Chapter Forty-Two – Braden

 

“Brooklyn? She's in fucking Brooklyn?” I yell at Megan and kick the bar in the kitchen. “Why is she there?”

“Because she doesn't want to be here,” she replies simply, sipping a lemonade.

“Have a fucking point for your smart-ass board, Megan,” I reply. “How are you so calm? She's in fucking Brooklyn!”

“I know where she is. She's at her Dad's, and she's safe. She needs to-”

“Don't you fuckin' dare tell me she needs to calm down! You told me that last night, and now she's not even here! If you'd just let me go after her-”

“You would have done something stupid, like pin her against a wall and force her to listen to you.” Megan looks at me pointedly.

“Well,” I say uncomfortably. “It wouldn't be unrealistic to say I'd do that.”

“Thank you.”

“But that's not the point,” I protest. “The point is, she's in Brooklyn. I'm in fucking California. How am I supposed to tell her the truth?”

“Which is what?”

“You know, Megan. Don't treat me like a fool.”

“Y'know what, Bray?” Her blue eyes are clear, and there's a hint of ice in them. “I don't know, because you've never actually been truthful when you've told me how you feel about her. You've fed me bullshit, and now? I still don't know. I know what I see, not what actually is.”

I sigh and sink onto the stool next to her, resting my elbows on the bar top and putting my head in my hands.

“I love her. I'm in love with her.”

Megan slurps as she sucks the last of her lemonade through her straw. She stands, putting a hand on my shoulder and leaning close to me.

“Then when she comes back, you better be ready with a whole damn production to let her know.”

She kisses the top of my head and leaves. The front door closes, and since it's still early, I'm the only one up.

I'm also the only one who didn't sleep last night.

I rub my eyes and look at the clock. Nine a.m. There's no point going to bed now, so I get up and flick the coffee machine on.

“Enough in there for two?”

My body tenses. “Depends. Any room in your car for two?”

“You know then.”

“Don't have to be a fuckin' genius to work it out, Kyle. Maddie's in Brooklyn, and you drove away five minutes after she left here last night. You took her to the airport.”

“She asked.”

“I don't give a fuck.” I turn and look at him. He steps back. “I don't give a fuck that she got there, or how she got there. All I care about is that she's there, and not here where she damn well should be. She hates that city, so right now she must really hate me if she'd rather be there than here.” I turn back to the coffee pot, slamming two mugs on the counter. I fill them and slide Kyle's along the counter, stepping to the side.

“Well, shit,” he says, taking the mug.

“What?”

“I never thought I'd see the day Braden Carter cared about a girl for more than what’s in her pants.”

I put the mug down. “You sound surprised.”

“I'm surprised you care. Am I surprised its Maddie you care about?” I look at him and he shakes his head. “Nah, man. Not at all. Much as I hate it, you're good together.”

I snort. “Just to convince her of that, now, right? Cause that's a walk in the fuckin' park.”

“You weren't the only one that played a game, Braden.” Kyle grabs his mug and stands up straight. “You both set out to play each other, and you did. You wouldn't listen to her when you found out, and now she won't listen to you. I'd say that's a level playing field, wouldn't you?” He quirks his eyebrows and walks past me, slapping my shoulder once.

A level playing field.

“Hey, Kyle?” I turn. “Thanks, man.” He salutes me and turns.

A level playing field. Another round of the game. Except this time, the stakes are a lot higher.

Because its two hearts invested into it.

 

~

 

My foot taps against the back porch as I lean against the wall, staring out at nothing in particular. It's been a week since I walked out of Maddie's dorm, and I didn't think it was truly possible until now, but I miss her.

I miss her so fucking much, it hurts.

But it’s not as if I can cross the road and talk my way into the dorm block to speak to her. Well, look how that turned out last time. No, because she's in fucking Brooklyn. Brooklyn.

I don't want to think of the pain it must have caused her to go back there, to a place she hates so deeply. She left because of me. Because I ran off and had a bitch fit for her doing exactly what I was doing.

What I was doing. Whether we both played a game or not, at some point, we would have had the same result. At some point, we would have fallen in love. Because, like Megan said to me, your forever person could be right there in front of you the whole time.

I'm nineteen. I don't do forever.

At least, I didn't. And then Maddie let me in. Whether she meant to or not, game playing or not, she let me in. And I saw it in her eyes last night. It was no game to her, and goddamn it all to hell, she's the realest fucking thing I've ever known.