Chapter Twenty-Eight
I walk out of the arena, numb. I don’t know where I’m going. It doesn’t matter. Because no matter where I am, I’m going to have a shattered heart.
As I stand outside the glittering glass structure, I try to wrap my head around what just happened.
I broke up with Maxime.
My legs start to buckle. Tears stream down my face, and I make no move to stop them. If people want to take pictures of me like this, they can.
This is reality.
Maxime and I are over.
I drop down on the curb, drawing my knees to my chest, and let myself fall apart. I put my head down and cry for Maxime. Part of myself is with him back in that lounge, a part I don’t feel I will ever get back. I cry for the future I saw so clearly with him, the life we could have created together, the adventures and holidays, and maybe even children, that would have followed.
He’ll have that life with someone else now.
As I picture my Maxime holding another woman in his arms, smiling at her in the way he did to me, as if she’s the only woman in the world, I begin sobbing uncontrollably with grief.
You’ll always be my Maxime, I think with anguish. Always.
I hear a car approach and glance up. A black SUV stops at the curb, and a door opens. Through my tears, I watch as Gavin gets out of the car on crutches.
“Skye?” he asks, hobbling up to me. “What are you doing out here? Are you okay?”
His blue eyes widen as he gets closer and sees I’m anything but okay.
I shake my head. “M-Maxime. We b-b-broke up.”
A fresh round of tears breaks free. Gavin stares down at me in shock.
“What?” he asks. “God, what happened?”
“Just go, Gavin,” I say. “I know Maxime is your teammate and your friend.”
“Wrong. I consider both of you my friends. I’m not leaving you here, not like this. You’re coming with me.”
I shake my head. “No, I can’t let you do that.”
“Skye, I’m not leaving you in a deserted parking lot downtown. Please get in the car.”
“I’ll get an Uber ride.”
Gavin lets out an exasperated sigh. “You’re not getting an Uber. I have a driver due to my leg; he can drive us to Boulder as easily as he can back to my place. We’ll talk on the way back, okay?”
Gavin’s face reflects genuine concern.
The captain is not going to take no for an answer.
“Okay,” I say, sniffling.
I get in on one side, and Gavin gets in on the other. He places his crutches between us in the back seat of the Cadillac SUV, and the driver comes around to shut the doors.
“Dave, change of plans,” Gavin says. “We need to take Ms. Reeve back to Boulder before heading back to my place.”
“Yes, sir,” Dave says.
Once Dave is back in the driver’s seat, he asks for my address and then raises the privacy glass between us. He heads out of the parking lot, onto the streets of downtown Denver, illuminated by the glittering lights of the skyscrapers at night.
“Tell me what happened,” Gavin says gently.
The city blurs in my vision as we drive. “We had a horrible fight,” I say, my voice sounding strangled as I try to say the words. “Maxime and I argued after this gossipy article came out in Dishing Weekly. My ex said a bunch of stupid stuff, things that made Maxime wonder if I still had feelings for him. Which I don’t. I felt terrible about dragging Maxime through all this garbage that is my life, and I told him I’d understand if he didn’t want to stay with me. That’s when he blew up. It all escalated from there.”
I find the courage to glance at Gavin, who is studying me carefully.
“Of course he blew up. He loves you, and the last thing he wants is to leave you. Maxime envisions a future with you; don’t you see that?”
My heart stops beating. “Did he say that to you?”
“Yes. I went through that shit with Veronica, and Maxime told me when I find the right woman, like he did, it will be crystal clear. I will want to marry her, and I’ll have no doubts. I will see my future with her, just like he did with you.”
A strangled cry escapes my throat.
Maxime saw the same future I did.
A future we both threw away.
Tears begin to stream down my face. “How did we let this happen to us, Gavin?”
“Hey,” Gavin says, reaching for my shoulder, “when you care about someone, when you love someone as much as he loves you, things can escalate because of the emotions involved. The fear of losing what you have.”
Gavin’s words hit my heart.
Fear.
He’s right.
This whole time I’ve been with Maxime, I’ve worried that I wasn’t good enough. I thought my reality show past was going to always be hanging around in the background, and he would eventually leave me for someone without embarrassing TV footage attached to her life.
But Maxime never had a problem with it.
