Protected (Book 1 in the Ariya Adams trilogy) (4 page)

"Okay, you're right. Thanks."

I knew I was blushing, but I was thankful for the dark sky and hoped it hid the color of my face. We began the trek back to my apartment complex. It really wasn't that much farther from where we were.

"How was your first
 Kingsbrook party?” I asked, wanting to hear his voice again.

"It has proven
to be an interesting evening."

He smiled down at me and I turned my face to try to hide the
 embarrassment his comment caused. This is what I had been hoping to avoid. Teasing was fine, but his presence did something to me I wasn’t used to feeling. Comments I could normally laugh off felt out of the ordinary.

"Yes well, it's not every day you get to rescue a clumsy senior on her way home from a party
, I guess." I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes more at myself than at James.

He
beamed at me, causing another flip-flop sensation to course through me. This was ridiculous. No man should make me feel this way. Maybe Caroline was right; it had been awhile since I’d had a full-blown crush. Perhaps I had just forgotten the feeling.

"Hopefully
, you don't make it a habit."

"Oh, it
’s too late for that, the clumsiness
is
a habit. However, having a stranger find me on my hands and knees in the woods is not, so I can at least try to work on that."

"I wouldn'
t say I'm a complete stranger." He raised his eyebrow as he teased me.

I narrowed my eyes
at him jokingly. "We'll see."

We were at the stairs leading up to my building
when I thought of one more thing to bring up.

"Could you maybe not mention finding me on the ground?" He tilted his head curiously at me as if he didn't understand why I would request something like that. "I know it would be an awesome story at our next get t
ogether," I started to explain," but Caroline tends to be a bit of a mother hen when it comes to me. She can get overly protective, and if she knows I can't even make it home on my own unscathed, I might not be let out of her sight for awhile." I chuckled and James nodded, knowingly. Did he really understand?

"Sure. It'll be our secret. Goodnight
, Ariya." His smile was contagious, and my mouth was turned up in an over-the-top grin in response.

"Thanks
, James, for walking me home. Goodnight."

I opened my door and shut it quickly. Leaning my head against the door
, I tried to wipe the grin that was making my cheeks ache off of my face.
I'll try to play it a bit cooler next time I see him.
I tried to convince myself. Yeah, right.

After tossing my keys on the table by the front door
, I went to get ready for bed. It was a slow process since my mind was on constant replay of the evening. The encounter in the woods with that animal should have caused me more concern, or at least frightened me. Instead, the giddiness I felt walking home with James eclipsed any fears I previously had.

Shaking James from my thoughts
rather forcefully, my brain focused on the incident with the wolf. What had that been? Had the wolf been toying with me? Was that even possible? Had it truly been about to attack? Was it the same wolf that the hikers had seen in the news? So many questions spilled through my mind that I felt like my head was going to explode.

Besides just the wolf
, there was that strange object that had knocked me out of the wolf’s path. What in heaven's name would have been able to do that? Maybe I had been drunk and imagined most of it. Could alcohol cause such a vivid imagination? Perhaps that was it. I'd talk to Caroline about it tomorrow.

I had just told James not tell Caroline about finding me on the ground
, but what if I didn’t say something and she ended up getting hurt by the wolf thing?
Crap!
I was going to get hell from her for this. I’d probably never go home alone again. My conscience won out after my imagination put into vivid scenes Caroline getting attacked because she wasn’t aware of what was around her. I decided to err on the side of caution and warn her to be careful.

I put my phone down after pushing the
“send” button and stared at my ceiling. My willpower was now focused on trying to stay awake until Caroline got home so I could ask her whether or not she had seen the animal. Now that I’d told her about the wolf, I might as well tell her the rest of it. I started fading in and out of sleep, but fought it by pulling out my book to read.

There was a flurry at the door
. I heard it slam shut, followed by the sound of keys hitting the table. Uh, oh, were she and Nick fighting? It would be wrong to eavesdrop or listen in. I decided I could pretend I was asleep, and then we could just catch up tomorrow. I slid my book under the covers and scooted down, trying to be quiet. Throwing the covers up close to my chin, I steadied my breathing into longer, heavier sighs.

