Page 106 of Ravaged For You

I don’t know where we both stand. We’ve not really talked about what we’ve been doing. This whole next level of the relationship. It feels like something that once we talk about it, then it’ll make it all real. Right now, it’s like we’re living in a dream.

A dream where I’m not a famous rockstar and she’s a girl hired to do a publicity stunt.

A dream where we live in a world where maybe we could be boyfriend-girlfriend.

But we both know this is going to end. Soon.

“Yeah, it has,” I reply, trying to keep neutral. No need to divulge any emotion.

“Like a tornado.”

“Exactly.”

“I’ve seen so much,” she says quietly. “So much of the world. It’ll be weird going home. It’ll be weird trying to tell Mom about all this.”

“Have you two spoken?” I ask.

Maddie shakes her head sorrowfully. “Nope.”

“Has she said anything at all to you since that lunch?”

“No,” Maddie replies. “We obviously have a rather… delicate relationship, my mother and me. The divorce between her and Dad was not good.”

“Did it have a big impact on you? Even though you were only a kid?”

“I remember bits of it very clearly,” she says. “I remember Mom telling me that all men are bad and that is why you should never trust a man, nor his attempts to woo you. They just want to get into your bed, remember that. She liked to also tell me that we all live in sin and deserve the pain in our lives. Yeah, the relationship has always been kinda delicate between her and me.”

“It seems like your mom’s attitudes have changed little since then,” I remark.

“No. Mom is stuck in the nineties. The divorce drove her to fundamentalism, and that’s where I lost her. To have religion or not is a personal thing, and I don’t want to judge her for that, but it’s when it becomes a barrier between us that things get difficult. But, hey, she’s the only mother I’ve got, so I can’t really cut her off. I just want her to be happy. I just want us to have a good relationship. It’s hard, though, as you’ve seen.”

I let her words sink in. “You’re a good daughter, Maddie.” I’m totally sincere.

I see a small tear glisten in her eyes. She quickly diverts her face away from mine.

“Thanks.”

We round the corner and enter a park that has an amazing view of Lake Michigan. We simply stop and admire the water. The city behind us sparkles in the night. We’re alone here.

It feels like a moment to say something.

“Thank you, Maddie, for coming along on this tour. Everything is better because of you being here.”

Maddie takes in a sharp breath. “Thank you too, Axel. I’m glad to be on tour with you, too.”

“Good.”

“I’ve had the time of my life doing this.”

I laugh, breaking the tension. “We didn’t get along at first, didn’t we?”

“That’s certainly true,” Maddie replies. “But you’ve grown on me.”

“Oh, have I?”

“The whole emo playboy rockstar seems to have a soft side underneath.”

I snort. “Never.”