As he spoke, he patted Eli on the shoulder.
"Come on. Let's go teach him a lesson today."
The first slap landed with a little too much force. Eli's body rocked from the impact, and he nearly stumbled sideways.
Fortunately, his friend seemed to realize it and controlled his strength on the second pat.
The two of them worked surprisingly well together. One kept a cold, unreadable expression while the other continued throwing out sharp remarks, and somehow, neither of them looked embarrassed by the exchange.
After finally putting some distance between herself and the people who had been surrounding her, Mara gave Elias a sincere look of gratitude.
If not for him stepping in, she had no idea how long the argument with those people would have continued.
