The Protector

SIXTY-THREE

Our taxi pulled up to a small and unassuming neighborhood restaurant, a few blocks away from the apartment. The parking lot was full of cars when we arrived, always a good sign with a new restaurant. As I walked behind my mother towards the entrance, I traced my finger along the side of the lifted black truck I know belonged to Paul.

The restaurant was packed with people and I had to squeeze to maneuver around them, my eyes searching the crowd for Kyler. I finally found him sitting in a red plastic booth in the corner, his eyes still hiding behind the black framed glasses, but trained on Rylee who was, in my opinion, sitting much too close to him. She said something and he laughed easily, throwing his head back, squinting his eyes shut, and I wondered what she could have possibly said that was that funny. She was so damn sour all the time, and I doubt she had any sense of humor. His eyes popped open around the same time I broke through the crowd of people, and his smile faltered, eyeing the way I looked in the horridly familiar outfit.

"Hi, guys," I said with an awkward wave, and Paul stood at once and gave me a hug that was a little too tight.

"Perry! You look great!" he boomed, twirling me a little, and I laughed in spite of myself. Unlike Rylee, Paul seemed to always be in a good mood.

"Thank you," I said, pushing a lock of hair behind my ear, trying to ignore the way my mother grinned at his reaction.

"Where is Avery?" I asked, taking in the Protectors in front of me.

"He said he'd meet us at the concert. He mentioned something about a dating app," Paul said as he stepped to the side to allow me to slide in the booth before him. He slid in after me and I was now sandwiched between Paul and Kyler, my mother sitting across from me in the strange U-shaped booth. I grabbed the huge plastic menu as Paul decided to drape his strong arm across the back of the booth behind me. Kyler tensed and before I could stop myself, I put my hand on his thigh to comfort him. He relaxed a little, and I was glad everyone else was studying the menu, none the wiser of the friendly exchange taking place under the table. I pulled my hand back onto the table, but Kyler quickly grabbed my wrist, threading his fingers through mine. My cheeks flushed and I left our hands intertwined even though it caused my entire arm to burn.

"The chicken fried steak looks good," Paul said, leaning a little too close to me.

"Mmhmm," I responded and Kyler ran his thumb across the back of my hand. The sensation made my fingers twitch with need. I stared at the menu, but it was all a blur, and I could sense Kyler's devilish grin as he unhooked our hands and walked his fingers across the space between us to my smooth upper thigh. My eyes snapped to him, but he kept his eyes on his menu.

"I don't know, I think the pot pie looks delicious," he added as his hand continued its torturous ascent up my thigh. His fingers now danced against my white lace underwear, causing my toes to curl a little inside of my cowboy boots.

"Doesn't Alana love pot pies?" Rylee said pointedly, staring at Kyler, and I flinched so hard Kyler's arm slammed into the underside of the table.

"Is this damn table wobbly too? The waiter promised this was a good one..." Paul growled, removing his arm from behind my back to get on all fours and inspect the angles of the table top.

"Who's Alana? Is she running late?" My mother asked innocently, glancing around to see if anyone else would be joining us.

"Oh Misty, I'm sorry, I forgot you don't live down here," Rylee said with false sincerity. "Alana is Kyler's fiancée." Her darker gray eyes turned to mine. I bit the inside of my cheek. "She and I went to The Academy together and are simply the best of friends. So close." She looked back to my mother who looked quite confused. "The Academy is the name of our private high school in California," she explained.

"That's so strange. My ex-husband went to a high school called The Academy, but it was in Texas." She bit off a piece of bread, suddenly remembering old times. I quickly stood up from the table, almost tripping over Paul who was still on the floor attending to the phantom table wiggle.

"I need to use the restroom," I muttered, having had enough of this lunacy. I pushed through the throngs of people towards the opposite back corner of the restaurant.

"You okay?" Kyler's voice asked, suddenly next to me, and I jumped.

"No," I responded without looking at him. He touched my hand and I ripped it away. "That is certainly not helping," I said with a huff and turned to face him.

"I'm sorry. I thought since you and Julian were done...," his voice trailed off, and I couldn't help but notice his eyes were a delicious shade of light brown behind the false lenses of the glasses.

"You thought what exactly?" I asked with a tilt of my head, pushing the thoughts of how great he looked tonight out of my head. He was wearing his typical black T-shirt and jeans, but the hip glasses gave him the appearance of a younger and even hotter looking Clark Kent.

"I thought maybe you were open to the idea of finishing what we started on the rooftop the other night."

"Kyler, I'm insanely attracted to you. Even right now, all I can think about is dragging you into this disgusting bathroom, ripping off your clothes and letting you have me all over the counter." His eyes lit up and he bit his lower lip. "But, I'm also insanely aware of how I just broke up with Julian, and how little I want to be the other woman. Again. You're engaged, so please leave me alone." I hoped he wasn't able to detect the insincerity of my words because those words were the last thing I wanted. I did want him in the bathroom. On the floor. Now. He opened his mouth to respond, but I put a finger to his lips as my eyes wandered past him. My heart stalled and I suddenly pushed him aside and into a younger pretty raven-haired girl near us.

"Perry!" Kyler called out, struggling to free himself from the girl's stunned grasp, but I didn't pay any attention to him. I shoved my way through the crowd until I was finally face to face with Beth again.