Page 16 of The Comeback Road
“One who signed his rights away andisn’tinvolved,” Jace spoke again, and I felt him come up beside me. Even though he tried to put himself between us, I sidestepped him so we were shoulder to shoulder. We were close enough that I could feel his fingers scrunch in and out of fists to remain calm, but I could also feel the way his body trembled in rage. For a split second, I felt inexplicably at peace. Like my mind and soul knew he wouldn’t let anything happen to Raya, tome.He’s someone else’s husband.The thought tore through me, and suddenly, being so close to him felt like I was being ripped open. I had to hold in my flinch because the thought was enough to knock the air from my lungs.
Lance took in both of us and finally stepped back, shrugging his shoulders. Shaking his head, he turned to leave, muttering every foul word one could think of under his breath, just loud enough for us to hear. Before he got too far, he moved so our gazes locked. “This isn’t over,” he called out to me.
Anytime,I mouthed at him, smiling. Lance turned red as a bull, stomping off back toward wherever he must have come from. Once I could no longer see him, I turned to Raya. The poor kid was all but shaking. “You okay, sweets?” I whispered and bent down so I was eye level with her, tucking a loose piece of hair behind her ear. Raya didn’t say anything, just nodding at me, her eyes still firmly on the concrete.
I put my finger under Raya’s chin and prompted her to look at me. Her eyes were filled with tears, and I saw red.I’m going to kill him.“Stay here,” I said as I shot up and started walking in the direction Lance had taken off in. I was lost in a haze of red at seeing Raya’s tears. I didn’t hear Jace calling after me until I felt his hand circle around my wrist and tug me back, which endedup bringing me back to reality. I found myself looking at him in mild confusion.
“What are you doing?” he asked, looking every bit a disheveled mess.
“What does it look like? I’m going after him. He made Rayacry,” I snapped, twisting my wrist out of his hold without second thought and turning around to keep walking.
“No—would—you—stop,” I heard him pant out behind me.
“No, and how is it that you had no idea that prick is Raya’s dad?”
“Remi isn’t the most forthcoming. She’s very private. I didn’t pry. Sloan hasn’t even met him, and most of what I know about Remi is from him.” I didn’t feel the need to respond. “Lexie,stop. You can’t just leave Raya.”
That stopped me dead in my tracks. I pivoted so fast I almost crashed right into Jace’s chest. “Move.” Even though I had told him to stay, Jace was right; I couldn’t just leave Raya. The harshness of my voice had him wincing, and he made a move to reach for me. I sidestepped so fast to avoid his touch that he moved his arm back like I had burned him. “Lexie…” he whispered. If I didn’t know any better, I would have said a look of agony overtook his features, but I knew betternow.
“Jace, what the hell, sweetheart?” a sickly-sweet voice sounded. I saw his body tense and his jaw clench, but his eyes were screaming in pity.
Pity for me.
A gorgeous girl I could never compete with came into view and wrapped her perfectly pink, polished nails around his forearm. “Sweetheart, you just took off. Is everything okay?” She swept her worried eyes over him from head to toe as if assessing for any injuries. He finally looked over at her, and I saw an unspoken moment pass between them. Suddenly, I felt like I was on the outside, looking in at my own heartbreak. Thelook seemed to be one of longing—one oflove—and I wanted to disappear.
“Jess, not now.” His voice definitely didn’t match the look he was shooting in her direction. Jace shot his arm out to stop me as I was trying to skirt around them. Thankfully, Raya ran over, the whole encounter not lasting more than five minutes total.
“Can we go?” She asked as she reached for my hand. I latched on to it like it was a lifeline. “Absolutely. Lead the way.” I did my best to crack a smile at her as she tugged me away from Jace and Jess.
“Lexie, this isn’t done,” I heard Jace holler at me. While I didn’t say anything, I couldn’t help thinking,yes, it is.
Chapter Fourteen
Lexie
There was a deafening silence that followed Raya and I on our walk home. I wanted to ask her about her dad, but she was far too young to be dealing with those kinds of troubles. I couldn’t help but walk slightly behind her, and made sure to catalogue everything as we made our way back. Every sound, every face we passed.Everything.
Once we made it back to the turn off to the driveway, Raya took off toward the house, and I finally felt a bit more at ease, knowing we were on familiar turf. The anxiety dissipated some more when I realized that Magnolia and Sloan’s cars were there. “Raya, you can either play inside with the puppies or watch TV, but no going outside without me. In fact, no doing anything without informing me first, yeah?”
“I’d like to play inside.” Her eyes shifted around her, and I knew she was still feeling uncomfortable. The rage I had felt before was threatening to come back, but I masked it with a smile in her direction. “Why don’t you go find the puppies? I’msure they want to play.” She tore off through the front door. I hoped the seriousness of the afternoon would fade away with puppy snuggles and kisses.
“Dexter would make a great dog dad, Magnolia,” I heard Sloan pleading.
“Didn’t you just tell me that he somehow killed the cactusyoubought him?” she shot back at him, a spatula in hand. He huffed in frustration.
“This is completely different,” he mumbled. I felt that pesky twinge in my heart—the one that felt like a festering wound.This is what I wanted.
“Ah! You’re back! Where’s Raya?” Magnolia moved her attention from Sloan to me. She must have seen something on my face because she half tossed the spatula before making her way toward me. “What happened?” she demanded.
“We ran into Raya’s dad. You’ll never guess who it is.” I proceeded to tell her and Sloan exactly what had happened. Sloan slid off the bar stool, his face turning red in anger. Magnolia paced in front of me, muttering curses underneath her breath. And when I got to the part about Jace, they both stood frozen. Even though they tried to mask it, they both looked at me with sadness and pity, just like he had.
“We need to call Remi,” I said, not offering them anything else. I just wanted them to stop looking at me like that.
“On it,” Magnolia stated, and started walking out of the kitchen while Sloan kept his gaze locked on me. “Magnolia still not budging on giving the other puppy to Dexter, huh?” I motioned toward where she just exited, recalling a constant discussion in the house lately. Dexter had fallen head over heels for one of Peach’s puppies, and I knew he’d already named him. And for someone who was adamant that they weren’t keeping all of them, Magnolia was reluctant to let go. A slow smile overtook his face, and he just nodded at me.
My phone buzzed in the back pocket of my jeans, and I pulled it out.
Luke:Marco.
