I wanted that guy to be you.
That’s what I wanted to say, but I also wanted him to be sober when I said them.
“I could pick you up in the morning, give you a ride to your truck.”
“Already called Rhett.” Disappointment filled me. “My head is already pounding, Mad. I think I need to just close my eyes and sleep.”
“Okay.” My voice cracked, and I bit at the inside of my cheek.
“Don’t worry about me,” he slurred. “I’m good.”
I was glad one of us was, because I was falling apart at the seams, or so it felt.
“Good night, Maddison.” I could almost imagine him laying on his back on the hotel bed, his eyes beginning to close with the phone held loosely at his ear.
“Good night, Mikey.” How had things gotten so messed up? “If you change your mind, call me.” When he didn’t respond, I knew he’d fallen asleep.
I ended the call and lowered my phone as I stared down at the goofy picture I had programmed as his profile picture. He had his ball cap on backwards, his tongue sticking out to the side in a silly grin while holding both hands up, giving me a double thumbs up. Seeing him like that, fun loving and carefree, made my heart ache so terribly. I wanted that version of him back, the one before all this stuff started happening between us. I missed that guy, so much.
Chapter Twenty-One
Mike
“You didn’t have to drag AJ and Blake out of the house this early in the morning.” I stood beside AJ’s car and looked in through the back window at a sleeping baby. “She’s probably pissed off.”
“She’s not pissed.” There was something in his voice that made me think otherwise. “We’re just all wondering when the two of you are gonna get your shit straight.”
“It’s straight,” I said with conviction, though I knew that it was a lie. “I needed to cut loose, I did, and now I get back to my life.”
“And where does Maddison fit in that so-called life?”
“Exactly where she has always been. She’s family.” I shrugged, and when he looked at me with a penetrating stare, I looked away and focused on Blake still sleeping in his car seat.
Rhett didn’t say anything, and the silence got the best of me. Lifting my head, I looked back in his direction to see him shake his head, clearly aggravated. “What?”
“Okay, fine, AJ is pissed.” I knew it. “Frankly, so am I. You and Maddison have had this attraction going on between you for weeks now, a game of back and forth, and in the process, you two managed to pull Raven in the mix.”
“I’m pretty sure Raven put herself in the middle of it.”
“Well, she had no fucking idea that the two of you had this shit going on because neither of you told her. You were too busy lying to yourselves, ignoring what I tried telling you was there over and over.”
“I owe Raven an apology.” I knew I should have told her from the beginning I wasn’t interested even before the shit started to unfold with Mad. I knew going in that it wouldn’t amount to anything. In my mind, though, I let myself believe that Raven could be a distraction, which was wrong.
“AJ is more pissed about your running off and getting drunk instead of being the Mike we all know and love.” Excuse me? “Apparently, Maddison had already confessed to Raven that she’d felt something for you. And then after you ran off and left us all wondering what the fuck had taken place, Mad confessed it to half the women in our family, too.”
“She what?” Now he had my full attention.
“Gran led her inside when she found her sitting at the picnic table crying after you drove off.” The idea of Maddison crying because of me pissed me off. “One by one, our moms followed behind. I guess AJ just caught the end of all that took place, but from what she said, Mad told them everything, from the beginning up until you drove off.”
I wasn’t sure what to say.
“When I say everything, I do mean everything. Including the hot little scene that took place in the bathroom.” My heart sank. “So again, I’m gonna ask you, where does Maddison fit into this so-called life you’re ready to get back to?”
My mind was racing while still trying to absorb all the information Rhett had just given me. Maddison told them…about us…on her own.
“I need to get home.”
“AJ’s gonna drop us both off at your truck.”
“I can drive.” I reached out for the handle on the car.
“You smell like beer. I think you wore more than you drank. That’s already gonna piss off AJ, considering you’re sitting next to our son. No way I’m letting your ass drive back to Brooklet and take the chance of getting pulled over in the process.”
I wanted to challenge him, but standing here arguing with him meant wasting time, and I didn’t have any to waste. “Then your ass better drive faster than you do on a normal day, because my patience is real thin right about now.”
Rhett seemed pleased with my change in attitude while he walked around the front end of the car toward the driver’s side, chuckling the entire way.
***
Mike: Where are you?
I’d called Maddison three times and gotten no answer. After sending her a text, I held my phone in my hand, staring at it, willing her to respond.
I had ended up in McRae, Georgia, which was just shy of two hours outside of Brooklet. When I’d left Gran’s, I had no idea where I was going; I just needed to get away.
“Why
