“Cunt!” the man shouted, but Luke’s fingers were already expertly sliding over the screen and deleting any video evidence of me.
He was quick, too. Very quick. The man hadn’t even gotten out of his seat when Luke dropped his phone on top of the menus I’d left behind. But the phone owner was not going to leave it at that. The moment he got his feet under him, his fist was heading right at Luke’s face. I saw it happen, because despite having gripped Luke’s jacket with all my might, the moment he grabbed for the phone, he’d stepped closer to the table and away from me. Now, I was gripping at nothing but air and letting out another silly yelp.
Luke dodged the blow effortlessly, driven by either skill or a sense of justice. His responding blow smacked against his opponent’s nose, and a crack resonated through the entire silenced restaurant.
I backed away further as the other four men all rushed to their feet to retaliate on behalf of the one now gripping his bleeding nose and shouting curses left and right. I bumped into one of the tables. Twelve or eleven, not that it mattered. I rocked it hard enough to spill a pint of beer and drown a woman’s meal in the residue. The glass itself rolled off the table and shattered on the floor.
I wasn’t the only one yelling after that, but I was the only one crying. I was sure of it. A wave crashed over me, and I sagged against the table, gripping at its edge as it took me under.
Through my blurry vision, I could see Luke decimating the four men fighting him, catching one in the cheek and knocking him out cold, right after his elbow left another crouched over and gasping. He took a hit to the stomach from the third before the man ended up splayed over their table. He grabbed around the top of it, fingers closing around a salt shaker before the thing went flying across the restaurant, missing Luke by a long shot. The pepper followed suit, much closer to the target, but not by much. The next thing to fly was the candle from the centre table, and that came out of nowhere, slamming into my face like a rocket before shattering at my feet. I didn’t see how exactly things stopped flying with my hand slamming up to my face, as if that would somehow stop the burn of the impact. When I did manage to look over at the scene, only Jay was left standing, his hands up in surrender the instant Luke’s wrath focussed solely on him.
“Okay, I catch your drift, mate. We’re cool.”
Luke stepped over the man he’d elbowed in the stomach, now kneeling at his feet, to get closer to Jay. He grabbed him by his collar, and Jay’s eyes widened, but he kept his hands up in surrender.
“Wanker,” the one with a broken nose gritted but didn’t move to help his friend out.
“We are not cool,” Luke said, low and threatening. “We will never be cool after what you did to Haylee. And while violence is unbecoming of me. You. Deserve. Worse.”
Before Jay could move his hands to protect his pretty face, a fist slammed into his eye socket. Jay swung away from Luke, only to be pulled back by his collar and meeting another blow, lower against his cheek this time. He swayed on his feet but didn’t quite fall fast enough to avoid a third hit, splitting his lips.
“I fucking wish I could feed you your own balls,” Luke spat, letting go of Jay’s shirt to watch him collapse to the ground. “Stay away from Haylee.”
Sweat and beer
MY FIST THROBBED.?I shook it, taking in the damage I caused. My eyes caught on Haylee pressed against a dripping table, its occupants throwing tissues at the mess in an attempt to contain it. One of her hands gripped the edge of the table while the other held onto her cheek like it hurt. Tears ran down her cheeks, leaving wet lines in their wake.
I forgot all about my own pain as I strolled across the short distance. Haylee shuffled away from me, shards of glass crunching under her feet.
“Haylee.” I softened my voice. “Red Cheeks, I won’t hurt you. You know that, right?”
Her eye, the one that wasn’t covered by her hand, was wide. Her lips trembled, and she whimpered.
I had gone to their apartment after cooking today to see if Haylee would like some dinner. It hurt to think that she was avoiding me. Glen was more than happy to take the food I’d brought before announcing Haylee wasn’t home. I wasn’t fully certain what exactly stopped me from going back to my apartment and eating in solitude, but here I was.
Taking a step closer to a shivering Haylee, my hands held out carefully to show I wasn’t a threat. I pulled my jacket off when I was close enough and draped it across her shoulders. Her shivering didn’t stop. It wasn’t likely to be from the cold.
