Stay (19 page)

“Here.” He tossed them to me. “You’re taking Mom’s
old car. She’s keeping his.”

“How?”

“I told her how I felt. I explained how I think you
feel. She obviously doesn’t need both.” He picked up my hand and
kissed my forehead, studying my face. “Take em, Mags. You deserve
something out of this.” So I did.

We pulled up next to each other in front of the
apartment just as Luke walked out.

“Hey,” I mumbled. I still wasn’t sure if this was
the best idea, me having my mother’s car.

He looked between us, noticing the tension. “What’s
wrong?”

“It’s nothing,” Jer said.

Jeremy stepped aside like nothing had happened, but
Luke spun me around. He knew when something was bothering me. And I
was pretty sure my face looked like I’d eaten a bunch of sour
grapes. “What’s going on?”

“My dear brother thought it would be fun to go with
the whole surprise attack today and made me face my mom again.”

He came up to me, draping one arm over my shoulder.
“You okay?”

I smiled up at him. “Yeah, I’m good.” I dangled my
new keys on my pinky. “I am officially the proud owner of a
seven-year-old Honda Accord.”

He gave me a subtle smile that made me feel somewhat
better. “I was going to shoot some hoops. Why don’t you change and
come down to the park with me? It’s been a long time since I kicked
your ass.”

I grinned. It was just what I needed right now.
“Sounds good,” I agreed. And it did. Even though my mother and I
didn’t talk, I knew it was only a matter of time before I’d give
into Jeremy’s wishes.

You can’t pick your family, but you can choose to
accept them for who they are. I had to get past this to find
myself. To truly love myself. I just had to.

Chapter 18

Luke

“Finally! You do realize I’m going to have
you sweating out there today, right?” Maggie looked like she just
stepped out of a J. Crew catalog. Cute as hell but not the best
clothes for a workout.

Maggie peered down at herself, smoothing out her
shirt. “What’s wrong with this?”

I shook my head, holding up my hands in defeat.
“Nothing. You look beautiful as always, but we’re playing
basketball, not taking a walk in the park. If that’s what you want
to wear, fine by me.” I grabbed my basketball from the back of
car.

Maggie yelled out to Jeremy that we were taking off.
“Let’s walk,” she suggested, which I was fine with. I wanted to
take my time so we could talk. The park was through the gated
community where we lived and was always kept up nicely. Once in a
while a few punk kids tried to overtake it, but with all the locals
who used it, we tended to scare them off more than anything.

Maggie kept tucking her hands in her pockets, and
then pulling them out, tightening her hands into fists. “Now that
Jeremy isn’t here why don’t you tell me what happened today?” I
bounced the ball as we walked.

“I was so mad at him for just springing it on me
like that. He totally tricked me into going. I mean, yeah, I got a
car out of the deal, but...I don’t know.”

I stopped and grabbed her wrist. “You do know. Tell
me what it is?”

She dropped her head down, kicked a pebble around a
few times, and finally lifted her face to look at me. “It just
doesn’t feel right. It’s like, ‘oh, here you go Maggie take my car.
I’m so sorry for never believing you, and for the things your
father did.’ Like it could make up for everything. It was Jer who
got the car for me. She probably didn’t even want me to have it.”
Maggie cringed at her own words, but I understood what she meant.
She’d never been one for a handout. Probably because she always had
to work so damn hard to get what she wanted. She sighed, but
continued. “I just want to go back to school, you know. So that’s
what I’m going to focus on.”

“Good for you. I think you should,” I agreed because
I wanted her to keep her dream alive, to open up her own shop one
day. Hell, I’d offer her the money. I’d give her every red cent
from my parents will if I thought it would make her happy, but I
knew Maggie and that just wouldn’t fly.

“Max offered to buy me a storefront in New York to
open a bakery. That’s why we’re not talking,” she blurted out.

I stopped dead in my tracks. “What?”

She shoved her hands into her pockets. “You heard
me.”

I pulled one out and held it in mine. “Maggie, why
didn’t you take him up on his offer? That’s huge.”

She frowned. “I didn’t love him enough.”

I nodded and let go of her hand, because that was
all that needed to be said.

