedy, but it wasn’t the sum of me. Though I’d long ago reconciled to the fact that it wasn’t my fault he attacked me, the truth hadn’t really settled until now.
