“He’s Tori’s brother. I would never hurt him. Much.”
“Talk to her, Zane. She’ll be there today, you know.”
I sit straight. I definitely did not know. “What are you talking about?”
“She’s going to be there for Zoey’s thing.”
Fuck.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I can’t completely avoid her if she’s in the same area.
“I gotta go, Maddox. I’m going to be late.”
The next three hours are absolute shit. I dropped the ball twice. I missed it completely once. And I’ve been hit so many times I don’t think sitting in the ice bath for the next two days is going to help.
Somehow, we managed to win the game in spite of my fuck ups.
I pull into the driveway of Rory’s beach house and follow the sound of Arabella’s squeal to the back. “Took you long enough to get here,” Jax says giving me a worried look.
I just nod. I don’t tell him I’ve been driving like an old man for the last hour. I don’t tell him that I almost flaked on my sister and Layla because Tori is coming.
I guess I thought after I left the other day and three weeks without answering the phone or texts she wouldn’t come. I suppose I should be glad that she’s coming. That she’s not letting our issues affect her relationship with Zoey.
And we haven’t technically broken up. I’ve just been dodging her. Then again, we weren’t technically a couple. But titles or not, we were – are – together. We are in a relationship.
“Are you good, Zee?” Jax asks me, taking a swig from his beer.
Bastian and Rory look at me with worry on their expressions as well. “Why are y’all looking at me like that?”
“Just a little worried about you, Zee.”
“Have you ever dropped a ball or missed a catch before?”
I drop my head between my shoulders and close my eyes. I would never admit it, but this isn’t the first time I’ve done either of those. It’s just the first time it’s happened in an actual game. “I had an off day,” I growl at them. “So, sue me.”
“We’re not judging, man,” Bastian tells me. “We’ve all been there. Me most recently when I trashed Red.”
“Yours was a misunderstanding.”
“Yeah, a fucking misunderstand that nearly cost me everything.”
“You didn’t know, Bastian,” I tell him.
“And we got her back,” Rory adds.
“And dealing with DeLuca gave me a fucking outlet,” I laugh.
I glance over to see my sister and the other girls sitting. “I’m gonna go say hi to the girls.”
I walk the few steps from the barbeque to where the girls are sitting on the patio furniture. “All my favorite girls in one place,” I boom. Except that I wince inwardly because it’s not all my favorite girls. I keep the smile on my face though. No one is better at that shit than me. I pull Verity from her chair, wrapping her in a tight hug. I haven’t seen much of her since that night with DeLuca. “How are you doin’, darlin’?”
“Too tight,” she says strained.
I set her back to her feet quickly. “Fuck, Verity, I didn’t -,” I stammer. “I totally forgot.” It’s the truth that I forgot she didn’t come back from Chicago unscathed. She has a long time before she will be healed physically. I hope her head doesn’t take longer. If I could bring DeLuca back and kill him again I would.
“It’s okay,” she tells me with a smile.
