Breathe Into Me Page 3

  “Okay then, how about we start over?” I said, flipping my brown locks over each of my squared shoulders and stuck out my hand. “Kelsey Rien. Nice to meet you.”

  He looked at my hand for a second, then back up to my face. He knocked my hand away, and then scooped me up in a bear hug. “Friends don’t shake hands. Friends hug!”

  I laughed and returned the hug. When I pulled back and smiled up at him, he was looking down at me with a smile on his face. Damn, there are those dimples again. What am I getting myself into?

  Before the embrace had ended, a shouting and shoving match had started up behind me. Kane’s head whipped up fast, and before I knew it, I was standing behind him. Taking a peek around his arm, I could see two guys shove at each before one took a swing. Kane automatically grabbed my hand and led me through the crowd, toward the hallway and front entrance.

  “I need you to go outside. It’s going to get crazy and you don’t need to be here.” He squatted down a little so he could look directly into my eyes.

  “But my friend is still in here! I can’t leave without her!” I was franticly scanning the crowd looking for any sign of Jessi or the Landon guy she had been checking the tonsils of earlier.

  Kane’s head shot up to search for our missing friends in the crowd too. Having no luck locating them, he grabbed a chair and hopped onto it, craning his neck searching the crowd. After a few seconds, he brought two fingers up to his mouth and let out another long, loud whistle.

  “Yo! Landon! Over here!” he shouted. My head jerked in the direction he’d yelled because I still couldn’t find Jessi.

  Suddenly, I felt the impact of a body colliding with mine, knocking me to the ground on my tail. I immediately felt sharp pains shoot from my tailbone up my spine, and I couldn’t stop the yelp that came from my mouth.

  Kane was off his chair in seconds, scooping me up off the floor. Holding me tight to his chest, he carried me over to the chair he had been standing on and gently sat me down. Crouching in front of me, he lightly placed his hands on my knees. “Oh my god, Kelsey, are you okay? I never should have left you standing there alone. Are you hurt? Do you have a lot of pain?”

  He kept bombarding me with questions, never really giving me time to answer before he would ask another. Finally, I just decided nodding was the best thing to do in this scenario. He must have been okay with that, because he stood and stalked over to the very intoxicated guy that had bumped me and grabbed him by his collar.

  “Watch where you’re going next time, asshole. I ought to just teach you a little life lesson right here and now. When you cause harm to a female, you apologize,” he seethed.

  “Kane, stop! It’s okay! I’m fine, really!” I shouted at him. His head turned to me and I saw fire in his eyes. He was clearly still fuming. Luckily for the other guy, the bouncers came running in and dragged the man away before Kane could do more than just yell at the guy.

  “Kane, dude. You can’t be doing that shit,” one of the bouncers said to him. “Do you want to get fired? No confrontation. Just get them out the door. You know this,” he added.

  Fired? Fired from what?

  “I lost it, Eddie. I’m okay now,” he said to him before turning back to me. All the fire that had been in his eyes was slowly diminishing. Almost as if he flipped a switch on all that rage … and it was now gone. I watched him take a few deep breaths before coming back over to me.

  “Look, I’m sorry about that.” He glanced around the bar, which seemed to finally be emptying out. “Things seem to be under control now. You should have no problem getting out of here and I’ve got to get back to work. Maybe I’ll see you around sometime,” he said, before walking away toward a black door that was labeled Staff Only.

  That is so weird. He works here? I couldn’t ponder on that question long, because another body assaulted me, but this one was much tinier and smelled a hell of a lot nicer.

  “Oh. My. God. Kels! There you are! I was worried sick! I lost you in all the commotion. Are you all right?!” Jessi was frantically giving my body a once over.

  “I’m fine, Jess, just got knocked down by some drunk guy. Not like I haven’t seen worse or been in a worse situation.” I watched as all the color drained from her face and I immediately regretted my statement.

