The Day He Kissed Her (Bad Boys of Crystal Lake 3)

. Blake. He was…he was an amazing man, and I miss him a lot.”

“He served with Jake and Jesse,” Mac said, eyes on her lower lip as it trembled slightly.

Lily nodded. “Yes. After the incident…after the ambush that killed Jake’s brother and injured Blake, they brought him back here, to the States. Back to Texas. He hung on for a long time you know…he was so strong, but in the end he didn’t make it.”

“I’m sorry.”

She quickly changed focus. “What about you? Are you close to your siblings?”

He thought of his older brother, Ben Jr., a guy he hadn’t seen in nearly five years—Mac had no idea where he was. Last he’d heard, Ben Jr. was in Hawaii, working as a pilot flying tourists around the islands, but who knew if he was still out there. His two older sisters, Lisa and Dara, had fled Crystal Lake when Mac was still in high school. They’d married guys they met in college, had kids of their own, and both lived on the West Coast, just outside of San Francisco.

He hadn’t spoken to either of them since the Christmas before last, though he knew his mother kept in touch because she made it a point to let him know how well they were doing, how successful and happy they were. He wondered if it was bullshit. He wondered if they’d managed to break the cycle of violence or if they too hid bruises and broken arms behind closed doors. He thought of Becca, and his mood immediately darkened.

“Mackenzie?”

“Ah, not particularly. My younger sister is in town for the summer with her kid. She’s staying with my mother.”

“Oh, how old is your…niece? Nephew?”

“Nephew. Liam. And I think he’s…he’s ten.”

“Ah,” Lily replied, her eyes thoughtful. “Just visiting?”

Mac’s fingers tightened around the stem of his wineglass as an image of her black eye floated in front of him. “I have no idea. Her prick of a husband beat the shit out of her and put her in the hospital. But I wouldn’t be surprised if she heads back home before the week is out.”

What the hell? Mac exhaled as he clamped down on the surge of emotion inside him. Why would he open his mouth like that?

“Sorry,” Lily said. “I didn’t know…”

“Don’t worry about it. It is what it is.” He spoke abruptly, pissed off at himself. He never shared that kind of shit—not even with Jake or Cain. Christ, how many times had he showed up at the Edwardses’ place, his lip split open or his arm in a sling and he never once said a word? It was the elephant in the room—his friends knew it was there, but they never talked about it.

“Is she…is she alright?” Lily asked hesitantly.

Is she alright?

“No,” he replied. “She’s not alright.”

She’ll never be alright. None of us will.

Silence enveloped the two of them, but it was a silence filled with heavy and dark things. It permeated the air around them and the light, easy, flirtatious meal had suddenly changed into something entirely different.

It had become something dark, and he hadn’t seen it coming.

Suddenly all thoughts of seduction fled as the ever-present anger inside him, the one that was never far from the surface, had the muscles across his shoulders tightening. He knew his mood would turn black. There was no stopping it. He downed his wine and pushed back from the table.

He needed to run or punch something—preferably the punching bag he’d had installed at the cottage.

“I should go.”

“What?” Surprise widened Lily’s eyes and a sliver of regret rippled through him. But he knew that the ugliness of Becca’s situation—the restless anger inside him—would ruin any chance at a normal evening for the two of them.

It was his own damn fault for opening his mouth.

Mac nodded at the table. “I’ll help you clear this stuff, but it’s getting late, and I…”

He had a bottle of whiskey at the cottage, and he was thinking that some alone time with Jack was what he needed right now. Already, his mind was filled with things he didn’t want to think about, things he wanted to forget.

He could always count on Mr. Daniels to get him through. Lately, he’d been trying to curb the need to disappear into the bottom of a bottle of vodka, but sometimes the need was too strong. Like right now.