Simi ignored her and shot me a smug smile, putting away her war paint. Her cattish gaze skipped past me then widened, settling on Max who walked next to me. Obviously, she’d recognized him. Her gaze swept down his body and up again, lingering on his face. My jaw tightened. Max was mine.
Ray strode off to our table. Denise and Missy cheered me on with raised glasses. They knew the sordid story—heck, all of Millbrae probably did.
“Bitch,” Missy muttered as I sat down.
I drank more of my vodka. The rock music gave way to a slow ballad, andWaiting For a Girl Like Youswept over the dance floor.
“Logan?” Max remained standing. “Dance?”
I desperately wanted to but was so afraid to be in his arms because I knew I would hold on and never want to let him go. Not only was Max hot and sexy, he was caring, too—a dangerous combination for a girl reawaking to life.
“Awesome!” Ray piped out before I could speak. “Make it look all lover-like, Max.” Her hard gaze was still pinned on Simi. “I want that smug look wiped right off her damn face.”
Nothing showed in Max’s expression, but he nodded. “Sure.”
Wanting to get away from my cousin’s rabid stare, I rose. Max put a hand on my lower back and ushered me to the dance floor. He drew me into his arms, his gaze drifting over my face. After my emotional breakdown moments ago, I wondered what he saw. Did he regret getting involved with a girl so clearly messed up?
He caressed my cheek with his knuckles, the gesture so tender, my heart faltered. I rested my head on his chest and tightened my hold on him, the tension from the last half hour easing. His lips brushed my ear. “She confronted you in the bar back in San Francisco, too, the first night we met—same reason?”
“Yes. She likes rubbing it in.”
“You want me to take her on?”
I smiled. Then hastily shook my head, just in case he was serious.
He said, “If she were a guy, I would have beaten the shit out of him for hurting you. You okay?”
I nodded.“Thank you.”
“For?”
“For being here. For being you. For making what could have been a horrid evening much better.”
Enveloped in his warmth, Simi no longer mattered—none of it did. I was in the arms of the only person who mattered besides my family. What that meant to the future of my heart, I wasn’t ready to analyze.
Chapter Ten
Max
Thuds and yells yanked me out of a restless sleep—sleep?If only. The sporadic minutes of shut-eye throughout the night wasn’t sleep, it was my penance, to relive the echoes of my nightmares over and over again.
I sat up, my feet hitting the cold floor, and dropped my head in my hands, trying to rub away the fragmented images stabbing my mind.
The heavy rustle of rain…screams, metal crunching, glass shattering…then, unending blackness…
I squeezed my eyes tight, wishing for a moment of reprieve.
Recently, these fragmented flashes of the accident recurred so often, it left a bleeding hole inside me. Christ! I wished I knew what had happened the night of the crash. The papers had speculated that I’d been drinking. Guilt and pain surged. My belly twisted, and my eyes burned.I’m so sorry, Mom...
Another yell, muffled but distinctly familiar and feminine, filled my ears, yanking me out of my hellhole.
My mind drifted to last night. Being with Logan’s family was a balm to my abraded emotions when it came to family, and certainly an eye-opener. Her parents definitely redefined what I knew of parenting. Acceptance, and patience. Who knew?
Jack’s family was as bad as mine, and War? Hell, he came from a different stratosphere altogether. Orphaned at a young age, he’d grown up with foster families and was at university on a hockey scholarship. A great guy, but with one helluva temper. No surprise that he was benched for two games. Yeah, we were all misfits of society.
I made my way to the bathroom. A few minutes later, I pulled on sweats, a navy tee, and sneakers then wandered outside to the backyard. And came to a standstill at the game taking place on the tarred driveway near the double garage.
I slid my hands into my pockets and watched her. Clad in a tank top and knee-length tights that molded her feminine body, Logan played one-on-one basketball with her father. With her being so much shorter, one would think Mr. L would have had the upper hand—nope, not with my girl. She ducked under his arms and snatched the ball.
