Page 50 of Hide From Me

My jaw grinds under the tender glide of his fingers, and my eyes narrow.

“He kissed me.”

There. I say it, blunt and bitter. I don’t care. All I know is that I need some type of reaction to let me know he cares; that I’m not just something broken that he’s hyper-fixated on fixing.

The muscle in his jaw tightens, then releases, then tightens again.

He doesn’t explode. He doesn’t rage. He doesn’t storm around the house like Lance would have. Instead, he goes quiet—too quiet. And that silence terrifies me more than yelling ever could.

Moe's eyes track mine before he shifts his focus, staring blankly at the wall as his thumb continues to trace my cheek.

“Are you not going to say anything?”

His eyes flicker to mine and then away.

“I—I don’t know what you want me to say. I know I’m just your friend. I’m trying to be supportive…” He trails off, his jaw clenched, and I can see it—the struggle. The vulnerability he always tries to hide under jokes and flirtation.

“But I’ll be honest, baby… I don’t like hearing that another man has had what you won’t give me the chance to have.”

In an instant, his touch is gone, and he rushes towards the door. I don’t know where my sudden wave of panic comes from. Maybe it’s because it feels like he’s leaving me to deal with this on my own, like somehow this is my fault. That’s until I hear him growl under his breath, “I swear I’ll fucking kill him.”

“Wait—”

I rush in front of him, my hands pressing against his chest as I desperately try to push him away from the door.

“Raylen, move,” he growls, and I freeze, raising an eyebrow. I’ve heard him frustrated and agitated before, but this is different—this is pure anger. It’s not the type I expected–the type to be directed at me–instead, it’s anger aimedformy sake. If that doesn’t stir something pathetic deep inside my abdomen, I don’t know what will.

“You don’t even know who it is!”

“I’ll figure it out.”

I take a step closer. “What are you going to do? Fight air? Are you going to punch every man in town until you find the right one?”

“I will if that’s what it takes, or you can just tell me who it is.”

I shake my head. “Why? So you can go play the big bad man for me? I already handled it, Moe. I don’t need you to fight my battles.”

“I’m not fighting your battles. I’m fightingmine. Like I said, if you won’t tell me, I’ll figure it out.” Something in his tone makes me feel like he already knows who it is, but that would be impossible. He tries to step around me, but I keep my feet tracking his.

“Goddamn it, I should’ve…” Moe lets out a frustrated growl, pushing his hand through his hair as he turns away and pulls out his phone.

“What are you doing?” I quickly try to sidestep around him, but he jerks the other way.

“Nothing.” As if just realizing that he’s in my home for once, he looks around, gripping his phone so tightly that the metal groans beneath his grip.

“Moe…” I mutter as softly as I can. I’ve always wanted to see him crack–show me the monster underneath and cause the chaos I know he’s so desperate to create–but right now I can’t help but yearn for those grey eyes to go soft like a puppy dog and that little grin that crinkles his crinkles to be turned on me.

He lets out a long breath, shoving his phone into his pocket. Then, he rushes towards me, his palms quickly cupping my cheeks, prompting my hands to wrap around his wrists in response to the sudden invasion of my personal space.

“Are you okay?” he mutters, leaning his forehead against mine.

“I punched him in the nose,” I reply, hoping it'll make my chest swell with pride, but instead, it sinks, knowing I had to defend myself in the first place….that I had to defend myself again.

“That’s my girl.” His fingers try to slip from my cheeks, but I hold onto him tighter, not ready to feel the coldness swallow me whole when he’s not close.

“Make it go away.” I whisper and his brows furrow. I swallow as my eyes dart between his.

“Sunshine—“ Moe starts to shake his head glancing at my lips and they part from the heat in his stare.