Lucien's War (5 page)

He
grabbed his keys and shirt, and once he was fully dressed he headed out of the
clubhouse and to his Harley. He didn’t care where he was heading, as long as it
was away from this fucking place.

Chapter Four

Callie
drove to Baker University, which was a good three hours away from River Run. Despite
the nervousness of starting her life alone for the first time, the incident at
the clubhouse with Lucien, and the fact that she was still humiliated,
depressed, and angry because of the kiss and her emotions, she was trying to
think about the future. This was only the weekend where she would get to see
her dorm, have a tour of the campus, and, she hoped, meet some people before
school started. It was a new program they had started, one where she would be
busy all weekend, and even get to stay in her dorm. Although Lucien’s words
slammed into her head, reminding her that she could never really be with him no
matter how much she loved him, she didn’t even want to think about her life
with another guy. Yes, she was young, had the whole world in front of her, but
Lucien was different. She certainly knew that she couldn’t just forget him no
matter what he or she said.

Putting her thoughts of River Run and
Lucien behind her, she focused on the road ahead of her. She saw the university
about half an hour later, and her nerves grew to the point she was suffocating
on it. The buildings were so big and intimidating, and she felt like this
little bee in a massive hive that would eat her alive. Although she knew there
was something very profound about taking the next step in her life, fear was
paramount inside of her. The bone searing terror that she felt at that exact moment
was not something they’d warned her about in the welcome letter.

She parked her car, got her lone bag out
of the backseat, and stared at the building in front of her. The deep breath
she took should have calmed her, but all she felt was tightness in her chest.
Students moved in and out of the propped open doorway of the admin building.
She was to meet here and given her dorm information, but she was frozen to the
spot, not knowing where to go or what to do.

“You look lost.” The male voice behind
her had Callie looking over her shoulder. The guy standing just a foot from her
looked like one of those models that had their image splashed across GQ
magazines.
Totally not her type, but still gorgeous, and
smiling at her like a boy-next-door.

 
“I guess I
am,
that
or like I’m making an ass out of myself.” She could have slapped her hand over
her mouth. God, she had really just tried to crack a joke. A total nervous
thing she did on occasion, but she was thankful the guy started laughing.

“Beautiful
and a sense of humor.
You’ll fit right in,” he said, and she
felt her face heat. She wasn’t used to compliments. Callie was used to being
around gruff and alpha bikers, not guys that had blond hair perfectly styled,
wearing designer looking jeans and a button down shirt, and smelling like he
was wearing really expensive cologne. She liked the scent of clean sweat and
motor oil, liked a man in worn, dirty jeans because he had been fixing his
Harley, and she especially liked them covered in tattoos.

You’re
describing Lucien, Callie. You need to try to focus on the here and now,
because Lucien made himself clear. Besides, do you really want Dad and Lucien
to be on the outs because you couldn’t help your emotions?

No.

Already she felt out of place, but right
now, as she stared at this Adonis looking guy, she felt like she had been
dropped in The Twilight Zone. She knew that with time things would become more
comfortable … or at least that was what she kept telling herself.

“Don’t worry, everyone feels scared
shitless on their first day,” he
said,
his grin wide.
“I’m Ritchie Mitchell by the way.” He held out his hand, and she glanced down
at it. “I’m originally from Broomfield.
You?”
His
fingernails looked perfectly manicured, and his skin was soft and golden in
color. Yeah, he had never worked with his hands, clearly. She took his hand
with her free one, and just like her prior observation, smooth skin greeted
her.

“Callie
Roberts from River Run.”

“Here, let me take that for you, and
then I’ll show you where you can get your dorm number and welcome packet.” He
took the bag out of her hand before she could respond, and then gestured for
her to follow him.

Callie
moved past two students hauling big ass suitcases out of the admin building.
The inside of the admin building opened up, showing skylights and a cathedral
ceiling in the center of the room. There were several tables lined up, each one
having a sign hanging in front of them and directing students to different
stations.

Schedules,
dorm assignments, welcome packets, activity lists, and general information were
a few of the first tables that students were lining up in front of. After about
twenty-five minutes she had all the papers and headed back outside. Ritchie had
stayed by her the entire time, and she was grateful that he had walked her
through it, and had also been able to get in the front of the lines so she
wasn’t waiting in line for the next hour.

Ritchie started talking about the
different sights around town, of the sororities that she could join—which she
didn’t bother telling him that she didn’t plan on getting involved with—and
took her to the Stanford East dorm building. It was like he was Callie’s own
personal tour guide. She didn’t know if she should be thankful for the fact he
took an interest in helping a stranger, or feel a little embarrassed at the
fact she had looked so helpless.

Students packed the halls of Stanford
Hall East, and she had to continuously excuse herself as they loitered around.
Once she made it to her room, Ritchie stood by the open doorway and handed her
bag.

“Well, this is you.” He grinned. “And
actually I am just a few doors down.”

She glanced at him, a little surprised.
“Really?
What are the odds of that?”

He shrugged and pushed off the doorway,
but he was still ginning. “If you need anything just let me know, but I’ll let
you get settled in.” He went to turn away, but stopped and grabbed the
doorframe. He stared at her and tapped his fingers on the wood.

“Hey, if you’re all settled later on
tonight, there is a party at the frat house I am with. You can meet a lot of
students from the college, drink a little, and socialize.” He lifted a brow
now, kept smiling, and she knew that if she was going to make this whole
college thing work she needed to get out there and make some friends. She also
wanted to party, because as it was she felt strung-out from the incident just
this morning with Lucien.

