I’m a sucky person for judging Colton based on rumors I’ve never actually verified. “And you worried about him?”
Colton shrugs. “I guess.”
“Well,” I say, cracking a smile. “You’ll be happy to know that he’s doing just fine.”
His lips kick up on one corner, and yeah, I’m not blind. If the rumors are true, I could totally understand why it’s easy for him to convince girls to leave the lessons of God’s teaching. He smiles wider now, and I wonder if he caught me looking at him. “So… what are your plans for the night?”
Breaking through my fog, I nod toward Holden’s general direction. “I think this is it,” I mumble. “Once he’s done there, we’ll probably just head home.”
Colton nods and then something warm lands on my knee. I look down at his hand as he squeezes once and says, “You should come—” That’s all he gets out before a gust of wind floats against my cheek, and the table beneath me rocks.
It takes me a moment, but the screaming and yelling from around me have me jumping to my feet and tugging on an arm. Colton’s back is pressed against the table, his throat held down by a strong, firm hand attached to muscled forearms—forearms I recognize. “Leo! What are you doing?!”
I’m tugging on his arm, and some other guy is attempting to do the same while shouting at Leo to “Get the fuck off him!”
Leo doesn’t budge. He’s a solid wall. A statue.
“Holden! Help!” I shout, tears in my eyes, and everything happens all at once. Colton reaches up, trying to pull away Leo’s fingers from around his neck, but Leo only squeezes tighter.
“What the fuck, dude!” I recognize the voice as Holden’s as he pushes me aside and stands between the two of them. “Dude, let him go!”
Leo finally releases him and stands to full height.
“Who the fuck are you?” Colton fumes, rubbing his neck as he gets to his feet.
Shoulders square, Leo stands firm. “Don’t ever fucking touch her again,” he seethes. “Don’t speak to her. Don’t even look at her.” He takes a threatening step forward, and it’s suddenly silent, all but for the beating of my heart. Mouth to Colton’s ear, Leo whispers, loud enough for everyone to hear, “If I catch you, I’ll kill you.”
I don’t know why I’m crying—whether it’s shock, or anger, or fear. Tears stream down my cheeks just as Leo turns, looks down at me with his jaw tense, nostrils flared. “Don’t cry,” he deadpans. “He’s not worth it.”
From the corner of my eye, I see Holden watching us. He says, “Can you get her home, Leo? I got this.”
“Got what?” I ask.
But no one answers me. Instead, Leo grasps my upper arm and drags me to his truck. I’m in a daze as he opens my door and helps me to sit. He makes his way to his side and gets in, starts the engine. Then he pulls out of the parking lot, but not before I hear Holden yell, “Anyone but Mia, you asshole!”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Mia
“Are you going to explain what happened, or are we just not going to talk about it?” It’s the first thing spoken since we got in the truck, and my voice seems to fill every inch of the cab.
Leo sits, tense, his hand white-knuckling the steering wheel. Every time I release a sob, he flinches. I still don’t know why I’m crying. I’ve put it down to shock, but also fear. Leo has scared me. His actions, his words—they’re a side of him I’d never seen, never even thought possible from him—and I’m terrified. Not of him, but of what he’s capable of. “It doesn’t matter,” he grinds out, focused on the road ahead of him.
We’ve already passed the house, so I have no idea where he plans on going.
“It matters to me,” I tell him, sniffing back another sob. “What happened to make you—”
“Leave it alone, Mia,” he snaps.
And now I’m pissed, because he’s talking down to me as if I won’t understand, or maybe he doesn’t want me to understand. “I have a right to know.”
He simply shakes his head, his jaw working.
I pull my feet up onto the seat and face him completely. “Tell me!”
He turns into a side street that’s so hidden from the road; I don’t know how he knew it existed. “No!”
We’re surrounded by nothing but darkness and dense bush, and he’s driving like we’re on a dang highway. Frustrated, I tell him, “This is a dead