I was the one who did.
Instead of embracing the doors it opened for me, I tried to distance myself from who I was. I worked hard, too hard, trying to prove to everyone, from my co-workers to the public to Maxime, that I was worthy of the jobs I had. Of the man I loved.
When the truth is, the only person I need to prove my worth to is myself.
I am worthy of the things I have, I realize. I don’t have to be anything more than the person I am at this moment. The woman I am now earned these opportunities. They weren’t given to me just because I was on a TV show. The past is a part of me, and if I didn’t go through that, I wouldn’t be where I am.
I never would have met Maxime.
The woman I am now is the one Maxime fell for. He might not like the tabloid articles and the media presence, but what matters to him is the woman I am when we are together. He accepts that because he wants what we have together.
I have to embrace my Is It Love? past to have the present.
To have the future with the man I love.
I continue to sort through my thoughts with newfound clarity. Maxime must face his own fears for us to work. He needs to believe that history isn’t doomed to repeat itself. I love him for all the reasons Juliette didn’t. I would never write a tell-all book; my words came from a place of happiness and love. Maxime’s accusation still hurts, but I know it was said out of shock and anger, not from his heart.
I turn to Gavin, who is texting on his phone.
“Thank you,” I say to him. “You’re right. About all of this.”
“Good, so you won’t be mad at me for what I just did,” he says, slipping his phone back into his coat pocket.
I wrinkle my brow. “What’s that?”
“I texted Maxime and said I was taking you home. He said that’s not where you’re going.”
My heart stops beating.
“Check your phone, Skye. Your answer determines where we go tonight.”
I nervously retrieve my phone out of my purse. I have been ignoring it since our fight because I didn’t want to talk to anyone while I dealt with my heartbreak. There are messages from friends and family about the article, from JoJo and Sierra, and two from Maxime. My stomach clenches as I open the first one, sent minutes after our fight:
I love you, too. You have no idea how long I’ve loved you. I hate myself for not telling you first. I never should have doubted you. I wish I could take it all back. I love you and I’m sorry. God, I’m sorry. Please call me. Please.
Tears of relief fill my eyes.
Maxime loves me.
We can work this out; I know we can. Before I answer, I read the next text from him.
Come back to our home tonight. Where you belong. Please give me a chance to make this right.
I turn to Gavin, who is waiting for my answer.
“Take me home,” I say softly. “Take me home to Maxime.”
***
The second the SUV stops in front of Maxime’s house, I want to bolt from the car and run up to the door. I’m desperate to see Maxime. I need to tell him I love him in the way I want to. Not from a place of ending, but from a place of beginning.
But before I do, I need to take care of something first.
I turn to Gavin. “Thank you for being my friend tonight.”
“You were there for me when I needed someone. I’ll always be there for you, Skye. That’s what friends do, and I consider you one of my best friends.”
I choose my next words carefully.
“I know you aren’t ready now, but someday, you’re going to make some woman very happy. You are a great guy, Gavin. The woman who will love you in the way you deserve is out there. Don’t shut the door on meeting her, okay?”
Gavin scowls. “Not only is that door shut, but it’s freaking nailed. I’ll let Maxime live the love story. I’ll star in the bad boy, athlete, player one.”
I lean over and give him a peck on the cheek. “You aren’t fooling me for one second, my friend. But I’ll let you believe this piece of fiction. For now.”
Gavin chuckles. “Shut up and go get your man, okay?”
I grin as Dave comes around and opens the passenger door for me. I slip out of the car as Maxime jerks open the front door, as if he was waiting for me.
The SUV pulls out of the circular drive and back down the winding road. My heart slams against my ribs. I only have eyes for Maxime, who is staring back at me with a mixture of anguish and longing on his gorgeous face.
Before I can take a step, Maxime rushes toward me. I drop my purse and run to him, collapsing against his pale blue dress shirt and bursting into tears. I hear his heart pounding against my ear and feel his arms hold me as tightly as he can, as if he’s never going to let me go again.
And I know he won’t.
“I love you, I love you, I love you,” Maxime murmurs as he bends down and presses his cheek to mine. “I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.”
“I do forgive you,” I say, my voice breaking. “I love you so much. You’re The One, Maxime. The only one.”
