Page 76 of The Retaliation You Deliver

The drive back through town is as silent as the one we made earlier, but it’s far less comfortable with Leon’s anger rolling off him in waves.

“T-thank you,” I stutter when he pulls up outside my building and kills the engine. “I… um… guess I’ll see— What are you doing?” I ask when he pushes the door open and moves to climb out.

“Walking you to your door,” he states as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“It’s okay, you don’t—” The determined look in his eyes when he turns to me cuts off my argument.

I stare at him for a beat, appreciating how he looks with his still damp hair falling into his eyes, the heavy layer of stubble on his chin and his shirt still clinging to his muscles. He looks hot, there’s no other way to put it and it makes the ache in my chest that I’m desperately trying to ignore even more painful.

He waits for me to step beside him, then he presses his burning hand to my lower back and guides me toward the door.

I bite back my argument knowing that saying goodbye to him is only going to be harder with him insisting on being a gentleman.

I come to a stop just before the front door to the building knowing that I’m not going to be able to let him come inside.

“Well… um… thanks, I guess.”

A sad laugh rips from his throat at my words and his hand lifts to rub the back of his neck.

“Yeah, you’re welcome,” he mutters, his eyes dark and full of regrets.

“I’ll see you arou—” I don’t get to finish my sentence because the door behind me crashes against the wall and I’m pushed aside as someone comes rushing out.

It takes me a second to register what’s happening as Nate flies toward Leon.

“Nate, no,” I cry, but it’s too late.

He pulls his arm back a beat before his fist collides with Leon’s cheek with a chilling crunch.

Almost as oblivious as me, Leon stumbles back with the force of Nate’s punch, tripping over a bump in the sidewalk beneath his feet and falling to his ass with a thud.

“Holy fuck,” Nate breathes, staring down at Leon with wide eyes as he shakes his fist out. “I… shit, I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s fine,” Leon grunts, climbing to his feet as his cheek glows red from where Nate hit him. “It’s the least of what I deserve.”

“What have you done to her?” Nate demands barely glancing in my direction.

If I didn’t already know that I look like a mess then that just confirmed it.

“He didn’t do anything. We got caught in a rainstorm,” I answer before Leon gets a chance to say anything, which makes Nate’s eyes finally turn to me.

He looks over every inch of me before his shoulders relax a little when he must realize that I’m telling him the truth.

“You need to leave her the fuck alone,” Nate barks.

“I know,” Leon mutters, his eyes holding mine captive.

I swallow nervously, my fists curling once more to stop me from reaching out to him.

“I’ll see you around, Red.”

My eyes bore into his back as he turns and walks away from us, begging him to turn around, to sweep me into his arms and to say fuck it, taking me inside to continue what we started out by the lake.

But he never does.

The second he disappears from my sight, the sobs I’ve been holding finally bubbles up and I fall into Nate’s chest.

“Macie,” he breathes, his arms wrapping around me as I cry. “Come on. Let’s go inside.”