His End Game (MMG #1) (37 page)

He leaned down and touched his lips to mine. “We’ll talk, but first I have to go check on the garage and you need to get up, eat breakfast and shower. I’ve got plans for us this afternoon. Clear your schedule.”

I smiled at him. “Whatcha planning?”

“You’ll see. Pick you up at noon.” He laid a kiss on me and was out the door.

I ate breakfast with Piper, who was still not talking. My dad was holed up in the office working on a big project. Joss stopped in for half an hour and helped us finish the plans for Thursday night’s party. While I was waiting on Max, I showed Piper my vast collection of movies, books and magazines. I laughed when I saw her eyes bug at the magnitude of my stash.

Yes, Piper, this is what five years of heartache will get you
.

When Max told me to make sure to dress warmly, I had a good idea that we were heading to the quarry. He ushered me up into a huge black truck and off we went. As soon as we hit the countryside, he rolled down the windows and turned on the stereo. I jumped when incredibly loud music blasted from the speakers. He patted the dash, grinned and revved the engine. “This is one of the reasons I bought this baby.”

       
“The music or the engine?” I yelled, my fingers itching to reach up and turn it down.

       
“Both!” He grabbed my hand and placed it on his leg. He then proceeded to give me a teeth rattling, ear bleeding ride to the quarry serenaded by a guy singing about Bruce Springsteen.

       
Holding hands like long ago, we walked up the path to our spot. I waited until we had settled ourselves onto the blankets and were enjoying a thermos of coffee before telling Max about my visits to the quarry over the years. I couldn’t help but pout. “You probably already know all of this. You had an advantage, Max. I didn’t get to spy on you for the past five years.”

       
“That’s not necessarily true. I knew you weren’t married but had no idea if you were seeing someone.”

       
This surprised me. “What? Your spies wouldn’t tell you if I had guys coming in and out of my house?”

His scowl made me laugh. “No, and trust me, I asked. Plus, they backed off when you moved to Greensboro for college. They felt you weren’t in any danger as long as you weren’t in Charlotte.”

I snorted sarcastically. “That must have chapped your ass.”

He arched an eyebrow and looked down at me. “Was there?”

I played dumb. “Was there what?”

“Someone special in your life?”

“No Max, there wasn’t anyone special.”

There wasn’t anyone at all
.

“Ever
?” he asked, as if this surprised him.

“Why do you seem so surprised?”

“Babe, I watched every move you made for almost three years and, trust me, when I finally got the chance, I took it and I was not disappointed. It is seriously hard to believe that the second I lost that chance, someone wasn’t there to pick it up.”

This made me angry. “You think that I would just jump into someone’s bed the second I realized you weren’t coming back? That’s insulting.”

He gave me a tight squeeze and his voice filled with pain. “I left you, Ellison. I took your virginity, gave you promises that I intended to keep and then had to walk away. I’m just saying that it wouldn’t surprise me if you had.”

“Well, I didn’t. Instead of trying to find someone to replace you, I did everything I could to find you. I didn’t want another guy. I wanted you. I wanted to know why you left. I wanted answers or some form of closure that only you could give.” I could feel the back of my nose stinging and knew it was a matter of seconds before the tears would come.

Would I ever stop crying over this man
?

“What about you?”

He cradled his head on my shoulder. “What about me?”

“Was there ever someone special for you?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer.

“No.”

I tilted my head to see his face. “Never?”

“Never. You were it for me.” His beautiful eyes stared right through me and made me shiver with their intensity.

This was shocking. “So you haven’t slept with anyone in five plus years?”

His sparkling eyes went flat. “Don’t ask questions you don’t want answers to,” he warned. “You notice that I asked if you had anyone special,
not
if you had anyone at all. There’s a big difference. If you want to go there we can, but why dig up something that is better left buried?”

Good point. I don’t want to tell him about the guys I slept with either
.

“Now,” he said smiling, “tell me about what I missed out on.”

I regaled him with stories about my aunt and Benny. This led into funny stories about Joss, Kurt and Piper. He wanted to know everything he had missed and I was happy to indulge him. However, it did not slip past me that I was doing most of the sharing.

We were packing up our things when he asked me about Dillon.

Crap
.

“I thought we were leaving the past…in the past?”

“Yes, we are, but Dillon isn’t yet the past.”

Gazing into his eyes, I prayed that he could see the truth in mine. “He is to me.”

We were halfway back to the car when he zinged me with another one. “Did you sleep with him, Ellison?”

“Does it really matter, Max?” I sped up, hoping to outrun the conversation.

He stopped me outside the car. “Baby, I’m not stupid. I know when I showed up at Dragonfly and saw you two together that I was about to step in the middle of something. Now, I need to know what that something is.”

I inwardly cringed. Why did he have to be so flipping perceptive? “Look, it’s over and done now. I am with you…. aren’t I?”

“Yes, but Dillon pulls no punches about not wanting me in your life. I assume that’s because he wants you in his life. I need to know what I am in the middle of.”

I understood what he was saying but I didn’t see how it mattered.

“Ellie,” he warned.

I threw my hands up in exasperation. “Okay! No, we did not sleep together, happy now?”

