Bittersweet Memories (Off-Limits #4)(9)

The boy looks at us one more time before he grits his teeth and walks away, stopping a few paces away. “This isn’t over, you slut.”

I tense, but Alanna fists my shirt and clenches tightly. I watch him walk away and cup the back of her head, holding her protectively. She’s so fucking small that the top of her head barely reaches my chin. How was she going to protect herself against this guy?

“Are you okay?” I ask when Pretty Boy disappears from sight.

She nods and takes a step back, but I keep my arms wrapped around her, unwilling to let her go just yet. In the last couple of years I’ve taken to caring only about myself, and nothing and no one else. Alanna awakens a protective instinct in me that I thought I’d lost.

“I’m fine,” she says, but she’s still trembling.

“We need to talk about your propensity for putting yourself in dangerous situations,” I warn her, my tone harsh.

She looks up at me, her expression so deceptively innocent yet alluring. Does she realize how beautiful she is? She’s only sixteen, and she already looks like a vixen. She’s got curves most girls her age could only dream of, and those lips of hers have me looking away, because she’s far too young for me to be thinking about that way. Then there’s her eyes. She’s got the most beautiful hazel eyes I’ve ever seen. I can only imagine what boys her age must think of her, what they’d want from her. The thought of her kissing Pretty Boy fills me with a sense of dread, and it leaves me feeling uncomfortable.

“What would you have done if he’d forced that kiss? What if he forced you to do more than that? This park is mostly deserted, Alanna. What were you thinking?”

I tighten my grip on her shoulders, resisting the urge to shake some sense into her. I get being young and reckless, but this just isn’t right. I need her to understand how wrong this could’ve gone.

“I’d have kneed him in the balls, Si.”

She’s only just about stopped shaking. Maybe she would have gathered her courage, maybe adrenaline would’ve kicked in, but what if it hadn’t?

“Try it. Try kneeing me in the balls.”

“What?”

I nod, my gaze provocative. “Try kneeing me in the balls, Alanna. Try getting away from me.” I tighten my grip on her, and she frowns.

“Remember, you asked for this,” she warns, and I smirk.

She moves her leg, trying to knee me quickly and with a sufficient amount of force, but she isn’t quite fast enough for me. Before she realizes what’s going on, I’ve twisted my body and have the leg she tried to kick me with wrapped high around my waist, my hand on her thigh. She gasps and loses her balance, but I pull her into me, her body crashing into mine.

“You can’t protect yourself against me,” I tell her. “If I wanted to kiss you right now, there’s nothing you could do about it. If I wanted to take advantage of you, my hand over your mouth to silence your screams, there’s nothing you could do about it.”

She swallows hard, her eyes on mine, our bodies far closer than I should allow. “Caleb isn’t you. I’d be able to get away from him.”

I tighten my grip on her thigh and bury my other hand in her hair, barely able to restrain my anger. “Damn right, he ain’t me. That still doesn’t excuse what happened today. You shouldn’t have to defend yourself at all, I know that, but the world isn’t as pretty as we’d like it to be, no matter how unfair that might be. Don’t put yourself in this kind of situation ever again, you hear me?”

She nods, and I let go of her. Alanna takes a step away from me and looks away. “Thank you,” she murmurs, her voice so soft I nearly missed it.

“What the fuck do you see in that asshole, anyway? Who is he?” I shouldn’t ask, but I can’t help myself. I’m irrationally angry at the thought of her being with him. She’s too good for him, whether she sees it or not.

“I… it isn’t really like that. We aren’t dating or anything. We both had a free period, and we’re supposed to write a paper together. He suggested we go for a walk to talk it over and divide our tasks, and I didn’t think much of it.”

I sigh and shake my head. “Promise me, okay? Don’t put yourself in dangerous situations. I don’t agree with you volunteering at the shelter, but I definitely don’t agree with you doing this kind of stupid shit.”

She nods and falls into step with me as we head back to the park’s entrance. “Yes, Si,” she says, her voice filled with defeat. “I promise.”

I pause and take my phone from my pocket. “If you ever do find yourself in trouble, you call me, okay? No matter when or where. If I can help you, I will.”

I hand her my phone, and she gives me her number, letting it ring once, so she’s got mine too. “Why are you so good to me? First at the cemetery, and now too.”

I look into her eyes for a moment, wondering the same thing. “I don’t know,” I whisper. The years I’ve spent homeless have hardened me, but I have a soft spot for her.

“Let me walk you back to school.”

She nods, a small smile on her face. Each time I speak to her, I’m left feeling unsettled. There’s something about her that tugs at my heartstrings, and I hate it.

I hate it, yet I keep finding myself entangled with her.