When Our Worlds Collide (Our Worlds #1)(84)

“Kennedy,” Violet whispers elbowing me in the side to get my attention. She points a disguised finger in front of us. I look up and take a deep breath in. I’ve been avoiding him for good reasons. He’s attempted a handful of times to talk to me, more like corner me, in the hallway. I managed to sneak by him before he can say anything, but that doesn’t stop him from keeping his eyes on me. Even when I don’t catch him I can feel them on me, taking what’s left of what he tried to take. Craig knows better than to say anything to me in front of Graham. I’m alone now though.

“Violet. Kennedy,” Craig’s voice says deeply. Just the way he says my name makes my skin crawl.

“What the hell do you want, Craig?” Violet barks out the warning rolling her eyes at his unwanted presence.

“Just seeing if Kennedy is coming over tonight is all.” Craig takes a step closer towards me leaning against the front of the car where my feet are planted in defense.

“I think we all know the answer to that,” I say under my breath trying to sound confident and strong even when I’m anything but. Being trapped on the hood of a car makes leaning back as far as possible a game that I’m not winning. Craig takes it as an invitation to lean closer until he’s nearly on the hood of the car with me.

“That’s too bad. I thought we could finish what we started last weekend,” Craig growls running his hand over my leg. Bile rises up my throat. He knows exactly what he’s doing and I don’t understand why he’s hell bent on making my life miserable.

Before Violet or I can say anything he walks off with a menacing laugh echoing through the parking lot. My breaths are coming out shallow. Without knowing what to think, I keep telling myself that he’s just trying to get the best of me. The only reason why he even has the nerve to say anything to me now is because Graham isn’t around to hear what he says.

Maybe I made the wrong decision in not reporting him or maybe if even I had reported him nothing would have come from it. Craig didn’t succeed in what he intended on doing that night in his room, so what good would calling the police be? It’s too late to report him now. Staying away from him is what is best. The more distance between us the better chance Graham has to keeping his cool. He has a lot riding on his good behavior. No team wants a hothead on their roster and I’m not going to let my mistakes jeopardize Graham’s future.

“Ken, you okay?” Violet asks patting me on the leg pulling me back from my thoughts.

“Can we just keep this between us? Graham has enough going on right now. I don’t want to burden him with this,” I explain quietly. He should know about Craig’s attempts to scare me, but I can’t bring myself to give him anything else to worry about.

“Kennedy, Graham will want to know.” She argues. I know she’s right. I’m just not willing to give Graham another thing to worry about.

“You don’t understand. There are things you don’t know and I can’t tell you but trust me when I say Graham doesn’t need to deal with this right now.” Violet nods in compliant understanding. She drops the subject, but that doesn’t mean that it’s left my head.

Dealing with baseball and scouts on top of his Dad is enough for Graham to keep him busy. I know his Dad hasn’t let up on him. I don’t let it be known that I notice, but I see the bruises and I feel the way he cringes and tenses up when I hug him too hard. The last thing Graham needs is to worry about leaving me alone in fear of Craig pulling another stunt. It’s a secret that’s best left quiet for now.





Chapter Forty



-Graham-



All my dreams are becoming a reality and the only person I can’t wait to tell is sitting in Antonio’s Pizzeria. I walk through the glass double door and as always, I know exactly where she is without having to look around the room for her. It’s instinct, some invisible string linking us together.

Not wanting to interrupt her in the middle of her fit of laughter, probably at something Violet’s saying, I stand back to watch her. Only her best friend can make her laugh like that. It carries over the packed crowd that engulfs the main dining area. Just the sound of her laughter causes my heart to beat faster. I’m still surprised how much of an affect Kennedy has on me.

She’s wearing those jeans that I love so much. They hang low on her waist and her tank top rides up exposing a tiny hint of stomach if she moves just right in the booth. Who knew the smallest stretch of skin could be such a distraction. Every time Kennedy leaned forward on the fence tonight I noticed it.

I let out a deep breath admiring her. The way she’s throwing her head back as she laughs and the way she places her hand on the base of her neck as if that will help barricade the beauty of her laughter from escaping. Her laughter comes to a halt abruptly. Her entire body stiffens noticeably from where I’m standing. I have to smile. Kennedy flicks her head to the side so quick I think she’ll have a kink in her neck. Her eyes peruse over my entire body starting at my toes and slowly making the way up to my face where I greet her with a wink.

Kennedy springs up from the booth leaving Violet and Dan to watch as she runs over to me. She’s getting around much easier now that she doesn’t have those crutches. I’ll never tell her, but I sort of miss them. She depended on me more when she was stumbling around with them. Her arms swing around my neck as I pick her up in a tight hold.