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A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes Chapter 32 Kevin stepped into the hallway and sighed with relief as he spotted Marcus. "Marcus, man, have you seen Kristy?" "No, Kev. Sorry," he answered the eldest member of the group honestly, ignoring the pang of guilt he felt. "I just took over out here when I got back from the club with the others." Technically he wasn�t lying. He hadn�t actually seen Kristy with his own two eyes. He was just thankful that Kevin hadn�t asked him if he knew where she was. Kevin leaned against the wall and ran a hand through his already mussed hair. He took a deep breath. "Could you let me know if you see her? I have to talk to her." Marcus looked at the haggard expression on Kevin�s face and knew this wasn�t the same man they�d left behind at the club. Still, he had promised Leighanne and Brian not to disclose Kristy�s location unless it was absolutely necessary. It was his job to protect everyone associated with the Boys, including Kristy. "Sure, man." Kevin turned and walked the short distance back to his room, not seeing the figure at the other end of the hall. Erin spotted him however, and strode purposefully down the corridor. She came to a halt in front of Kevin�s door, which had already closed behind him, and turned to Marcus. The bodyguard bit back a smile at the venomous look in the brunette�s eyes and moved to open Kevin�s door without having to be asked. He knew A.J. had taken Erin back to the hotel earlier and that she likely had a few choice words for Mr. Richardson. Having witnessed the evening�s events, Marcus thought Kevin deserved anything she said to him. Erin stepped into the room and locked the deadbolt behind her, preventing anyone else from interrupting � even if the security team did have keys to all the rooms. She heard water running in the bathroom and made her way into the suite to wait for Kevin to appear. She stood near the sofa, and picked up one of the throw pillows and squeezed it. Kevin emerged from the bathroom and was promptly hit in the head by the airborne pillow. "What the...?" Kevin paused as he saw Erin standing in his suite, reaching for another pillow to throw. "You disgust me!" she yelled as she launched the second cushion. This time Kevin was able to successfully duck the hurled object. "Erin! Calm dow..." He didn�t get to complete his sentence as he dodged yet another pillow. "Don�t you dare tell me to calm down! I have every right to be upset." Kevin caught the next pillow and quirked an eyebrow as Erin looked around for something else to throw. "Let�s not trash my room, okay? I don�t want to get the reputation as a wild rock star." "After tonight, I thought that was the reputation you were going for." Kevin smiled ruefully. "Ouch. But I guess I deserved that." Erin looked at him questioningly, but continued. "Yes, you did. And you deserve a whole lot more." Kevin nodded, taking a seat, ready to listen to anything Erin had to say. "You�re right, I deserve everything you could possibly say to me." Erin frowned. Why was he agreeing with her? "You were a complete asshole tonight!" "I know I was." Erin raised an eyebrow, but continued. "You treated Kristy horribly." "I know I did." Erin sat across from him, still scowling, but her temper had cooled slightly. "You don�t deserve her." "I know I don�t." "Would you stop it!?! It�s impossible to fight with you if you keep agreeing with me!" she yelled, then sat and watched Kevin struggle to control his laughter. Soon she realized the how ridiculous that had sounded and broke into a smile. "So, what kind of revelation did you have to make you see what a jerk you�ve been?" Kevin�s smile faded and he decided it would be better to have Erin as an ally then an enemy. "Part of it was when she threw my own words back at me." He went on to explain how Kristy had managed to out-do him at his own game. How he�d gotten the attention a woman who was dancing nearby and asked � or rather, told � her to dance with him. And how Kristy had responded by getting another man to cross the entire dancefloor for her with only a look and a crook of her finger. Erin smiled with pride. "Kevin, you should know by now that not only does Kristy have one of the world�s best �angelic� looks," she said, referring to their conversation at their parents� house, "But she has a �come-hither� look that could corrupt the Pope." "Thanks for telling me now." He sighed as he thought of all that had happened after that. "But unfortunately, even having her walk off on me didn�t make me wise up." He told Erin about continuing to dance with the other woman, and Brian�s wake-up call. "After that I was feeling pretty low, but I was still trying to justify my actions." Erin shook her head. "How can you possibly justify the way you�ve been treating her?" Kevin took a deep breath. "Erin, I never wanted to hurt Kristy. It�s been tearing me up inside to have to see how this has been effecting her." Erin still frowned in confusion and anger. "Then why do it?" Kevin rubbed his temples, trying to relieve