Savage: Iron Dragons MC by Olivia Stephens Page B

still couldn’t manage to rise from her bed and walk away. He could ask Marie to give her his thanks and leave right now, but that would mean not seeing her, and he wasn’t prepared to do that.
     
    “I know,” he said at last, because Marie’s statement demanded some form of reply.
     
    Perhaps it was the confirmation in Keith’s eyes, perhaps it was the way in which he said the words, but Marie’s eyes softened and she leaned back in her seat. “I just don’t want you to hurt her.”
     
    “I know,” Keith nodded again.
     
    They were still sitting in silence when the door opened and Kristina walked in. At first she didn’t see Keith lying there on her bed. She gave Marie a smile and dropped her bag to the floor. When she saw Keith sitting there, she froze in place, her expression turning to shock.
     
    “Keith?” she said, as though she wanted to be sure.
     
    “Hello, Kristina,” Keith said as he straightened up.
     
    “What are you doing here?” Kristina asked, as she moved her eyes between Marie and Keith.
     
    “I came to talk to you,” Keith said, throwing an unwelcome glance in Marie’s direction.
     
    Kristina cleared her throat and turned to Marie. “Don’t you have lectures all evening?” she asked pointedly, and Keith breathed an internal sigh of relief to discover that she wasn’t upset to find him in her dorm room.
     
    “They don’t start for another hour,” Marie said, matching Kristina’s tone.
     
    Keith saw Kristina shoot Marie a telling look. “Marie…” she said slowly.
     
    Marie gave a sigh of defeat. “I’ll get going now… then I can grab some coffee, too.”
     
    “Ok,” Kristina said, as though she hadn’t just pushed Marie towards the early exit.
     
    Marie slipped on a coat, threw a bag over her shoulder, and grabbed a few books that had been scattered along her bed. Keith thought she would make a quiet exit, but at the last second she turned at the door and looked at Kristina. “Kris, could I have a word with you outside, please?”
     
    Kristina nodded without expression and followed Marie outside, leaving Keith alone in the room. He tried to make out their conversation, but he could hear nothing except for unintelligible murmuring. He didn’t bother to try harder than that, mainly because he had a fairly good idea what Marie was saying about him. A part of him didn’t blame her. She was right on many accounts. The worlds that he and Kristina came from were entirely separate, as different as night and day. She was right about the fact that Kristina was too good for him as well, but he had no idea how to alter that fact.
     
    He thought about what he was really doing here. The thank you had been an excuse—and he knew it. The honest truth was that he had simply wanted to see Kristina again. She calmed him in a way that no one had been able to, at least not since Natalie. It was strange, but even thinking of Natalie had gotten easier somehow, as though the wound was not as fresh as it had once been. Keith wondered if that was a new development, or it had happened a while ago and he had only just noticed.
     
    Finally, the door opened again and Kristina walked in alone, unencumbered by her friend. She was avoiding his gaze for some reason, and she wore an expression that came close to embarrassment. “I see you met Marie,” Kristina said with a soft chuckle.
     
    “She’s quite the spitfire,” Keith said without mincing words. “Has she always been that… outspoken?”
     
    “Only about the things she’s passionate about,” Kristina replied. “And she’s always been a loyal friend.”
     
    “Well… that I can respect.”
     
    Kristina nodded. Then she looked up after a few moments had passed. “What are you doing here, Keith?”
     
    Keith stood slowly. He felt like a giant in the small room, and he resisted the urge to sit down again. “I realized that I never thanked you for what you did for me last week,” he started off shakily. “I