AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And to keep her distance from him. Lots and lots of distance.
* * *
Grippingthe sides of the sink hard, he groaned low, forcing the loud growl that wanted to unleash to stay inside.
No matter what he did or what he said, Mia never reacted the way he wanted her to. Even when she overheard him say he liked her, instead of confessing she returned his feelings or that she didn’t see him as boyfriend material, she cried.
He had made her cry.
Although, he couldn’t fault her for that. She cried easily. The littlest thing, like a bug being squashed across the windshield, made her sad. She had such a big, caring heart. So full of emotions and empathy, yet she rarely let people in. It was okay for her to feel sad for others, but it was never okay for someone to feel sad for her.
He couldn’t find the right words for how he felt when Detective Ramos told him what happened earlier. He had been worried about his brother, who he’d had to cut off and tell him he’d call him back. He promised he’d call him back later and help him with his problem—falling in love with a married woman. What in the hell was he thinking? He didn’t know where to begin to help him with that, besides helping him forget all about the woman. Nothing good would come from wanting a married woman.
Then Detective Ramos’ horrifying words hit his ears—a punk teenager walked into a convenience store and tried to rob the place. Five customers present, one including Mia. That when the cashier stumbled and took too long to grab all the money from the till, the teenager got twitchy with his trigger finger and the gun went off. Nobody was hurt, but he was told it came close to hitting Mia. Thankfully, it had scared the teenager. Instead of waiting for the money, he fled. They were in the process of identifying him and making an arrest.
Honestly, as much as he wanted to let loose his anger on some dumbass kid for attempting to rob the place, he was more worried about Mia.
She had been through so much in life. Now to add this to her plate. All it was doing was pushing him—and everyone else—farther and farther away from her.
He couldn’t understand why she always pushed everyone away. She knew he liked her. Hell, now she knew he loved her. He blurted it out without thinking. Yet, she barely reacted. She didn’t say a word. Like it didn’t even matter.
Where were the tears? He’d expected her to break down and cry. He was prepared to lend a shoulder when she did.
That knife already slicing his heart took another chunk out.
Just like the past few months, she’d continue to pretend as if everything would fall back into its place. They’d be friends, and that was it.
As much as it pained him, he’d play along because he’d rather have a tiny piece of her in his life than nothing at all. How sad was that?
He flushed the toilet as if he’d actually gone to the bathroom, washed his hands, and headed out to face the woman he loved. His excuse worked to get him inside. Now, he wasn’t sure how to proceed. Should he leave her alone? Should he ask her one more time how she was feeling? He still had to call his brother back and find out how he’d met this married woman, and how in the hell he’d fallen in love with her. Maybe it would be best if he left. One crisis at a time.
Walking through the living room, his decision was made when he heard sounds in the kitchen. He would at least say good-bye before actually leaving. As he neared the dining room table, his steps slowed.
The tiny hole in her tote bag punctured his view. Like a sharp dagger had rammed right into his eye socket. Plunging deep. Eviscerating the entire area until he couldn’t see a thing.
His finger grazed the hole. Not large by any standards, but if it had hit Mia, it would’ve been large enough to do damage. Kill her even.
She hadn’t nearly been shot; the damn bullet hit her bag. That was one fact Detective Ramos had left out. He’d be getting hell for that later.
Because his curiosity got the better of him, he opened the bag and quietly poured the contents out. Surprise jolted him when his eyes fell on the sketch of what looked to be a fancy dress. But the hole dented in the middle of the chest ruined the pretty picture.
“What are you doing?”
He jerked, shifting his attention from the table to Mia, who stood a few feet away.
“I had no idea you could sketch like this. It’s beautiful.” Considering he soaked up anything and everything about Mia, he was honestly surprised he didn’t know she had such artistic skill.
Although the dress was tarnished by a bullet hole, he saw all the intricate details in the upper half of the dress. Mia had talent.
“It’s nothing. I was doodling.”
His brow lifted as he took another look at the sketch. “This isn’t doodling. This looks like it took you time to draw. And now…” His finger brushed across the torn hole. “And now you’ll have to start over. You were so close to getting hurt today.”
“I wasn’t. Even if I wouldn’t have been holding that bag, it wouldn’t have hit me. But my bag stopped the bullet from hitting the little girl behind me, so let’s be thankful for that.”
He met her eyes, which were pretending to look as if nothing bothered her. Masked with indifference. That was Mia. Always pretending she was okay.
Sure, she got upset and heartbroken when things ended with a guy. She liked to gripe about certain coworkers like everyone else did. She’d fuss over an overpriced outfit or the store being out of stock of her favorite treat. She’d cry at sad endings in a movie, sometimes even at happy endings. But when it came to how she was truly feeling deep inside, Jaxson knew she hid it. She kept it to herself. Maybe not with Gabby, but when he was around, he always saw her keeping her emotions in check.
