Branded: An Everyday Heroes World Novel (The Everyday Heroes World)

her name on the wall.”
“Thank you.”
I don’t wait for him to say anything at all. I go straight for her.
The hallway is just as I remember it, even though it’s been years since I walked these halls as a teenager. The smells are the same, and the far too bright lighting that casts a sterile glow off of the white, speckled tiles brings me right back to those years when I thought I was hot shit and ruled the world.
I look for her name on each of the metal plates on the wall by each door and when I find hers, I stop short of the handle… and just watch through the glass window.
She’s sitting at a podium of sorts, at the front of the classroom, and her head is in her hands. I can tell by the movement of her shoulders she’s crying just as hard as she was in her car that day at the track.
She raises her head just a little and uses the back of her hand to wipe tears away from her face, and I can see the rise and fall of her chest as she steadies her breathing.
I’m not sure when the decision becomes final in my head, but before I even register it’s happening, I’ve pulled open her classroom door, strode toward her, and pulled her into my arms, holding her and trying to slay whatever demon has made itself known today.
“Isaac? What are you doing?” She doesn’t push back against me, or even fight. She is stiff in surprise for just a moment, then her muscles relax, and she allows herself to melt into my body.
“You’re crying. I’m a hugger. Seemed like the right thing to do.” I am trying to make light of the situation, to hopefully shine even a morsel of light on the moment.
“You’re actually a pretty good hugger,” she sniffs quietly, and I feel her flex her fingers against my back.
“Pretty good? I strive for excellence, so we’ll have to try this again one day in order to have a fair comparison.”
“Deal.” She releases a small breath I can feel hot against my chest.
With my chin atop her head, we simply stand together. No expectations. No needless chatter. Just her and me and the acknowledgement I’m just trying to be a good friend and a decent human right now.
“Will you tell me what happened?” I ask, and she leans back away from me so she can tilt her gaze toward mine. I instantly miss the warmth of her body.
“Am I allowed to say I don’t want to go into details?” Her tone is soft and her voice is small. It’s so… sad.
“You’re allowed to say, or not say, anything you want, Sawyer. I won’t push either way.”
She searches my face, and her beautiful eyes move with smooth ease over me before she sighs heavily and covers the blue irises with her lids.
“It’s really close to my brother’s birthday, and sometimes that just… hits me out of nowhere. I’m embarrassed it happened in front of you. I’m usually good at handling it.” She drops her head down and looks at her feet.
Placing my finger under her chin, I tip her head back to find her eyes again. “Don’t hide from me, you don’t have to, and never, ever apologize for missing your brother.”
Her bottom lip starts to tremble ever so slightly, and she tries to look down again, but I tighten my hold on her chin just enough to keep her exactly where she is.
“You make me nervous,” she whispers softly, “in a good way, I think.”
I can see the nerves etched all over her face.
The racing pulse in her neck, the red flush to her cheeks, and the smattering of goosebumps on her chest are all telling me what I need to know.
They are telling me I want to close the few inches of space between us and kiss the sadness right off her tear-soaked lips. They are telling me if I were to try, she’d let me.
But that would make me an asshole, and that’s something I promised her I wasn’t.
“Do you have plans tonight?” I ask her, as I push a bit of her hair out of her face.
“Besides grading papers over a bottle of wine and a pint of ice cream? No.”
“While that sounds riveting, I’d like to cash in date number two. What do you say?”
For the first time since I’ve seen her today, her eyes light up in happiness.
“I say that sounds perfect.”
“Can I come pick you up this time?”
“Are you going to kidnap me and hold me against my will in your car?” She smiles at her joke.
“That comes later. I can’t tell you all my secrets up front, can I?

Chapter 8
Sawyer
I didn’t technically lie to him, did I?
My brother’s birthday is coming and that agony truly comes out of nowhere sometimes, and the last thing I wanted to do was say I was thrown into a panic attack because I saw pictures of house fires.
Because that makes me seem crazy.
He didn’t tell me where we were going, he just told me to dress comfortably and casually, so I chose my dark wash jeans that make my thighs and ass look good and a white flowy tank, topped with a nude cardigan.
That must have been the right call because when he knocks on my door at promptly 7:30, he doesn’t even try to hide the fact he is staring at me.
“You look… wow.” He takes my hand and kisses the top, just as he did at the end of our first date. I never thought swooning was a real thing, but two dates with Isaac proves me wrong.
“Thank you. You look pretty wow yourself.”
And boy does he, in those jeans and black tee that hugs his muscles just right. It looks so good it should be illegal. No one has the right to be out in the world looking like that. It’s unfair.
“Shall we get going?” he asks.
“Absolutely.” I close