the pounding in his head. "Did Kris tell you about Allen?" Erin nodded slowly as she thought about the little bit her sister had told her about it. Kevin stood and walked over to the window, sharing with Erin his memories of that day. "I think my heart stopped when I heard her scream." Erin shivered, now realizing how much Kristy had left out in her own account. "And when I saw that monster on top of her�" Kevin trailed off and Erin could hear the pain in his voice. Erin sat quietly, realizing there was a lot more to the story than Kristy had let on. And she had her suspicions that all this was somehow tied to Kevin�s behavior lately� although she wasn�t sure how. "The guys had to practically pull me off of Allen." Kevin turned back to Erin. "I�ve never considered myself a violent person, in fact, I�m usually pretty controlled� but I just lost it. I honestly wanted to kill the bastard." Erin saw the intensity in Kevin�s green eyes and knew it stemmed from his love for Kristy. "And then, to turn back to my bunk and see Kristy � who�s always so full of life and so strong � huddled in a ball�" Kevin broke down as he remembered how fragile she�d looked. Erin looked at the crying man across from her. He loved Kristy. Anyone could see that. And yet, he�d been doing everything in his power to end that love. She didn�t know whether to feel angry or sorry for him. "So you know how much Kristy went through with the attack� and yet you pretty much sexually assaulted her yourself tonight?! Are you surprised she left you?" Kevin shook his head, wiping his eyes roughly. "No. In fact, I was counting on it." Erin�s temper flared again. "What are you trying to do?" She felt her eyes sting with tears. "You said you�d never hurt her," she said, reminding him of his promise to Kristy in the limo ride down to their parents. "How can you do this to someone you love � or is it �loved�, Kevin?" Kevin struggled to control his emotions. "Have you ever loved someone so much that you would sacrifice your own happiness, even risk that other person hating you, so that they could be better off?" Erin stared at him with a new realization. He�d been trying to push Kristy away on purpose, but Kristy hadn�t been willing to go, so he�d had to do something drastic � that explained the last several weeks and tonight. But it didn�t explain why. "Why would you think Kristy would be better off without you? She loves you." Kevin�s face fell. "Don�t you mean �loved�?" he asked, throwing Erin�s comment back at her. Erin couldn�t reassure him that Kristy still loved him� as forgiving and loving as her sister was, even she had her limits. And while Kristy had a high threshold for crap, once you reached her breaking point it took a lot to get back into her good graces. A lot. "I�m still confused about why you�ve been doing this. How it all started." Kevin told Erin about Allen�s confession and plan to hurt each of the Boys somehow. "And he knew the best way to hurt me was through Kris. The fact that he�d only seen us together for moments and could tell how much I loved her � when I hadn�t even admitted it to myself yet � only made it that much more frightening." Erin glared at Kevin. "So you got scared. You realized you loved someone more than yourself, and you couldn�t handle it so you decided to push her away! Though I�m still not sure why you didn�t just break up with her." Kevin shook his head. "No, it wasn�t like that. Don�t you see?" He leaned forward, imploring her to understand with his eyes. "Yes, it did surprise me that my feelings for Kristy were that strong, but that�s not why I did it. If Allen could tell how much I loved Kristy from just a brief interaction and could use that to hurt me, what would happen if everyone knew about her? I would be putting her at risk with every jealous fan or anyone who ever wanted to get at me. "I would die if anything happened to her� especially if it was because of me. And I�d just told her I loved her� there wasn�t any reason that would work for me to break up with her, so I wanted her to break up with ME." Erin nodded slowly. She saw where he was going, although she didn�t agree with his reasoning � and she was going to let him know so. "So you thought if you distanced yourself, maybe she�d forget about the instant connection you guys felt or the love you�d professed for each other, and suddenly decide you weren�t everything she thought you were and just let it fizzle out." Kevin sighed and nodded, realizing again how bad his idea had been. "Now I know I was wrong� I just hope it�s not too late." Erin shrugged. "I COULD help you out� at least get you close to Kristy. What you do once you�re there, is up to you. Of course, I can�t promise she�ll want to talk to you� or listen to anything you have to say. In fact, I�d guess she probably won�t want to be in the same room with you." Kevin felt his hopes rise and then sink even further as Erin speculated about Kristy�s response to him. He took a deep breath. "I know. But I have to try. She means everything to me." Erin smiled. He might just have a chance after all.Next: Chapter 33 |