Take the Fall(17)

“Hi, can I get you something to drink?”

“Think I’ll go with coffee.”

I almost drop my pencil at the familiar, gravelly voice.

Marcus looks up from under his hood. “Better make it black.”





SEVEN


MARCUS’S EYES ARE A DARK, impenetrable brown. It’s been so long since they were trained on me, I’d almost forgotten the intensity of his gaze. His hood falls back, revealing black hair mussed like he’s been running his hands through it for hours. His brows are straight, his full mouth pressed thin. He’s unshaven, which gives him an appealing rugged look, but enhances the exhaustion in the sharp lines of his face. He rests his arms on the table in front of him, tapping his right index finger to a rapid beat only he can hear. For a moment it looks like his hands are bruised, but then I realize it’s just traces of green and purple paint.

I swallow, trying to keep my voice steady. “What do you want?”

“Coffee?” he says again.

For six months Marcus has gone out of his way to avoid me like I was something he didn’t want to step in, and now he wants me to bring him coffee? I look over his shoulder to Dina hovering over the book club. She hasn’t noticed him yet.

“I think you’d better leave.”

He leans forward. “Can’t I just talk to you for a second?”

I grip my order pad in one hand and my pencil in the other, but I can’t seem to keep them still. If he’d asked me to talk two years ago, I would’ve stumbled over my own sentences and then called Gretchen, giggling. But he didn’t talk to me then. We’d shared a look here, a smile there, and every time butterflies would freak out inside my stomach. But after he registered on Gretchen’s radar that was the end of that. I kept my distance, hid my crush. Gretchen got bored with boys easily, so I thought I’d wait it out. Everything seemed normal—I ceased to exist to either of them for a little while. But for whatever reason, as Gretchen’s infatuation started to wane, Marcus began acting like he wished I didn’t exist. At first I tried to fix it, or at least figure out why, but after a few encounters where he complained openly about my presence, it hurt less to steer clear of him altogether.

I was thrilled when they broke up last month.

He looks at me with hooded eyes, and I flash back to this morning. To him staring at me from the woods like I had something he wanted. My skin buzzes with warning, but there’s a familiar ache in my chest. Alarmed, I step back. I start to turn away, but his hand lashes out, his fingers encircling my wrist. Pain ignites the scratches on my arm. My pencil hits the floor with a clatter, but when I try to pull free, his grip tightens.

“Sonia, wait.” His eyes connect with mine. For a careless moment my body thrills with electricity and I’m sure something stirs in the space between us. But then he looks away. “I need your help.”

A couple of people turn to see what’s going on. My heart thunders in my ears. I stare at his hand on my arm, then raise my gaze to his face.

“What are you doing in here?” Dina’s voice cuts between us, startling me. She’s across the room and by my side before I take my next breath.

Marcus stiffens, but doesn’t look away from me. “Just trying to get a cup of coffee.”

“Get out before I call the sheriff.”

His eyes widen, but his jaw goes tight. “Has ordering coffee become some crime I’m unaware of?”

“If you don’t let go of my niece, I’ll have you arrested for assault.”

He looks at his hand on my wrist. His face reddens and he lets go. “I didn’t mean to—”

“Out. Now.”

I cradle my tender arm against my chest, the heat of his touch cooling as I step away.

Dina looks like she might physically pick him up and throw him out, even though he’s twice her size. Marcus slides out of the booth, slouching when he gets to his feet like he’s trying to disappear inside his own skin. He glances at me one last time before pulling his hood up, and I want to say something, but Dina’s glare keeps my lips sealed.

“Thanks for the hospitality,” Marcus mutters.

Everyone in the diner watches as he slips out the door.

“Good on you, Dina.”

“Can you believe the sheriff let that monster run free?”

My thoughts get lost amid the rise of voices and I don’t realize one of them is speaking to me until Dina puts her hands on my shoulders and looks straight into my eyes.

“Sonia? Do you want me to call the sheriff?”

“What?” I blink. “No.”

She frowns. “What did he want? What did he say?”

“He . . . tried to order a coffee.”

Through the window, I watch Marcus cross the street and disappear into the shadows of the park, his head bent low. My memory automatically flashes back to the woods, running, unable to breathe. Somehow it’s harder to imagine his face behind me . . . but maybe it’s just that I don’t want it to be him. A chill runs up my spine.

“Hey, listen to me.” Dina grips my shoulders. “If he comes here again, I don’t want you anywhere near him, okay? You come get me or Noah and we’ll take care of it.”

I hesitate. An hour ago, I wouldn’t have argued. But my heart is unsettled and there’s nothing I’m sure of anymore. “He didn’t do anything. . . .”