by Ron C. Nieto
I giggled, self-conscious, and reached up to sweep my bangs to the side, even though they were firmly in place already. Anything to break the moment. He hadn’t even touched me beyond the mere brush of lips against skin and there I was, turning to mush.
His hand beat me to my faked fussing, tucking the longest strands behind my ear and brushing against the side of my face when he pulled back. It was the opposite cheek from the one he’d kissed, and now both of them felt equally tingly and warm.
It scared me. Again. More than the realization in his kitchen had.
“Tomorrow, I’m going to town with Anna. There’s this café with the best mocha ever. Do you like mocha?” The words spilled out without conscious thought once more.
“Yeah, I do,” he said, softening his intense look with a small smile. It wasn’t much, but it allowed me to think things through.
“Would you like to come?” Okay, perhaps I wasn’t thinking that much yet.
“Would you like me to come?”
I had an urge to roll my eyes, but that would have been out of place. “I wouldn’t have asked you if I didn’t.”
He sat back, all the way to his previous position, and took a deep breath. “Are you sure? It could get really ugly, really fast.”
“If you don’t want to come, just say so.”
He snorted a dry, humorless laugh. “Of course I want to go. I’d give anything for this chance, but I still worry about you.”
“I can take care of myself, and I can make my own choices,” I said, choosing to be offended over being floored by his honest answer. “You just have to make yours.”
“Then, yes. Always yes.”
“Good. We’ll meet in front of the mall, and then go to the café. I think you’ll like the place, very cozy. Wait, do you have a car?”
“Don’t worry about it. I can walk.”
“No, no way, I’ll tell Anna to…” I bit back my words. “Anna usually picks me up, but she’ll probably go with Ray in his car.”
“As I said, it’s okay. We’ll meet there. What time?”
“Five. But I’ll call you, in case we’re late. Never rule out that possibility.”
He nodded. “Fine. Can I have your number as well?” He pulled out his cell and I realized that we hadn’t exchanged numbers. I had been disappointed because he had chastely kissed my cheek instead of ravishing me, and I hadn’t even talked on the phone or texted him, ever. We had never had a conversation longer than the one we were having today, either.
It was crazy, and I didn’t want to dwell on it. I gave him my number and a shiver ran down my spine when he smiled wickedly and said “Gotcha” in that deep voice of his.
He noticed and stood up, holding out a hand to help me. “It’s getting cold. Sorry, I shouldn’t have kept you out this late.”
I took his hand and said nothing about how warm I was actually feeling.
CHAPTER 13
I called Anna as soon as I arrived home and filled her in. She liked the idea and told me she would pick me up the next afternoon and that she would be on time. Miraculously, she was. When Ray’s SUV pulled to the curb in front of my house, I kissed my parents good-bye and rushed out the driveway and into the car. Anna gave me a conspiratorial wink in the rearview mirror when I climbed in and I fought the urge to giggle.
This adventure, this moment of rebellion… felt good.
It was a short drive to the mall. Ray dropped us at the door and went off to park his monster vehicle.
“I hope you’re sure of what you’re doing,” Anna whispered in my ear as soon as we were out of earshot. She sounded more worried than she had the previous day.
“Stop second-guessing me. I do enough of that already,” I said, trying to laugh off her gentle warning. “We’re just getting coffee, anyway.”
She shrugged and said nothing else. Keith was already waiting for us, leaning against the wall, so it really wasn’t the best time to talk me out of my decision.
I dragged her over to him just to make that point.
Nothing to do with my own eagerness, oh no…
“Hi,” I said in an impressive display of social skills.
“Hi yourself,” Keith replied with a small smile. “Hey, Anna. Good to see you.”
“Same here…” She looked thoughtful for a second, studying him, then sighed dramatically. “You know, you don’t look like Dracula in Drag up close, no matter what the idiots at school say.” Back to good old Anna.
Keith laughed. “Thanks, I guess.”
“No, I mean, this is serious. We need another nickname for you.”
“What’s wrong with Keith?” I asked, and she gave me a look that said “duh.”
“Well, it’s his name. People get called by their names all the time,” I went on.
Then, it clicked.
The rumor mill would never call him by his name.
It hurt that my best friend would open the conversation like that. I didn’t want to think too much about why, but it did and it must have shown in my face because Anna lifted her hands in a placating gesture.
“I so didn’t mean it like that,” she said.
“What’s the freak doing here?” Ray’s voice drowned out anything else she might have tried to explain.
Anna cringed.
She hadn’t told him about today’s arrangements? He was clearly not happy about the discovery.
My day was about to go down the drain.
“He’s coming with us for coffee,” she smiled, trying to forestall disaster.
“Like hell he is!”
Keith just pushed off the wall with a weary smile that told Anna, I don’t hold it against you.
“It’s okay. I’ll head back and leave you to it.”
“You better, fucktard. I don’t want to see you close to my girl again.”
Keith narrowed his eyes and for a heart-stopping moment I thought he was going to be confrontational. Then he turned to me. “See you in theater, then?”
“I don’t want you to go,” I said, dredging up the courage from the depths of my stomach. And sounding terribly childish in the process. “I want that mocha.”
