Page 150 of Breakaway Hearts

“Oh, we love Owen,” Mrs. Benson assures her. “How did the two of you meet?”

“She walked right into me,” I share, but it makes me realize I never told her why I approached her.

“You weren’t looking either,” Maddie points out.

“I was. I was looking right at you.”

She looks at me, I think like she wants to call me out, but then I just wish there were a lot less people here so I could kiss that look off her face.

Coach gets called away, so Mrs. Benson tells us not to be strangers, that we’re welcome at the house anytime. Coach rolls his eyes at this, but smiles when she catches him.

“I don’t think I’ve seen him smile before. Even when you guys score or win…” Maddie points out when they’re gone.

“Smiles are reserved for his wife and granddaughter,” I explain. “In the spirit of honesty…”

“I don’t like that look,” she points out.

“Funny story about the night we met.”

“You walked into me on purpose?” she asks.

“Baby, you walked into me,” I remind her. “But I was on my way to you.”

“Why?” she asks, her face suddenly serious. She straightens her back which widens the gap between us, but she doesn’t pull back the hand I’m holding.

“Ben was really nervous about talking to a girl, so the guys suggested I demonstrate.”

“Like a teaching moment or…a bet?” she asks.

“I thought I’d be able to get your number.”

“Nothing else?”

“I also thought I was going home with you.” I choose honesty. “But that wasn’t part of the bet.”

“So you…which guys? What were the terms?”

“Colt, Donovan, and the rookies. It was literally just that I had to walk over and get your number. Then and there. I wouldn’t have won anything if I had, but as you can recall, I failed spectacularly.”

“He knew you would.”

“He chose you for a specific reason I only found out later.”

“You nearly fucked me in the bathroom,” she points out.

“I don’t use sex as a game so it wouldn’t have counted.”

I hate the way she’s looking at me, like she’s processing everything and trying to figure out if I’ve just broken any trust she had in me.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. Honestly, it was completely out of my mind five minutes into talking to you and I didn’t remember until she asked how we met. I would apologize for taking the stupid bet, but then I wouldn’t be here with the woman I love and I couldn’t stand that.”

Chapter Sixty-Seven

Madison

I don’t win if you lose

“When you came to my apartment…”