The Russian's Christmas Present

“You can.” She answers in a reassuring tone. “We talked about it all. I’ll be fine. Nothing is going to happen to me.”

“You don’t know that. Anything could happen. There could be a fire. There could be some mean girls or some guy who decides to touch you. Fuck, no, I can’t…”

Bria tugs my hand, walking me a few steps from the door where I’m sure she’s hoping I can get my man-shit together and not be such a spectacle.

As we take a few steps to the left, I finally look up and see two guys coming out of the entry doors, and they glance first at me then their eyes stick for a second too long on Bria.

“What the fuck are you looking at?” I drop her hand and tense, ready to charge at them with the full force of my fury.

“Get a grip, Grandpa,” they hiss back, and I lurch forward, chest out, fists at my sides, and watch them practically jump into the bushes.

“Martel.” Bria sighs, there’s a sadness in her voice and I swallow hard, trying to regain control as the two guys make a sharp right turn, giving me wary glances and heading in the opposite direction. “It will get better. Let’s just get this one class out of the way. You can do it. You want my dreams to come true, and this is one of my dreams.”

She’s right, but that doesn’t seem to help right now when I think of leaving her here alone. Making sure she was safe was one thing, but four months ago when that little plastic stick showed two pink lines?

I’ve been a raging lunatic ever since.

“Let’s go.” I nod toward the door, draping my arm around her shoulders so no one misses the fact that she’s mine. Holding hands is nice, but not everyone is observant enough to notice, so holding her next to me at least makes me feel better.

For now.

We work our way through the building until we find her classroom and my stomach is in knots when she turns my way, excitement on her face, as I battle my own lunacy at letting her walk away.

“Okay! I’m so excited.” She does this little jiggle-jump that has her tits bouncing, and I scan the area to make sure there’s no other guys enjoying the sight. “I’ve got my phone, so I’ll message you when class is over. Then I have a half hour and my Intro to Textiles class is just on the other side of this building. I’ll message you when I get there. Then, when that class is done, I’ll message again and you can come pick me up.” She’s breathless from talking so fast, and I’m proud she’s accepted the fact that she needs to message or call me whenever she’s coming or going anywhere, and she’s got our plan from today down pat.

But, plans change.

“I’ll be right here.” I jerk my head toward a bench on the opposite wall, outside of her classroom, and she lets out an exasperated sigh.

“I’ll be fine.”

“Yes. You will. And I’m going to make sure. I’m going to look up their fire safety record and go to the security office for a face-to-face visit. I’m going to make sure—”

“Stop. You’ve already looked up the fire safety record and you’ve already called the security office about a gazillion times and talked to them before you even let me enroll. Martel…” I’m pushing her and her cheeks flush red.

“Fine. But I’ll be right here. At least for today. I can’t just let you go yet.” I draw a deep breath through my nose, trying to calm myself. “Maybe just this first week. Or month. Then we’ll see…”

She shakes her head but pushes up on her tiptoes and gives me a kiss. “You are impossible.”

I shrug, watching her spin and sashay into class the same way she did that day at Mauricio’s when she went through the red curtain into the back room, and I knew already I’d found what I’d been looking for.

There’s been a lot of changes for us both the last six months. The best one is we have not spent a day or night apart since I brought her home for our first Russian Christmas together.

A couple days after, we went back to her father’s house and moved the rest of her stuff out, along with making sure her friend Alice got settled into her new place on campus. Luckily, her father hadn’t destroyed anything that belonged to either of them besides the Christmas decorations and so I let him live.

For now.

He’s been a pain the ass since, but I drew a thick line in the sand that he either got himself cleaned up, which I was more than willing to pay for, or he wasn’t welcome in our lives. Since, he’s been up and down. Sober then not. Betting then not. And that slingshot of emotions for Bria isn’t healthy, so for now, it’s radio silence.