  Boy, I shouldn’t have said that. Now she would start her worried best friend bit and I would see no peace tonight.

  “Really, Jess. I’m fine.” I tried to assure her. Hoping with everything in me she would let this go. “Where did that guy go?” I attempted to change the subject. It always seemed to help. Bring a guy into the scenario and Jessi’s mind would wonder. For a second she didn’t seem like she would take the bait but sure enough, “Oh, Kelsey! Isn’t he gorgeous? I told you he was totally gorgeous!” She let out a high pitched squee.

  “Yes, Jess he’s a cutie. But where did he go?”

  “Oh, right! He left,” she said as she backed away from where I was sitting so I could stand. “Said he had to go check on his friend. He went in that door over there that says Staff Only but I’m pretty sure he doesn’t work here.” She shrugged and we began to make our way toward the hall that led to the entrance doors.

  “Kane?” I questioned.

  “What?”

  “His friend. Was his name Kane?” I asked again, even though I was quite positive I already knew the answer.

  “I don’t know. I didn’t ask. He just told me he would call me later and went off through the bar”—she paused—“Why would you ask?”

  Oh no, I’ve done gone and done it now.

  “No reason, really. I was just talking with this guy before the fight broke out. He said he was a friend of the guy you were swapping saliva with. He seemed kind of upset before he left.” There, maybe that will be enough to pacify her so she won’t ask any more questions.

  “And you just met him, right? Short chat you say? Not buying it. SPILL! You wouldn’t have even brought him up if there wasn’t some interest there.” She grinned knowing she had caught me.

  Damn her and how well she knows me.

  So what if I hadn’t stopped thinking about this guy’s eyes all day and he just so happened to show up at the bar and we ended up hitting it off pretty well. He obviously wasn’t really interested since he had just taken off like that.

  “Really, Jess, it was no biggie. I got knocked down. He picked me up. Got pretty heated at the guy who knocked me down. Then left. End of story.”

  When I replay it all back, it really didn’t sound like a big deal at all. Why am I obsessing over this guy so much? He probably changed his mind after seeing what I klutz I am and went running over begging for that good time with Katie.

  “I’m just sayin’, Kels. You never really talk to guys. Let alone have a conversation with one then go on to talk about them later. You’re finally coming around to the world of make outs, hookups, and all around awesomeness that is MEN.” She said as she threw her arm around my shoulder and we walked out into the night air, back toward school.

  I rolled my eyes at her, but did feel a slight smile pulling at the side of my mouth. No, I had never really been one to hookup, or even date for that matter, but if I was ever willing to think about changing my mind on the subject, Kane would be a perfect candidate to try it out on.

  “Come on, slut puppy. Let’s get back to the dorms so I can get out of these clothes and you can go on to tell me all about how your new friend tastes. Cause Lord knows I’m going to hear all about it ‘til I fall asleep.”

  And I did.

  I was actually awake before my alarm went off the next morning. For some reason I had slept very sound the night before. Must have been all the commotion from the bar. Wore me out I guess. At least I was up before Jessi, which meant I got first shower and could stand in the steamy water and let it wash away all the soreness from the fall I had taken the night before.

  Today was the last day of freedom before classes started tomorrow morning. I needed to make a run to the bookstore
. Then we needed to get a few items for the mini fridge. Our plans for the day really didn’t consist of much more than pizza, girly movies and being lazy—while we still could anyway. When I finally emerged from my nice steamy shower, I wrapped a towel around my body, and then headed into the room. I found Jessi sitting up in her bed, her back resting against her headboard, with a big cheesy smile on her face. She was staring down at her phone typing out a message. When she finished, she sighed and scooted to the edge of the bed.

  “He’s so sweet, Kels. Look at the text I woke up to from him this morning.” She started waving her phone around in the air, never actually holding it still long enough for me to read anything on the tiny screen.

