Page 7 of Daring the Defender

The casual accusation brings a blistering heat to my cheeks.

“That was just…” Just what? I don’t know. Not like me for sure. I’ve never done anything like it before.Ever.

“I’ll let it go,once.These guys aren’t like you, Shel. Reid’s one of my best friends but he’s…” he searches for the right word and settles on, “...experienced. You’re lucky he’s also a good guy because there are a lot of men on Wittmore’s campus that would take advantage of an innocent girl showing up on theirdoorstep.” He shakes his head and laughs darkly. “Like a lamb to slaughter.”

I don’t like the description of me being innocent or a lamb, probably because it’s a littletooon the nose, but I’m not in the position to argue. “I’m sorry, and I promise that if you let me stay here–just for a few weeks–until I get my head on straight, I’ll stay away from him and anyone else. I’m not looking for trouble.” Or a handsome man with strong hands and lips. “I just need a chance to breathe before the whirlwind of the engagement and wedding kick into gear.” I look around the living room, at the messy pile of hockey equipment, and the dishes piled across the room in the kitchen sink. “I’ll help around the house. Do whatever you–”

He stands and reaches for me, lifts me off the couch, and pulls me into a hug. “Shel, I’m glad you trusted me enough to come to me,” he says, resting his head on top of mine.

A thread of tension in my chest unwinds and I know I came to the right person. For what? I’m not sure yet, but at least he’ll give me the space to figure it out.

After bringingin the suitcase I’d stashed in the bushes next to the porch, and a quiet discussion with Nadia, Axel gives me his room for the night.

“I can’t take your room,” I say, standing in the hallway. I give Nadia an awkward smile as she hovers at the top of the stairs, a bag slung over her shoulder. I’m booting her too, which is weird on so many levels. If my parents knew I was in a house with unmarried couples sleeping together, they would be livid.

I’m not upset in any way, but I can’t help but feel a little immature when I think about what Axel and Nadia do on thatbed and how inexperienced I am. My mind wanders back to the couch with Reid. Is it normal to still feel a kiss this long after it happened?

“There’s no way you’re sleeping in the living room,” my brother announces. “Not in a house with four men.”

“That couch is disgusting,” Nadia’s nose wrinkles, “and I have an early shift at the gym tomorrow and should get home, anyway.”

“I’ll walk you out,” Axel says, grabbing Nadia’s hand. “And then I’ll call home to let them know you’re safe.”

They leave and I step into my brother’s room, taking in the college version of my brother. It’s smaller than his room back home, but it’s also more personalized. Mom doesn’t like clutter and makes us keep our rooms clean and tidy. The decor is mostly hockey-related: a few jerseys and a couple of sticks are mounted to the wall. There’s a poster of Axel, dressed in his goalie kit, with the Wittmore Badgers logo underneath. I feel a small surge of pride, knowing my brother is doing so well with the team, but there’s also evidence that he’s not just here for athletics. Books and papers are stacked on his desk, along with his laptop and a full backpack. Standing in the middle of the room, I’m able to take a deep breath, I think for the first time since leaving Texas. Even though I feel safe here–steadier–I know I haven’t solved a single problem that I left behind.

Opening my suitcase I grab my pajamas, happy to get out of the clothes I traveled in all day. The curtains are open and I walk across the room to close them. Axel’s house is at the end of a long row that leads toward campus. It’s the biggest on the street–the only two-story. Down below, I see movement; Axel and Nadia. He’s got her pressed against a car parked out front, her curvy hips pinned beneath his, and they’re kissing.

Oh boy, are they kissing.

My cheeks burn just watching them, and not just because it’s inappropriate to spy on my brother and his girlfriend making out. It’s more because of what I’d done with Reid before. That wasn’t what I’m watching now–two people completely consumed by one another. Mouths in synch, bodies close, hands exploring. The way I’d lunged at him had been sloppy, immature.

Axel’s hand drops down and his fingers dip beneath the hem of Nadia’s skirt. Her legs shift, giving him room, and with my heart–and other body parts–pounding, I abruptly pull the curtains closed and turn away. Is that what he meant by Reid having experience? Because kissing like that? Touching?

Way out of my comfort zone.

David and I are taking things slow–appropriately slow for a promised couple–I think as I pull on the soft shirt and shorts of my pajama set. Which is why my encounter with Reid was so shocking. Who was that girl?

Downstairs, I hear the door open and close, followed by Axel’s voice traveling up the stairs. Moving to the door, I press my ear against the surface, trying to hear better. I hear the word, ‘Mom,’ and ‘she’s safe,’ but the rest is garbled. Frustrated, grabbing my toothbrush as a decoy, I step out to the hallway and linger near the closed hall bathroom door. Axel’s voice carries up the stairs.

“I don’t exactly know why she’s here, Mom, but I think things got too intense with the wedding planning and she needed a break.” He quiets as he listens, then adds, “Maybe it had something to do with Dad arranging a marriage for her when she’s not ready.” I lean over the banister as if that will help me hear my mom on the other side of the line. “She can stay here as long as she wants.” Pause. “Yes, I have roommates. Male roommates.” He sighs. “Jesus, Mom, they’re not perverts, they’re hockey players–successful ones who have too much onthe line to mess around with my kid sister.” There’s another pause, this one a little longer, finally he replies, “If you give her a little bit of space I’m sure she’ll come home and end up the doting housewife you always planned for her to be. Shelby is a lot of things, but being defiant isn’t one of them.”

The last line hurts, slamming hard into my chest. Not because he’s wrong–but because he’s right. I’m not defiant, not like him. There isn’t a rebellious bone in my body. Right now, I’m just… something I can’t put my finger on yet, but I feel more scared than anything else.

I hear footsteps and the front door open and close again as he goes out to the porch, effectively cutting me off from the conversation. Resigned, I turn around, and nearly jump out of my skin when I see a figure leaning against the frame of the bathroom doorway.

Reid.

“You scared me,” I say, swallowing back a jolt of adrenaline.

“Sorry. I didn’t expect you out here.” He’s shirtless now, having shucked his ripped up one from before. The soft, melted ice pack is clutched in his hand. His bottom lip is puffier than before, but it does nothing to detract from his rugged good looks. I’d been startled at his… well,everythingwhen he opened the front door tonight. He’s broad. Big. Confident–but in a different way than my father who commands a crowd with ease. This was a lazy swagger, despite the cold and his exposed skin. Unlike Axel, he’s not covered in tattoos. Just the number eight on his bicep.

His reddish hair is more copper than true red, shaggy on top, and has a curled layer of fringe at the nape of his hairline. His brown eyes peek out from underneath as he continues, “I thought he may throw both of us out.”

“He’s on the phone with our mother. Hopefully, getting me a reprieve.” I gesture to his mouth. “Sorry about that.”

“For the kiss?” He touches the bruise with a fingertip. “Or for Axel going all big brother?”

“Both,” I say firmly, knowing Axel meant what he said. He’s not going to let me stay if I disrupt the house–and I don’t want him hurting anyone else. He’s protective to a fault. I cross my arms over my chest. This does nothing but draw his gaze to the motion. “Neither will happen again.”

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