“Yeah, okay.” She smiled in return and
placed her bag on one of the two beds.

“Sweet.
I’ll
come by about eight to take you there.” He tapped on the frame once more, and
then left her alone.

She walked over to the door and watched
as he stopped and spoke to a few guys before heading to his room down the hall.

She stood there for a full minute and
looked around. The room was on the bigger side, with a small bathroom and even
a kitchenette with one of those mini fridges. There were two twin beds, a
couple of dressers, some shelving drilled into the white painted cement blocks,
and a small window between the beds. When she walked toward the window she saw
the front of the campus, could see the main office, Brown Hall, the library,
and even the admin building.

“At least you have a view.”

Over the next few weeks she’d have to
bring her things up here, but aside from clothes, a few personal items, and
maybe her books, she didn’t have anything of importance that needed to be with
her here. After staring out the window for a few more seconds she sat on the
bed, took her cell out, and dialed her dad. He had wanted to take her to
campus, but she’d said she could do it alone, and needed to be able to stand on
her own while out here. Since her mom died her dad had been tiptoeing around
her, feeling like maybe he couldn’t be himself. She assumed as much, gauged
that was what he might be feeling because of the way he looked at her with this
almost sad expression. She sighed and dialed his number, and put the phone to
her ear. It only rang twice before her dad picked up.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Kink said in a deep,
gravelly voice, and the sound of rock music could be heard. She assumed her dad
was working on his bike or some kind of vehicle, and when she heard the clank
of something hard and metal hitting something else equally hard and possibly
metal, she knew that was what he was doing.

“Keeping busy so I don’t freak out and head
back home.”

The sound of the music lowering and of
her father breathing out came through the receiver.

“Honey, you don’t have to go to that
school. You can go to one closer where you can still stay with Cookie and me at
the house.” The silence stretched between them for a second. “I want you to
experience life, but I also want you to be comfortable. With everything that
has happened these last few months I don’t want you to be stressing yourself
unnecessarily.”

“I’m fine, Dad, really.” She glanced
down at her hands, her gaze locked on her fingers as she picked at a loose
thread on her shirt. She thought about Lucien, about everything that they had
done, and wondered what he was doing now. Was he searching for one of those
easy club girls to ease the blue balls he had to have? She didn’t know if he
was still sleeping with them, even though he was barely on the mend, and the
fact that she knew he had feelings for her. The problem was she didn’t know how
deep his feelings for her were, and thinking about him having sex with anyone,
least of all those loose girls they always seemed to have at the clubhouse,
made her ill.

“Met anyone yet?”

“Dad, I’ve been here like an hour
total.” She glanced at the door, and remembered Ritchie’s help. “Actually, I
did meet a guy, a really nice one that helped me with getting my information
packets and even showed me my dorm.” The line got deathly quiet.
“Dad?”

“He
try
anything on you?”

“What?” She stared at the wall in front
of her and started chuckling. “Dad, he’s like an advisor or something, and
totally just showed me where things were.”

“Uh huh, well if he touches you in any
way that is inappropriate then you tell
me
and I’ll
rip his balls off—”

“Dad, please don’t go all alpha biker on
the situation.”

“Okay, okay, but I want to make sure my
daughter is okay.”

“I’m okay, Dad, and in fact going to
some kind of social tonight.”

“Social,
like a party?”

“Yeah, Dad, but everything is okay. I’m
not a baby anymore.”

He exhaled. “I
know,
darlin
’. I worry though.”

She smiled at his concern. Even though
she liked speaking to him, loved that he was worried because he cared about
her, she felt guilt every time they spoke. Callie wanted to tell him about how
she felt for Lucien, but the more time that passed the more she knew she never
would say anything to her dad. She should have just told him right away, but
with it now being months away she knew even if he hadn’t freaked out if she
would have told him then, he most definitely would now.

“Be careful, Callie, and call me when
you get back, no matter the time.”

They spoke for another five minutes, and
she finally got off the phone, set it on the bed beside her, and lay back. She
stared at the off white ceiling, thought about what trouble she could get into
this weekend, but knew she would probably be moping around. Nothing like having
one’s hopes shot down by the man she loved to put someone in a shitty
mood.
 

“Hey, watch it, prick."

The voice coming from down the hall drew
Callie’s attention. Before she even entered the room she knew that coarse
language had to be coming from her roommate. At least she hoped so. Callie
wanted to be shacked up with someone that wasn’t a pushover, and had some life.
However, she had heard horror stories from Ian’s older brother about his
freshman year and the roommate he had gotten stuck with.

When the young girl rounded the corner
and stepped into the room Callie pushed
herself
up on
the bed and braced her upper bodyweight on her elbows. The first thought that
came to Callie’s mind was that she was bunking with a Gypsy. The girl who she
presumed was her roomie had hair that was a wild mass of black curls that fell
down her back. The sound of her twenty bangle bracelets jangling against her
wrists preceded each step she took. Her multicolored ankle length skirt swirled
around her as she literally sashayed across the threshold. She was very pretty,
with an ethnic flare to her that instantly had Callie admiring every part of
her.

“Oh hey,” the girl said and stopped by
Callie’s feet. “You must be my roomie.” She said it without question, and
Callie should have been offended by the way she eyed her up and down. But her
warm smile made it hard to feel that way. She offered her hand to Callie, and
she stood and took the offered gesture.