My Guardian Angel (6 page)

“
It’s best people think we’re dating, just in case. The village isn’t safe at night,” he answered as he opened the door for me. I fake smiled, wishing he had said something else.

“What are friends for?” I said sarcastically.

“Just get in
, Kassia,” he laughed.

He drove me home and parked the car in front of my house.

“Well thanks for tonight. Even though part of me thinks you stalked me,” I accused.

“You’re welcome.” He smiled and stepped out of the car.

He walked around and opened my door and walked me up my steps.
I wanted to invite him in. The moment we stepped into my house, I wanted to rip his clothes off and have sex with him. I wanted to cuddle in his big arms and sleep contently. But he just wanted to be friends.

“Well goodnight
, Kassia,” he said as I located my keys and opened my door. “Text me whenever you need any info on our friendly neighborhood SWAT team.”

“Sure thing
,” I murmured. I stepped into my home and locked the door behind me. I heard his engine rumble as it came to life and drove off into the night with my libido.

My Present

“Come on Kass, run faster!” Darios yelled so loudly, that the whole gym was looking at me run on the treadmill, which he forced me on. I was huffing and puffing, trying hard to catch my breath. The asshole was paying me back. I wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction, so I kept running, even though my legs were about to give out from under me.

“Don’t you think you ran enough?” Jason asked as he pressed the button, slowing down the machine.
Darios’ eyes literally bugged out.

“I’m…fine
,” I huffed.

“Yeah, sure you are.” He lowered the incline and I began to regain my breathing.

“Ah Jason, do you mind? I'm the one training my sister!” My brother leaned in and was about to press the speed button.

“I think she’s done, don’t you?”
he challenged.

“I don’t!” Darios fired back.

I couldn’t help but dart back and forth between them. The atmosphere around both of them was unnerving. Jason grabbed my arm and pulled me off the treadmill. He gently smiled as he looked down at me. I was lost in his damn grey eyes again. He tilted his head to one side, picked up a flyaway strand of hair and softly curled it around my ear.

“So what kind of workout are you doing today?”
he asked so quietly that I scarcely heard him. I stood there mute, lost in his presence.

“We’re going to be doing whatever you’re not
,” Darios said bluntly. Jason just laughed and looked over my head.

“No problem
, Darios.” He patted me on my head. “Have a good workout.” He winked and walked towards a bench press.

“Hey
, Jessica? Can you get a mop over here? My sister won’t stop drooling!” my brother said, mocking me. I turned my head and glared at him.

Jessica came bouncing towards us.

“What is it Darios?” She smiled
, waiting for my brother.

“Nothing
,” he said flatly. “Come on, Kass, it’s time to start your set.”

Darios left me there to follow him. He walked clear across the gym to put distance between him and Jason or Jason and me.
Honestly, I don’t know, but either way my brother wasn’t in the best of moods.

“So how close are you two? Since he saw fit to save you from your own brother?”
he quizzed me, as he rolled the free weights to me. I picked them up, looked in the mirror and began to do my arm curls.

“Not that close. We’re just friends
,” I answered, only looking at myself and not my brother.

“I wasn’t going to hurt you! Does he not know that?”
he asked, annoyed at what had happened. “I would never hurt you, not after…” His words trailed off. It was rare when my brother lost composure, but when it did happen, the man was like the Hulk.

I put my weights down and walked over to him. I placed my hands on his arms and felt him shake.

“Dar, nothing in the world makes me feel as safe as you do. You’re my brother and I love you. No one is ever going to replace that. Our relationship is stronger than others so don’t worry about anything. Guys will come and go, but you’re always going to be my big brother.” I said the last part purposefully to be cheesy and he laughed.

“No Hulk Smash
,” I pouted.

“Yeah, yeah, just go and finish your set.” He pushed me towards the weights.

The rest of the time
, we spent shooting the shit, as he called it. Work was getting hectic with him, his businesses were booming and so was his job with the Giants. He was worried, because eventually, he’d have to make a choice and he didn’t know which one he would choose. I thought the choice was obvious, but not to him.

