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I shrugged. I wasn’t here for the music. Just a drink. Ashlee being here was a bonus.
“Do I finally get to meet Eva?” I’d seen pictures of her little girl on social media. She was the only one from this hometown whose friend request I’d accepted. Though one in particular I should decline instead of leaving it pending for the past five years.
“Tomorrow, I’ll bring her to lunch.”
“Cool. I brought a gift for her.”
“You already spoil her. She’ll finally be able to see who sends her all those extravagant gifts for every birthday and Christmas.”
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing. You helped me find my footing and move back here after the divorce.”
“I’m still not convinced moving here was the right choice.”
“It was. All our friends and family are here. We have a strong support system.”
“I’m happy for you, then.”
The strum of a guitar caught me off guard, the sound wrenching at my heart the way it sometimes happened whenever I heard the instrument. So many memories wrapped up in just a few guitar strings.
“Are you truly not going to the reunion next week?”
“I didn’t…”
“From the moment I saw you, saw the sparkle in your eyes—”
The soft crooning stopped my words. I looked at the makeshift stage, my heart double-dutching in my chest.
Maddix strummed his guitar, his raspy voice one I could have picked out blindly from just the first note. Especially from the lyrics of this song. I’d been next to him naked when he wrote it.
Held in a trance, I listened to the lie of every word. Back then, I’d taken them to be for me. That he had written the song for me, that it was his way of expressing what he felt without having to talk about it.
I can’t do this.
“Troy, you okay?”
“I have to go.” Despite her saying I didn’t have to pay for the drinks, I slapped some bills on the counter and left her a generous tip.
“Maybe you should talk to him,” she said. “He’s changed, Troy. They’ve changed.”
Well, good for them, but I hadn’t changed the way I felt about Maddix Steiner. He was still the fucking asshole who stomped on my heart a decade ago.
Being out in the cool night air helped. A little. My stomach still quivered, and a godawful pressure clenched my chest. It had been there since he picked me up at the airport.
I hopped into Gladys’s truck and turned on the ignition. Nothing happened.
“Come on.”
It took three tries before the engine roared to life. I shifted the gear into Drive and had to jam on the break. Standing in front of the truck was Maddix.
Oh fuck, I could have hit him.
I wound the window down and stuck my head out. “What the hell are you doing?”
“I need to talk to you.”
I gritted my teeth. “I’ll leave skid marks on your ass, Steiner. Get out of the fucking way.”
