She finally chokes out, “I’m not… I’m not mad at you.” The words bring me no relief. It’s so hard to see her like this.
“What is it then?”
Tears streak down her cheeks with more vigor, and she brushes them away, smearing her mascara. “Beck and Marissa…”
I already know where this is going, and Ihateit for her.
“Theyslepttogether! She just told me in his office,” she explodes, throwing her hands up in the air and bumping into my arm. “Ofallthe people in this company, Beck slept withher.She’s been a passive-aggressive bitch to me since day one!”
I let out a sigh, gently rubbing circles on her knees. “I hear you, and that really sucks that you had to find out that way…”
“So you knew?” Maddy looks at me, her pretty eyes filled with hurt. “You knew he was sleeping with her?”
“I knew something had happened between them in the past,” I admit, unsure of the details. “But look, Beck is a mess. He’s always been a mess. He doesn’t know how to talk about feelings. He’s scared shitless of anyone actually needing him. You’ve already changed him in a lot of ways, but he’s got a past… yeah.”
She blinks at me, a frown tugging at her lips. “That’s not exactly comforting.”
“Yeah…” I say. “I’m not great at this, either.” I rest my hand lightly on her shoulder. “But you should know, he hasn’t even looked at Marissa since you started working here. She’s just pissed because she never got to be what you are to him.”
She sniffs. “Which is?”
I pause, searching for the right words. “You’re the game changer, and she’s pissed because he never felt that way about her. But…” I clear my throat, “I think Beck felt that way about you the moment he met you.”
She wipes her nose on her sleeve. “But I started as ‘just casual’ too. We had sex in a hotel room after I found out my boyfriend was cheating on me.”
I nod, having heard the story from Beck, who paints it like it was meant to be. “Maybe that’s how it started, but that’s not how it ended.” I search for the truth and finally just stop trying to filter myself. “None of us saw you coming, Maddy. Not me, not Beck, not Adrian. None of us was prepared for how hard we would fall for you. You’renotanother Marissa to Beck. You’renotreplaceable to any of us.”
She looks at me like she wants to believe it, but can’t quite get there, her eyes falling to her knees. “I don’t know,” she mumbles.
I reach up and cup her face in both hands, drawing her gaze back to mine. My thumbs are clumsy, but I can’t handle seeing her break like this. I wipe away the mascara but end up smudging it even worse. But she lets me.
“I care about you, Maddy. And I know they do, too.”
She hesitates, then sniffles. “Same.”
I lean in and my forehead touches hers, my heart pounding in my chest. “I’m sorry he hurt you, Maddy. He should’ve told you about their history. You shouldn’t have had to find out that way.”
She rests her head against mine, closing her eyes and letting out a breath as she opens them to meet mine. “Haveyouslept with her?”
“Absolutely not,” I say, as I inwardly cringe at the idea. “I haven’t ever gotten involved with anyone in the office. You’re the first and only. But again, Ipromisethat Beck is crazy about you.”
“Thank you,” she whispers, and then sighs. “I don’t want to go back out there. I don’t want anyone to see me like this.”
“You can stay here as long as you want,” I place a gentle kiss on her forehead. “I have meetings all day. You can even nap in here if you want.”
She snorts, the first normal Maddy sound she’s made since coming in here. “You’d let me nap in your office?”
I shrug, but my hands are still on her. “Of course.”
She grabs my hand and intertwines her fingers with mine, the warmth of her spreading through my entire body. “I’m sorry I dumped all this on you.”
“Don’t apologize,” I tell her. “I’d rather you tell me than keep it in.”
She nods. “Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
She looks up, eyes red but calmer now. “Are you worried about this? Like what people will think? I want this more than anything, but I’m scared I’ve just been living in a bubble and ignoring reality.”
