Just as I was about to go to sleep, I heard a faint knock. Lifting up in bed, I looked toward my door, but there was no one there. No sign of someone waiting to hurt me. This was crazy, how I had to react in my own home.
Lying back down, I pulled the blankets up closer around me, desperate for sleep to take me away from this crazy day.
The knock happened again, only this time, more persistent.
I turned toward the window and was shocked to find Vadik outside my window.
I push the blankets off and rushed toward the window. “What the hell are you doing?” I asked, opening it wide enough for him to slide on through.
He didn’t answer right away, merely looked at me. I folded my arms and gave him a glare. He shouldn’t be in my room, so he really shouldn’t be judging my attire, but it appeared that was what he was doing.
“It’s not good for you to be here. I want you to leave,” I said.
“No, you don’t.” He turned away from me and looked around my bedroom.
My hands clenched into fists. “Excuse me?”
“If you want me to leave, that’s fine. But get this, I’m not leaving, at least, not yet.” He chuckled. “I’ve got to say I love this.” He moved toward the door, putting his back against it, and stared at my room. “You do this all the time, keep your guard up?”
I ignored him.
“You don’t have to answer. I’ve seen the way you are. At the cafeteria, in school. You rarely allow anyone the privilege of seeing your back. Is that why you walk so fast?”
“Why the sudden interest in me?” I asked. “You know my dad could come up at any minute.”
“I know.”
“I want you to leave.”
“Not happening.” He actually bent down and unlaced his boots.
“What the hell? What is … I don’t know what I’ve done to earn this kind of special treatment, and I don’t know if you can tell, I don’t want it.” I stepped toward him, but he’d already kicked them off. Next, his jacket, and then I was silent as he pulled off his shirt.
I stepped back.
“I’m not going to hurt you.”
Shaking my head, all I could think about were those damn doctor appointments. “If my dad finds you here…”
“He won’t. Believe me, he’s got a lot on his mind.”
“I don’t know why you’re here.”
“To hold you, that’s all.”
This was insane. “You can hold any other girl. Why me? Is it because I don’t fall at your feet, is that it? You want me to fold, to be yours? Is it because I saved Gael?”
“You think this has to do with you killing someone or because you’re not a slut like some girls?”
“Ugh, don’t do that. Don’t call girls that. They’re no different than you. I hate that.” My hands clenched into fists. I found the double standards between men and women so fucking stupid. Like they were perfect. Yeah, right. A woman goes around sleeping with random men, she’s a slut, a guy does it, he’s a stud.
Vadik held his hands up in the air. “Sorry, my bad.”
“I don’t find this funny.”
“Have you ever allowed yourself the chance to relax?” he asked.
There was no point in answering.
“I’m not going to try anything, but learn to trust me. You’ve been on your own for too long. I’m going to prove to you we’re not all bad.”
“Are you kidding me right now? The last guy I trusted turned against me.” He was my brother. He was the last person I’d given a shit about and look what happened there.
Vadik didn’t say anything. He stepped toward me.
I stayed firmly in place. There was no way I was going to be intimidated by his getting closer. My heart raced. The moment he was in front of me, he cupped my face.
“I think it’s time you learned to trust me, to trust us.”
“The Monster Boys?”
He smirked. “We’re more of a crew, don’t you think?”
“I don’t think about you.”
“Now you’re just breaking my heart.”
“So there is a heart to break inside your chest?”
“Baby, there is always a heart to break. I’m not a complete monster.”
He took hold of my hand, placing it directly over his chest. His heart beat firmly beneath my palm.
“Do you feel that? It means I’m alive. It means you’re not alone. You will never be alone. Not while I’m here. I will always come to you.”
“You don’t even know me.” There was no way I could trust this. I wasn’t stupid. This had to be some kind of trick.
“But I want to get to know you. Is that so hard for you to believe?”
The truth was yes.
For the past few years, I wasn’t the kind of person people noticed unless they wanted to hurt. In school, I kept a wide berth of friends. It was easier. In our world, betrayal ran deep. Loyalty was everything and yet so very rarely given.