Page 37 of The Comeback Road (Leaving #2)
Lexie
The moment Jace hit the ground, a stunned silence filled the room, my heart racing not just from the adrenaline but from the utter disbelief of what had just happened.
Despite the pain, I couldn’t help but shoot up from my seat, the blanket slipping from my shoulders, a surge of protectiveness washing over me.
“Luke! What the hell was that?” I shouted, my voice echoing against the walls. Mild panic at the fact that Jace wasn’t moving started to kick in. Anger started to bubble over, fueled by the whirlwind of emotions still swirling within me that I had yet to deal with.
Surprisingly, Luke also stood still for a moment with wide eyes, his fist still clenched. “I could have handled that better,” he said, looking at me somewhat apologetically. “He’ll be fine.”
“He’s out cold, you absolute lunatic! This isn’t some rom-com. This isn’t Crazy, Stupid Love . You can’t just punch him like he’s David Lynhagen. My god, what were you thinking?! You work for the FBI, for Christ’s sake.”
“I wasn’t thinking. I just reacted,” Luke shot back on a shrug, his expression shifting from shock to defensiveness. “You’ve just been through something traumatic, and I didn’t think letting the guy you ran from in the first place come barging in here was a good idea.”
“So you punched him,” I stated, still staring at Luke like he’d lost his mind.
“It seemed like the only acceptable solution.”
“You can’t just solve everything with your fists!” I attempted to throw my hands up in exasperation, but hissed loudly at the pain that spread through my side at the motion. “He’s not the enemy here,” I stated, trying to make him see reason.
“Could have fooled me,” he grumbled.
A shocked gasp sounded from behind Luke. “What’s going on?” Magnolia asked, eyes darting between us and Jace, who still lay motionless on the floor,
“Jace is…” I started to say at the same time Luke said, “Taking a nap.” I glared at him.
“Starlight?” a garbled voice full of confusion sounded from below me, Jace’s voice barely above a whisper as he slowly began to regain consciousness.
“Jace? Can you hear me? Are you okay?”
“What happened?” He groaned, and his hand instinctively tried to move to his face, where Luke had hit him. Jace winced as he tried to sit up, but it was clearly hard for him.
“Just take it easy,” I urged, not missing the irony of me telling him to take it easy after I’d just been stabbed. “You, uh…you were punched.”
“By him?” Jace’s barely aware eyes flickered to Luke, filling with confusion and a hint of anger. “What the hell, man? Who are you?”
Luke kept his mouth in a tight line, refusing to answer. He continued to glare at him, deciding to look for dirt under his nails as he responded, “I’d say I'm sorry, but I’m not, and I don’t give out half-assed apologies.”
“I think now would be a good time for some explanations, don’t you think? I’ve been patient. Considering you have enough energy to punch someone, I think you better start talking now,” Magnolia said briskly, with no room for debate.
“Jace, uh, can you stand, man?” Sloan asked as he held out a hand to help him up.
“Yeah, I think so. Just a killer headache.” He glared at Luke, but he couldn’t have cared less.
“Can we have this conversation without any more bloodshed for the night?” Magnolia’s tone was dripping with sarcasm.
“Stitching up my best friend. Some psycho GI-Joe is out here punching people because that’s the way adults handle things,” she muttered.
“Are we all ready to act like adults now?” Magnolia glared at us three.
“I don’t really know what’s happening here, so…” Jace said. Luke continued to glare at everyone in the room but me.
“It’s a long story…”
“Well, we’ve got nothing but time,” she bit out.
That we did.