Victoria clutched her bag to her chest in complete shock. She hadn't seen Christian in weeks, and seeing him had been like a jolt to her system. Her heart was pounding as she remembered the freezing rage in his eyes as he'd walked by. He had barely slowed, but the minute his frigid silver eyes had met hers, it felt like time had stopped, the weight of his anger anchoring the two of them in an unmoving space. The unhidden pain in his eyes had floored her. Even though she'd ended it between them, she had never wanted to hurt him.
Christian? She waited several long minutes, but there was nothing. Please Christian, I'm sorry. Please talk to me. She waited, the silence echoing across the hollow chasm between their minds. Please ...
Not now, Victoria.
His mind was cold, empty and closed. Victoria wasn't naive, she'd known that Gabriel had been about to try to kiss her. She had been about to stop him when she'd sensed Christian, and instead of pushing Gabriel off as she had intended to, her entire body had been frozen into guilty immobility, making the situation look far worse than it actually was. A part of her argued that she'd done nothing wrong anyway—she and Christian were over, and what she did with anyone else was her business. But she couldn't help the guilt she felt, knowing that she had hurt him so much that he couldn't even bear to talk to her.
She went to class but could barely concentrate, and slipped out in the last ten minutes, running toward her car. Victoria floored it to Christian's house and made it there faster then she had ever driven, skidding to a stop at the top of the driveway.
The front door was unlocked as it always was and she went right in, letting her mind open in search of him. The house was empty. She opened her awareness and detected movement in the underground garage.
As she made her way there, her cell phone rang. The caller ID said it was Gabriel. She thought about ignoring it, but knew that he would keep calling her over the next hour like a stalker until she called him back. It would be easier to get rid of him if she answered. She clicked on the phone.
"Hi, Gabriel."
"Hey Tori, where are you? I waited for you after class and noticed your Mini was gone. So I swung by your place and you're not there ... where are you?" Victoria detected a slight edge in his voice but had no time to sugarcoat.
"Stalk much? Look Gabe, sorry I bailed, but I had to run an errand."
"So are you going to come to Cancun? Come on, Tori, it will be great."
"I really can't, Gabe. I would but I'm swamped right now," she said as she tried to find the door leading to the garage.
"Fine, I'll stay here too then," he said. Victoria knew that he would stay just to prove a point.
"I'm on my way up to my Aunt Holly's," she said. "Look, I have to go, talk later. See you, Gabe."
She disconnected the call before he could argue and hoped that he wouldn't do anything stupid like drive up to Holly's. Finally, she found the mahogany door to the elevator that lead down to the garage.
Christian's garage was more like an underground warehouse with huge high ceilings, fluorescent lighting, and about ten cars, several bikes, and a wicked-looking cigarette boat on a trailer, all lined up in neat rows. Christian was standing next to the '67 Shelby GT 500 that he'd told her he was restoring himself. He had on a pair of faded blue jeans, smudges of grease on his face and hands, and he'd never looked more appealing. She steeled herself as he walked toward her, his face shuttered and demeanor wary, like a goaded lion. Victoria swallowed, unexpectedly anxious. Maybe this hadn't been the best idea.
"What do you want?" he said, his voice cold. At his tone, she lifted her chin.
"You wouldn't let me explain, so I had to find you."
"Explain what? There's really nothing to say, is there?" She flinched from the emptiness in his words.
"Christian, I know what you thought you saw, but it was nothing."
"Is that what you call it? He was going to kiss you."
"No, it's not what you think," she said, and then added, "besides what does it matter? We broke up, didn't we?"
"You're right. So why are you here, Victoria?" She stared at him to see if his eyes were as unfeeling as his words were. They were worse.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come," she said, fleeing before the tears came.
Victoria drove back to her apartment, her fingers clenched in humiliation on the steering wheel. What was she thinking, going to Christian's house like that? They were over—she didn't owe him anything! The way he had looked at her, as if she were nothing, had hurt her far more than she'd ever thought possible. She screeched to a stop in front of her apartment, only just noticing the lanky frame leaning against the wall as she got out of the car.
"Did you run over here?" she asked, her heart racing at the sight of him. She steeled herself, guarding her mind ... and heart. Christian's face was pained.
"Victoria, I'm sorry. I handled that badly. I was just ... surprised by your visit, that's all."