  “Yeah, he’s a real sweetheart,” I said as I walked over to my closet and pulled out my favorite Rolling Stones t-shirt. It had been my moms and I had worn it so much that it was becoming threadbare, but I could never bring myself to part with it. I paired it with a dark pair of denim shorts and my black Chucks. I had always been a Chuck girl. While I did enjoy being girly, wearing makeup, and getting dolled up from time to time … this was normal style. I had Jessi’s closet to raid for all other occasions.

  Speaking of Jessi, who was still sitting on her bed gawking at her phone, I threw my towel at her head. “You better get up and start getting ready. I know it’s going to take you forever and I would like to make it to the bookstore before it gets swamped with people.”

  She let out another long sigh before finally heading toward the bathroom. After a minute or so, I heard the shower start and I finished getting myself ready.

  The trip to the campus store had been an adventure all by itself. While I was worried about getting all the books I was required to have, and trying to anticipate the supplies I might need, Jessi was too busy looking at cute hoodies and pajama bottoms. Not like she was in any short supply of clothes, though. She was currently using half of my closet and drawers.

  After finally getting my essentials, we made a quick stop at a local grocery store, stocking up on water and snack foods before heading back to our dorm to order some pizza. We planned on pigging out and watching movies ‘til we crashed.

  We had watched a few of our favorite Channing Tatum movies before I decided to call it a night. I wanted to make sure I got plenty of sleep so I wouldn’t be dragging for my first day of classes. As I crawled into my bed, the ping of Jessi’s cell alerting her of a text caught my attention. For a minute I questioned who she was texting so much but my gut told me it was Landon.

  She had managed to put her phone down while we watched our movies, but every time it would vibrate, her eyes would shift to look at it, and I knew her palm had to be itching to pick it up and see what he had said.

  That had been another reason I decided to call it an early night. Who was I to keep her from sexting some guy she barely knew? At least I would be asleep shortly and wouldn’t have to listen to her giggles every time a new text came in. But every time her phone chimed I couldn’t help but wonder, if she was talking to Landon … where was Kane?

  Where is Kane? Why in the hell did I even think that? He was probably off playing doctor with that girl from the bar, or any other girl for that matter. He was attractive enough to probably have his pick of anyone in this whole town. I was surprised he had wasted any of his time talking to me.

  While Kane was everything I thought I would never want, there was still a nagging at the back of my mind telling me I couldn’t be sure of what I wanted. It wasn’t like I had a whole lot of past boyfriends to know what my type was. Here I was—eighteen, and I had never even had a steady boyfriend before. Don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t a prude. It wasn’t like I had never been kissed. But it was hard to find a relationship when everyone in town pitied you. Another reason I withdrew from everyone I once knew. I didn’t need their pity. What I needed was my mom. And I didn’t have her anymore.

  I hated thinking about my mom before falling asleep, because almost every time I did, the nightmares of what had happened that night would follow. The guilt that almost consumed me daily, and the grief I hadn’t truly let myself feel, were enough to nearly cripple me. I didn’t need to add exhaustion on top of that from staying awake all hours of the night, for fear that every time I closed my eyes I would be back there, in that moment, living it all over again. I couldn’t handle that. Not now. Tomorrow was a new beginning. I needed this. I would start over fresh—for her.

  I had managed to make it through the night without any nightmares and awoke the next morning before Jessi, again. I softly crept across the floor, trying my best not to wake her. I wanted to shower first like I did yesterday, but this time I didn’t take my time in the shower. I was too full of nervous energy and anticipation for my first class. I just wanted to get ready and get this day started.

  My nerves had me hoping I hadn’t bit off more than I could chew with the classes I had picked. All the AP courses I had taken in high school had given me a slight advantage, making me feel a little more at ease about what was in store for me. But I knew nothing would compare to the real deal. This was college after all. There would be no second chances. It was up to me to make something of myself now.