My objection caught him off guard, surprised him. When he recovered, the soft look in his eyes was priceless. It made me feel priceless.
I’d stand up to a thousand Rays for that reaction.
“See?” Anna said. “Don’t be silly; let’s just hang around and get that coffee.”
“I’m not going anywhere with them and neither are you,” Ray spat, tossing me into the non-desirable club.
“Ray, you’re making a scene!”
Anna’s gasp broke my contemplation of Keith and forced me to realize that the situation was going from bad to worse.
“Come on; we’re going home,” Ray said, grabbing Anna by the wrist and pulling her toward the parking lot.
I saw Anna dig in her heels, too stunned to say a word, and I turned on her idiot of a boyfriend, ready for a fight.
“Hey!” I said, gathering as much authority as I could.
But then my heart did a painful somersault and began hammering in my throat. Keith’s hand had shot out like a snake. He had Ray’s own wrist in a white-knuckled grip. Somehow, he managed to level a cool stare too, even though the top of his head barely reached Ray’s nose and the other guy was about twice as broad.
“Let her go,” he said, his voice hard and commanding, completely at odds with the meek weirdo I knew. His angry voice, I realized.
Ray must have been taken by surprise, because he obeyed. He freed Anna’s wrist with a twist and she jumped a couple of steps back, staring at her boyfriend like a kicked puppy. I rushed to her side, hugging her and trying to console her—but the only thought in my mind was that Keith was such a gentle, caring, brave man… and that he was about to be pummeled to death.
All Ray’s rage, fuelled by wounded pride, was redirected to his new target.
“Who do you think you are, freaky fucktard?” he sneered.
&
nbsp; Keith shifted a bit—keeping himself right in front of Ray, I realized with growing horror—and answered with the same cold, harsh tone.
“Anyone has the right and duty to step in when some bastard starts manhandling a girl.”
And that was it. Ray threw a punch.
I wished with all my might for Keith to have some secret set of ninja skills that would allow him to kick ass.
He didn’t.
He took the blow to his abdomen, staggering back and doubling over, all air forced out of his lungs.
“Feeling identified, Dracula in Drag?” Ray laughed when Keith managed to stand again, favoring his left side.
“Just doing what any man should.”
If Keith had a death wish, he was going the right way about it. Ray went livid and charged him without control, a series of punches being thrown with all the strength of a football player and the finesse of a stampeding bull. He was going to kill Keith, and it would be my fault, and I cared much more than I’d been ready to admit.
I screamed, tendrils of terror squeezing my lungs. Anna began to wail like a banshee. And, mercifully, people started to notice the racket.
A couple men came over to us, one of them flipping open his phone and threatening to call the police.
Ray saw them coming and jerked away from Keith as if he’d been burned. His expression went slack, and he held up his hands, as if the cell phone was a dangerous weapon aimed at him.
“None of your business, man. Just a scuffle between friends. We’re moving it out,” he said.
“It didn’t look like that.” The man, a DIY kind of family dad, knelt beside Keith. If he found something odd about his looks, he said nothing and let nothing but concern shine through in his voice. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll live, I think,” Keith replied, his voice hitching and belying the hurt behind his attempt at making light of the situation.
The man helped him stand. Keith swayed dangerously, trying to find his balance, then he bent over and spat a mouthful of bloodied saliva on the pavement.
“Sorry about that,” he mumbled, still unsteady.
“Don’t worry about it, son. Would you like me to call the medics? Take you somewhere?”
He darted a look at me, where I stood hugging Anna, as if to check whether we were hurt in any way. Then, he shook his head.
“It’s quite alright, sir. I’m okay. Thanks for your help.”
“Anyone would have done the same. The way that young man went at you…” The man turned, searching for Ray, but he had left in the middle of the confusion. “Are you sure you’d not rather go to the hospital?”
“Yes, sir. No irreparable damage,” Keith said with a smile, trying to joke.
The man gave him a dubious look, but eventually decided to believe Keith’s healthy claims and go back to his wife and his shopping day. Keith watched him go before turning to us.
“Are you okay?” he asked, looking at me even though he should be addressing Anna.
“What the hell got into you?” Anna exclaimed, her voice breaking with stress and tears. “What if he had smashed you?”
Keith reached up to touch his cheek and smirked. “I thought that’s what he was doing, actually.”
Anna laughed and hiccupped, and after a moment’s hesitation, she broke free from me and went to give Keith a brief, awkward hug.
“Thank you.”
He patted her shoulder, as uncomfortable as she was. “Don’t mention it.”
“I’m glad Alice asked you to come. You’re a decent guy.”
“I think I might have put a wedge in your relationship, though.”
“As if such a bastard is worthy of a relationship in the first place! I can’t believe he did that.” She blinked, keeping any further tears from falling. The grin she plastered on was a brave attempt and fell just short of legitimate. “I really need that coffee now, guys. Are you coming?”
She skipped ahead, forcing a spring to her step, and Keith followed at a more sedate pace. I grabbed his hand when he passed me.
“You scared me,” I whispered.
“I’m tougher than I look,” he said, reaching out to caress the side of my face with his free hand.
“Why did you do it?”
