Page 118 of Heartache & Playdates
“Check under Uncle Leo.”
Lina picked up her phone and scrolled through it. Her jaw dropped. “It’s there, he even put a picture of himself.”
Of course he did.
“He did the same thing to me the first night we met.” Except in my phone, he put himself as Leo (GBF).
A text lit up the screen of my phone and I glanced down. When I saw who it was from, my pulse sped. Maddox’s name appeared on the screen.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah. It’s from Maddox. He’s just checking in to see how we’re doing and to let us know that Hannah missed us today.”
“Oh, cool.” She set her phone down and I saw her take a deep breath as her hands flattened on the kitchen table. “Can I ask you something?”
“You can ask me anything.”
She looked down at her bowl. “It might be personal.”
“That’s okay. I’m your bionic mom, remember,” I teased, using the term that Hannah called us. “So nothing is too personal.”
She chuckled. “Right. Okay, so you and Maddox, are you guys…together?”
I dipped my spoon into the rocky road ice cream and shook my head. “No.”
“But, you guys are totally in love, right?”
“Um…well, I can only speak for myself but, yes, I am. I always have been.”
“Well, he is too.”
“I know he loves me, but I think he thinks it would be better if we’re just friends.” I actually knew that. That was what he’d said last night.
Her brow furrowed as her face scrunched up. “Are you kidding me?”
That was a phrase she used a lot, and I still wasn’t sure if it was a rhetorical question or not. But I answered it anyway. “No, he told me that.”
“Well, then he is lying because I saw his face when he thought that Nick was hitting on you and he—”
“Wait,” I interrupted her. “When did he think Nick was hitting on me?”
“At the hospital. When we got there. Nick said that you lookedsoooogood and that he knew your phone was dead because he tried to give you his number, and that he was going to give you a ride home. Maddox practically Hulked out on him.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. And when I asked Maddox about you, he said that he’s only had one girlfriend, you. And that he loved you, not puppy love, but real love. He said it was the realest and only romantic love he’s ever felt.”
“Really?” I repeated again.
“Yeah, why do you think he’s paying for a nurse to be here for Nonna? Obviously, he loves you.”
“He’s paying for the nurse?”
Lina’s brow furrowed. “Yeah, when we left the hospital after baby Tommy was born, he called Samara and told her to find the best in-home care available for you guys. He said he wanted someone ready and waiting on the day she was released. He’s totally like twitterpated, head over heels, you’re the sun to his moon, in love with you.”
“He is?”
“Yeah, I mean, everyone knows it. EvenLizzydoes, too. She calls you Totga.”
