Page 59 of Saving Barrette

“I’d argue that, but I have a lady to impress,” Terrell pats Asa’s head again and then steps toward Joey, who hasn’t left my side all night. “Lady.” He holds out his elbow for her like she’s supposed to take it.

Rolling her eyes, she sighs and tucks her arm inside of his. “You’re so weird, but strangely adorable. If you can call a six-foot-five man-child adorable.”

“Oh, you can. I’m very adorable. Just wait. I’m like a real-life teddy bear.”

We both laugh as Terrell walks with Joey, both of them smiling. I sigh. “He’s not going to break her heart, is he?”

Asa laughs. “No. He’s a good guy.”

“Good. Because I’d have to kick his ass if he wasn’t.”

He raises an eyebrow at me. “Is that so? Don’t you think you’re a little small to go around making promises like that?”

I stand on my tippy-toes. “Small but mighty.”

“That you are,” Asa says, winking at me and tugging at the front of my hoodie. “Good game, huh?”

“I forgot how exhilarating it was to see you play in person. Those were some hard hits, but you played so well.”

He smiles, and then his expression shifts, morphs into something else as he glances over my shoulder. And then his eyes dart in the other direction. A group of students approach—all girls—and push their chests out as they come face-to-face with Asa. “Asa! Can you sign our shirts?”

I see they’re all wearing hoodies with his name on them. Cute.

He surprises me and leans into me, his left arm wrapping around me. “Yeah, sure.” The whole time he keeps that one arm around me. I’d like to think it’s his silent gesture to them, to anyone, he’s taken. They all talk about the game with him, offer their support and congratulations. He smiles politely, thanks them, and then asks me to follow him.

We’re down the hall in the other direction near the bathrooms. He takes me down another hallway to a dark area of the stadium where there are no crowds.

“Thank you for coming,” he says with a grin, knowing this is the first game I’ve been to in a long time. “I didn’t think you’d be ready to come here after everything.”

“It was nice seeing you play again,” I admit, because it was. I motion around the stadium. “I forgot how much I missed this. But I needed to experience this. For nearly two years, I’ve foregone everything I loved because I couldn’t handle it, but something happened when I left that police station with your dad.” Asa’s brow furrows in concentration, hanging on my every word. “I saw it for what it was. A start in the right direction for me.”

We stare at one another, lost in the moment. I fidget, wishing I knew what he was thinking. He surprises me when he grins.

“Kiss me.” He’s not wasting any time, and I think maybe we should slow down, but to hell with that. Live for today, right? Then he adds, “I really need you to kiss me becauseyouwant to.”

I do, and his lips are cool against the heat of my mouth, no doubt because I’ve been thinking of this kiss for hours. It’s not a tentative kiss, but it’s also not gentle by any means. It’s exactly the way Asa is. Full of passion.

He sighs into my mouth, pulling back, and then takes my hand before he winks. But then, as with anything in life, the night changes. What I thought I had a handle on, takes a turn.

Asa sees him first, and tension rolls from him in waves, his posture stiff and unpredictable. I twist in his arms, but he shields me, a protective stance as he backs me up against the wall behind me.

Do you notice the way my heart plummets and my breathing goes from heavy to stopping altogether? What about the way Asa’s eyes turn cold and violent? It’s all an indication of the one person I never care to see again, regardless of what the police report leads to.

He walks toward us, not a care in the world, smiles at me but turns his cool gaze to Asa. “Next time I’m open,share.”

Share? He certainly doesn’t mean it in that context, I assure you.

I can’t see Asa’s face to judge his reaction, but he answers rather calmly with, “Didn’t see you.”

Roman halts his steps as if he intended to walk by us, but then decided not to. “Oh, and Barrette?”

I don’t say anything, but our eyes meet, and there’s something incredibly different about his expression. Scary? No… that’s not it. Intimidating? Nope. Have you ever looked up Ted Bundy? Remember how he drew his victims in with his handsome looks and charming personality? Then he turned into a monster, disturbed by an insurmountable evil that resided inside him? In that moment, that second my gaze locks on Roman’s, I think to myself, he played his part well. Normal, well-liked star athlete who could have any girl he wanted, and did. But that’s what makes him dangerous. With that look, I see right through the charm, the blue eyes and the dark hair and all that resides is that insurmountable evil I talked about.

He whispers the words “Lawyer up, honey” in passing, a cunning smirk playing on his face.

I grip Asa’s jacket, and I think in that fraction of a second when Roman and I caught a glimpse of one another, he knew I saw through him.

Asa turns and faces me, his expression somewhere between livid and worried. It’s half and half. He looks down at my hands in his, then slides his eyes back to mine. “I’m sorry. I pulled you away when I saw him. I didn’t think he’d have the nerve to follow us.”

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