Chapter Thirty-Eight
MAVERICK
I’m not sure what you meant by what you said earlier, sweetie. I don’t know what you think of this thing between us, but I need you to know something. I can’t help this but I’m in love with you. Look, I was fine with a one-night stand with Grace. That was fun. Grace was amazing. But then I met Madison. The real you, right? I fell in love. I love everything about you. The good stuff. The bad stuff. The sad stuff. I even love how stubborn you are toward commitment. I just need you to know that. And whatever this thing is with your father, let me handle it. I can take care of this for you. For me. For us.
I promise I’ll…
That’s when I heard the real truth.
Madison turned and looked at me.
Her friends stood behind her, looking down, probably as shocked as I was.
Or maybe they weren’t shocked at all.
Maybe this was just the normal for Madison.
“Mav,” she whispered. “Oh, fuck. Mav…”
I was tired. Sweaty. My body ached.
It had been a physical game.
We barely won the game.
But a win was a win.
I didn’t give a fuck about the win though.
I only cared about the clock ticking to zero so I could get to Madison and talk to her.
I guess that blew up in my face, huh?
“Can we talk now?” I asked.
“No,” Madison said. “I’m not talking to anyone anymore.”
She ran right by me.
So did her two friends.
They didn’t even look at me.
I turned and leaned against the wall and nodded.
I stood there long enough that some of the guys began to look for me.
Remi and Lay found me.
“You okay?” Remi asked.
“Thinking about the game,” I lied.
Remi looked at Lay.
He nodded.
“What’s the nod for?” Lay asked.