He chuckles, I cover my mouth, preventing another yawn from escaping. “You tired, angel?”
Sheepishly I nod my head, as he reaches behind the driver seat pulling out a bunched up sweatshirt and places on his thigh, “Lay down.”
I scootch back and question him, my head turns back to the door, “I’ll keep an eye out. Just lay your pretty self down.”
I’m hesitant. Maybe it’s the affection he’s showing that something in me is sending warning flags. Maybe I don’t trust myself. I still don’t trust myself to make the right choices. I take a leap of faith and rest my head on the sweatshirt.
I lay across the bench, my knees bent laying against the back brace of the seat. Keola adjusts to corner himself against the door, he lightly brushes his hand through my hair, tingling of my scalp sends shivers down. It’s heaven.
For moments, I feel safe and protected. Something I’m long overdue for. His fingers keep weaving through and I go into a lull of sleep. My eyes are heavy with the ache of sleep. His warmth radiating around me.
Peace.
Warmth.
Maybe I can start allowing myself moments of true happiness.
But nothing lasts forever as my phone buzzes in my pocket, jolting me awake. The bright screen shows Brayden’s happy face as it waits for me to answer.
“What do you want?” I grumble out, Keola doesn’t stop stroking my hair.
“Why do you sound like you're dying?” his sarcastic tone rings out.
I give a slight growl, he responds, “Oh, touchy. Okay fine then I won’t tell you about my date with a certain professor that knows our missing companion.”
My eyes fully spring open as I press the speaker button. “You were on a date with Cedric’s professor?”
“It was already in the works, the timing of Cedric is purely coincidental.” He ignores the obvious.
“I don’t want to know the story.”
“Since you asked, the date was fabulous and I think there’s going to be a second one,” he beams even though I didn’t ask.
“Brayden spit it out.” I growled on the phone.
“Oh I’m sorry did I interrupt something?” I can picture the cat-like grin on his face.
“At 12 o’clock at night, maybe. Just spill and you’ll get details later,” Keola smacks my pussy, giving me a stern look, hoping that I wouldn’t tell Brayden anything.Do that again.I give him a wink, his once hair stroking hand now lowers to my neck with a slight dominant squeeze.
“If y’all are fucking, I mean give me a heads up,” he laughs.Not yet.
“Brayden, the professor.”
“Ah yes, well. Cedric was the one who introduced us a few weeks back when we were meeting for lunch. Scott, that’s his name, said something about Cedric’s personal assignments for the writing class that he found intriguing,” he was dragging it along. If this man doesn’t get to it, I will personally strangle him.
“He noticed that his writing became more grim and dark, like he’s battling something. He kept using forms of feathers or flights or escaping from a cage. He wrote that he was trying to escape from talons and would drag him back.”
Bird metaphors? I can tell by the tension of Keola and the loose grip he had on me he knew something. Escaping from something, being caged up, Cedric would have said something.
Wouldn’t he?
“Is that ringing a bell or striking something in whatever brain capacity y’all have?” Brayden questions.
Maybe.
Chapter 21
Keola
