“Use the back door.” Billy commanded with an authority that even Maxi had never heard him use, and oddly she found it really hot.
Seriously inappropriate.She thought to herself at her reaction.
For a second the guy looked confused like he thought it might be a trap or something. But, then he turned and hightailed it out of there. He was out the kitchen door, across the lawn and on his motorcycle in a matter of seconds. With his substantial size it was quite an impressive thing to witness.
“Why didn’t you kick his ass?” Deborah punched against his back. “You’re my son! You’re supposed to protect me!”
“Goodbye, mom. I love you.” Billy didn’t spare her a look and with the knife still in his hand, he walked calmly towards the door.
His mom was right behind him shouting obscenities.
Taking his lead, Maxi pushed open the screen door open and walked as fast as she could to the SUV. Billy didn’t say a word as his mom continued cussing him out. He placed his hand on Maxi’s back and led her to the driver’s side, instructing her to crawl to the passenger seat. Once they both made it safely inside Maxi heard the click of the doors locking. His mom was pulling on the door handle, crying and telling him that she loved him. She begged him to come back inside for just a minute. When he pulled out of the driveway her tears turned to anger once again and she began hurling rocks at them as they drove away.
Maxi made a living saying the right thing. It was literally her job. But right now she had no words. The only ones that came to mind weren’t ones she could say. “I love you.”
That’s all she kept thinking. Over and over on a constant loop. “I love you.”
They hadn’t even made it out of the neighborhood before her phone vibrated. She was tempted to ignore it, even though they were silent she still felt like this was a moment that shouldn’t be interrupted. But since they’d just dropped her dad off she decided she needed to check it. When she pulled it out she saw she’d missed a call from the detective and he’d left her a message. She pressed play and put the phone to her ear.
“Everything okay?” Concern filled Billy’s voice.
“It’s Detective Grover. They picked someone else up for the burglary.”
Without her even asking Billy made a U-turn towards the station. For the second time in less than half an hour she found herself in the position of having no idea what she was walking into, but she was happy that Billy would be by her side, it made her feel like she could face anything.