I Just Need You - J. Nathan Page 0,25

pick your jaw up off the ground,” she said. “I just wanted you to know I appreciate all you do for me.”

I wasn’t expecting that.

She turned toward the entrance of her dorm and walked toward it.

“I need to go park the car,” I said.

She spun back around, her brows drawn in question.

“Come with me.”

Her eyes widened, caught off guard by my request.

That makes two of us. “Maybe you’ll get a better view of the stars,” I explained, hating myself for every word coming out of my mouth. I could have easily walked her upstairs then parked the car in the lot.

Her lips tipped up in the corners, and even in the darkness, her blue eyes twinkled. She stepped away from the door and walked over to the car, opening the front passenger door and sliding inside.

I walked back to the driver’s side and got in, not bothering to say anything about her sitting in the front seat. I was breaking all the rules anyway.

“It must be boring for you,” she said, staring out her window as I drove toward the parking lot.

“What?”

“Having to drive me around, follow me around, sit around.”

I shrugged. It had its benefits. There was a lot of down time, little interaction with people, and always the threat of danger.

“Thanks for sitting outside my door,” she said, turning to look at me. “I know you’ve been there every night.”

“You’ve slept,” I said.

“How do you know?”

“Well, you’re less of a bitch.”

Laughter burst out of her, filling the car with the unfamiliar sound. “I am, aren’t I?”

I pulled the car into the parking lot and found a spot. “I was just joking. You don’t text to use the bathroom in the middle of the night anymore,” I explained as I switched off the engine and turned to look at her. “And, I don’t hear footsteps, so I assume you’re sleeping.”

“After what happened in France,” she began, “I had trouble falling asleep. I’d hear his voice taunting me as he pressed his filthy body to mine.”

I let her talk, knowing she probably needed to.

“He called me le fou de fortune. Fortune’s fool. And I’d hear that phrase every time I closed my eyes…My mom started staying in my room. I didn’t ask her to, but I think it just made her feel better knowing I was safe. Then, I stopped hearing his voice. I guess I didn’t realize until I got here that I needed someone nearby to keep him away.”

I’d be lying if I said the knowledge didn’t make me regret some of my annoyance with her.

She laughed. “I bet you’re thinking, ‘Thank God, she didn’t ask me to sleep in bed with her’.”

“That would definitely be a new one,” I agreed, taking that moment to open my door and get out.

Kresley stepped out and looked over the hood of the car at me. “If you’re trying to remain stoic to appear tough, I give you permission to smile.”

“What?”

She rounded the car until she stood beside me. “I mean, I know I’m funny, so it must be difficult to stop yourself from smiling when you’re around me.”

“You think you’re funny?” I asked.

She smirked. “No, I know I’m funny.”

A comfortable silence passed between us as we stood there leaned against the side of the car.

“You were right,” she said.

I looked to her but her face was slanted toward the sky. I followed her gaze. The dark parking lot allowed for an almost panoramic view of the sky, and all the stars and constellations were visible. It was truly a sight.

“It amazes me that people don’t take the time to appreciate the beauty around them. There are so many things we take for granted, and after that night, I swore I wouldn’t anymore. I remember being pushed against that wall and knowing he was going to rape me, and all I could do was pray to whoever would listen that if I got a second chance, I’d do things differently. I’d do them right.”

I prided myself on being a tough son of a bitch, but I wasn’t cold. I was capable of feelings. And the vision of her against that wall—so vulnerable and terrified—fearing for her life, created a pit in my gut. “I’m sure you were a good person before that happened,” I said, feeling like I needed to say something after such an honest admission.

“Why do you say that?” she asked.

I shrugged, though I knew her eyes were on the sky. “I’m good at reading people.”

“And what—”

My phone rang,