“Go wash up and I’ll meet you at the health bar.
I’ll make sure a berry protein shake will be waiting for you.” He winked.

I showered and changed.
My body felt weak from the intense two-hour workout he had me do, but I loved the feeling of it.

“Hey!” I heard someone say from behind me.
I didn’t bother turning around and kept going. “Hey, I'm talking to you,” the guy said, but more forcefully.

He jogged ahead of me and blocked my way.
We had walked by a small alcove, which had housed the mats, but the mats were all gone. I now filled the space. He leaned up against the wall with his one arm high above him.

“So you work
out here, that’s nice,” he said, kind of sleazy. Kind of sleazy didn’t cover it, the man was a scuzzball. It’s a real word, look it up; you might see his picture. His hair was greased back and his wife beater barely contained the hair protruding out from his chest.

“Do you mind!” I said, not asking, as I tried to pass him.

“No
, I don’t, not when I get to see such a hot, tight, little thing like you.” He smiled and leaned in closer and closed his eyes. Was he trying to kiss me? I leaned away, but all he did was sniff me. “You smell nice.” He grinned and opened his eyes.

“Get the hell out of my face
,” I warned and tried to move, but he cornered me.

“You’re a fighter.” He smiled. “I like that
,” he murmured.

“If you don’t leave me alone, I swear I'm going to kick your ass
,” I hissed.

“Sure
, baby, you can do whatever you want to my ass, as long as you ride me.” He smirked and inched closer.

I reached my hand back
, clenching my fist and readying my punch, when I saw him fly across the gym. He literally was lobbed up into the air. Seconds later, Jason was on top of him, punching him. I ran and grabbed Jason’s arm and stopped his punch in mid-air. He turned his face and glared at me; his grey watery eyes were now filled with fury and anger.

“Jason
, stop! It’s okay now.” I looked at the half-beaten man on the floor. His hands were up, protecting him from Jason’s relentless attack.

“What in the fuck
in’ hell is going on here?” my brother yelled at the top of his lungs, as he peered down at Jason.

“It’s
okay, Dar. Jason was just taking care of this guy. He was coming on too strong and he wasn’t leaving me alone.” The look on my face must have triggered something inside my brother because Hulk appeared again.

“NO HULK SMASH!” I yelled and threw myself in front of my brother.

“This is my sister, dipshit!” The guy on the floor froze. “You’re lucky she’s here to stop me,
‘cause I would have wiped the fuckin’ floor with you,” he roared.

“Guys?” He called over his shoulder and a few of my brother’s boxing friends showed up. “Escort this mo
-fo out of my gym.” He pointed to the scuzzy on the floor. “Jessica?” he cried out. “Revoke his membership!”

Thank God
, the gym had emptied out by this time. There weren’t a lot of witnesses to see the spectacle, which had just happened.

Darios pushed
past me and helped Jason up. “Thanks for helping my little sister.” I watched as Jason’s hands shook. His fist was bleeding, the blood dripping on the floor.

“Darios? Mind if I use your office?” I asked without really waiting for a response.
I took Jason by the other hand and led him to my brother’s office.

I stormed
in, let go of him, and began searching for the first aid kit I knew Darios always carried with him. Once I found it, I placed it onto his desk. Jason stood in the doorway, his head slightly down as he looked at his hands.

“Close the door and sit down
,” I said firmly.

Jason followed what I had told him and now sat before me.

“Do you mind explaining to me, why the hell you went mental on that guy?” I asked as I picked up his hand and began cleaning it up, but Jason never said a word. He kept staring at his hand as I worked on it.

“Hey!” I said, reaching for his face, making him look at me. The fury that was there a moment ago had melted away, the light grey I knew was now back.
Damn those fuckin’eyes of his.

“Why did you do that?” I murmured.

“I'm here to protect you,” he whispered.

“What did you say?”

