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“You need a ride or something?” I asked her, wanting to leave before Davis came out and started Devon off all over again.
“No, I drove here. I’m sorry, Madd. I didn’t… I’m just sorry for everything you’ve gone through. Both of you.” She looked past me, giving Devon a small smile.
“Sorry for all the shit we put you through,” Devon laughed, finally calmer. “We were assholes.”
Julie laughed, agreeing with that. “Anyway. It was nice to see you guys. Maybe we can get together sometime.”
Yeah, probably not, but I nodded like I gave a fuck. We watched her climb into her car, noticing a guy sitting in the passenger seat. At least she found someone better than us. When she drove away, I slammed the door in Devon’s face and climbed in the other side.
I turned the key. The truck didn’t start. “You’re such a dipshit, Devon. You know what would have happened if you hit him or something?” I turned the key again. It rumbled but didn’t start.
He groaned out a sigh. “I know. Fuck. I know. That guy just…”
“Yeah, no shit.” I turned the key again, and the truck finally started. “But we gotta expect that shit. He’s gonna try to get us caught in something, and we can’t react to it. Beating the shit out of a cop in a grocery store after he already claimed he had to shoot me in self-defence… how do you think that’s gonna go over?”
“I fucking get it, okay? Stop treating me like I’m stupid.”
“A little stupid,” I muttered.
“Well, fuck! How would you react if you had to face the guy who almost…” His anger switched to grief. “I almost lost you because of him, Maddox.”
I pulled out of the parking lot and gripped his hand in the middle of our seats. “I know. So let’s not mess it up now.”
“Hanes better bring that fucker down,” he grumbled at the window, linking his fingers with mine.
Devon needed something good to happen.
It was time.
“Calmdown,Madd,”Xaviscoffed at me like I was being ridiculous. He held his hand out for the rings and didn’t drop it. “You’ll fuck this whole thing up if you don’t relax.”
I’d grown attached to these lame rings, and I didn’t want to hand them over to my brother. I also knew he was right, and I needed to let them go. Devon was already getting suspicious, and if I didn’t get them out of the house, that snoopy bastard would find them and ruin the surprise. Then we’d fight about it until one of us was bloody and still bleeding, either tapped out or knocked out. Then we’d probably fuck. But still, I didn’t want him to see this coming.
“Are your hands clean?” I glared at his dirty paws, pulling my hand back.
“Jesus Christ, Madd. My hands are cleaner than yours, you fussy bitch.” He snatched the newly polished rings from my hand and shoved them back into the box. “I’ll guard them with my life.” He shoved the box in his pocket and then held his hands up in case a punch was coming.
He’d better.
“You have a plan yet?” Xavi asked, offering me a beer.
I took it, stressed as shit, and free to drink it without Devon here. “Sort of,” I admitted. “But knowing Devon, he’ll fuck it up for me.”
I’d thought of a thousand different ways to propose to Devon.
I could lock him in the cabin at the gravel pits and recreate our first night there. We faced so much shit there that night, and it seemed like a good place to face the rest of it together. I could have done it at the track, making it into a metaphor about always competing and now being on the same side. But being at the track without dirt bikes was fucking bummy, so I nixed that plan. I considered doing it at the beach where we spent a lot of time talking, fighting, sorting through our problems, and finding all our best resolutions. It fit the theme, so a part of my plan was going to happen there.
But when I thought back on everything that made us who we were, there was only one viable option that checked all the boxes.
Aggressive. Fucked up. Angry. Competitive. A rivalry.
I grinned, knowing exactly when and where I planned to propose. I just had to keep Devon’s nose out of it until then.
“I’m gonna need them back on Saturday,” I told Xavi.
“Saturday? What’s on Sat… oh, fuck.” He barked a laugh. “Seriously? You’re so fucked up, Madd.”
We might not want to live in Garron Park anymore, but there was still one great thing about that place, and it’d fit perfectly into my proposal plan.