  Classes for the first part of the morning had gone as smoothly as I could have hoped for. The professors seemed to be really nice, but still had that no nonsense air about them. We, the students, of course got the expected speeches on how we were no longer in high school, and how they would not baby us and so on and so forth.

  By midday I was starving. I had never been a breakfast person. A piece of toast every now and then was my breakfast of choice and I could usually make it all morning on that and not be hungry. But classes ran a little longer now then what they did in high school, and by the time I had I had a break it was a little past one o’clock and I was famished.

  I made my way to the cafeteria, knowing Jessi would already be there waiting for me. Our tour the day before had shown us that her class was closer to the caf and let out earlier than mine, so we agreed that we would just meet there and eat together as soon as my class was over.

  I was hurrying along, looking down over the syllabus from the last class when I collided with something hard.

  Great!

  The first thing that ran through my mind was that I had just walked into a door—like an idiot.

  I slowly raised my head, expecting everyone around to be rolling with laughter. But with my head fully elevated, I saw that I had not just crashed into a door. No, instead of a door I was staring at a broad back in a white shirt.

  I automatically ducked my head again and began apologizing to the poor person I had just plowed into. “I’m so sorry; I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

  Glancing up when I didn’t get a response, I watched as the person I had run into turned around and slowly pulled his sunglasses down the bridge of his nose until they were resting on the tip. Man that seemed familiar.

  “So we meet again, beautiful. Ya know, just because you got run over the other night, that does not justify mowing down anyone you come in contact with today,” Kane laughed.

  I should have known, that was just my luck. I would go crashing into him to further prove my klutz-like tendencies.

  Wait. Did he just call me beautiful?

  “Oh please, if I could mow you over with you being four times my size, then I would say it’s well deserved.” I needed to be snarky with him. If I wasn’t, I would probably end up stuttering like a mad woman and make an even bigger fool of myself then I already had.

  Now that I was standing this close to him in the clear light of day, I could see all his glorious features. He wasn’t wearing a ball cap again and even though his hair was cut pretty short I could still tell the color was black. And in the bright sunshine his eyes gleamed like someone had poured mercury into his irises. They were completely mesmerizing.

  “Are you calling me fat?” He questioned, pulling my attention away from his eyes. What were we talking about again? “I don’t take to k
indly to that. This school has zero tolerance when it comes to bullying—do I need to report you?” He raised one eyebrow at me, and our earlier conversation came rushing back.

  I leaned in close, glaring at him from under my lashes. “Tattle tale,” I whispered.

  It was so nice to be able to banter with him. It had been so long since I was able to cut loose with someone other than Jessi or her family. Like I said, people back home tiptoed around me. I tried to make everyone more comfortable so they wouldn’t feel the need to do so, but no matter what I did, I never changed anything so I eventually just gave up trying.

  Seeing him again reminded me about how he’d rushed off the other night, and I blurted out, “Hey, how are you? You were pretty heated at the bar and then you just took off—I was kind of worried about you.” I could slap myself for divulging that last little bit of information. Sure, it might have been true, but now he was going to run off screaming into the night thinking I was some sort of stalker freak.

  “Worried about me, huh?” One side of his mouth pulled up into a sly smile and I watched as a lone dimple sank deep into his cheek. Usually when you think of dimples you think cuteness, but on a man like Kane, they were far from cute—He was the epitome of sex appeal.

  I rolled my eyes at his question and stepped around him, continuing on to the cafeteria. I was still very hungry and now I wasn’t going to have a lot of time to eat before my next class began. Kane fell into step with me, but as we reached the doors to the caf, he paused. I turned to look at him, and watched as the smile he had been wearing slowly slid from his face.

  “I’m sorry I ran off like I did. It was a dick move.” He rubbed the back of his neck and his gray eyes held mine. “Sometimes I lose hold on my temper. I really don’t like to do that and to do it around a female, well, that’s unforgiveable. My Paw would have my head for it. It was best I just removed myself from the equation. God, I didn’t even make sure you got home safe.”