ExcerpTuesday: B. A. Binns

B. A. Binns is the pseudonym of Barbara Binns who writes to attract and inspire old and young alike with stories of “real boys growing into real men…and the people who love them.” PULL is her debut young adult novel, told from the POV of its seventeen-year-old protagonist, David. David struggles with the loss of his mother, responsibility for his younger sisters, and a deepening attraction to the forbidden: Yolanda Dare, better known as “The Dare.” Yolanda belongs to the school’s bad boy, a young man who threatens both David and his younger sister.

Please visit the author on line at www.babinns.com



EXCERPT:

No girl has ever made me feel like holding her in my arms and making her smile and--

And nothing. This is The Dare. Malik’s girl. And I can’t let myself feel what I’m feeling.

She takes a long slow deep breath and looks like a scrub that’s just missed the game-winning free throw as she turns toward the door. “I need to get inside and mix,” she tells me.

I take her arm and guide her back into the kitchen. Thank God it’s empty again. Some slow song is playing and soft music flows through the room. Instead of letting her go, I say, “Dance with me.”

Her breath catches. She stands motionless, like she’s waiting for an echo.

So I try again. “Dance with me.”

The coat drops to the floor and she moves into my arms and it feels--right. Usually I dance with taller girls, girls who rest their head on my shoulder or kiss my neck while we slow dance. Usually there’s no head against my chest, right where my heart beats. And usually I don’t feel this tightness in my body. Not just the boner. Yeah, that’s getting painful and needy, but there’s something else going on. I want more. Even though going after more of her could destroy what I have right now.

I pull Yolanda tighter, and breathe in the scent of her hair. My heart pounds like a pile driver when she looks up at me. Her lips are so close, full and red. If I just bend a little more…

She suddenly stiffens. Her eyes flare when she pulls herself from my arms and steps back.

I feel like part of me’s missing. Like I have only the tiniest part of what I need. How could this happen? She’s all wrong for me. She’s Malik’s Dare.

I thrust my hands in my pockets to keep them from shaking.

This time when Yolanda heads for the door to the dining room, I let her leave.

My father’s voice streams through my head. No real man lets a woman tear him down.

My teeth clench and in my mind I scream, Shut up. But his words remain and I know I can’t be a real man. Not and let myself be torn this way. I don’t know how it happened. But I’d do anything, give anything, to keep Yolanda Dare with me.