At that moment, Darios opened the door and let himself in.

“Let me do that
, Kass. You have no clue how to bandage someone.” Darios pushed me over and began working his magic on Jason.

“I'm going home
,” I said, walking out of the office.

“Kass, wait for me
. I’ll drive you,” my brother shouted out.

“I'm thirty-three years old. I don’t need someone to drive me
,” I bit out.

I waited outside for Jason to come out of the gym.
The elevator doors opened and out he came. His hand was all wrapped up in gauze. He struggled with his duffle bag and began walking. I followed him, but not too close, just enough so I could see him. He weaved in and out of the crowded street. The noises alone were distracting as I followed him.

I watched as busy people hurried down the street, making their way to their destinations.
I kept on bumping into small groups, earning me a few dirty looks. One man even proceeded in telling me off, making me lose sight of Jason. Once I realized he was gone, I shot the guy the finger and walked away.

Great! I lost Jason.
I wanted to talk to him, not stalk him, but I couldn’t help it. I seriously needed to find myself a healthy relationship. I was becoming one of those, you know the type, the stalking and looking from afar types.

I turned the corner and nearly tripped over a man, who was leaning up against the wall.

“Sorry,” I managed to say as I steadied myself.

“Sorry, that you were following me or sorry, that you suck at it?” Jason kicked off the wall and made his way into my space, making me back up a little.

“So I’d suck as a cop,” I murmured, embarrassed at my crappy attempt.

“Pretty much.” He readjusted his duffle bag with his bandaged hand.

“I guess I owe you a coffee for helping me back there.” I waited and he smirked.

“I’d say so.”

I pointed at a Starbucks, which was around the corner and near my house. I ordered my mint tea and his coffee and joined him at the table. He sat near the window, overlooking the street in front of us.

“I hope my brother didn’t say anything to you.” I placed his coffee in front of him.

He was staring out the window and looking into the crowd. He didn’t say anything at first.
He looked at his coffee and drank from it. Once he finished, he placed it back down and turned his eyes to me.

“No,
he was happy I was there at the right time. He says if he could, he’d have a bodyguard on you 24/7.” I took the lid off my tea to let it cool down a bit.

“He says a lot of stupid things.”
I began to blow on my tea.

“Why would you need protection, I mean aside from the fact that you’re who you are?”

I lifted my tea and tested it to see if it was just right; no it wasn’t. I placed it back down again, waiting for it to cool. I didn’t want to have this conversation with him, but I had to stop hiding what had happened when I was younger.

“I was sixteen and something had happened at my neighbors’ home. I don’t remember much, just the storm and blood.
Bits and pieces come back to me as I sleep or even something as mundane as having a tea might trigger a memory, but I pretty much blocked it all out. Not the healthiest thing I did. I used writing to help me and then I became good at it. So, here I am.” I picked up the tea, not realizing I was shaking on the inside. The fuckin’ tea was still too hot.

“You don’t remember anything?”
he asked, puzzled.

“I remember hearing two loud bangs. I remember running through the rain. I even remember walking through the door and seeing the blood, but after that my mind draws a blank. I'm not happy about it, but there you have it.”

He watched me closely, almost weighing what I had said. “What happened to your neighbors?” he asked, pushing his coffee to the side.

“They said it was a home invasion, a meth addict gone nuts. He needed his fix and wanted money.
Other than that, I don’t know. My parents and Darios pretty much kept me in the dark about everything else.” I fidgeted in my seat, uncomfortable with the way our conversation was going.

“So you don’t remember anything?”
he asked, his eyes almost demanding more from me.

“No, I can’t and I honestly don’t want to. That was then and this is now.
Whatever happened or didn’t happen, I’ve come to terms with it,” I blurted out.

I reached for my tea and drank it, burning my tongue in the process.
I nearly slammed it back down onto the table.

“I'm sorry
,” he said ruefully.

“That makes two of us.” I smiled
, holding back my tears. I crossed my arms and turned my body to face the busy street in front of me.