We rounded the corner to the park, and luckily only
one of the courts was taken up. I glanced over to Maggie who seemed
so out of place it was ridiculous, but I loved her for coming to
play with me. We used to shoot hoops all the time outside her
house. It was usually just the guys, but once in a blue moon she’d
come out and join in.

“Okay, how about we start with some drills? I’m sure
it’s been a long time.”

She rolled those sweet baby-blue’s at me, but
laughed off my idea.

“All right, girl, have it your way.”

Sweat poured off of us. We were almost finished our
fourth game. I let her win two to keep her guessing, but now it was
crunch time. My top came off after the second game, so I was down
to just my basketball shorts. Maggie had taken off her top layer,
leaving her in a tank that left me drooling. We’d been out here for
at least an hour, and I was having fun watching her behave like I
remembered. She pouted like a two-year old every shot that I nailed
but fought like a champ to get it back. I bounced the ball to hand
it off to her as she eyed my stance.

“What do you say we place a small wager on the last
point? You get this, you win.”

One eyebrow shot up. “What did you have in
mind?”

“Loser drinks tonight-no questions asked.” She gave
me a sour face that made me want to rile her up some more.

“You know I don’t like to drink too much.”

“C’mon, Mags. It’s time to put on your big girl
panties and man up-or I guess I should say, woman up.”

“You’re so juvenile.”

I shrugged. I’d been called worse. “Come on, Mags.
The clock is ticking here.”

She smirked. “Are you ready, because I’m gonna bring
it.” She dribbled.

“Oh, I’m ready to see you bring it. Here we go,
Blue. The clock is ticking and Maggie has the ball on the wing of
the court. She stares down her opponent. She tries a jab step, but
freezes.” I was almost laughing too hard to focus as I continued my
play-by-play hounding her for the ball. A few people gathered to
watch. “Will she take the shot? She has 5...4...3, Maggie goes
right past her man and toward the hoop. Two...she’s dribbling the
ball...1...and the ball flirts with the rim, not sure if it wants
to go in, and it’s-it’s-oh, and she misses!” I made a crazy buzzing
sound to end the game. I took the ball back and twirled in on my
finger.

“I hate you,” she said, teasing me. Her hands were
on he hips, her eyes shooting daggers.

“Sorry. I just couldn’t resist. You’re so adorable
when you’re angry.” I laughed out loud as she darted after me,
trying to recover the ball. I held it over my head. “What, you want
to go again?”

“No, I don’t want to go again,” she said, still
attempting to get the ball.

As much as I loved watching her get playful, I was
thirsty. We left the court, and grabbed our water bottles. If we’d
been alone, I would’ve suggested that she pour it all over her
since she was sporting a white tank, but I wasn’t too keen on other
dudes checking out my girl. Well, I was still working on that last
part. Watching the sweat glisten on her chest, had about driven me
insane during our last two games.

***

By eight that night, we’d all had made it to an
Irish pub on North Clark Street. It was a warm night, so we sat
outside. Dean wanted to watch out for this evening’s “dream girl.”
It had been a long time since the four of us had one of these
nights. The last time I could honestly remember had been the week
before Maggie ran away.

I was determined to have her cut loose with us, and
our bet this afternoon was sitting in the back of my mind.

Before we left the apartment, Jer, Dean, and I
played a quick round of quarters to start off the night. When
Maggie stepped out of her room, I almost fell off the damn stool.
She was wearing a tight, tan V-neck shirt that hugged her in all
the right places and a pair of white shorts that showed off her
perfectly tanned legs. I could barely look up from my drink without
being too obvious that I was a slobbering mess. Sometimes it really
pissed me off that she could still affect me that way. Maggie
spilling the truth that Max didn’t mean as much as I thought
convinced me I still had a chance.

She knew I wanted her back, but it was like she was
dangling her sexy little ass in my face to prove something. What
point was she trying to make? I never did anything but love her,
never once said a mean word when we dated. I took care of her. In
return, she’d pushed me away, haunting my thoughts day after day.
This had to stop. No way in hell was I letting her run this time. I
was going to take control tonight. And I was going to have the best
fucking time of my life doing it.

