Page 70 of Hold Still

From off to the side, McKenna’s rising voice captures my attention. I ignore the loser in front of me and focus on the one person in the room who matters. “Everything okay?” I whisper.

Keeping her eyes on the floor, she shakes her head and turns. Well, fuck. Since I can’t talk with her right now, I turn my attention back to Luis. “How are you spending my money? Buying a house? What about a yacht? I know she always wanted one of those.”

He flips his hat in a way I used to think was cool. When it’s back on his head, he shrugs. “We’re not together anymore.”

I laugh. A full-on belly-laugh. “Karma’s a bitch, isn’t she?”

The corner of the room goes silent. McKenna picks up her bag off the floor and says, “I’ll leave you two to sort things out. I have to go.” And just like that, she leaves. In the moment I need her the most.

“McKenna, wait—” My words float into nothingness as she closes the door behind her. What the actual fuck?

Whirling on my former best friend, I snarl, “I don’t know what caused you to think this was a good idea, but you can go crawl back under the rock you came from. I don’t need you.” I turn and follow McKenna, blood coursing through my veins like a fast-moving stream on its way to the ocean.

The bright red stripe in her hair is already halfway to the lobby. Since I know where she parks, I bypass the main lobby and take the backway to the parking garage. Sure enough, she’s getting into her Honda when I enter the deck.

Still fuming that Platinum thinks I need Luis, I grab my helmet, hop on Shirley and follow her. Where is she going? Is she meeting up with another man? Why am I torturing myself with such thoughts? Seeing Luis has scrambled my brain. She’s not anything like Teresa. But I didn’t think Luis and Teresa could double-cross me, either.

Amid traffic, I follow her to the driveway of a small-ish house with a slightly-overgrown lawn, and park the bike on the street a few houses down. McKenna gets out of her car but, instead of going into the house, she rushes in the opposite direction. Dismounting from Shirley, I keep pace with her from two blocks away. Up ahead, an older woman in her pajamas is the only other person on the sidewalk. Several cars pass.

McKenna reaches out and touches the woman on her shoulder, causing her to spin around. Her arms flail and it appears as if she’s going to fall, but McKenna catches her. Why didn’t she walk around her?

Stopping, I watch as McKenna wraps herself around the woman and then jumps back as if scalded. She says something to the older woman—seemingly trying to comfort her—but the other woman shakes her head.

I stand, transfixed, watching the exchange and ready to intervene if McKenna needs me. Even though she just bailed on me. She turns and points down the street, directly at me, and her mouth falls open.

Shit. Caught.

When in doubt, deflect. I raise my chin and walk toward the two women, one of whom is shooting daggers at me from her eyes while the other starts fluffing her hair. “McKenna.”

I look at the older woman, who starts at my voice, her latte-colored eyes meeting mine. Eyes that match McKenna’s exactly. I take a wild guess. “Mrs. James.”

The older version of McKenna looks confused. “Mateo, we’re way past such formalities.”

Mateo?

McKenna springs into action, wrapping her arm around her mother’s shoulders. “Excuse me,” she says as she navigates past me.

What is going on? Who the fuck is Mateo? I follow the pair down the sidewalk, which takes a surprising amount of time considering her mother stops to examine every thing—some flowers, a sign, rocks. What’s wrong with her? Is she on drugs?

At her driveway, McKenna turns and addresses me. “Good night, Ozzy. I think you’ve seen enough.”

Oh,hellno. This does not end here. I’ve let this woman into my home, my life, my heart. No way is she going to get away with locking me out of hers.

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