Page 28 of Masked Instincts

“Who is that?” Noah stops to ask.

I let out a sigh. “I don’t know. Hold on,” I scramble to my feet and grab my purple robe off the doorknob. My feet pit pat softly as I make my way towards the door.

And when I open it, the person staring back at me doesn't feel real.

seventeen

JAX

Fifteen months seemed equivalent to a lifetime. I got tired of being baggage on Mama’s adventures, so here we are. I asked her for money so I could build a house. And I did. On the outskirts of town in the middle of the woods.

She had one condition: If I wanted her help, she had to decorate. As all of our conversations led to, this caused a small disagreement, but she won.

Another argument she won was never sending that letter I wrote. I wanted to time and time again. I didn’t want Luna to think I had left and forgotten about her because I didn’t.

I’d fall asleep and wake up thinking about her lips against mine, looking into those warm eyes. The fire they held when I told her I was leaving. Everything that happened between us, even if it didn’t amount to much, never left my mind. I wondered daily if she thought of me, too.

And now, here I stand in her doorway, staring at her in her lavender robe, and it feels like she hasn’t thought of me at all. Her hair is shorter but still long. It’s messy, almost like it was when I left her in this exact spot over a year ago.

“Jax,” she whispers, and all I can hear is the pain in her voice.

“Babe! Who is it?” A man. A fucking man. Did he just call her babe?

“Luna. Do not tell me there is a man in your apartment,” I grind out.

“Then I won’t tell you,” she says. The guy I heard comes around the door with a towel around his waist. He looks like a fucking douchebag with his slicked-back hair and lion tattoo on his chest.

“Sorry, man. We don’t want to buy anything,” he says, assuming I’m selling something. Do I fucking look like I’m selling anything? My hands are literally empty. I didn’t ask her to wait for me. I didn’t tell her to. I had no idea when I would be back or if I would be at all, but seeing she’s found someone is the same as shooting me in the chest.

I think a gun shot would hurt less than this.

“I’m not selling shit,” I seethe. His eyebrow raises because now he’s confused.

Something inside of me shifts. All of this longing and missing Luna boils over and turns into anger, burning my skin until I’m on fire. I push past her and grab onto this guy by his neck. He tries to fight back, but my fingers grip too tightly.

My fist reels back, and I cast it forward like a fishing pole, adrenaline coursing through my veins. I grip tighter around his neck, his towel falling off of his body with the struggle. I can’t help but look down and laugh. I’m sure whatever he does with his package doesn’t amount to the pleasure I can give Luna, that I have given her.

“Jax, please,” she says, but I can hardly hear her through the rage. My fist flies back and forward over and over until he’s on the floor, gasping for air and bleeding from his mouth and nose.

My whole body shakes when I step back to look at Luna, my gaze catching on the hardwood floor. Blood dripping into the cracks. Luna doesn’t look frightened or angry at all. She knows my true colors. She knows who I am on the inside.

“Was that necessary?” She asks me. “Get up, Noah,” she says as she walks over to help him. Luna passes him the towel to cover his dick, which is no longer hard. He’s disappointing in size, if I’m being honest.

Something has changed inside of Luna. She would be foaming at the mouth if I did this before I left. I threatened her friend once, and she wanted to hit me upside the head for it. But I beat this man to almost a pulp, and she’s barely batting an eye. What happened?

Once she covers Noah, her eyes turn back to me, but there’s a smile on her face for just a moment. Gone as quick as it came. She shoves me, and it puts me in the place where I was the last time I was here. Her little hands push and push at my chest until she’s sobbing in front of me. I let her go for as long as she needs.

“Damn you, Jax!” She screams out between pushes, letting all of the hurt that’s undoubtedly been bottling up, out. “I’ve been going up the walls since you’ve left. I’ve been worried sick!”

“I know, baby,” I whisper. Finally, I grab her hands to make her stop hitting me. The sobs shake her body aggressively, and we both seem to forget that Noah is even here until he manages to rise to his feet.

“Have you been cheating on me?” Noah snaps.

“No!” Luna cries.

"Yes," I growl at the same time.

“Who the fuck is he, and why did I just get beat for being here?” He barks out.