Chapter 9

Lyric’s P.O.V

“Hey,” I leaned back from the doorjamb. “Patch me up?”

She made a very tiny movement in her face and crinkled her eyebrows at me. “Why?”

“Because I’m injured,” I pointed towards my knuckles and towards my busted lip. “And I don’t know how to patch up a slit lip.”

“And I was the only one that came to your mind?” She crossed her hands over her chest, pushing up her breasts further. She wasn’t all big and rounded, but I could tell that she’d be a handful. Perfect for my hands.

I smirked. “You intrigue me, Lydia McKenzie.” I told her as I entered her apartment uninvited. “And I hate to say it but not a lot of things intrigue me nowadays.”

I brushed past her and made my way over to the couch I’d slept on last night and plopped down onto it. I noticed a bunch of different books spread out on the coffee table in front of me. Did I interrupt little nerdy cat’s homework time? Well, too damn bad.

“Wow, I feel honored to be your personal entertainer.” She shut the door behind her and walked over to the kitchen. She might not make a lot of facial expressions, but she could be sassy when she wanted to.

“I’d love some tea, thank you.” I called out as she went on doing her business in the kitchen.

It was funny how she never showed any emotion on her face. I’ve never seen someone do that before. How she perfected that poker face, I wonder. The only expressions she truly showed were those tiny crinkling of her brows and that too seemed like a rare occasion. I wonder if Miss. Uptight Kitty would act the same in bed…hmmm…that would be quiet an interesting expression. But usually, uptight women were very expressive in bed. I would know.

Seeing as she was taking her sweet time in the kitchen, I got up from the couches and began walking around the room to search for something that gave me a bit more information on who Lydia McKenzie really was. So far, there wasn’t a single picture frame in the living area. Maybe they were in her room? I might be snooping around but even I had the decency to stay out of a lady’s bedroom unless invited.

Which didn’t take all that long since women invited me to their beds often, but I had a strict policy of never taking up any of their invitations. It was easy to send women back to their homes after a nice night of fucking, but it got really dramatic when a woman finds out you don’t have any plans of spending any more nights with her. It happened to me once in high school. I was a junior and she was this hot senior. She was good at French so I had purposely failed French classes just so I could get her to tutor me. She had invited me over for a study session one night, when her parents just so happened to be out of town and things had escalated quickly between us. The next day when she said she wanted to keep doing this secretly, I agreed instantly because she was hot and because I was pretty much an amateur. But then she got controlling, telling me what to do and what not to so I decided to dump her. Let’s just say I had to get home that night hiding behind a lot of bushes because all my clothes had been sliced to perfection.

“Here.”

I was startled out of my daydreams by a very feminine voice and when I looked over, I saw Lydia handing me a steaming hot cup as she stood at the doorway to the balcony. I must have wandered over to the balcony unconsciously while thinking about my first crush.

“Thanks,” I said almost absentmindedly and took the cup from her and took a sip…and spat it out instantly.

“What the hell is this monstrosity?” I almost yelled at her as I handed the cup back to her instantly. “I asked for tea, not poison, woman! If you want to kill me a knife will do the job just fine!”

“Don’t put ideas in my head.” Lydia gave me her meanest glare, without much of a movement in her face. “Drink up, its herbal tea. It’s good for your bones, helps stabilize your blood pressure and it helps you build up your memory.”

I looked at the tea distastefully. “Why would I need a tea to help strengthen my memory?”

“So you don’t forget your own address every damn night and stop showing up at my apartment.”

I burst out laughing at her monotonous statement. “Damn girl, despite that pokerface, you do have a sense of humor.”

“I wasn’t joking and I don’t have a pokerface.” She did that small brow crinkling motion but as usual, gave me a blank look.

“Sure.” I shook my head at her before tilting my head back and gulping down that horrendous tea in one gulp. Ignoring the little sting I felt from my busted lip, I handed the cup back to her and followed her inside her tiny apartment as she went back to the kitchen.

“Why did you come here of all places?” I asked her as I sat down on the couch.

I watched her freeze for a second. The movement was so small that I might as well have imagined it, but I definitely saw her freeze before she carried on with her work like nothing had happened.

“What makes you think that I’m not from around here?” She asked nonchalantly as she grabbed her handy little first-aid kit and came to sit beside me on the couch.

“I’ve been here since I was born, Lydia.” I told her matter-of-factly. “I’m sure I would’ve seen you if you were from around here. And besides, Rosewater has only two schools. I’m pretty sure I didn’t see you in any of those either.”

“Maybe I was homeschooled.” She shrugged and placed a cotton swab on my busted lip, making me hiss out a breath.

“It’s antiseptic.” She said as she dabbed at the cut.

“I know what it is.” I hissed out again. At least my chest wasn’t that bad today; sure it was all black and blue but at least that meant it was healing.

Lydia however, had a serious look in her eyes the entire time she worked on my lips and my hands. My opponent had been strong today, but he hadn’t been fast enough, just like Derek had suggested. But I had gotten an earful from Derek for the same reason today as well. He was right though, I should’ve remembered yesterday that you can’t just beat a 300 something pound guy with brute strength alone, especially when I was half his size. Agility was the key.

“You seem lost in thought.” Lydia’s sharp voice broke me out of my thoughts. “Good, but how about you do that in your own house?”

Although she framed it as a question, I was pretty sure it wasn’t. What was I doing here again? In reality, I shouldn’t have had to come here, I had no need to. But ever since I met this girl, she’s constantly been in my head, invading my every thought. Ever since her little speech about heroes and bullies, I had been hell bent on proving something to her. But what? What did I want to prove to her? Why was I here again? And why, despite not wanting me in her house was she still taking care of me?

I smirked. “Don’t worry; I’m not planning to stay the night. But when I do,” I lifted her chin with my fingertips, “you’d be the one begging me to stay.”

With that, I got off the couch and walked over to the door. I would’ve just walked out but damn conscience got the better of me. “Thanks.” I murmured before leaving her house for the night.

Although I found her a bit irritating and too outspoken, she intrigued me too much for anything else to matter. There was just something about this woman that was fascinating. It drew me to her and that was why I could tell that tonight was just one of the many nights I would be visiting her unannounced.

However, at that moment, I failed to realize that she had never answered my question on how she had come to Rosewater in the first place…and why?