She stared at him, incredulous. “Ash…what is all this? I don’t understand.”

Footsteps sounded somewhere down the hall behind her. Ash’s gaze jumped that way, monitoring. He could feel the clock ticking down. “Stay here. Enjoy the rest of prom. If he wants you to go home, he can come and drag you out. Then you’ll see.”

“See what?”

“That he’s dangerous.”

Graham appeared at the end of the hallway, far enough away not to hear but close enough for Ash to see his annoyed stance. Kincaid must’ve noticed where Ash was looking because she started to turn, but Ash gripped her shoulders before she could, pulled her to him, and kissed her.

He felt her body jolt at the contact, and a sound squeaked past her lips, but Ash wasn’t going back now. This was his last chance to convince her. He let one of his hands slide up from her shoulder to the back of her neck under the curtain of her hair. He expected to have about one point two seconds before she shoved him away or kneed him in the balls, but to his shock, she didn’t move away. Instead, her lips parted, maybe on surprise, but it deepened the kiss, and he felt fire race through his veins.

The footsteps in the background quickened. Ash made a sound in the back of his throat that he would’ve liked to say was for the show he was putting on for Graham but was completely involuntary. He was kissing Kincaid. Finally. And she was kissing him back…

But one moment he had that thought, the next, Kincaid was being yanked back from him. Kincaid yelped and Graham glowered at Ash. “What. The. Fuck?”

Ash had never seen such absolute rage in Graham’s eyes, but he saw it now. His survival instincts said to run, but he’d started this. He needed to finish it. He forced his voice not to shake. “Sorry you had to see that, man. We’ve been trying to find a way to tell you.”

“Ash!” Kincaid gasped, horrified, her cheeks flushed beet red. “What—”

“I told her we should tell you,” Ash plowed ahead, trying to sound casual. “But things just happened. You can only sleep in your best friend’s bed so many times before lines get crossed, you know.”

“That’s not true!” Kincaid protested, looking frantically back and forth between the two of them. “Oh my God, Graham, don’t believe him.”

Graham sent a hateful look her way, his grip on her upper arm harsh. “How long?”

“Never,” Kincaid said, tears flooding her eyes. “Ouch, you’re hurting me.”

The sight of her so upset broke Ash into pieces, and he wanted to rip Graham’s hand off her, but he had to do this. “It only happened a few times. We were going to tell you after prom.”

Kincaid turned to him with a devastated look on her face. “Ash…”

Ash’s heart broke. She would hate him after this. He would lose her. But she would be safe.