Chasing His Kickass Luna Back novel Chapter 175

Abby

A sudden jolt of fear seizes me as I lock eyes with the man at the far end of the alley.

“You there!” he repeats, taking another step closer. “What are you—”

“Um… Karl? John?” I call out, mainly out of instinct. If there’s one thing that living in the city over the past few years has taught me, it’s not to trust strange men, especially not in the middle of the night.

“Wait, I—”

The back door slams open before the man can finish, spilling yellow light from the kitchen out into the alley. John and Karl burst outside, alarmed by the commotion.

“What’s going on? Are you okay?” John asks, his eyes widening as he spots the stranger.

Karl, not waiting for an answer, storms toward the man, his face twisted in anger. “Hey, what do you think you’re doing here, bothering a woman in the middle of the night?” he growls, grabbing the man by his tattered jacket and pulling him away from me.

The man doesn’t resist, but he does point a trembling finger at the bowl in my hands. “I just wanted to know if you were gonna throw all that away, that’s all!”

I glance down at the bowl in my hands, feeling my stomach sink just a little bit. He’s just hungry, and saw someone throwing away what looks like perfectly good food. My heart’s still pounding from the sudden scare, but something inside me shifts.

I lift my gaze and look at Karl, who is still clutching the man’s tattered jacket and driving him away.

“Karl, wait!”

Karl hesitates, looking at me questioningly. There’s an incredulous look in his eyes, and for good reason. But I choose to ignore it and instead turn to the homeless man, holding the bowl out slightly.

“Was this what you wanted?” I ask.

“Don’t worry about it,” I say, casting him a gentle smile. “I’m sorry for freaking out.

Without another word, the man nods to me and retreats to sit on a battered cardboard box in the alley. He digs in, mumbling thanks between bites.

We turn to go back inside, but as I’m crossing the threshold, I feel the first few drops of rain hit my skin. It starts as a light drizzle, barely audible against the rooftop, but enough to make me stop and turn back. The man’s still there, huddled in the dark, eating beneath the increasingly heavy rain.

“Come on, Abby, let’s go,” Karl says, a note of irritation in his voice. “He’s fine; you’ve done enough for tonight.”

But I can’t just let it be. I watch as the rain soaks into the man’s already threadbare clothes, and my heart feels like it’s being squeezed in a vise.

“No,” I murmur, my voice barely above a whisper. “He should come inside to eat. It’s just not right, having him out there in the rain.”