The Protection

Thirty-Two

The air rushed through my lungs as I pushed myself as hard as I physically could. I didn't care how far away from campus I had run. I pumped my arms until I was sprinting along the edge of the river, Taylor Swift's Don't Blame Me blasting through my small white in-ear headphones. I felt like I couldn't run fast enough. I couldn't run far enough. The fear of almost being caught by Kyler's mother was the catalyst that kept pushing me forward. Eventually, my body grew tired, and my lungs finally gave out a mile later. I slumped over near the water's railing, attempting to catch my breath, finally taking in my surroundings. How far had I gone from campus? Five miles? More? It was hard to tell, seeing as direction was not my forte. I removed my hands from the rusted green railing and rested them on my knees instead. My lungs were on fire, and I grabbed the sides of my light gray windbreaker. No matter how far I ran, I continued to see Brown Eyes everywhere, even in my own reflection in the water.

"Does this count as making an appointment?" Kyler's reflection teased me, and I pulled upright, almost smacking him across his handsome cheek, but he moved away easily.

"Don't sneak up on me like that," I chided, ripping the white earbuds from my ears, but he seemed unbothered.

"Sneak up like you did to me in the library this afternoon?" he grinned, crossing his arm over his strong chest. I could feel the redness creeping up my neck. Of course he had known I was there. He was superhuman and always a step ahead of me. Why didn't he rat me out to his mother? As though reading my thoughts, a cloud fell over his face, and he gestured back the way I had just run.

"Come on, I will explain everything on the way back to campus," he said, and I nodded. I gave him a sideways glance, admiring his black athletic shorts. He had the most perfectly sculpted legs. Muscular quads that ended in well-defined calves. I also noticed his black t-shirt was a little sweaty. Had he run behind me this entire time?! Surely not. We walked for a few blocks before he spoke, his voice a little weary. "I'm sure you have some questions about what you overheard and my leave of absence." I nodded. I worried if I physically spoke he may change his mind and disappear again into the nothingness. Sensing my hesitation, he reached out a hand to comfort me, but let it fall between us. Slicing my through the already heavy air.

"The Protection reassigned me these past few months. To Vancouver, British Columbia to protect a Saudi princess who is going to school up there." My stomach clenched with jealousy. "The landscape was beautiful, but the princess was not. I can't even tell you how many items she threw at me when I wouldn't let her go out with a known drug dealer." I tried to hide my smirk, feeling my stomach relax. "I had to leave Dallas for a little while because The Protection doesn't trust me with you. They think my judgment has been clouded, and I'm getting too personally involved." I blushed at the thought of us being personally involved.

"I thought you may have fulfilled your promise, that you were off getting married," I breathed, begging my face to stay neutral and not contort into the excruciating pain my insides were experiencing at the thought of him with a wedding ring on his finger. Did Protectors even wear wedding bands?

"No, Perry, I wouldn't do that to you." His eyes searched mine, but I couldn't quite feel what they were saying. "I am still a free man, at least for now." He sounded solemn. I never considered him a free man. The day we met in the courtyard Kyler was beautiful, and powerful, and mysterious, but never free. He always had The Protection's golden handcuffs securely around his wrists. He reached a hand out to touch me again, but dropped it, as if those same handcuffs bound his hands and kept them from touching me. I looked back to the water and I felt him follow my gaze. "I never told you, but The Protection was none too pleased with that night in your bedroom after the pool party." He chuckled and my eyes snapped back to his, my blush increasing ten fold.