Love, Lies, and Deception(42)
Kristian gasped. “Are you serious? What happened to her?”
Tilting my head up to look at him, I cried, “I don’t know, Kristian, but I was the one who found her. I’ll never forget the way her dead eyes stared into mine.”
He held me in his arms and rubbed his hands down my back while I sat there and sobbed. “It was terrible. The smell was awful, and the way she looked …”
“Shh …” Kristian whispered, squeezing my shoulder. “You don’t have to go into details, Mare. I know it had to be horrible. What were you doing back there? I didn’t know you liked traipsing off through the woods.”
I sniffled. “I usually don’t, especially not by myself, but Alec and I went for a walk and that’s when I found her.”
“Do the police know what happened to her? Was she murdered?”
Wiping my eyes with the back of my hand, I dried them off on my pants and shook my head. “They haven’t called to tell us for sure, but that’s what it looks like.”
Kristian furrowed his brows, and chewed his lip. “I don’t know, Mare, this is really weird. The girl who drugged you shows up dead … what are the odds of that? It looks like somebody wanted her to keep her mouth shut.”
I shivered. “That’s what I’m afraid of. I’m scared, Kris. What if we’re dealing with some kind of psycho killer who preys on college girls or something? I don’t think I can handle another attack. I’m a strong girl, but this time I might not have someone there to help me.”
“Hey,” he murmured, turning me to face him. “Nothing is going to happen to you. If I have to sleep on your couch every night to make sure you’re safe I will. Exams are this week and soon we’ll all be moving away from here. Whatever’s going on here will be a memory.”
Will Alec just be a part of the past?
“I know,” I sighed, “and speaking of moving, did you tell Natalie about you coming to Wilmington?”
He grinned half-heartedly. “Yes, I did. She wasn’t happy at first, but we’re going to work through it. She can’t make it to graduation, but she’s going to meet me in Wilmington when I go for my job interview.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right! I’m so glad things are working out for you. I hate that I’m bringing you down with all the crap that’s going on.”
“You’re not bringing me down, baby girl. I’m actually glad I came back early so I could be here for you.”
Kissing him on the cheek, I took my book from him and muttered, “Thank you, Kristian, and now that you’re back it’s time to work. There’s a certain person I’d like to beat on the exams if you know what I mean.”
Kristian chuckled. “Yeah, good luck with that.”
We cracked open the books and after four hours of going hard, my mind was about to combust. Kristian was nodding off and eventually passed out in a sea of biology notes. Yawning, I found my cell phone in the midst of those papers and texted Alec before I passed out.
Me: Be here at 7. Pizza and beer.
His reply was instant.
Alec: Can’t wait. What r u doing?
I glanced over at Kristian and smiled.
Me: Just got through studying. Gonna take a nap.
I conveniently left out the Kristian part.
Alec: Ok
Me: <3
Alec: Make sure you dream about me ;)
I was hoping beyond hope that I dreamed about him and not dead bodies. Crawling under the covers, I watched Kristian’s chest rise and fall with his steady breathing. I slowly began to nod off and was thankful that sleep was even coming to me. It was Kristian’s face I fell asleep to, but it was Alec’s that invaded my dreams.
Kristian woke me up around six o’clock and said I needed to call in the pizza … Emily’s orders. He ruffled my hair and left me alone in my room so I could freshen up. I called in the pizza, and since I had a little bit of time before it would be delivered, I changed out of my wrinkled clothes and added a tiny amount of makeup to my face.
Since we were staying in, I settled on a pair of jeans and a black tank top. When I walked out of my bedroom, Kristian whistled at me from the couch and joined me in the kitchen.
“Alec is definitely one lucky man,” he uttered, grabbing the napkins I handed to him.
I smiled. “And Natalie is definitely a lucky lady,” I said back.
Quietly, we both set up the dining room table with plates, napkins, and cups. Footsteps approached from outside, so I strolled over to the window to peer out and saw that it was Justin and Alec talking as they made it up the steps. Excitedly, I opened the door and was greeted with a smile from both of them.
Justin spoke first. “Emily told me you needed some cheering up, so I brought the beer and your favorite Xbox game. Be prepared to get your ass handed to you tonight,” Justin bragged, even though everyone knew I always beat him.
“Um … isn’t it me who usually wins?” I teased back. “Besides, everyone knows you talk big, but can’t back it up.” Alec and Kristian both tried to hide their laughs by coughing, but it didn’t stop Justin from flipping everyone off as he walked around the bar to the kitchen.