Page 33 of Maggie’s Match

“Want to go for a ride later?” he asked her.

She nodded, without looking up. “Yes, please.”

He shifted to his bag and pulled out some clean clothes then dressed quickly. Maggie had seen him naked plenty of times in the past so dressing in front of her was nothing new.

What was new was the way she looked at him when he was finished.

“Did you really tell me last night that you loved me?” she asked, her eyes finally locking with his.

He moved over to her and knelt in front of her.

“Shitty timing?” he said, taking her hands in his. Only then did he notice how banged up his knuckles were. Most likely from pounding the shit out of Royce.

“Possibly the worst,” she confirmed.

“Then, no, I didn’t,” he said with a half-smile.

She shook her head. “You can’t take something like that back.”

“Okay,” he said slowly, thinking. “Then I pause the conversation until a later date. One more… romantic. More perfect.”

She blinked a few times and finally nodded. “Okay.”

“Hungry?” he asked, feeling his own stomach growl.

She nodded and then stood up, right into his waiting arms.

“I’ll think about it later, how close I came to losing you,” he said into her hair. He’d seen the bruises around her neck, had seen Royce cutting off her air. Knew that the man wouldn’t have stopped anytime soon. Not until he’d taken everything from him.

“Later,” she agreed with a sniffle, “I’ll think about almost losing you too.”

When they stepped out, he was surprised to see only his parents, Maggie’s parents, and her uncle and aunt and cousins sitting at the table waiting for them.

“Sweetie,” Savanah said, rushing over to hug Maggie. “How are you feeling this morning?”

“Okay,” she answered while he walked over and received a firm handshake from her dad, Billy Jackson.

“There are no words that we can say to thank you for what you did,” Maggie’s father said softly.

“No thanks are needed,” Rick said, holding out a chair for Maggie to sit next to him.

He poured them each a glass of juice and then filled his own plate of food while she did the same.

After a moment of silence, Billy said, “Honey, you don’t have to talk, but we’d like some clue as to what happened.” He took Maggie’s hand in his own.

“I can’t remember much after Rick walked outside to take the phone call from Grant,” Maggie started. “After that, I…” She shook her head. “Everything went fuzzy. Like the time I got my wisdom teeth pulled. I remember bits and pieces. Being pulled outside by Royce. Him…”—she took a deep breath—“kissing me and touching me. Then I was on the ground, looking over and watching Rick and Royce fight. I have flashes of when I was in the ambulance with Rick hovering over me. Then in the hospital room.”

Everyone turned to him then.

“When I went back inside after hanging up with you all”—he nodded to his parents—“Maggie wasn’t at the table where I’d left her and Royce. Becca was on the dance floor with Colton.”

“That lying son of a…” Becca dropped off. “He knew Royce was a Tillerson,” she said between clenched teeth. “I don’t know how many times I’d hinted at having problems with that family.” Becca shook her head.

“Maybe he thought you already knew. He did mention that he thought everyone knew,” Rick pointed out.

Becca’s eyes narrowed. “Obviously not everyone.”

“After that, we went looking for her. Becca went to the bathroom, I headed outside. I spotted Royce’s truck, but since it was still there and empty, I decided to head back inside. I heard a noise as I was about to go back in, then turned the corner and…” He closed his eyes as a wave of anger rushed through him when he thought about what he’d seen. How the man had been attacking Maggie. Holding her up, choking her while she’d been passed out.