Sometimes when Caroline got too
protective of me, I would sleep when I wasn’t in a talking mood, so I had lots of experience. I could usually fool her. She was probably that way because she was an only child like me, so that pushed her to look out for me. She always threw in my face the fact that she was older and supposedly wiser. She was only a couple months older, officially, but she still used that as a reason to be the big-sister figure.

My door cracked open slowly and I knew she was checking to make sure I was asleep. Then it closed.
I could still hear muffled voices coming from the living room.

“She
’s sleeping. He’s over-reacting. I can handle this. Just because my father isn’t the best there ever was doesn’t mean I’m not great at what I do. She’s my best friend. Of course, I want to keep her safe. It wasn’t a close call.”

“I know
, babe, but you just have to go with the team thing. It’s too much for one person right now, no matter who you are.” Nick’s voice was soothing, trying to calm Caroline from whatever had upset her. What was she talking about?

“I think he’s confused about his feelings and he’s taking it out me
… it’s the first time he…”

The rest of the conversation was muddled completely.
A door had opened and closed, so that must mean they were now in Caroline’s bedroom.

What in the world were they talking about? Sitting up in bed
, I tried to process what I’d heard. It had been a strange conversation. Was she talking about me when she said her “best friend?” Whose father was the best and at what? I wanted to knock on her door and talk to her, but the excitement of the evening was catching up to me. My body slowly began shutting down. I was out without much of a fight.

I jerked awake again and realized that my leg was spasming. How many times was I going to have that sensation when I woke up? I complained about it to Caroline a few weeks ago when it had started. Her response was that everyone gets these dreams, and that stress could also bring them on. If that’s true, I must be subconsciously stressed all the time.

I hated waking up so suddenly. I
t made me feel like I didn’t get a good night’s sleep. I peeked over at my dresser to look at my clock and saw that it was 7:30am. I almost always woke up early after an evening of drinking. I stretched out as far as I could and then relaxed my body. My mind wandered back to the events from the night before, and the wolf encounter.
Did Caroline end up seeing it?
I asked myself.

I didn’t even know how to approach the conversation I
’d overheard last night. Maybe it wasn’t even about me. She had made sure I was asleep, which meant it was none of my business.

I
had self-defense classes early at 8:30 am on Saturdays. I had been taking them since I was a kid, because my grandfather had insisted. His desire for me to be able to protect myself had been so intense that I had to ask my mom why he was so adamant about it. Apparently, he had done the same with her until I was old enough to start training, then he transferred all the self-defense attention to me.

I loved my grandfather
, but after my grandmother died, everyone claims he went a little crazy. I asked him why he wanted me in self-defense so much, and he said he swore he would make the family stronger when my grandmother died. My grandmother died of a heart attack, so I never really understood how those things were connected. I don’t think any kind of self-defense can save you from a heart attack.

When I was getting ready to go to college
, he said he would pay for all my schooling if I continued taking a self-defense class once a week. He passed away when I was in my sophomore year, but even in his will, my college money would only get allotted to me if I could show the lawyers that I had been attending self-defense class. It boggled my mind how serious he was about it, but I guess he was just very protective. I was the only grandchild he had, so maybe he felt obligated to be that way towards me. If it was what he wanted, I didn’t mind. Plus, it couldn’t hurt anything to know self-defense.

My freshman year, I found a Saturday morning class offered by our school at their gym. Since I almost always got up early anyway
, it worked out perfectly.

I got dressed and thought how good it’d feel to run at the gym a bit before class
. It would give me time to think. By the time I got back, Caroline should be awake and I could download with her about the previous night. Perfect.

It was only a fifteen
-minute walk to the gym. The run before my hour-long class had felt good and helped vent out some frustrations from the strangeness of the evening before. My body ached about half way through the class and I noticed my muscles felt fatigued even though I really hadn’t pushed myself that hard on the run.
Strange
, I thought.

