I shook my head and sat down in the black leather high-backed chair that sat across from the pastor’s desk. But instead of going to sit behind his desk, Pastor Keenan sat down in the chair beside me. Then he leaned back and smiled as he studied me.
“You will definitely be well received here. I imagine my daughter will be up here soon enough when she hears about you.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that. I wasn’t sure I wanted to meet his daughter.
KRIT
I had been stopped outside Blythe’s apartment staring at her door for at least five full minutes. Since the night of the party, I had avoided her. Not sure why, because it wasn’t like she was one of those females I had to avoid. She never knocked on my door or made any attempt at contact at all.
Secretly, I had been hoping she’d show up at my door all on her own if just to thank me for the iPod and earbuds I’d left her. Not that she had needed them this week. I had moved all parties to Matty’s place. Blythe, however, never showed up. Not even in passing. So maybe I hadn’t been avoiding her. Maybe she had been avoiding me.
And why the f**k did I give a shit?
“I’m not there.” Blythe’s voice filled the hallway, and I jerked my gaze from her door to find her standing at the top of the stairs.
Holy hell, she had on tight jeans with a pair of f**king pink heels. I let the image of her legs showcased in the jeans burn a spot in my memory as I trailed my gaze up them slowly. The clingy material of her shirt was cut in a modest enough style, but damn, it hinted at the body underneath.
“I haven’t seen you all week.” Her voice sounded nervous. “I wanted to thank you for the iPod. You didn’t have to do that.”
I mentally slapped myself and focused on her face and the words coming out of her mouth. She wasn’t like normal girls. She was shy and unsure of herself. I had to remember that or I’d scare her away. Not that I could do anything with her. She would be too fragile for me.
“Uh, yeah, I did. Now I won’t feel like an ass when we have a party,” I replied with a smirk.
She grinned and reached up to tuck a strand of her long silky dark brown hair behind her ear. That hair was fascinating. As if she needed one more attractive feature on her already-perfect body. “I appreciate it. I really do. I started my classes today, so studying will soon be of extreme importance.”
She moved toward her door and unlocked it before glancing back at me. I wasn’t ready to let her disappear inside just yet. She was more comfortable talking to me today. I was suddenly curious. I wanted to hear more about her.
“Would you like some coffee?” she asked as she opened the door.
“Yeah, I’d love some,” I replied, thankful for a reason not to leave.
She smiled at me, and I swear to God, the entire world around her lit up. How the f**k was this girl alone? Where was the man hovering over her and protecting her from every bad thing that came near her? She was too f**king unreal. Did her family think it was smart to just send her off like this? Were they idiots?
She slipped the backpack off her shoulder and dropped it onto her sofa. In a week she had made the place feel warm and inviting. There wasn’t a lot of fussy shit around, and there were no pictures of her with friends or family, which was odd. Wasn’t that, like, a girl thing?
“How did your classes go?” I asked, knowing if I didn’t control the conversation, we would stand there in silence. Another thing I wasn’t used to with girls. Normally, they talked my f**king ear off.
She filled the coffeepot with water then glanced up at me. “Good, but I wasn’t worried about these two courses. Wednesday, I have to face Fundamentals of Public Speaking, and, well . . .” She trailed off.
The pink color in her cheeks was enough. I knew what she meant. She didn’t like attention on her. I had seen that myself at my party. But damn, how did she manage to get this far in life without being the center of attention wherever she went? “You baffle me,” I said. “You don’t want attention.” I let my eyes trail back down to her legs in those jeans and heels, and my blood pumped harder just thinking about those legs and the things I could do with them. “Yet you have got to be used to drawing attention.”
I lifted my gaze back up to see her face as she turned away from me and stared out the window instead.
“I’m working on blending in and hoping people will let me be,” she replied
The pain in her voice didn’t sit well with me. Had someone hurt her? And if someone had, who the f**k were they and how could they do anything to hurt someone so incredibly vulnerable and sweet?
There should be a dad or older brother or boyfriend making sure no one ever mistreated her. But I had seen no one with her or near her since she moved in. Why the hell was that? I didn’t know her family, but I decided that I really didn’t like them.
“Blythe,” I said, liking just a little too much the way her name rolled across my tongue.
She turned her head to look at me. “Yes?”
I took a step toward her and then stopped. She would spook easily, and that wasn’t what I wanted. I also didn’t want her getting the wrong idea, because there was no way in hell I was taking on someone like her. I didn’t do relationships. I had tried to have one, and I had f**ked it up. Jess had been in love with someone else, so it hadn’t mattered, but it had just about killed me.
I wasn’t ever doing that again. I didn’t do it well. But I could be her friend. I could be a damn good friend. I was good at that. “If you need anything, or anyone, you call me.”
She studied me a moment then slowly nodded. She didn’t ask me why or bat her eyelashes at me in a flirty way. Instead she just smiled. “Okay, thank you” was the only response I got.