Shuffling sounds around the bench woke Malia out of a deep sleep. But instinct had her hair standing on edge. She pushed herself into a sitting position, shaking off the shiver of cold and stretching her legs. "Is anyone there?"

A voice from her left had her jumping and curling into the corner. "I’ve been watching you for thirty minutes girl. You’re lucky I’m not like one of those perverts around here. The things I could have done to you while you were fast asleep. It’s not safe out for a little girl on the streets."

Malia couldn’t see the man who spoke very clearly because the moonlight had been under cloud cover. But she could see he was big. All she knew was he had a beard, was bulky and his clothes hung on him. "Thank you for not being an asshole."

The guy shrugged. "I didn’t say I wasn’t an asshole. I just said I wasn’t a pervert. I like my women alive and kicking."

Frozen fear went like icicles on her skin. How was this her life? Snap out of it. Anger motivates; fear immobilizes. Snap the fuck out of it. She stood and held her bag tightly to her. "I don’t want any trouble. If you want to sleep on the bench fine, I’ll find somewhere else."

He leaned against one of stone pillars. "You don’t look like you’ve been on the streets long, girl."

"You don't know anything about me. I’m just going to go."

She tried to walk out of the alcove, but he blocked her path. "Where are you going to in such a hurry?"

"I'm leaving." Malia made it a point to tip her chin up and meet his gaze. From what she could tell, his eyes were dark. And Jesus Lord, the man likely hadn’t availed himself of any showers or shelters recently. But who the hell was she to talk? She was sleeping on park benches now. And honestly, not like she could look down on anyone because without her parents paying in advance for tuition, she would be just like this guy. Except, probably less creepy.

"Now, I said I wasn’t a pervert, but you're awake now."

Her survival instinct had her taking a step back.

"Just let me go. You don’t want to do this."

"You don’t know what I want to do."

"I don't have anything to give you. I don’t have anything to trade. Just be a decent person and let me go."

"Well, sorry I can't do that. Because your bag is what I want."

Bag? But her laptop was in here. It was the only thing keeping her together. It was where she did her school work. "No. You can’t have it."

He smirked at her. "Well then, I'm going to take something else from you. And then I’m going to take your bag after I bash your fucking head in." He lunged for her, and she threw down her bag and put out her hands to defend herself, remembering vaguely the self-defense classes her father had insisted she take. Her palms struck him in the nose directly, and he howled and stumbled back. She squatted down to grab her bag and tried to run past him, but he grabbed her arm. The pain shot straight up into her shoulder as he twisted, and she screamed.

"You are going to pay for that."

And then there was more pain. A crack against her cheek had her seeing stars. She wasn’t getting out of this one so easily.

* * *

“What’s up little brother?”

“Hey, D3.” Zephyr pulled his running gear out of his bottom drawer and grabbed a pair of socks before dragging a shirt over his head. He put his brother on speaker to make things a little easier to hear.

“Uh oh, you sound like you got a case of the Z’s.”

Zephyr fucking hated that saying. It was what his brother has always said whenever he’d gone all broody and quiet. “You know I hate that. Why do you say it?”

Derek laughed. “Sorry. God, I was just calling to check in on you. What’s the matter?”

“Nothing.”

“Come on man, I can tell something is up. Talk to me. Do you want me to come out there? Kisima and I were supposed to head to New York in a couple of weeks, but we can easily come into Pittsburgh.”

Like he was a fucking kid. “I don’t need you guys checking up on me. Seriously, I’m fine.”

“Sure, I believe you. Then tell me whatever is going on with you has to do with some girl, or classes, or that you hate your job.”

Zephyr laughed. For the first time possibly in a year, his problems had to do with classes, and a girl, and his job, and not that other stuff. So it might actually be a relief to talk about it. “Yeah, it’s actually all of the above.”

Derek chuckled. “Dude, I was kidding. That’s a lot going on.”

“Tell me about it. I met a girl. She was cool. Hot, smart, the whole thing.”

His brother said, “Uh-huh.”

“We have a seriously intense chemistry. And then one day, I realized she’s actually one of my new mentoring students.”

Derek swore. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

Zephyr had to laugh. “Yeah, I pretty much said the same thing. Tanashi Corp. is pretty fuckin’ serious about the no-fraternization thing, so that was that.”

“Dude, that can’t be that. I mean, you’re not going to give up, are you?”

“Well, the plan was to back off. Cease and desist. But then we went to Harrisburg with another one of the other guys I’m mentoring. I shouldn’t be left alone with her apparently. One thing led to another and we sort of fucked up.”

There was a bit of silence. “You slept with her?”

Zephyr sputtered. “No. We kissed. But it was a close call.”

“Ah, not as good, but still, you think that was wise?”

“Probably not wise. The problem is, I can’t seem to get her out of my head, and I reached out and tried to talk to her about what happened. She’s not really down for it.”

His brother chuckled. “Can I ask you something?”

Oh God, this is going to be good. “Yeah, go ahead, D3.”

