Catching Teardrops (MAC Security 5)

Damn. Something is going on inside my brain and I have no control over it.

“Let’s grab dinner here,” Mom says, turning toward Lily. “Is that okay? We should still be back in time.”

“Sure.” Her soft features pull me in and I find myself staring at her for what feels like the hundredth time tonight. She pulls me toward her with an invisible thread, her haunted eyes calling out to me. And even when she looks at me—her blue eyes the same shade as the ocean—I don’t look away. My instincts tell me she’s feeling whatever this is between us too, and when her eyes flash and she looks away, I curse myself. Nothing can happen between us.

I shake my head when I start to wonder when she’ll turn eighteen and walk off, my stride quick and impatient as I barge through the groups of teenagers laughing and being rowdy.

I feel Mom and Lily behind me, but I don’t turn back around, instead I order my food before moving to the side for them and finding a table we can sit at.

My gaze skirts across the seating area as I pull a chair out, assessing who’s around and if there’s any danger. There’s not, we’re at a bowling alley for God’s sake, but it doesn’t stop me from checking. It’s ingrained in me as much as my organs are a part of my body. It’ll never go away, and I don’t want it to either. I want to be on high alert to protect those closest to me.

We eat in relative silence when our food comes. I’m in a world of my own, chowing down my food as fast as I can so I can get out of here and get home sooner. The quicker I’m away from Lily, the better. I can’t keep thinking of her, I can’t keep wondering what she’s doing, what she’d sound like if I pressed my lips against hers. Fuckin’ goddammit, I went there. Shit.

Gripping my head, I throw the few fries back on my plate I had been about to eat, leaning back in my seat and scrubbing my hands over my face. I need out of here… now.

“I’ll just head to the restroom before we go,” Lily’s soft voice announces, and I grunt in response, not willing to look at her.

As soon as she’s out of earshot, Mom leans forward, practically growling, “What is wrong with you?”

“Me?” I point at my chest, raising my brows in question. “What have I done?”

“You’re doing that thing again,” she huffs, shaking her head.

“What thing?”

She points at me, twirling her finger in the air. “That… broody thing.”

Rolling my eyes, I stand up and pull my wallet out of my pocket. “Okay then.” She mumbles something under her breath but I ignore it as I walk away to pay the bill before heading toward the restrooms.

I’m about to push open the door when I hear her voice, but it’s not that that stops me, it’s the stressed tone as she asks someone to move.

The hairs on the back of my neck stand up, my hands clenching at my sides as I step back and toward the sound of Lily’s voice.

“Please, Jonah. I need to—”

“You don’t need to do anything but be here with me,” a nasally voice replies to her.

“No, stop. I mean it.”

He laughs, the kind of laugh that has my hackles rising more than they already were and I find myself moving at a faster pace, turning the corner and seeing a guy a foot taller than Lily blocking her in a corner.

“Come on, Lil. You know you want to. We wouldn’t want Daddy knowing you were here—”

“You better get your motherfuckin’ hands off her right now,” I thunder, my nostrils flaring as I step even closer.

“Luke,” Lily squeaks, but I can’t tell if she’s glad I’m here or even more terrified.

The guy turns around, his green eyes shining under the lights. “And you are?”

“Your worst fuckin’ nightmare if you don’t get your hands off her. Right. Fuckin’. Now.”

“Jonah, please just—”

His head whips around to face Lily, his voice lowering as he whispers something to her that has her face paling and her panicked eyes finding mine.

Counting to three in my head, I try to calm the raging bull inside of me, but as soon as I see his hand move up her arm, I lose the tether I’m holding onto and go storming ahead, ripping his hand off her and pulling her behind me in one swift motion.

The movement has my t-shirt rising slightly and if his widened eyes are anything to go by, he can see the gun sheathed there. Not that I’d ever use it on this grimy piece of shit, but he doesn’t know that.