“Back off,” he snaps, voice louder now, hoping someone’s going to step in and de-escalate. “This is between me and her.”
I don’t step back. I let the silence stretch instead, let the weight of my stillness make the message clear.
Lila is behind me now, and she hasn’t said a word. I can feel the way she’s braced, ready to pull me away or shut this down, but I’m not looking at her yet. All of me is focused on the man in front of me—the one who thought he could touch her without consequence.
I lower my voice. “Touch her again, and you’ll lose the hand.”
He barks a laugh. “Big talk. Who the fuck even are you?”
Every part of me stills. “You’re better off not finding out.”
His eyes narrow. “Back off,” he snaps. “This is between me and her.”
“No,” I say. “It’s not.”
He sneers. “What, you her boyfriend?”
I glance at Lila. She looks shaken, angry, and caught between wanting me here and wanting this to disappear. I make the decision for both of us.
“I’m the person telling you to leave,” I say. “Right now.”
He laughs once and manages to sound just like a wet crow. “You don’t get to?—”
He lunges and I sidestep, plant a hand on his shoulder, and shove him back into the counter hard enough to rattle the condiment rack. Someone shouts. Someone else swears. The owner yells about calling the cops.
Lila grabs my arm. “Ethan, stop.”
I stop. Immediately.
That’s the part that surprises her.
I step back, hands up, eyes never leaving the guy as he straightens and thinks better of trying again. He points at me, then at her.
“This isn’t over,” he says to her, voice low.
I step between them without touching him. “It is.”
He hesitates, reads the room, and backs toward the door, muttering. When he’s gone, the noise rushes back in all at once.
Lila turns on me. “What are you doing?”
“Protecting you,” I say.
“I didn’t ask you to.”
“You shouldn’t have to.”
Her jaw tightens. “You followed me.”
“Yes.”
“That’s not okay.”
She’s right, and the fact doesn’t feel good in my mouth. “I wanted to talk. You left.”
“That doesn’t give you the right to track me down and start a scene.”
I lower my voice. “He grabbed you.”