“Did you fuck it up?”

“The kiss? No, I know how to kiss, dumbass.”

“No, baby brother, not the kiss, just the whole situation. Did you say or do something?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think so. Maybe. The first time we met after I realized who she was, I might have tried to get her to quit the program. And then this happened, so she’s not real keen on talking to me at the moment.”

“So this time you didn’t say anything stupid?”

Had he? No. He hadn’t even had a chance. The moment they’d been alone, she’d pretty much ducked and run as soon as she could. “No, I’m certain I didn’t do anything wrong this time. Just the whole thing is all fucked up. That’s what’s going on right now.”

“Well, I gotta tell you, I’m impressed. Here I was thinking you were all work and no fun, but you are pretty much slaying left and right. Gotta say, I’m impressed.”

“I don’t know about slaying because right now, the girl is not talking to me. And I’m pretty much risking my job and my fellowship. So it does not feel like slaying.”

“Okay, let me ask you this: are you into her? Like into-her, into-her, not just you want to screw her?”

It didn’t even take him a second before he was answering. “Yeah, I’m into her, but if I go near her, I risk everything. Not just for me, but for her as well.”

His brother was silent for a moment. “Okay, there’s the other possibility.”

“Oh yeah? What’s that?”

“Well, have you considered that you might just be a bad kisser?”

“You’re a douche. I am not a bad kisser. Remember, you and fucking Dylan took care of that.”

Derek guffawed. “How were we supposed to know Marissa Myers would take you into the closet and nearly deflower you? That was not the intention.”

Marissa Myers. God, she’d been smoking hot, and he’d been terrified. He’d been thirteen and his big brothers thought it was ridiculous he hadn’t kissed anyone yet. They had gotten one of the freshman girls to teach him how to kiss.

She’d taken him into a closet at one of the junior high parties and taught him a lot more than how to kiss. “I wasn’t sure if I should thank you or rat you out to Mom and Dad.”

Derek just laughed. “You learned how to kiss, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, that I did learn. And I also got to second base too.”

“Shut up.”

Derek’s laugh rang over the line. And Zephyr had to admit it felt good to laugh at something in their past. “She let you get to second base?”

“Yup. I had no idea what I’d been missing up until that point. Problem was, how are you going to give a kid a taste and then settle him with girls with no boobs for the next two to three years?”

Derek laughed. “I had no idea. Look, when I was dating her sister and she asked about you, she was surprised to find out you were only in eighth grade. She thought maybe you went to another school or something. She thought you were cute. So far be it from me to stop young love. She was only a grade above you.”

“No, it’s true. But you forgot I skipped a year. So she was two years older than me. I mean boobs, Derek. She had boobs. I wasn’t ready.”

His brother laughed. “Well, you’re ready now. You’re welcome.”

Zephyr knew what Derek was doing. He had deliberately taken his mind off of everything else. “Hey, D3?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

“Yep. Anytime. But seriously though, with this girl, if you’re that into her, talk to her. Figure it out. If it could be real, maybe you’ll find a way.”

“Yeah. I hear you. Listen, let me call you back. I’m going to go for a run, clear my head. Are you going to be around?”

“Yeah, we’re just packing for a trip up to Northern California. Kiss is going to get some practice on a different track up there. But call when you can. If I’m not around, I’ll call you back.”

“You got it. And thanks again.”

“Anytime, Z. Later.”

Minutes later, he was out the door and headed toward Ryland Park. One foot in front of the other, that's all he needed to do.

Zephyr’s lungs burned, and his heart threatened to burst out of his chest. But he just kept running. Running and running and not looking back.

After the call with Derek, he’d still been feeling restless and out of sorts. His brother was right. He needed to determine what he was actually doing here, get around it, and then get to work. Because there was no way he was calling his father to say, “You were right. I came here for the wrong reasons. Also, there's this girl.”

One who wants nothing to do with me. He ran to the Oakwood neighborhoods, around the massive library, back around the hill to the left, and then around Ryland Park. Fuck, this hill was a bitch. But he needed it. Because by the time he went back to his apartment he didn’t want to feel a thing. He didn’t want to have any thoughts left; he just wanted to crash. And have a wet-dreamless night. So he pushed his body.

He pushed his mind. He pushed his soul. And every time the brain tried to offer an errant thought about Malia Adams, he crushed it. She's not yours. You can't have her. And you have work to do so get over it.

About halfway up the hill, he heard the screams to the left. At first, he wasn't sure if it was wind, but he slowed his pace, pulled out his ear bud, and listened closely. No, fuck. That was a scream.

He picked up his pace and ran straight toward the sound, huffing and puffing the whole way. Down by the memorial bench, there were two people fighting. No, make that one really big guy, and one little slip of a girl. Shit. It didn't matter that his lungs felt like they were eviscerated. It didn't matter that his legs wanted to give out. He had to help her. Zephyr gave it all he had, pushing and pushing until his legs went on their own volition.

When he reached the pair, he would have sworn his eyes were playing tricks. “Malia?”