“What I said, no one should stand by when an imbecile starts manhandling a girl.”
“I want to be selfish and ask you not to do such reckless things again… but I don’t want to change you.” I struggled and forced out the corny words I wanted to say. “You’re a beautiful person, Keith.”
He squeezed my fingers, and I took comfort in it. Our linked hands, for the whole world to see.
CHAPTER 14
“Hey! Do you want cinnamon rolls with the mocha? It’s on me!” Anna called from the counter when we entered the coffee shop, right behind her.
“You bet!” Keith said with a half grin. One side of his face was starting to swell.
The coffee and the sweets did wonders to calm us. By the time I finished my drink, I was much more comfortable in my skin and Anna looked like she might be digesting the situation. It was difficult to tell with Keith, because he seemed to take everything in stride. In spite of the bruises, he kept his tone light and the conversation interesting. Talking about movies and gossiping about school professors went a long way toward normalcy.
When we were done and the sun started to fall, it occurred to us that we were stranded.
Walking home was an option, of course, but it was a long walk so I didn’t feel too keen on the idea. Anna refused outright, and after a moment’s thought, she whipped out her cell to call for backup.
“Hey,” she said, her voice chipper as if nothing had happened. “I have a situation.”
A male voice rose on the other end, unintelligible, and she hurried to add, “No, no, I’m fine. Actually, we’re fine. I’m hanging out at our favorite cafe with Alice and Keith, and I’ve just realized that I have no way to return home. That’s the problem.” A pause. “No, Ray’s not around. That’s why I thought perhaps you could come and lend us a hand? Or a car, as it is.” Silence. Anna biting her lip. Then, a huge grin. “Thanks, Dave. You rock.”
“There,” she said, pocketing the cell. “He’s coming to pick us up.”
I burned with curiosity. The need to know what he’d said about Keith being with us gnawed at my stomach almost like a physical pain, but I held back. The poor guy must feel enough of an object as it was, so we went back to talking about menial things—the sports season, how our school was doing in the local league, that sort of thing.
The door to the cafe opened not fifteen minutes later to a flushed Dave that rushed over to our table as soon as his eyes found us.
“Holy hell!” he stopped dead upon seeing Keith’s face and stared at him. “What’s happened here? Anna, I thought you said everything was okay?”
“It is.” Anna shrugged in a calculated show of innocence.
Dave ignored her and kept his eyes steady on Keith. “So, how did you get that?”
Keith held his gaze, but replied with a shrug. Protecting Ray? He’d not be so stupid! Anna’s sensibilities, then?
“My fault, Dave,” she said after an uncomfortable moment of silence.
“You smacked him around?” He snorted, more amused than outraged.
“No. Ray got a bit more possessive than usual, and Keith stepped in. Ray flew off his hinges.”
“Ray’s a linebacker! Did you want to get killed?” Dave turned to Keith with a new look in his eyes—surprise and perhaps a little bit of respect.
“To tell you the truth, I was hoping someone from the mall would break the fight before it got to that point,” he replied with a shrug.
“Man.” Dave shook his head.
“Do you want to have a coffee?” I interrupted, feeling bad that we’d just called on him as a chauffeur.
“Nah, I was in the middle of a family tea party, plenty of coffee to drink. I’ll just get you home and then head back before my grandma realizes
I’m missing.”
We cleaned up our mugs and left the small shop. Dave’s car was thrown haphazardly on the curb. He obviously hadn’t meant to stay.
“You tell me the route,” he said, clicking the doors open with the remote and looking over to Keith. “I’ve no idea where you live.”
“I can walk a bit and get a bus, don’t worry about it,” he said, shrugging it off.
“Get in the car.” Dave rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to let you walk off looking like that. The ladies here would never forgive me.”
“Damn right we wouldn’t.” Anna grinned, jumping in the front seat.
“He lives close by my place. I’ll tell you how to get there,” I said, grabbing Keith’s arm and hauling him into the car with me.
He let me maneuver him, discussion ended, and it was I who gave the directions to the old neighborhood. When we arrived to Keith’s street, I told Dave to stop. “Okay, you can get back to the school turning to the right now. You can take it from there to Anna’s.”
Dave looked back at me through the rearview mirror, surprised.
“Don’t you want me to drop you off at your place?”
“I’ll get out here. It’s just a five minute walk, really,” I said, trying to sound confident.
They were nice enough to buy my offhand statement.
“Thanks for the ride,” Keith said, pulling open the door.
“Anytime, man.”
“Thanks, Keith! See you tomorrow!” Anna called, twisting in her seat to wave at us.
Or at him, I guess.
As the car sped away, though, she shot me a look that said, Prepare to be drilled for information later.
No helping that. I could deal with the interrogation, but I couldn’t deal with just leaving now. “Aren’t you going to tell me that you can get home without help?” I took a deep breath, turning to Keith.
“No. You know I can. If you’re here, it’s because you want to be.”
“Or because I have a hidden agenda?” I teased.
He met my gaze then, his deep blue eyes searching and his expression pensive. “Do you?” He was intense, too intense for me to handle.
“No,” I breathed. Any banter left in my system beat a hasty retreat.