We ordered a round of beers, but I added a round of
lemon drops to start her off nice and slow. I knew she hated the
hard-core stuff like tequila or whiskey, so I wanted to ease her
into the night. She rolled her eyes when the drinks were lined up
on the table, but the rest of us picked them up and clinked our
shots together.

“Come on, Mags. You lost the bet. You promised to
put on your big-girl panties tonight,” I taunted, knowing it killed
her to have lost to me.

She shot me one of her trademark Maggie faces that I
loved and clinked her glass with ours. “On three,” she said.

After we shot them back, she grimaced, and I
couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Even when she looked like she was
about to vomit, she still got to me.

After an hour of throwing back four more shots and
two beers, she’d started to stumble on her words. I sat back and
watched it all, enjoying seeing her laugh and smile at our jokes.
But knew she needed to be cut off.

We were shooting the shit about sports and every now
and then Maggie chimed in. Jeremy and Dean would look at her like
she had two heads, but I loved that she tried. We were in the
middle of a heated debate about the upcoming Northwestern team when
Maggie turned to me and asked, “Do you think my boobs are too
small?” I knew she meant the question for me, but after those
shots, she’d pretty much shouted it out.

Dean snickered but ogled her chest for a second
longer than I liked. If I hadn’t known that their relationship was
completely platonic, I’d kick his ass.

Jeremy stared at her, his face appalled. “Mags, shut
the fuck up.” Then he moved his gaze to me. “Stop buying her shots.
She’s had enough.”

I elbowed her, grinning. “Your boobs are perfect,
baby.”

She stared at me for a second then said, “I gotta
pee. I’ll be back.” She stood but held onto the edge of the table
to get her balance.

She sauntered off a little slower than I liked.
Jeremy quietly mumbled as he watched her going off on her own
inside a bar packed full of horny dudes, which really wasn’t a good
idea. He started to get up, but I pushed him back down.

“I got her. And order her a glass of water.”

I headed toward the back to the bathrooms. There was
no line, so I waited outside the girls’ door for her. A few minutes
had passed when she finally came out, surprisingly refreshed. She’d
dabbled on some lipgloss, and pulled her hair out of the earlier
braid.

“Oh, hey,” she said bumping into me. It was hard for
her not to; I stood directly in her way.

She started to walk around me, but I blocked her
path. “Hey. You feel better?”

She flicked her eyes up to meet mine. “I’m fine. How
much more are you going to make me drink?” I could tell she was
lying.

I reached down to wrap my arms around her waist,
guiding her back until she was up against the wall. “That depends
on you.”

She leveled her eyes at my chest. “Depends on
what?”

“On if you’re going to let me kiss you tonight.”

She hesitated for a second, but then her eyes fixed
on mine. “Just a kiss?”

I cocked my head and shrugged. “You know me, Mags.
Kissing you is never enough.”

Her hands slipped lightly under my button-down
shirt. I was having a hard time breathing, watching her fingers
play with the hair on my chest. Maggie stood on her tiptoes; her
mouth lingered at my throat, and then moved up to my ear. “I think
I’ll take another shot.” She stepped out of my arms, leaving me
standing like a horny-ass teenager with a major hard-on.

It took me a few minutes to compose myself before
rejoining our party. I needed to calm down. I wanted to be in
charge tonight and now she was teasing me. I played to win and
tonight was no different.

Back at the table, another round of shots were lined
up. Maggie placed the order when we weren’t paying attention.
“Maggie just drink your water. No more shots.” I said. I tried to
grab the shot glass but she was too quick.

“Would you give me that? You’ve had enough to drink
tonight.”

Maggie shot me a nasty look, downed the shot and
then placed her hands on her hips. “Don’t you tell me what I should
or shouldn’t do, Luke James Matthews.”

“Oh, shit! Here it comes.” Dean said, shaking his
head.

Maggie turned her glare toward Dean. He held up his
hands.

“Water, Maggie,” I said again.

She pushed the glass away. “I lost the bet. I’m
fine.”

“You’re not fine, you’re being an immature brat,”
Jer said.