Page 83 of Power Play

“Hey, Sawyer? Are you awake?” Cassie asks quietly as she sits on my bed.

“Yup,” I mumble, my face still puffy from crying.

“Uh, Max is here, and, uh, he has something for you.”

I stiffen at the mention of his name and the memory of the last time he was here. When everything fell apart.

“I don’t want to talk to him, and I sure as hell don’t want anything from him. Tell him he can go straight to hell. We’ll talk there.”

“Whatever he has, it’s from Rex,” she adds. “Look, he’s in the living room. He’s refusing to leave until you give him at least five minutes. I tried, but he won’t budge. Fucking stubborn mule.”

Those two are like oil and water, always have been, probably always will be.

“Fine. But if I go to jail, you’re bailing me out,” I say.

“Deal. Although I’d probably be sitting next to you, so I’m not sure how much good that’ll do.”

I throw my covers off and stand up. I’m in the same sweatpants that I’ve worn for the last week, an old t-shirt that looks like it has wine on it, and I haven’t washed my hair in over a week. I look every bit the hot mess that I feel, but I can’t seem to bring myself to care. Following Cassie out of my room, I’m not sure if I’m angry that I have to talk to Max or nervous about what he has for me.

Something about this feels weird. Max hates Rex, so there’s no way whatever this is could have been given by him. What the hell is it?

When I see him sitting on my couch, I get angry all over again, but something about the way he’s looking at me stops me from screaming at him.

“What do you want Max? I’m not exactly in the mood for this shit. The thought of having a heart-to-heart is making me a bit stabby,” I say, arms crossed over my chest.

He just looks at me, slowly taking in the state of my appearance. I look like shit, and I know it. Honestly, I’m embarrassed I let it get this bad.

But when I look at Max, really look at him, I see a broken man. There’s so much devastation and sadness in his eyes that it’s hard to look at.

But nothing surprises me more than the first words out of my brother’s mouth.

“I fucked up, I get it,” he states, his tone hushed, almost solemn. “I, uh, made mom confess a lot of shit to me. I still don’t think I know it all, but I put two and two together when I started thinking back on things that happened. She’s manipulated me a lot over these last few years, and I’m realizing how fucked up it’s made me.”

I don’t think I ever expected to hear this from him. Max has never been the type to admit fault. He was always the one who would be fine just ignoring it and waiting for it to blow over. “Where is this coming from?” I stammer, holding back tears. Hearing this apology, one I never expected to get but so desperately needed, is hitting me with emotions like a freight train.

I’m doing everything I can to keep the tears from falling.

“Honestly? I sort of played like shit last game. Like really fucking bad,” Max says.

I hear Cassie mumble next to me, “That’s the fucking understatement of the year.” Which earns her an impressive glare from Max before he turns back to me.

“But, uh, I talked with coach, I mean, Rex. He filled in some of the gaps for me. Told me some shit I didn’t know,” Max says, looking away for a minute and biting his cheek like he’s nervous. “I fucked up. I should have never thrown our relationship away like I did. She fucked with my head so badly that I truly believed everything she said. I regret everything so much. I regret that everything I did cost me my relationship with you. I just hope you can one day forgive me. I don’t expect it to be right now. Just please understand how sorry I am.”

I stare at him in disbelief, tears streaming down my face.

Before I realize it, I’m walking toward him. Whether to slap him or hug him is still up in the air. But when my arms fling around him and I sob into his chest, I’m not sure who’s more surprised. Max immediately hugs me back, a single tear streaming down his cheek as Cassie slips out of the living room, giving us a moment.

Pulling back, he looks at me. “I’m so sorry, Sawyer. I’m so sorry. I hope you can forgive me and that somehow, we can go back to how we used to be. You were my best friend, sis,” he cries into my shoulder.

“Honestly, dude, I get it. She’s so manipulative, so I understand how you could have been brainwashed by her. She was like that with me and ballet, even after I was injured. But hearing you apologize means a lot. I don’t think I realized just how much I needed to hear those words from you.”

Reaching into his back pocket, he pulls out an envelope with just my name on it and passes it to me.

“What’s this?” I ask.

“I have no idea. Rex gave it to me at practice and asked if I would make sure you got it,” Max says, looking a little embarrassed. “Apparently, you’ve been ignoring his calls and messages or something. Probably something to do with your prick of a brother.”

I must look confused because Max starts to chuckle. “Yeah, I know. It felt awful saying it out loud, but even I have to admit when I royally fuck something up,” Max says before turning serious. “You do realize that man is in love with you, right?”

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