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A light came on. “I said hush.”
I lowered my voice. “Tell me what’s going on. What are we doing?”
He started panning the light around, completely ignoring my voice. What the hell was going on? What in the world just happened?
“Max, please. Tell me.”
He spun around quickly. “Do as I ask, or this is done.”
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
“When you were sitting out in that booth, you made a commitment to me. Did you mean it?”
I stared at him. “Of course I meant it. But that doesn't mean--”
“When it’s safe, I’ll explain. Until then? Trust me to protect you.”
My blood turned cold. “I’m in danger?”
“We both are. Follow me. There’s a stairwell over here.”
He wrapped his hand around my wrist and tugged me along behind him. I mean, it was all I could do to keep up. Even I heard the panic in his voice. And I’d never heard that before. Ever. Not once had he ever wavered. But the more he tried to keep me quiet, the more wavers I heard.
It made me nervous.
He opened the door to the stairwell and we rushed down it. I stumbled into him a few times. And every time, he turned around to catch me. Worry rushed through my body. It felt like I could hear everything within a five-block radius. Every single part of my body was on alert, waiting to be seen. Waiting to be yanked around.
Waiting to be jumped.
I followed Max while he followed his little light. And when we found a door with an ‘exit’ sign, we dashed in that direction. He eased the door open silently and I peeked outside. There was an alleyway outside.
“Come on. Stay close, gorgeous.”
He certainly didn't have to tell me twice.
The alleyway was dark, with signs to direct trucks into a loading zone. I rubbernecked around, trying to take it all in, making sure no one was approaching us from any other angle. Max dropped my hand and jogged to the entrance of the alley, peeking out onto the sidewalk, his eyes dancing against something I couldn't see. I stood there, waiting for him. Waiting for our next move. But, as I watched him, I saw his shoulders tense.
Before he burst into a sprint back my way.
“Run with me, and keep up as much as you can,” he said.
Not like I had a choice in the matter.
Nonetheless, I kept the pace Max set. The running helped me to dispel some of the nervous energy pooling in my gut. It didn’t stop my entire body from shaking, though. I cursed my inner wimp. I needed to be able to handle shit like this if I was going to be with him. Our destination seemed to be the other side of the alleyway, away from the parking lot. Away from his bike. Away from the noise and the chaos and the crowd standing outside the restaurant-slash-club.
But before we got there, he pinned me against the wall in the darkness. He held his breath. He cloaked me with his body as the world fell momentarily silent around us with his hands on either side of my face as we leaned against the brick wall.
Listening for something I couldn’t hear.
“Max?” I whispered.
His head kept darting around, looking up and down the alley. As if he were waiting for something. Or someone.
“Max?” I whispered harshly.
“Someone was waiting for me. I think they spotted me.”
My hands rose to his chest. “Who?”
