"And you'll appreciate it even less if you keep bothering Anna."
"I wasn't 'bothering' her," Mackenzie said. "We were just catching up. Jeez. You act like I'm stalking her or something." She looked to Anna and said, "Go on. Tell him."
I cut her off. "She doesn'thaveto tell me. I heard it myself."
Mackenzie's face reddened. "What? That waffle thing?"
If she meant her threat to give Anna a hard time at the waffle place, that's exactly what I'd overheard.And I didn't like it.
"Yeah," I said. "That.And in case it wasn't clear, Anna's not going back. So like I said, take it someplace else."
Abruptly, Anna yanked herself from my side, giving me my first good look at her face. Her eyes were glistening, and her skin was flushed. With a hard scoff, she turned and started walking away, leaving me and Mackenzie behind.
That was fine by me. A moment alone with Mackenzie was just the ticket. I leaned closer to her and said, "I mean it. If you ever bother Anna again, you'll live to regret it."
Mackenzie gasped like I'd just slapped her senseless. The gasp was a waste. I'd never hit her or pay anyone else to. But there were other ways of getting revenge, and I wasn't above using them.
In fact, you might say I had experience with this sort of thing.
With a little step backward, Mackenzie said, "Oh, so now you're threatening me?"
"Take it how you want," I said. "But you'd be smart to leave her alone." And with that, I turned to look for Anna.
I spotted her a block away, walking fast with her head down. It took me just a few moments to catch up. But when I did, it was easy to see that something was definitely off.
