Page 36 of Beta Team-The Saviors: Part One

It’s freshman orientation today, and I can’t leave my room. I spent last night hanging out with Keon and Ari, well, mostly Keon because Ari was on the phone most of the time. But it didn’t feel super weird to have them here. I felt safe and comfortable, which is what I wanted.

“Kira?” Tyler’s voice filters through the door. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah. Give me a minute.” I pull my beanie on and look at myself in the mirror. I turn my face to look at the right side, the only place that’s mostly clear. When the fire started, I buried my face in my arms and laid on my right side, so my left side took most of the damage. There was entirely too much damage for skin grafts, but they tried. Why did I decide I needed to go to college? If I go home now, Kane will just say I told you so. Taking a deep breath because I’m not a punk, I march over to the door and jerk it open. Tyler half falls in because he was leaning against it.

“I did that on purpose,” he jokes, righting himself.

“Sorry,” I laugh.

“It’s okay. I have reflexes like a cat.” He slings his arm around my shoulders and leads me into the living room. I hate to admit how good it feels to have his arm there. He seems to know when I need it. “Queen Kira is ready for classes.”

Ace turns around with a shake of his head. “Queen Kira?”

“Uh, yeah, and that makes us her royal guard.”

“There’s something wrong with you,” Ace says, then looks at me. “You ready?”

I blow a breath out. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Freshman orientation is it for today. This school’s pretty big, so we can slip in with you for that. Classes are a different story. We’ll have to blend while we wait,” Ace says.

“Why didn’t you just enroll in the same classes?”

“You shut your dirty mouth,” Tyler gasps. “I don’t want to sit through this shit.”

The others might get irritated with Tyler’s joking, but I love it. It makes me feel at ease. “Allergic to a little higher education?”

Tyler flaps his hand at Ace. “He has all the smarts that I need.”

Ace checks the time on his phone and nods his head toward the door. “We need to move.”

He walks out in front of us, and Tyler shuts and locks the door. “Ari and Keon will be back in a little while. We have perimeter alarms hooked up,” he explains.

“I still think this is overkill.”

Tyler shrugs. “Maybe, but I agree with Kane about your safety.” We walk further onto campus, and people immediately start staring. Tyler pulls me closer and leans down beside my ear. “Doesn’t his ass look edible in those pants?” he says, jerking his head toward Ace.

I look at him in surprise. “You and Ace are…?”

“Something,” he laughs.

“No judgment here. My brother has three husbands.” I tilt my head to the side, looking at Ace’s ass. “It does.”

Tyler laughs loudly, making Ace turn around with his brows furrowed. “What’s so funny?”

“Kira said she wants to take a bite out of your ass.”

“I did not!” I elbow him in the ribs, making him laugh even harder. “He said it.”

“I did,” Tyler agrees. “Like, it’s just so plump and juicy.” Ace’s cheeks darken, and he turns back around, walking faster. “Come back here and hold my hand!”

“Shut up,” Ace hisses.

“Are you ashamed of me?” Tyler asks, making his voice shake. People are staring, but they’re looking at them now. I know Tyler did it on purpose to get the focus off of me, but these two are still funny together. “After last night, I thought we had something special.”

Ace stops dead in his tracks, almost making us run into him. He whirls around on Tyler. “Was this all a joke to you?”

“I was just messing with you,” Tyler says gently. “And no, it wasn’t a joke.”