When I look at Mason, he’s as taken aback as I am. “Wow.” It’s all he can say.
I glance over at Lennon who’s just as teary-eyed as I am. “Our sister is a badass,” she says proudly.
Liam’s mouth is hanging wide open, and I lean over and place my finger under his chin to shut it.
“Speechless?” I tease. “Maddie’s really going to like that.”
We wait for about ten minutes, and as if she was summoned, she comes from behind us wearing a huge smile on her face. “You liked it?”
I go to her and pull her into my arms. “I loved it, and I love you. You were amazing.” She’s worked so hard for this and deserves all the praise she’s receiving.
She rolls her eyes. “You’re just saying that because you have to.”
“I don’t have to,” Mason says, giving her a friendly side hug. “You were incredible, Mads. Like, for real.”
Lennon barrels her way through with her baby bump and pulls Maddie into a big hug. I’m still wiping away tears, but I’m smiling the whole time. While Hunter is giving her all the compliments, she looks at Liam and puts her hand on her hip.
“Well, Hulk?” She smirks, giving his tie a hard tug. “What’d you think?”
I wondered how long that’d take. Apparently only a couple of minutes.
Liam places his hand on her shoulder, and I think I see Maddie melt into a puddle right in front of us. “You were phenomenal.” He shakes his head. “I really have no words.”
A blush hits her cheeks, and Mason wraps his arm around my body. I lean into him, welcoming his touch as I watch Liam compliment Maddie. She’s eating it up, and it makes me happy to know everyone now has seen what Lennon and I know.
“Thank you,” I tell Mason, squeezing him.
“For what?” he asks with a side smile.
“For always being there for me.” It was like watching that performance made something click deep inside my soul, and I’m still trying to process it all. To find a love so great and then for death to rip it away in the blink of an eye feels a little too close to home, a little like reality.
Fans eventually bombard Maddie, so we give her space. We wait for her to make her way back to us.
“So I get a drink to celebrate tonight?” She perks up even though she already knows the answer.
“No, but I did plan on kicking your ass at darts tonight. Gotta knock you down a few pegs,” Liam jokes with her, but I notice the way his eyes soften as he speaks. Maybe Maddie finally kicked through his wall with her ballet shoes. I laugh to myself, and Mason notices.
“I don’t even want to know what you’re thinking.” He smirks.
“You don’t,” I admit as we walk out to Mason’s truck.
Maddie and Liam sit in the back seat, and Maddie continues to talk shit about how she’s going to kick everyone’s ass at darts and how she deserves a drink because she’s worked so hard.
“Oh whatever,” I interrupt her spiel. “You made it look so freaking easy. Like you were making soup.”
“It’s because I’m so flexible,” she says with a chuckle, and I glance over my shoulder and roll my eyes at her. I know she said that just for Liam.
We pull up to the Coliseum, and Hunter and Lennon are waiting for us at the front. Maddie is on cloud nine, fluttering around, and I know it’s because Liam is finally giving her more than five seconds of attention. Mason and I walk behind them, giving them distance, and I turn and look at him.
“Do you see what I see?” He gives me a wink, nodding at Liam and Maddie.
I nod, and a grin nearly fills my face. “He’s in trouble now. Give her an inch, and she’ll take ten miles.”
Mason chuckles and agrees. “You’re right. Though I have a feeling he’ll always think she’s too young for him.”
“Well, if we’re talking maturity years here, then they’re basically on the same level.” I snort at my own joke.
“Eh, more like he’d be too young for her then. He wouldn’t even have his driver’s license,” Mason mocks, then opens the door for me.
We sit at the table, then order drinks and food. After the guys have their beers, we all bombard Maddie. With a performance like that, it’s almost impossible not to. Of course, she’s so modest about her craft, and she blows it off like it’s no big deal. Maddie won’t always take the compliments about her dancing, but she’s polite and appeases us.
As she continues on about the underlying theme of the dance, Liam listens intently to her every word with bated breath, and it causes me to grin. After we get our food and eat, we decide to go over to the game room area and play darts. We gave Maddie the choice since it’s her night.