Maxime’s mouth finds mine, kissing me desperately, fiercely claiming me with everything he has. I kiss him back the same way, passionately telling him my words are true. My lips move rapidly against his, my tongue matching his frantic movements, knowing I’ll never kiss another man in my life.
Maxime breaks the kiss, and I gaze up at him. His watery eyes are rimmed with red. I put my hands on his face, and he wraps his hands over mine.
“I want forever,” he says, his voice growing thick. “I wanted it so badly I was afraid I couldn’t have it. You were right, Skye. I was getting mired in the past. If you didn’t like the life we have, you wouldn’t be here with me.”
“I do love it,” I say, stroking his face in a reassuring way. “I’m exactly where I want to be, Maxime. All your qualities that are different are what draw me to you. You bring me balance. You make me happy in a way I’ve never known, all because of the man you are. Exactly the way you are.”
He nods. “I promise I won’t doubt that ever again. As long as you promise to not doubt that I’m here because I want to be, too. I don’t love being in tabloids, or having photographers shout inappropriate questions to me about you, but I know it will slow down and fade. And even if it didn’t, it wouldn’t matter. I will take all of that if it means I get to love you.”
“You were right about that,” I admit. “I was so busy trying to be worthy of everyone that I lost sight of the fact that I already was. I need to believe it for myself first.”
“You do. Skye, you’re talented. You have earned every success,” Maxime says firmly. “The woman I love doesn’t need to prove anything to me, or worry about what my friends and family think. They see what I see, Skye. You are a bright, ambitious, intelligent, good person. That’s all we see.”
Love for Maxime fills my heart.
But we still have one big issue to address.
I clear my throat. “We need to talk about the book.”
Maxime looks anguished, and I see deep regret in his eyes.
“I never should have accused you of writing a tell-all,” he says. “I’m sorry I said that. I was blindsided and angry; as soon as it came out, I wanted to take it back. I know you wouldn’t write anything to hurt me. Everything was out of control at that point. I thought I was losing you, and I lashed out because it seemed like something you should have asked me about first.”
Regret surges through me. “You’re right about that. I should have asked you first. I was afraid you’d say no, and I thought if you could see it first, you’d understand why I was writing it. If I could do that over again, I would. My actions were guided out of wanting to share how amazing you are and how every woman should strive to have a man like you. It was driven by wanting to show real love, unlike the love I thought I had with Tom.”
I brush my fingertips across his strong cheekbones. “I’ll delete the whole file. Our story doesn’t have to belong to the world.”
Maxime wraps his fingers around mine and brings my hand to his heart. “I trust you. If you want to share it, you can share it.”
I smile up at him. “You can read it, and together, we’ll decide what will go in the book.”
“That’s how we’re doing this from now on. Together. We’ll talk about things that are bothering us. It all goes on the table; no more hiding how we feel, no matter how stupid it might seem.”
“I agree,” I say, nodding.
“What about your workload?” Maxime asks, squeezing my hand against his heart. “I’m worried about your health, sweetheart.”
“I’m cutting back,” I say with determination. “I’m tired of running when I don’t have to prove anything to anyone but myself. I’ll reduce my public relations appearances for the station. I’ll tell Charlotte the book draft might take longer. Instead of a daily blog, I might post twice a week. I want balance in my life. I want to enjoy walks with the dogs and binge watch Law & Order in my pajamas all day on a Sunday. Most of all, I want our time together to be good, Maxime. You deserve the best of me.”
“I already have the best of you,” Maxime says, drawing my hand to his lips and kissing it gently. “I see forever with you, mon chérie. It might have taken me three chances and one fight to get it right, but I have it now. I’m never letting you go again.”
Joy runs through me. “I’m not letting you go, either. I love you, Maxime.”
“I love you, too,” he murmurs, kissing me again.
I lose myself in his arms, thinking of the journey we had to take to be here. We both had to fall in love with other people and have our hearts broken. Fate put us together not once, not twice, but three times before we took a chance on each other.
On true love.
At some points in my life, my reality has been blurred. I thought I found love on TV, but I didn’t. That was an illusion of a TV bubble and a man seeking fame. It wasn’t real love.
But right now?
Reality has never been more crystal clear.
This is love.
Maxime is The One.
And it’s forever.