Page 59 of Louder Than Words

A smile tugs at the corner of my mouth as I watch her tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

I take a slow pull from my beer and set it gently back on the table. “God, I love watching you smile,” I admit, accidentally out loud. It was meant to stay in one of those little thought bubbles. But watching that same smile grow just because I said it? Totally worth every second.

She nods and turns toward me. “Yeah. I’m almost afraid to admit it, but I’mhappytoday.”

She says it like it’s a bad thing, and I wish I didn’t understand why. But I do.

Lately, being happy isn’t an easy thing to admit—at least not out loud. Because every time we do, something crashes down immediately after. But tonight? Tonight feels different.

Yeah, the interview might have stirred something up, but so far, no one’s said a word about it. And our page? It’s been blowing up since it went live an hour ago. So I’m counting that as a win.

I smile and reach across to brush my thumb along her jaw just as the door chime rings.

“Good,” I murmur. “Happy looks good on you, love.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Gareth push back from the table, his chair skidding across the floor. His arm bumps into mine.

“Jax.”

The way he says my name freezes me. I know that tone—it means he’s about to tell me something I’m not going to like.

I drag my eyes to him. “Yeah?”

He doesn’t look at me—just nods toward the door, eyes locked on it like a guard dog.

“What’s wro—”

I follow his gaze, and the rest of the sentence dies in my throat. A chill slithers down my spine, coiling tighter with every inch until it settles in the pit of my stomach.

My eyes lock onto my poor excuse for a father before he even notices me. He’s making his way to the bar, and slides onto a stool, facing away from our table, completely oblivious.

I’m not surprised to see him at a bar. What does surprise me is that he doesn’t drive. Doesn’t work. And last I heard, he lived well over an hour away. So why the hell isn’t he wasting air in some crappy upstate town like he’s supposed to be?

Allie’s hand suddenly appears on my cheek. I flinch but don’t look away from the back of his small head.

“Hey,” she says softly. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

Her voice sounds muffled, like whatever’s coursing through my veins is drowning out the world around me.

I place my hand over hers, turning her palm upward and pressing a quick kiss to it. “Nothing.”

She chuckles softly. “Hey, remember what we said about communicating?”

My eyes snap to hers, and I don’t miss the flicker of worry that flashes across her features. Her smile quickly fades as her hand returns to my cheek. She kisses it softly before murmuring, “Okay.”

I’m not sure how long I sit here, zoning out everything around me. My gaze stays fixed on the back of the same balding head for so long, I start to wonder if it’s even really him anymore.

I look away for a second to glance at the table and see everyone has already eaten and is back to chatting away.

Everyone except me and Allie.

I catch her watching me. When our gazes meet, I nod toward her plate. “Eat.”

She shakes her head and shrugs, her eyes turning down. “I’m not hungry.”

“Yes, you are. Eat, please?” I practically beg.

But then, out of the corner of my eye, I catch movement and my body tenses. My eyes lock on him, tracking as he slowly moves toward the door. I almost let out a relieved breath when his hand clamps down on the bloody handle.