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“All right.” The deafening sound of air leaving his sails follows his quiet reply. “See you then.” He glances once more at Luka, then scurries off in the direction of the library.
“What are you doing here?” This seems to be a recurring question that I ask and never get an answer for. “And how did you even knowIwas here?”
He’s not wearing his leather jacket today. Instead, he’s wearing a button-down black shirt with long sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The top two buttons of his shirt are open, giving the entire world a peek at the skull tattoo on his chest.
“We didn’t finish our talk last night.” He should be given an award for his ability to continue with so many non-answers.
“What talk? You barged into my apartment, beat me, then… then…” My cheeks flame and my tongue swells too much to get the words out.
“A sound spanking is not a beating, Pchelka. And if you continue to be so loud about it, I may have to show you again.”
A girl walking past us stops when she overhears him. Her eyes widen when she notices who said the words. Then she hurries off.
“You can’t talk like that in public,” I admonish.
“You brought it up.” He grins. “And I would have finished our talk, but you fell asleep.”
I groan and start walking toward the campus bus stop. “I don’t have time for this. I have to get home, change, and then get to work.”
“You aren’t working at that bar anymore,” he says.
I stop mid-step and level what I hope is a bone-chilling glare. He looks completely unintimidated.
“I work at a grocery store on Monday afternoons.” I shuffle my books to my hip. “But why do you say I don’t work at the bar anymore?”
“Because it’s not safe for you there.”
“I’m going to lose my mind with you.” I grit my teeth. “I don’t know why you’re doing this to me, all this mind fuckery, but I don’t like it. I can admit last night was… well… I didn’t hate it, but that’s it. One night. Nothing else. So please, just go away.”
He grabs my finger that I’m poking him in the chest with and brings it up to his lips. “You did more than not hate it, Pchelka.”
Typical. He grasps onto what I thought about our fucking instead of any of the other things I said.
“And what is that name you keep calling me?”
“Pchelka? It means little bee.”
“Little bee?” He thinks I’m a tiny bee? An annoying little buzzing insect?
“You look small, but are fierce, and I have a feeling your sting is sharp.” He grins, proud of himself, I’m sure, for his wit.
It’s not the worst nickname I’ve had, I’ll give him that.
“Luka. I have to go. You have to go.” I pull my hand from his grasp.
“I’m driving you.” He takes the books from me and laces his fingers through mine. “My car is in the back lot.”
“Luka,” I sigh his name.
“Avery, I’m not going anywhere. The only reason I left your apartment last night was because I had to go take care of something. By the time I got back, you were gone already.”
“So, you what? Put out an APB on me? Is that how you found me?”
He squeezes my hand. “I’ll always find you.” He gives yet another non-answer. But I have a sense this man can find just about anyone or anything he wants. He’s a predator in that way, a hunter always seeking prey.
“Fine. You can drive me home, but then you have to go. I have to get ready for work.” It will save me the bus fare. It’s the only reason I’m going with him. It will be faster and cheaper. There. Two good reasons.
Women openly gawk at Luka as we walk through the campus to the back lot. The guys keep a wide berth, like he’s going to rip their heads off just for walking too close to us. Luka’s completely oblivious to the stares. His eyes are trained forward, focused on the steps ahead.
