Page 123 of On The Edge

I open my mouth to refute her, but then close it and nod before I have the courage to meet her eyes. “You’re right. I have. But . . . there’s no future for us. He has this crazy life and I have . . .”

“You have what? A life you’re figuring out? A life that keeps adjusting? A life that you just realized you thought you wanted but aren’t one hundred percent sure of anymore?”

“All of the above.” Tears well in my eyes as I shrug and try to find my voice around them. “I love him, Tess.”

“Have you told him?”

I shake my head. “I can’t. If I do . . . I’m afraid what his reaction will be.”

“Does he love you?”

I look back down at him. I know every mannerism. I can even assume what he’s saying right now by them. “Yes. But . . . it’s complicated.”

“Okay. Why?”

“Because this is who I am. Someone who wears her heart on her sleeve and sees love as a good thing. And he’s him. A man who guards everything and has only ever had love hurt him.”

She nods in my periphery. “I could give you all the cliché advice in the world, but I can’t fix anything. All I can tell you is that whatever happens, you need to put you first. You’ve been living in his world so it’s easy to get caught up in it now . . . but five years from now, would that be enough?”

“We’re not talking five years from now. We’re talking right now.”

“And yet the way you two look at each other says we’re talking about a whole hell of a lot more.”

“Maddix. This is incredible,” my dad’s voice booms as Amandine finishes their tour of the paddock and brings them back to the suite. “I mean . . .”

“I know. It’s indescribable,” I say as he and my mom walk up beside me and practically hang over the ledge as they gawk at anything and everything.

Tessa gives me one last knowing glance before she shifts out of the way to take a back seat for my parents. But it’s when she moves that I see Dominic Navarro standing at the complete opposite end of the room. His arms are crossed over his chest in his usual pose as he surveys the team below.

I glance down to see where he’s looking just in time to notice Cruz glancing up at him. Their eyes hold briefly, acrimoniously, before he shifts toward where I stand. My parents wave frantically at Cruz and yell out his name like excited kids. He just laughs and waves back.

“Good luck,” my mom yells.

“Kick ass,” my dad adds. My cheeks heat and eyes roll as some of the team looks our way.

But I catch the look on Cruz’s face. His grin. The relaxing of his shoulders.

There is blanket acceptance from my parents. And blatant dissatisfaction from his dad. The unspoken absence of his mom.

What is he thinking as he watches us?

Is he wondering what it’s like to have this kind of family? This kind of support? Is he jealous? Does he wish he had this too?

Talk about a tale of two worlds.

Of two lives.

Of all the reasons why we’re incompatible.

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

Maddix

“Maddix?”

“Kevin? Hi.” My voice is breathless. My mind’s scrambled as I try to process the voice in my ear and the grin on Cruz’s face as he slides beneath the sheets and looks up at me from between my thighs.

I glare at him and mouth the word No while I try and push at his head. His response is to slide his tongue over my clit at the same time he pushes two fingers into me.