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“You big ol’ softy,”Max accused in a hushed voice and smiled. “I think there is a mushy heart under all that nasty temperament. Do you know how many laps I’ve had to run in the past?”
“You still can,” Logan chuckled, clapping him on the shoulder. “But you're gonna need a prosthesis for it.”
“True.”
“Go see your wife, get out of here, and smooth over whatever is ruffling her feathers, Collins. You two look good together.”
“Thank you, sir… for everything.”
“We take care of our own – never forget that, and don’t be a stranger. You can email or call anytime.”
“Will do.”
13
DAPHNE
Daphne was hanging on to her temper by a thread. If she saw Max whispering to Christina one more time, she was going to make a scene or find a way to limp her truck to the next town regardless. You don’t act like you care, treat someone like you mean the world to them, and then flirt with another woman. It’s just not done, she thought wildly, reaching for her glass of water and hating the way her hand shook.
She thought about getting up and leaving, but they were about to bring out some sort of wedding cake and by heavens, she wasn’t about to pass it up. When she got her period, she wasn’t joking about the ice cream pints quivering in fear three counties over. She could put away the dairy like nobody’s business –and if it was bad enough– she’d cry the entire time.
Hormones were a plague.Just like loving someone if they weren’t serious, she thought and nearly choked in comprehension of what just hit her. ShelovedMax. That was her husband, her partner, and everything he’d said or done had been perfect for her and…
Pausing mid-thought, she saw Max entering the room with a duffel bag strapped to his shoulders that looked almost too big for his body … just as Jill was walking in from the kitchen with a massive cheesecake.
If he looks at Chris…she thought angrily and met Max’s eyes.
“Gideon,” Max blurted out flatly. “Go sit by your own wife. Get away from mine, buddy.”
Daphne’s mouth dropped open slightly as she let out her breath in awareness. Max shrugged his bag off and put it on the floor behind her chair before sitting down next to her. He didn’t even look toward Chris or Gideon, only having eyes for her.
“Hey,” he began simply and felt him touch her hand, lacing his fingers with hers below the table as he leaned close to her. “Chris is playing games with Gideon, and that’s not my thing, especially not when it could jeopardize a relationship that means everything to me.”
She turned slightly to look at him where he was paused beside her, having whispered the sweetest words.
“Give me a smile,” he murmured softly, his eyes holding hers. “I’m a complete idiot sometimes, and it might take me a while to figure out what’s wrong, but I promise I won’t ever stop trying.”
A soft nervous laugh escaped her as tears stung her eyes. She leaned toward him and pressed her forehead against his, just needing to be close.
“It’s nothing,” she whispered and heard the happy couple cutting the cake together in the background.
“It’s not ‘nothing’ if it diminishes the light in your eyes when you look at me,” he said tenderly, touching her cheek. “Your joy brings me happiness, and when you are upset, I can’t think.”
“Max…”
And she saw him hesitate, rising quickly to his feet.
“Ortega,” he snapped at the same time that Logan, Houghton, and even Gideon were all standing up. “Don’t smash the cake – just put it down!”
“What?” Daphne chuckled nervously, completely taken aback by the change in him as he sat back down.
“He was threatening to smash it in her face and…”
“I just don’t get him and Lena,” she admitted, looking at Max.
“It’s not for us to understand, because people would look at us and wonder‘Why is this gorgeous woman stuck with him?’. See, I married ‘up’ but you didn’t… and I’m sorry about that,” he said simply, half-heartedly trying to joke with her to make her smile, and she knew it – only to have Max lean toward her again. “Would you mind if we got a piece of cake and took it home? I want to unpack a few things and be alone with you so that we can talk.”
“I’d love that.”
