happened.
In the blink of an eye, he
moved. He was fast and smart with his actions, like he already knew the best
course to lay this man down.
Jace’s fist crashed into the
man’s face, stunning him. A second later, he grabbed the back of the man’s head
and slammed his knee into him. The man howled in pain. But it didn’t stop. Jace
hit him again. The man attempted to fight back but it was pathetic. He was not
a match.
Mara stood frozen in fear. Old
memories surfaced. Memories she normally kept buried so far down below she
pretended some days that it never happened. That she’d never been where this
man was at—on the other end of violence. For some reason tears burst from her
eyes and spilled down her cheeks uncontrollably. Her memories were wrapped up
in this violence, connected. She’d been in this man’s position before. Not
exactly the same one, but so close that the memory of Corey punching her in the
face made her take a physical step backward.
“Stop it,” she said.
Jace’s head spun to look at
her.
He was standing over the man,
breathing hard, one hand curled into a bloodied fist. Her stomach twisted with
sickening nerves. She’d seen that look before. A sound escaped her, a sob. Tia
was staring at her with the saddest expression. Like she knew what Mara was
feeling and could do nothing to stop it from happening.
Jace blinked and the violence
in his gaze faded that fast. It was gone. Even though she shook from seeing the
rage there, that look was gone now. She was so confused. She’d never seen
anyone go from hot to cool that fast. Corey hadn’t. When he got mad…he’d rage
for hours and it always had to end big. It never ended with him just passing
out on the couch. No, he had to have a big blowout finale before he did that.
Mara flinched at the memories, her thighs squeezing tightly together.
Chapter 5
Tia was striding to her with
their purses in hand, but Mara only had eyes for Jace. He was staring at her
with an expression she’d never seen in her life.
It was so different, unlike
anything else. He was looking at her as if he’d just made the worst mistake in
his life. In his life . That’s why the droop of surprise to his mouth,
the widened eyes and raised eyebrows were aligned in the most unique way.
Things like this never happened in real life, at least not to people like Mara.
They happened to lucky people or mean people who made their own luck. How is it
she went from feeling crazy over heels about this guy to never wanting to see
him again so quickly?
Tia was almost to her. Time
moved so slow, yet she knew in moments she’d turn and never see Jace Mathews
again. Because she couldn’t do it. Not again.
More tears fell. She didn’t
even try to wipe them; she didn’t care that people were openly staring as if
this was a group discussion on domestic abuse and violence.
Regret flashed in his eyes
along with something else that made her gasp. Pain. He hid something deep in there.
Something that had him towering over a broken man on the floor.
“Where are you going?” He was
back to masking his eyes, looking stoic. People milled about on their
cellphones, probably calling the cops. For the second day in the row, Mara was
the cause of a public disturbance. Talk about bad luck.
“Home,” she heard herself say.
“I just want to go home.”
Tia finally made it to her. She
wrapped her arm around Mara’s waist and guided her away. Jace stepped forward
and Mare jerked her head hard. “No.” He stopped walking, eyes intense. “We’re
done.” That sounded so deep, so persona. She tried to make it not sound so
revealing. “You’re done.”
They turned and stalked out of
the bar. All of a sudden a task as simple as walking back to the car felt
strange. The heat from the asphalt was so warm she could feel it through her
high heels. The air was balmy and made her hair fall flat and sweat form along
her neck. Tia had her arm wrapped around Mara’s waist. She wasn’t
In the blink of an eye, he
moved. He was fast and smart with his actions, like he already knew the best
course to lay this man down.
Jace’s fist crashed into the
man’s face, stunning him. A second later, he grabbed the back of the man’s head
and slammed his knee into him. The man howled in pain. But it didn’t stop. Jace
hit him again. The man attempted to fight back but it was pathetic. He was not
a match.
Mara stood frozen in fear. Old
memories surfaced. Memories she normally kept buried so far down below she
pretended some days that it never happened. That she’d never been where this
man was at—on the other end of violence. For some reason tears burst from her
eyes and spilled down her cheeks uncontrollably. Her memories were wrapped up
in this violence, connected. She’d been in this man’s position before. Not
exactly the same one, but so close that the memory of Corey punching her in the
face made her take a physical step backward.
“Stop it,” she said.
Jace’s head spun to look at
her.
He was standing over the man,
breathing hard, one hand curled into a bloodied fist. Her stomach twisted with
sickening nerves. She’d seen that look before. A sound escaped her, a sob. Tia
was staring at her with the saddest expression. Like she knew what Mara was
feeling and could do nothing to stop it from happening.
Jace blinked and the violence
in his gaze faded that fast. It was gone. Even though she shook from seeing the
rage there, that look was gone now. She was so confused. She’d never seen
anyone go from hot to cool that fast. Corey hadn’t. When he got mad…he’d rage
for hours and it always had to end big. It never ended with him just passing
out on the couch. No, he had to have a big blowout finale before he did that.
Mara flinched at the memories, her thighs squeezing tightly together.
Chapter 5
Tia was striding to her with
their purses in hand, but Mara only had eyes for Jace. He was staring at her
with an expression she’d never seen in her life.
It was so different, unlike
anything else. He was looking at her as if he’d just made the worst mistake in
his life. In his life . That’s why the droop of surprise to his mouth,
the widened eyes and raised eyebrows were aligned in the most unique way.
Things like this never happened in real life, at least not to people like Mara.
They happened to lucky people or mean people who made their own luck. How is it
she went from feeling crazy over heels about this guy to never wanting to see
him again so quickly?
Tia was almost to her. Time
moved so slow, yet she knew in moments she’d turn and never see Jace Mathews
again. Because she couldn’t do it. Not again.
More tears fell. She didn’t
even try to wipe them; she didn’t care that people were openly staring as if
this was a group discussion on domestic abuse and violence.
Regret flashed in his eyes
along with something else that made her gasp. Pain. He hid something deep in there.
Something that had him towering over a broken man on the floor.
“Where are you going?” He was
back to masking his eyes, looking stoic. People milled about on their
cellphones, probably calling the cops. For the second day in the row, Mara was
the cause of a public disturbance. Talk about bad luck.
“Home,” she heard herself say.
“I just want to go home.”
Tia finally made it to her. She
wrapped her arm around Mara’s waist and guided her away. Jace stepped forward
and Mare jerked her head hard. “No.” He stopped walking, eyes intense. “We’re
done.” That sounded so deep, so persona. She tried to make it not sound so
revealing. “You’re done.”
They turned and stalked out of
the bar. All of a sudden a task as simple as walking back to the car felt
strange. The heat from the asphalt was so warm she could feel it through her
high heels. The air was balmy and made her hair fall flat and sweat form along
her neck. Tia had her arm wrapped around Mara’s waist. She wasn’t
Similar Books
