Free My Night Breeze (The Breeze Series) by M.L. Newman Page A

were equally abused. At least it was done to us and not by us. Poor Mateo and his bad luck,” Molly commented.
    Any lack of attention ha d gone on high alert. Audra tilted her head in question.
    “What are you talking about?”
    “You didn’t see him? I don’t know how you missed it,” Molly continued.
    “Missed what? Quit with the cryptic.”
    “His lip is all busted up. He was just lucky it wasn’t the pierced side.”
    “What happened?” Audra ask ed.
    “He said he wasn’t paying attention and pushed on a pull door. Someone on the other side pushed it right into his face.”
    Audra took a slow, deep breath and tried to think back to this morning. She had seen him. She didn’t notice anything other than his eye. Was he embarrassed? That wouldn’t explain his dodging her if the explanation was that simple. She had seen people make mistakes like that all the time, not even counting her tripping up the stairs. He was there for her, caught her and held her securely to him.
    *****
     
     
    Audra placed her book into her locker with frustrated vigor. She had been trying all week long to be friendly and not-too-obviously concerned, but her efforts went unnoticed. Not only had Mateo not said one word to her, but he had been avoiding her completely. He even skipped the study session yesterday. At first she tried to make an excuse like he needed space or that he was concerned about his own classes. The excuses all made perfect sense, except that every time she saw him, Ryan was there and they were laughing and talking.
    She st uck her head into the locker and sighed, trying to get it together. Maybe she was making this into something that it wasn’t, but it didn’t feel right. Was she asking for too much from him? Had she made him uncomfortable or angry without realizing it? No matter the questions she asked in her head, the only person who could answer them was the one acting like she didn’t exist. Could she really miss someone that she barely knew?
    “Need help?”
    Audra sighed out loud. “Not from you.”
    She shut the locker before walking towards her next class. Tobias grabbed her arm, bringing her to a full stop. He didn’t waste a second, coming to step in front of her. His light green eyes clearly pled for forgiveness, but she had nothing to offer him. He had nothing to offer her either.
    “You told me that you were grown up ,” Tobias stated.
    “It doesn’t matter what I said. You’re not my friend. You have no loyalty to me.”
    “Jim is my best friend, but that doesn’t make you any less important to me,” Tobias said.
    “I don’t care .”
    Audra bit the inside of her cheek as her emotions started to betray her. She lived in a world where the only thing that was real was the unknown. She didn’t know where her fears stemmed from, why her family treated her so strangely, or where her future was headed. Maybe if she just stopped caring, everything else would fade away, too. What’s the point in waking up to life only to realize that you couldn’t live it?
    “Please come to the party tomorrow night. Jim will be there and —”
    “No.”
    “Audra, we can talk then,” he promised.
    The sincerity was clear in his eyes and curiosity started to build once again. As quickly as she decided not to care, she couldn’t disguise the interest she had. Tobias released her arm and leaned in close to her ear. The close proximity caused her back to stiffen with tension. It must be Jim’s influence.
    “I need you to think about what you’re asking for. You weren’t told for a reason, Audra.”
    “I can’t not know my own life.”
    “Just think about it. You can’t unknow things ,” Tobias said.
    He squeeze d her shoulder gently before taking a step back. Audra glanced up to notice Valerie glaring back with hands on her hips. Audra took another deep breath. Was it really necessary for Valerie to be so obsessive about Tobias? They weren’t even dating, and she knew how Jim would react if