Page 117 of Heartbreak & Cupcakes
“You took her to the gala, so we just thought…” Maddox’s voice trailed off.
“Mia was supposed to be my plus one that night.”
“Have you talked to her since she moved out?” Maddox asked.
I didn’t want to lie to Nick and Maddox, but there was no way I was going to admit I’d shown up at her house, fucked her against her wall, laid in bed with her until she fell asleep, and crept out of her apartment before dawn. I could barely admit to myself I’d done that.
“You owe me a hundo.” Nick held out his hand to Maddox.
“He didn’t say anything,” Maddox pointed at me.
“He doesn’t have to. I told you it wouldn’t work. Pay up.”
“What wouldn’t work?”
Maddox and Nick exchanged a look that I’d seen several times before. It was the one they always shared when they weren’t sure who should break something to me. Whoever blinked first lost and had to be the messenger.
“What wouldn’t work?” I repeated hoping to speed up the staring contest.
Nick broke first, turned to me and blurted out. “We rigged your title.”
“Excuse me?”
Maddox took a deep breath. “We didn’t rig it. We didn’t askBay Lifeto name you San Francisco’s Most Eligible Bachelor, but when we found out that they had and that you were trying to stop it, wemighthave thrown some paper their way so they wouldn’t be swayed by whatever you tried to do to shut it down.”
I could feel my blood pressure rising. “How much?”
“Triple whatever you offered.” Nick winked.
That actually made a lot of sense. I had wondered why it didn’t seem to matter how much money I threw at the publication, they wouldn’t even consider un-naming me.
“We thought that it would force you to get out there and socialize and maybe, hopefully, meet someone.” Maddox tried to paint their actions in a good light. “Then the whole Sadie fire thing happened, and we were sure that her living with you would, no pun intended, light a fire under your ass. But if nothing happened between you two when she was living under your roof for an entire month, then you are even more hopeless than we’d originally thought.”
I took another drink of my soda. I wasn’t about to tell Dumb and Dumber that something had happened.
“Since you’re not going to ask her to the cruise, do you mind if I do?” Maddox asked.
My eyes shot to him. That was a question I’d expect Nick to ask, not Maddox. Maddox was the sensitive one of the group. He was the one who always did and said the right things. Asking to take out Sadie wasnotthe right thing.
“I really enjoyed the night we had pizza and if there’sreallynothing going on between you two, I just figured you wouldn’t mind if I got to know her a little better.”
This wasn’t the same energy he’d had in his kitchen the day I got back from Australia when he was messing with me about going out to eat with Sadie. He looked serious. If this was Nick asking, I would think he was just fucking with me, but Maddox didn’t fuck with me like that.
My chest constricted painfully. I wanted to tell my friend to stay the fuck away from Sadie. But what right did I have to do that? I’d told her that she deserved better, and Maddox was better. He hadn’t had a real relationship since he was in high school, but if he was actually interested in Sadie, I knew that he would treat her right. He would give her everything I couldn’t, everything she deserved.
“Daddy, can we skate now?” Lexi rushed up to me surrounded by at least ten girls.
I was grateful for the interruption. “It’s your birthday. We can do whatever you want.”
The next ten minutes were a flurry of kids and parents lacing up. Lexi sat beside me on a bench and as I double tied her laces the DJ came over the loudspeaker announcing that it was her birthday and the place went up in cheers.
She snuggled against my arm, and I noticed that she seemed a little bit shy from the attention. Thankfully, everyone’s attention moved on as the DJ dropped Bruno Mars “24K Magic” and everyone started skating. Everyone moved onto the rink and Maddox immediately started doing tricks with Hannah like they were competing at the Winter Olympics in pairs figure skating.
“Daddy, fly me in the air!” Lexi held up her arms.
Shit. I wasn’t as good of a skater as Maddox. Thankfully, my friend either noticed Lexi’s arms in the air or heard her request because he set Hannah down and scooped Lexi up.
Nick was skating with Bella, but his eyes kept shooting to the corner where Sadie and Mia were deep in conversation. I knew that his attention was most likely on Mia and trying to figure out what the man at the gym had that he didn’t, but I still felt a little bit of…somethingat the thought that Sadie might be the one grabbing his attention.
I had the unnerving feeling that both of my friends were predators and Sadie was prey they were circling.
What if they are?I heard a voice in the back of my head ask.What are you going to do about it? If you don’t want to be with her, why shouldn’t Maddox and Nick shoot their shots?
I hadn’t heard that voice in a long time. It was the one that I’d always attributed to Ash. I slowed and moved off to the side and stilled.
Why was I hearing that now? Why would her voice say that in my head? Why did she have to make so much sense?
