The walk to the campus was fairly quiet. Kevin pointed out a few things to Mick, as if he really was new to the city, but beyond that, they didn't talk much. He was, however, very aware of Mick's presence and was almost glad when they reached the campus and he could tell Mick where he needed to go before heading off to his first class.
I don't even know him. How can I be… interested?
But he was and he knew it.
Probably because he knows I'm gay, which is a stupid reason.
He laughed softly under his breath.
Very stupid.
"Kevin!" Sue dashed over at that moment, standing in front of him, hands on her hips as she looked him over. "Why didn't you call me? I've been worried sick since I heard about you being mugged."
"I'm sorry. I guess I should have. I wasn't thinking. Besides which, my mom was here and with me all the time."
Linking her arm in his, she nodded. "I guess I'll forgive you—this time. So what happened exactly? Did they take anything? Are you all right? Yeah, I should have asked that first. Right?"
Kevin chuckled. "Probably, and yeah, other than bruised ribs—well bruised everything—I'm okay. They didn't take anything because all I had with me was my laundry and my keys. I figure they were going to break into the machines and I surprised them and it pissed them off."
"Well I hope they catch them and make them"—she giggled—"spend the rest of their lives doing people's laundry as punishment."
"Yeah, that would work," Kevin agreed, laughing.
By then they were at the door to their classroom. When they got inside, a few of the other students asked how he was doing, which surprised and pleased him, and then things settled down and the professor began his lecture.
* * * *
From a few hundred feet away, Mick had watched the interaction between Kevin and the blonde girl he'd seen him with coming out of the movies. He was surprised to feel a twinge of jealousy when she linked arms with Kevin. Misplaced, he knew, knowing what he did about Kevin now. But still it was there.
He also watched the people nearby, looking for anyone who seemed overly interested in their interaction. As far as he could tell, no one was, but he suspected it would be too fortuitous for Kevin's attacker to be right there watching.
Even if she is the girl the attacker was talking about, which in my book she almost has to be from what Kevin's said about not being friends with anyone else.
Once Kevin and the girl were inside, Mick left the campus, heading downtown to meet Will. They had a laptop to buy, and then… He sighed. And then I'll be doing for real what my cover story is, studying. On the other hand, if I really can rope Kevin into helping me…
With that thought in mind, he felt much better. That, and the idea he was meeting Kevin at the coffee house later in the day. Yeah, things could be worse.
No comments:
Post a Comment