The instructor nodded at me when I walked in and took my usual place in the group fitness studio. Class started and I blocked out the fatigue and focused on the m
otions we were covering today. This was a place where I could clear my mind and just
be
. I loved being able to do that.

The clas
s ended a few minutes early, so I took advantage and stretched out. Energy seemed to drain out of me the minute I didn’t have the class to think about. Maybe it was from not sleeping well that my body felt tired now, even if this was my normal routine.

I headed out the doors of the group fitness room
, fidgeting with my gym bag that had somehow tangled its straps around so that I couldn’t pull it up on my shoulder, and collided with someone.

“I’m
sorry,” I said, gasping from the shock of the run-in. When I looked up to try to salvage a weak apology smile, my heart skipped a beat. “James?” I said, surprised.

He looked bashful for a moment, which made no sense to me, almost like he had been caught in the act of something, but what?

“Hey, Ariya.”

“Sorry, I wasn’t paying
attention.” I shuffled my bag and finally got it hiked up on my shoulder. Now, all I needed was an exit strategy.
Great, Miss Graceful strikes again.

“Were you in the self-defense class?” His eyes were dancing as i
f the thought entertained him.

“Oh,
yeah. I usually come to this one each week.” My smile was a bit more relaxed this time.

"Are you sure you're co
ordinated enough for this stuff? It seems to require an acute sense of balance." He leaned in, speaking quietly, as if telling me a secret.

His blue eyes were swimming with laughter and an involuntary shudder gave away just what having him le
an in that close to me did to my body. His features darkened a moment and he moved back. Did he misinterpret my movement? It's not like I could control it.

"
That never happened, remember?" I attempted my most seductive voice, but it came out a bit weak after the shiver a moment before.

“Oh, it did happen. I just promised to keep it a secret. There is a difference.” Although he was smiling again, it was a smaller smile and his tone was cautious. The darkness that had cloaked his eyes a moment before, though,
was gone.

I laughed at his comment, shaking my head. He must be a huge flirt.
Time to save myself,
I thought. I gathered myself to walk away.

"Have fun in…
" I paused turning towards the schedule hanging on the wall behind me. Pilates? No way. I slowly turned, not able to hide my smirk. "…
Pilates
."

I turned
and left James behind, smiling bigger this time. I'd have to figure out a way to bring that one up next time I saw him. He was probably the only guy in the class. Oh, maybe that was the point. He’d be in a room full of women who were sure to be staring at him. Maybe he was cocky, and that was his major flaw. I knew he had to have one. I'd figure it out and perhaps it would help me control these outrageous feelings.
I chuckled to myself and headed home.

I opened the apartment do
or after returning home almost two hours later. Nick was in the kitchen.

“Good morning.
Caroline said to tell you she hopped in the shower and your latte is ready.” He set it on the bar counter as I walked around and hopped onto one of the chairs.

“Mmmm, s
he knows me too well.” Nick smiled in response. He went over to the stove and was working on something I couldn’t see. “What are you making?”

“Chocolate c
hip pancakes. Want some?”  I had a feeling he would grow on me quickly.

“Of course!
When it comes to anything chocolate, you don’t need to ask me if I want some. Is there enough?” I hoped I wasn’t interrupting his breakfast with Caroline.

“Yes,” he chuckled. “I made enough for all of us.” His demeanor was likeable in general. I especially
enjoyed that he seemed to make Caroline so happy. He had a way about him that made me think everyone he met got along well with him.

“Did you have a good ti
me last night?” I leaned over the counter, crossing my arms.

“
Yeah, everyone seems really great. You all have a good group of friends here.”  That was good since, like Caroline said, they’d probably be people he would see a lot if he transferred.

“The only one I’d
say to watch out for is Ashley. She’ll try to steal you away.”

Nick laughed quietly, “I don’t think so. She’s not my type.” Hmm, he was definitely growing on me.  He piled some pancakes up on a plate and set it in front of me
, smiling.

“Bon a
pétit.” He kissed his fingers and flung them in the air, eliciting a laugh from me at his carefree attitude. I noticed he hadn’t taken any for himself.