“Yes, but like I said before I know there was
something
between you and, if so, I need you to tell me what that is. Baby, no guy is going to get
that
pissed off unless he has already been there and is staking his claim or has been given the green light and is afraid of losing his chance. So, if you haven’t slept with him, I assume it’s the latter of the two.”

I could tell he was losing patience. “Oh, all right,” I hissed, now sick of the whole conversation. “I kissed him a few times and considered doing more.”

Cocking his head, his voice turned chillingly quiet. “How much more?”

I searched his face hoping he wasn’t as serious as he sounded. “You aren’t going to let this go, are you?”

His eyes bored through me. “No.”

Grabbing onto every bit of patience that I could muster, I told him what he so desperately wanted to know. “The night you showed up at Dragonfly, I was supposed to go over to Dillon’s
place after our shift. However, I changed my mind when I walked in and saw him at the bar all clinched up with his ex.”

“And just like that you were done?” He sounded as if he didn’t believe me.

“Just like that,” I confirmed.

“The black haired bitch with Jennifer is his ex?” He scrunched his nose up as if he smelled something rancid.

Trying not to smile at his obvious dislike for Dana, I answered, “Yep.”

“Who was the guy you were dancing with?”

“Oh, that… was just Gage.”

“Gage who?”

“Not really sure. Blackwell, I think? He was just some guy that I was using to piss off Dillon. It was all stupid and childish,” I dismissed it with a wave of my hand because, really, in the scheme of things, it had no relevance. Max, however, didn’t see it this way.

“Why were you trying to make him jealous, Ellison?”

“Well, for one, I had just caught him with Dana. So, thinking that I’d give him a taste of his own medicine, I said yes to Gage’s invitation to hang out. If that wasn’t bad enough, I found out that he was outside with Dana while we were on the dance floor. When I got out there, they were kissing. I knew right then that I could never be with him. After everything that had been said and done, I could never trust him.”

“Fuck me,” he said.

“Max!” I chastised.

“So, you are telling me that this guy is pissed because he was seconds away from having you and fucked it all up…with
her
?”

When you put it that way…

“Then I came along and he knew that he would never get that chance again. Hell, I can’t say I really blame him,” he
shrugged. My jaw dropped and he chuckled. “Baby, he screwed up and before he got the chance to make it right I showed up and you permanently shut him down. Can’t say I blame him for being pissed off. What I can say is I am glad it didn’t happen. Now I don’t have to kill him.”

I shook my head and rolled my eyes. “Are we done here?”

“Yep,” he chuckled, “we sure are.”

The next morning Max got an early call that took him to the garage for the day. When I asked him about it, he said something vague about construction and personnel.

Joss, Polly and Lena were coming over at noon to work on party plans for Thursday night and, at the last minute, my dad decided to drive to South Carolina to visit an unhappy author. Hanging out with the girls was refreshing, not to mention good for Piper. I was doing everything in my power to pull her back out of the shell that she was hiding under.

Around four Polly and Lena had to take off. They were both working at Dragonfly and needed to get ready.

“Since Max is with Kurt in Tennessee, why don’t you both come hang out at the bar tonight?” Joss asked.

“What did you just say about Max being in Tennessee?” I asked, wondering if I had heard her correctly. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Piper shaking her head at Joss and I threw her a scowl.

Joss flinched. “Uh…maybe I heard Kurt wrong this morning.”

“No back peddling,” I warned. “Max told me he had to be at the garage and obviously I now know he’s not. Spill! What do you know?”

“Nothing really,” she hedged. After a minute she broke. “I need to learn to keep my damn mouth shut around you! Max
called Kurt early this morning and said there was something up at MMG in Tennessee and he needed Kurt for back-up.”

“Did he say what for?” Piper asked.

“That’s all I know…really. Kurt just threw on clothes, kissed me and told me to man the bar with Dillon tonight until he returned.”

I was absolutely dumbstruck by this. “I can’t believe Max would lie to me. Should I call him? I should, shouldn’t I?”

Piper snorted. “All guys lie, Ellie.”

Joss shot her a scathing look. “Not all guys lie, Piper. Kurt doesn’t and neither did Max. He probably just didn’t want to worry you, Ellie.”

“Yeah…right.” Piper’s condescending tone wasn’t helping.

Joss shot me a what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-her look and I answered with a shrug. “Why don’t you both come by the bar tonight and, when Max shows up later, just ask him about it?”

I shook my head. I was both hurt and mad. This was a really bad combination for me. “Nope, I’m calling him.”

“Ellie,” Piper warned, “you’ve got that bullheaded look on your face right now, you know, the one where you go off half-cocked and get into trouble? I
really
think you should listen to Joss and wait until you see Max later. I’ll even join you for a while at the bar.”

As tempting as it was to get Piper out of the house, I just couldn’t let it go. Grabbing my phone, I punched in the number Max had given me and waited.

“Max here,” he abruptly answered.

I know that he sees it’s me calling because he has Caller ID
.

“Hi,” I murmured shyly.

“Yeah,” he clipped, as if I were interrupting.

Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea
.

“Uh….” I hesitated, really unsure about the tone in his voice. “I was thinking that I would come by the garage and bring you
dinner tonight, but I didn’t know how many guys I needed to cook for. So, I was calling to find out.” I watched Piper roll her eyes at Joss and stuck my tongue out at both of them.