“Are you going to the baseball game tonight?” she asks quietly.
I honestly hadn’t thought about it. In my years at Royal Elite Academy, I had never been to any of our sporting events. It just never seemed to interest me. At least, not until now.
“I don’t know,” I say biting my lip.
“You should totally go. He may appreciate you being there,” she says, winking before she walks away.
I’m left standing in the middle of the hallway, wondering if I should actually consider going. Just as I gain my senses back, my world shifts as The Elites turn down the hallway. Gabby and Ason lead the way as Micah and Talon fall in behind them. Everyone stops and stares, moving out of their way as they part the hallway like the red sea. My heart rate picks up and all I can do is walk faster as I rush to get my class. This thing between me and Ason makes me giddy as hell, but it also confuses me. I have no idea if I am allowed to smile at him or even talk to him. Will he ignore me? Will he get angry if I approach him at school?
I allow those thoughts to consume me the rest of the day.
After school, I head to the library to check my tutoring schedule this week. Since Ason has a game today, our session has been moved to Wednesday. As I’m leaving the library, I feel a hand reach out and grab me.
Spinning, I lock eyes with Ason.
“Why have you avoided me today?” he asks, not bothering to say hello.
I stare back at him and for a moment, I am not sure what to say. How do you tell a boy who you are insanely crushing on, that you aren't sure if you are supposed to talk to him in public?
“I wasn’t sure if it was ok for me to say anything,” I tell him. Biting my lip, I feel my old self return as that awkward tension fills me.
Ason moves toward me, closing in on me. His thumb lands on my bottom lip, tracing over my lip, and I’m stunned speechless.
“That drives me crazy,” he growls out.
“What does?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.
“When you bite your lip like that,” he states. “You didn’t think you could talk to me?” he asks, almost as though this insight is confusing to him. He also barely touches the surface of his comment about me biting my lip.
Doesn’t Ason understand the power he holds over everyone here at the Royal Elite Academy? He and the rest of his crew are not approachable by any means.
I look down at my feet then back up to his heated gaze. “Ason, we have been over this. I’m a nobody here and you are...a God,” I say, as my cheeks blush from the admission.
His thumb moves down my chin and then he slides his fingers over my neck. My skin tingles from his touch and my breathing becomes ragged. He’s being reckless right now and I secretly love it. I’ve had crushes on boys before, but never have I felt this aroused. I’ve always been too shy or self-conscious to ever talk to guys I’ve liked. But now. I’m standing in the middle of the hallway as freaking Ason Antoni touches me like a complete savage.
“Scarlette, and I’ve already told you that to me, you aren’t a nobody. You are so beautiful,” he breathes, his fingers moving toward my breasts.
I let out a slight gasp as I wait for him to move further down, but just as I feel like I can’t take his teasing anymore, he moves his hands over to my arms. My heart falls a little, but I’m also relieved, too. I have no idea how far he would have gone, or how far I would have allowed him to go.
“Come to my game tonight,” he says.
“What will people think?” I rush out.
Ason shrugs. “Why do you care what people think?”
This is a question I have pondered over myself for years. No one notices me, so why do I care what people think? Other than Macy, I don’t have relationships with other people. I think being left alone so much as caused this hard shell to grow over my skin. At some point, I accepted the fact that I’m just not that important to people.
“I know that I shouldn’t but I just worry...” My words trail off, as I really don’t know what to say.
To someone like Ason, my dilemma doesn’t make sense. Don’t get me wrong; I’ve always wished that I could be one of those girls who had loads of self-confidence and had a group of friends surrounding her. But, that just wasn’t in the cards for me. I made this life of solitude for myself.
“I have to go to the locker room to meet the team. I will see you at the game,” he states, leaning in and placing a kiss on my mouth.
As quickly as he showed up, he’s gone and I am left once again hopelessly lost under Ason’s spell.