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“That annoyed with me?”
Madison turns her head slightly but doesn’t look at me. “No. She really likes you. She thinks she could have real feelings for you.”
“Ah.”
“At least until she saw us in the back hall at West Field.”
“Fuck… I’m sorry.” I regret Fiona seeing it but not doing it. She was a sweet person. I hope she finds the right guy, but my heart’s been tattooed with someone else’s name for nearly a decade.
“We can’t keep doing those things. It’s not fair to A.J.”
“Because you’re in love with him?” She doesn’t answer me, just wipes her hands on the hand towel and walks across the room. “If you tell me you’re in love with him, I’ll leave you alone. If he’s who you want, I’ll stay out of the way. But I want you to say it to me—look me in the eye and tell me that you’re in love with him, and you don’t have any feelings for me.”
I see the tense way her shoulders pull together and the way her jaw tightens just that little bit.
“Quentin, it’s late, and it’s been a good day. I don’t think we should discuss this right now.”
“I need to discuss it right now.” I cross the distance betweenus, and she turns just as I get close, taking a step back to give herself space from me, and I stop where I stand.
“There’s nothing to discuss. I’m with A.J. That’s the beginning and the end of the discussion. I like you, I’m glad we’re talking again. I’m happy to help you with all of this—that’s as surprising to me as it is to you probably. I think maybe we could be friends at the end of all of this. But that’s all.”
“That’s all?” I shake my head. “Which is why you kissed me like you’re fucking starved for it and why it’s me you think of when you get off instead of him. Right?”
She sighs and shakes her head. “I’m attracted to you, and admittedly I’ve let that attraction go too far lately. It’s unprofessional, and I’m sorry for that. I feel awful about Fiona. I think if you apologized to her, explained that we got confused for a moment—there might be a real chance for things between you two.”
I shake my head. “Like there’s a real chance for you and A.J.?”
She doesn’t answer. Instead, she starts to move like she’s preparing to head for the door.
“Because I’ve been thinking about it. Not just the way you are with me. How you talk about him. How you look when you say his name. I know what you look like when you’re in love, and that’s not it. I don’t know why you’re with him. But I don’t think it’s because you’re in love with him. Are you?”
She stops and stares out the windows of my loft before she finally answers. “No.”
“So tell him.”
“He knows.”
“He knows and doesn’t care?”
“He’s in love with his ex-wife.” She sighs before she turns and looks at me.
“What the fuck, Madison? Why would you—” I start butshe cuts me short with a look that tells me I need to listen and not talk.
“I’m trusting you by telling you this. If you say a word…” She shakes her head, but we exchange a meaningful look, and she continues, “I didn’t want my father to railroad him after the rumors about him coming here started, and you know my father abhors drama. So we’ve been pretending to be together. Explained that he was only considering coming here because I was. Plus, my father knows what it would look like if he made firing an exceedingly good athlete a personal vendetta. Something your uncle hasn’t learned yet apparently with the way he keeps threatening Easton.” Her eyes flash with anger, but all I feel is relief.
“I won’t let anything happen to Easton. It’s a battle of wills, and my uncle just wants him to fall in line. They’re making progress.”
“He doesn’t deserve to be a pawn between them. He’s been through enough.”
I nod my understanding. I don’t know what all has gone down in that family, but I know when it comes to some things, our families aren’t all that different.
“But you and A.J.? There’s nothing there? It’s all fake?”
“We’re good friends from college. I love him, but not like that.”
“Why not tell me before now?”
“Because I thought it would make this easier.” She looks at me, something in her eyes I can’t quite read.
