Page 37 of The Comeback Road
Even with no answer, the front door to the house flew open, and Luke placed his body in front of mine, shielding me from whatever might have come. I heard loud voices, belonging to Magnolia and Sloan.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“It’s not…She’s not…”
“Can you just listen for one second?”
The want to flee was becoming overwhelming, rising with my blood pressure. In a matter of seconds, Jace entered the room, his expression wild, eyes scanning until they settled on me. I saw his face drain of color. “What the fuck? What the hell happened?” He stepped further inside, and I could feel the energy radiating off of him. “You’re here.”
In the moments our eyes locked, I felt whole. I could just pretend for one second that he had picked me, chosen me. And I saw his eyes rake down my face and to the blanket, which led to the blood on the floor and realization that I sat on the sofa with blood surrounding me, bleeding through my bandage, and looking a bit like death. I saw the sheer panic fill his eyes as they widened in disbelief, and I whispered his name. “Jace, I’m—” My breath caught in my throat, the weight of the moment and the look on his face pressing down on me.
“This is Jace?” Luke turned back to look at me, and all I could do was nod as I kept my eyes on Jace’s.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Luke said as he took one step forward, punching Jace, who dropped like a sack of potatoes.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Lexie
The moment Jace hit the ground, a stunned silence filled the room, my heart racing not just from the adrenaline but from the utter disbelief of what had just happened. Despite the pain, I couldn’t help but shoot up from my seat, the blanket slipping from my shoulders, a surge of protectiveness washing over me.
“Luke! What the hell was that?” I shouted, my voice echoing against the walls. Mild panic at the fact that Jace wasn’t moving started to kick in. Anger started to bubble over, fueled by the whirlwind of emotions still swirling within me that I had yet to deal with.
Surprisingly, Luke also stood still for a moment with wide eyes, his fist still clenched. “I could have handled that better,” he said, looking at me somewhat apologetically. “He’ll be fine.”
“He’s out cold, you absolute lunatic! This isn’t some rom-com. This isn’tCrazy, Stupid Love. You can’t just punch him like he’s David Lynhagen. My god, what were you thinking?! You work for the FBI, for Christ’s sake.”
“I wasn’t thinking. I just reacted,” Luke shot back on a shrug, his expression shifting from shock to defensiveness. “You’ve justbeen through something traumatic, and I didn’t think letting the guy you ran from in the first place come barging in here was a good idea.”
“So you punched him,” I stated, still staring at Luke like he’d lost his mind.
“It seemed like the only acceptable solution.”
“You can’t just solve everything with your fists!” I attempted to throw my hands up in exasperation, but hissed loudly at the pain that spread through my side at the motion. “He’s not the enemy here,” I stated, trying to make him see reason.
“Could have fooled me,” he grumbled.
A shocked gasp sounded from behind Luke. “What’s going on?” Magnolia asked, eyes darting between us and Jace, who still lay motionless on the floor,
“Jace is…” I started to say at the same time Luke said, “Taking a nap.” I glared at him.
“Starlight?” a garbled voice full of confusion sounded from below me, Jace’s voice barely above a whisper as he slowly began to regain consciousness.
“Jace? Can you hear me? Are you okay?”
“What happened?” He groaned, and his hand instinctively tried to move to his face, where Luke had hit him. Jace winced as he tried to sit up, but it was clearly hard for him.
“Just take it easy,” I urged, not missing the irony of me telling him to take it easy after I’d just been stabbed. “You, uh…you were punched.”
“By him?” Jace’s barely aware eyes flickered to Luke, filling with confusion and a hint of anger. “What the hell, man? Who are you?”
Luke kept his mouth in a tight line, refusing to answer. He continued to glare at him, deciding to look for dirt under his nails as he responded, “I’d say I'm sorry, but I’m not, and I don’t give out half-assed apologies.”
“I think now would be a good time for some explanations, don’t you think? I’ve been patient. Considering you have enough energy to punch someone, I think you better start talking now,” Magnolia said briskly, with no room for debate.
“Jace, uh, can you stand, man?” Sloan asked as he held out a hand to help him up.
“Yeah, I think so. Just a killer headache.” He glared at Luke, but he couldn’t have cared less.
