“They could have,” Cate agreed. “And it might’ve saved everyone a lot of frustration, but they didn’t.”
“Madi, your father always drives when we’re together. Recently, he’s wanted to drive me everywhere because he’s still haunted by what happened.”
So was I. So were we all.
“I draw the line at him taking me to and from work, but if it helps ease his stress by driving me to the grocery store, then I’m willing to let him do it.”
Damn, she’s good. She’d just put down an entire lesson in one sentence, without sounding like she was scolding me.
“Alright, I get it.”
“Your father and brothers don’t think you’re incapable, Madi; they’re scared and being obnoxiously overprotective is their love language,” Meg added. Her half-joke was exactly what we needed to break the tension. “Now, I’d like to go home and see my daughter, so if you don’t object to calling Jay…”
“I’ll text him,” I said. “And politely ask him to escort us home.”
“Thank you.”
Everyone agreed the night was over, so we packed up and said our goodbyes while we waited for the guys.
“Madi, I know it’s hard to understand, but they’ve been through a lot.” I didn’t need my mom to clarify who they were. “You haven’t been here for most of it so you didn’t watch them fall apart when they felt helpless to protect their wives, but I was. Cut them some slack.”
I’m a bitch.
Nodding, I said, “I think I can do that.”
“Good, because I seem to recall a certain nurse practitioner being overly protective when her parents got home from the hospital.”
Busted. “I guess it runs in the family.”
“There are worse traits.”
Chapter 8
Matt
Nathan: Stop avoiding your bosses and come to game night.
Playing video games at Nathan’s was the last thing I wanted to do. Jay’s energy was barely professional at work, so I expected the gloves to come off after hours, and I wanted to avoid getting into an actual fight until the heat of my one-night stand with his sister cooled off.
No can do. Maybe next time.
A few seconds later, Nathan typed back one word.
Coward.
I prefer to think of myself as a self-preservationist.
LOL
Our first training session of the year was on Monday, and I didn’t need to risk adding to Jay’s dislike of me. The last time we’d faced off in the ring, we’d been equally matched.
That was before he found out I fucked his sister.
In Jay’s eyes, his older sister was perfect and innocent, and he wasn’t ready to let her step down from the pedestal he’d put her on.
Madi wasn’t perfect, nor was she innocent.
She was human.
