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“That was ten years ago. I wasn’t lying when I said I got over it.”
I jumped to my feet and ran after Maddix, but he’d already left the room. I went to the closest bathroom, shoved the door open, and came face-to-face with Evan Chambers.
“Just the man I was hoping to see,” he said.
I stepped back. “What do you want?”
“I’ve been meaning to come to see you, man. To apologize.”
“Apologize?”
“Yeah.” He scratched the back of his neck. “You know, for being a good-for-nothing prick who used to make your life a living hell.”
“Oh.” Was he serious? “Did Maddie put you up to this?”
“Maddie?”
“Maddix?”
“You call him Maddie?”
“Did he?”
“No. I’m a better person than the asshole I used to be. Figured I should apologize. So we cool?”
Bewildered, I nodded but only some of what he said penetrated. I had to find Maddix. “Uh, yeah?”
“My man!” He pulled me into a rough embrace, slapping my back twice, then releasing me. “You looking for Maddix? He ain’t in there.”
“Where is he?”
“The bleachers.”
13
MADDIX
Maddix
“Fuck!” I kicked at the grass and paced the length of the bleachers. My chest was tight with inadequacy and humiliation. So what if I had never been outside of Minnesota? It wasn’t that I couldn’t. I just never had a reason to leave. But that asshole Kevin made it seem like I was no match for Troy, like he was out of my league or something.
But isn’t he true? Even Troy thinks so, or he would stay.
Kevin saying it wasn’t the worst thing, though. Nope, that was me believing his words. Hearing them out loud made them impossible to ignore.
“Maddix.” I stiffened, refusing to turn around. “Why’d you leave?”
“I’m not in the mood to talk.”
“Let’s sit, then. I swear the sky here is more beautiful than in Atlanta. It’s never this clear.”
“Then why don’t you fucking stay?” I snapped.
“I already told you why. My job’s there. My life’s there.”
His life was there. That meant he didn’t consider me a part of his life, and that sucked. Fuck me. I’d thought he was coming around since we’d spent the last four days together. Had our sex meant nothing to him?
No wonder he’d made that remark about me pursuing a career in music. Why would he want to date a mechanic?
