Carmen could only stand there and stare at Hunter, her mind completely baffled beyond belief.
“So don’t go,” he muttered, the hard edge to his voice softening just the tiniest bit. “Because grandma might want you there, but she’s sick and won’t be there for the whole dinner. She’d probably greet you, stick around for a while and then go back to being on bed rest. And after that, the rest of them are not gonna stop with the snide comments and hints. You know that.”
“Wait.” Carmen swallowed, holding up a finger, her hand shaking the slightest bit. “Wait a minute.” She took in a deep breath and tried getting a hold of all her emotions because everything inside her was in utter chaos now. “Are you telling me you’re here—you’re actually here—to ask me not to go out of concern?” She kept blinking up at him, confusion pulling her brows together and creasing her forehead.
“Why do you have to go there?” He scowled, the annoyance creeping back into his voice. “Why can’t you just take what I said and go along with it? Why do you need to keep digging around regarding my intentions?”
And Carmen let her heart do the talking for her. “Because I need to know that the brother who told me he’d fight off the world for me when we were just six years old is still in there somewhere.”
“Well, he’s not.” Hunter shrugged, eyes guarded and his voice cold enough to send chills down anyone’s spine. “He died a long time back.”
“I don’t believe that,” Carmen whispered, feeling someone approach from behind.
“And that,” Hunter said, emphasising the second word, “is why you’ll always keep getting your heart broken.”
His eyes then landed on something just past Carmen’s shoulders, and before she could turn around herself, she felt a familiar palm slip into hers, lacing their fingers together.
She almost melted into Asa’s side as he stood there next to her, realising that she didn’t truly know how much she appreciated the warmth he brought with him until he was right there, offering her comfort even when she didn’t ask for it.
“Everything okay here?” he asked. Asa’s eyes were trained on Hunter—calculating and hard—but the gentle, coaxing tone of his voice told Carmen that the question was directed towards her.
“Yeah,” she said softly, smiling for the first time that day as she tilted her head back to look up at him. “It is now.”
His coffee eyes shifted away from Hunter and dropped down to meet hers, the hard look instantly softening and warmth pooling into his eyes.
Carmen spared a glance at Hunter, but his face was back to being expressionless. He looked like he was going to say something, but then just shook his head and took off down the hallway.
Carmen and Asa stood side by side, hands joined, and watched him go.
“Sure you’re okay, right?” Asa asked immediately, turning around to face her completely. “Because if he said something else to hurt—”Carmen shook her head, cutting him off, as her heart swelled with affection at the protective stance Asa had taken. “Quite the opposite, really,” she mumbled, still distracted with thoughts about the upcoming dinner. “I think he was here because he was worried.” It sounded horribly weird when she said it out loud.
“His attitude swings are going to give me whiplash,” Asa muttered under his breath. “Do you know he stood up for you a few days back?”
Carmen’s head instantly snapped up from where she’d been staring at the spot Hunter had stood in just minutes ago. “What?”
“Locker room,” he explained. “Some of the guys were being idiots. He put them in their place.”
Carmen frowned. “You discuss me in the boy’s locker room?”
Asa flushed. “Of course not!” he retorted. “It wasn’t my fault!”
Carmen grinned in response. “I was just pulling your leg. Relax.”
And then, completely on impulse, she placed her other hand on his shoulder and stood on her toes, leaning in to place a light kiss on his jaw. “I know you’d never treat me like that,” she mumbled into his skin, before pulling away and landing back on her feet.
The breathless smile he offered her right then made her heart skip several beats.
Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.
When exactly had Carmen lost her heart to this boy with the sun’s glow in his eyes?
Was it when she caught a glimpse of him running his hand through his hair in the cafeteria? Was it when he handed her art journal back to her, a sincere apology on his lips? Was it when she saw him grinning with his head tipped back? Was it when he’d thanked her for existing and kissed her cheek? Was it when he told her he loved her? Was it when he touched her shoulder or held her hand during times she needed comfort?
Did she fall for him at one particular moment in time? Or did every single time he allowed her a peek into his soul add up to it?
She didn’t know when it happened, and she supposed it didn’t matter either.
She’d given up every bit of her fractured, ripped heart to Asa San Román, and even though she loved him with the shattered remnants of a soul that wasn’t whole, she wished—oh, she wished—that this broken version of her would be enough.
Please, she said a silent prayer, please let it be enough.
44.
I’ll Say It Back
Asa’s eyes scanned the text he’d just received from Hayden which informed him about a party that was going to be held later on that night at the house of one of the guys from the basketball team.
He nibbled on a corner of his bottom lip, deep in thought,
