Page 52 of Beta Team-The Saviors: Part One

“Are you into him?”

Kira snorts. “It wouldn’t matter if I was.”

“Why not?”

“Because he’s not interested.”

It’s my turn to look at her sideways. “No? So, him giving you a cute nickname and staying glued to you last night meant nothing?”

“He’s my protection detail. He had to.”

“No, he didn’t. Trust me, he’s interested.”

“He is not.”

“He is.”

“Not.”

“Is.” I stick my tongue out at her, and she laughs. “I wouldn’t just blow smoke up your ass.”

“I really liked meeting Chelsea.”

“Smooth subject change. I told you she was awesome.”

“She told me to call her when I got sick of you guys, and she would rescue me.”

“You’ll never be sick of us.” I pop a sloppy kiss on top of her head, and she scrunches her nose. “Let’s get back to Keon.”

“Let’s not and say we did.” She unlocks her dorm room and pushes the door open. “There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Come on. Be real with me.” I flop down on the couch and pull her to sit beside me. “What would be the harm if he was interested?”

“Because I’m sure my brother or Blaze threatened bodily harm if you touched me.” She turns on the couch to face me and tucks her legs under her. “It’s more than that, though.” I sense the seriousness in her voice and slide to the other side soI can give her my full attention. She fiddles with her gloves for a minute and then pulls them from her hands. Then she pushes the sleeves of her long-sleeved shirt up. “I’m scarred almost everywhere. It took a long time for me to look at myself in the mirror. I couldn’t imagine showing them all to someone else.”

“You’re showing me.”

She gives me a small smile. “I’m showing you some of them. I trust you, for whatever reason. I guess it’s because I can tell you really don’t give a shit what people think.”

“I don’t. And Keon doesn’t either. You can trust him, too.”

“I do trust him. I just don’t know if I can ever trust someoneenough.”

“I get it, and I might be overstepping here, but if you ever do trust someone enough, it should be him.”

She kicks my leg. “When do you ever care about overstepping?”

“I don’t,” I laugh. “But I don’t want you to feel like I’m pushing you.”

Kira sighs and lays back on the couch, throwing her legs over mine. “Keon is obviously smoking fucking hot. Like drool-worthy hot. I guess I just can’t see someone like me with him.”

I take a second to get my thoughts together before I respond. I finally turn on the couch to see her face and squeeze her thigh. “I’m not trying to make light of what you feel, so please don’t think that. But you’re letting what society thinks is beautiful fuel how you see yourself. You know what the first thing I noticed about you was?” She shakes her head, but I can tell she’s listening. “Your eyes. No matter what you’ve been through, there’s still a light to them. You didn’t let what happened to you ruin who you are on the inside. Am I going to pretend I didn’t see the scars? No, because that would do a disservice to you, ignoring something that makes you so goddamn strong. I can’t imagine what you went through during the fire or the recovery.But you did it, Kira. You’re living your life how you want to now. Not how your brother wants or how society wants you to. So, what’s wrong with taking something that you obviously want?”

Tears fill her eyes, and I start to panic. “Thank you,” she says softly.

“No thanks needed.”

No matter what shit my life has thrown at me, I’ve always tried to see the positive, which usually drives everyone insane. I refuse to let someone like Kira think badly about herself.