“Hey, it’s Maddy,” she said when prompted to leave a message. “I guess I missed your call earlier. We never really talked about tonight, so I’m not sure what your plans are, but would you mind coming over when you get home? If it’s not too late, I’d like to talk. Okay, well, I guess I’ll see you later.”
***
Connor stepped from the shower—his third of the day—and pushed the damp towel on the floor out of the way. His muscles quivered from overuse on the court. He’d grabbed a bite to eat with Lamont, and they’d gone back to his apartment and watched part of the Braves game. They’d been down 5–2 in the fifth inning when Connor left.
He couldn’t seem to care about his favorite team tonight. He had Maddy on his brain.
He cleared the fog from his mirror and rubbed down his hair with a dry towel. He hadn’t bothered shaving this morning, or yesterday for that matter. He suspected Maddy liked the scruffy look, though she hadn’t said so. He’d caught her looking at his jawline, however, and thought he saw a flicker of approval in her eyes.
He went to his room and grabbed some clothes that were lying across his dresser. When he collected his phone he saw Maddy had left a voicemail. He touched the screen, filled with equal parts hope and dread, and listened to her message. Her tone gave nothing away. But she wanted him to come over, wanted to talk. That didn’t sound good. His stomach was in knots by the time the message ended.
It was going on ten o’clock, but unlike her sisters, Maddy usually went to bed after eleven. Rather than text her that he was coming over, he decided to just show up at her door.
His legs weren’t as steady as he would’ve liked as he covered the uneven ground between their houses. He told himself his muscles were fatigued from his workout. But the dread roiling in his stomach told a different story. He was a wreck over this.
They’d only had one date, he reminded himself. They sure hadn’t gotten into serious territory yet. They weren’t in love. They weren’t even a couple. They’d only known each other five weeks and had spent half of that time disliking each other.
Yet even with all these marks in theeasy come, easy gocolumn, the one item in theheartbreak aheadcolumn outweighed them all.
“I like her,” he said out loud. “I really like her.”
More than seemed possible given all the items in the first column. But that didn’t change the fact that it was true. These things didn’t always make sense on paper.
If she was calling it quits it was going to hurt. Heck, it hurt just thinking about it. He felt as though he were on his way to the gallows as he entered her yard and looked up at the kitchen window, a lone light spilling through it and onto the deck.
The warm wind tousled his damp hair as he took the steps up the deck and spotted her sitting at the table, a mug of something cupped between her hands. The stove light cast a golden glow over her face, softening her features.
Did she look like a woman who’d just stood strong against her ex-boyfriend or a woman who was about to break another man’s heart?
Before he could decide which it was, she caught sight of him, and he forced his lips upward.
Her instant smile gave him a jolt of hope. She rushed to the door and opened it. “Hey there.”
“Hey. Got your message.”
She wore a paint-stained T-shirt and a pair of shorts. No makeup that he could see, and the freckles on her nose were making an appearance. In short, she was the prettiest thing he’d ever seen. His heart stuttered at the thought he might lose her.
“Let’s go outside,” Maddy said. “It’s finally cooled off a bit. Do you want something to drink? Or eat? Emma made some lemon poppy seed muffins that are to die for.”
“No thanks. I just ate.”
He followed her across the deck, where she lowered herself onto the steps leading down to the beach. He sank down beside her, leaving a gap between them.
The crash of the surf was distant, the tide going out. Moonlight glimmered on the water, a blue cone widening toward the shore. Overhead the sky was like black velvet, twinkling with a million stars.
His gaze fell to Maddy. The shadowy night revealed little of her expression, making him wish they’d stayed inside.
“So what did you do tonight?” Her question was casual. “Anything fun?”
“I shot hoops with Lamont, grabbed a bite to eat, watched the game at his place.”
“That’s nice. That’s great you have a close friend.”
“He’s been by my side a long time. Been through some tough stuff together.”
“Those are the best kind. I don’t know what I’d do without Holly. I miss her. Texting and phone calls just aren’t the same.”
“Yeah, I get that. Did you get much done on the house?”
