“We leave at nine!” I shout after her.
I want to follow, but it’ll look suspicious.
“Thank you for helping,” Madoc tells me. “Sorry I haven’t been around much. How are you doing?”
I glance up, watching her move out of sight. “I’m fine.”
He holds up his racket. “A game?”
“I think I’m gonna run instead.”
I start for the stairs, but he pulls me back. “Come on, we need four.”
And I actually roll my eyes because I still can’t tell this guy no. It’s like I’m scared he’ll cry or something.
Following the three of them into a court, Madoc and I take the back while Jared and Jax take the front. Madoc serves, the ball slamming against the wall and barreling back to us, echoing through the chamber.
“Is she doing okay?” Madoc asks me, grunting as he hits the ball. “Getting home at a decent hour and getting some sleep?”
“She has a lot of energy.” I run for the ball. “Always off somewhere.”
“She pissing you off?” Jax jokes.
We volley, Jared catching it, then Madoc slamming it again.
She’s definitely pissing me off. But in ways I can’t tell them about.
I dive for my shot. “She’s still…the same as she always was.”
I don’t know what to say. Between last night and the car with serious stalker vibes earlier, I can’t think.
“Yeah, the parents did a good job.” Madoc sucks in air. “She’s the best of us. Grew up with everything and took nothing for granted.”
His eyes meet mine before he takes another shot.
“She’ll never risk what’s good in the pursuit of what she thinks might be better,” he tells me.
I pause, my shot going over my head. Madoc makes a face and goes to retrieve the ball.
The grass is greener everywhere you’re not standing,he means.
Quinn knows how lucky she is. That’s a lesson I could’ve used all those years ago when I went looking for friends that Madoc wouldn’t have approved of.
“We don’t want her to be alone forever.” Jax whips his racket. “We just never want her to know how awful people can be.”
I jerk my head left and right, cracking my neck. The people you love the most are the ones who can really hurt you, though. He must know that. She’ll suffer in love as much as anything.
“So, what’s the agenda for tomorrow?” I ask, swatting the ball and needing a change of subject.
Madoc dives, missing his shot. “Parade at ten,” he growls, “barbecue crawl starting at Eagle Point at noon, fireworks at nine.”
“What time do I have to be up?” Jared grumbles.
I clench my fist around the racket.
“Five a.m.,” Madoc replies.
“Fuck.”