“Aren’t you having any?”

“I already ate,” he said. Wow, that meant he was making the extras just for Caroline and me. That was really sweet.

“If this is what I can expect, you’re welcome here
every day!” He laughed.

Caroline came out of her room and walked straight over to Nick. She pushed herself up onto her tippy toes a
nd planted a kiss on his cheek.

“My turn?” he asked. Caroline nodded
, and Nick headed towards her room, leaving us alone.

“Good night?” I winked a
t her. She nodded. She was on Cloud Nine. Her features shifted and she looked troubled for a minute, though. Or maybe I had just imagined it. She turned to look at me once she had some pancakes of her own piled up.

“How about you?”

“Did you get my text?” I questioned.

“
Yeah, hunnie, I’ve told you not to drink so much, and then walk home alone. That text made me think you were losing it. Tell me what happened. You saw a wolf?”

I told her again what had happened and how I thought I had seen something resembling the wolf from the news story on my way home.
When I threw in the blurry objects part, she frowned. Flushing, I quickly ran through the rest of the story where I was on my butt and James came and walked me home.

“So
, I’m guessing by your expression you don’t think it was as freaky as I thought?”

I had been so convinced last night
, but after sleep and a work-out that morning, it seemed absurd to even ask. Especially since it sounded so crazy now that I’d said it out loud. I even mentioned I thought the wolf was watching me. It had seemed eerily aware of what was happening, and that had freaked me out.

Plus, Caroline should be freaking out a bit more
, but she wasn’t. Her non-chalantness as she listened to my tale took me by surprise based on some of the other ridiculous things she had worried about in the past few years.

“Well I’m not sure why it would just rush off after it was going to pounce on you, if it was really a menacing animal on the loose
, you know?” Her tone was peculiar, could only chalk it up to a long night.

She was probably still waking up. Caroline h
ad never been a morning person.

“If we see it again
, maybe we’ll tell the boys to go hunting.”

We laughed and I decided I must have just imagined the extreme qualities in the situation. It probably was not a wolf trying to attack me.
The blurs were probably just my alcohol-impaired vision, and I had fallen on my own. Maybe the animal was just crossing the path and my tipsiness made me think more of the situation than what was actually happening. No reason to worry.

She walked around from the kitchen and ho
pped up onto the barstool beside me. She took only a couple bites of her food before setting the fork down. I scarfed down all my pancakes and drank my latte.

“Is everything a
ll right with you and Nick?” I started tentatively. “I thought I heard you come in a little angry last night.” I was hesitant. How was I supposed to acknowledge that I had been eavesdropping and not actually sleeping?

“Oh, I’m sorry
, I thought you were asleep. Yeah, that was nothing. I got frustrated at…” she paused, then picked right back up again, “…a friend of ours from back home. No biggie.” Like that, Caroline had shrugged off the conversation. If she didn’t want to talk about it, then it must truly be no big deal. I trusted her to tell me if something was really the matter. We told each other everything.

“Oh, guess what,
” I started. She raised her eyebrows expectantly at me. “Guess who I ran into at the gym?”

“Who?”

“James. I literally ran into him. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was walking. Get this, he was heading into
Pilates
.” I laughed, thinking Caroline would join in, but she just gaped at me.

Realizing that wasn’t the reaction I had expected
, she quickly turned the gape into a smile.

“I don’t believe it,” s
he said, again strangely, and not in the way I thought she would.

I thought it was funny he was taking a Pilates class
, but apparently I was the only one.

“I just mean, he didn’t seem like the kind of
person that would be caught off-guard and let someone bump into him.” She looked distracted as she finished her thought.

“What’s on the agenda today?” I asked
, changing the subject since the conversation had become bizarre when it was about James. “Is Nick going to hang out a bit more? What did he say about transferring?”

“Wow, Twenty Q
uestions much, Ariya? Since he has seen two apartments and none of the campus so far, I’m not sure he’s made a decision yet on transferring. We are going to head to campus for a walk around the buildings after breakfast.” She flashed me a grin and was back to her usual self.