Page 42 of The Two Halves of My Heart

Chapter 13

Grace 18 Years Old

University was…. just more of the same.

Staying at home meant I missed out on plenty, but I’d chosen to look at it a different way. By listening to my mum, I’d kept worry from her mind and stayed with Bob. Plus, I still got to see Maddison and Oliver regularly. Too much was changing in my life that I couldn’t control. This was something I could, and so it was an easy decision when it came down to it.

Maddison didn’t go to Uni. He got a job, two actually. He joined a local contractor and started labouring for them during the week, and at weekends, he went to The Club. Turned out they couldn’t think of anything more imaginative to call the place. Things had settled between us. He didn’t ask me to go back there with him, but he did take me out every couple of weeks—nothing special, just burgers and milkshakes at a place near town. The American décor made the place feel authentic, with a jukebox and red leather booths. But it was the milkshakes that had me going back. They were the best I’d ever tasted. It was our thing, and more than anything, that made me happy. My friend was back. We were both pretty busy with our own lives, but somehow there was an unwritten understanding that it was harder to be without each other than work at being friends. Our meetings were without any pressure or expectation, at least visibly. A current still existed between us—a tension that never left. Each time we met, it would climb up my spine and wrap around my chest, tightening further and further until we parted.

Mads was positively huge now. His chest so broad, his muscles so defined that I wondered if he’d taken up bodybuilding. And just like always, he pulled the eyes of every female in the room when we were out. When we were in school, it had been easier for me to ignore. Now, it seemed rude how the waitress ignored me and only talked to him, or despite us being out together, the girls and woman gave him the eye and caught his attention, like I was invisible to them.

“Don’t worry about them. I don’t.”

“It’s just rude. You can see me, right?” I’d waved my hand in front of his face for dramatic effect.

“Oh, I see you, don’t worry.” He dipped his eyes quickly to the menu. “What do you fancy today?”

“A strawberry —”

“Yes, I know, you never vary your milkshake choice.”

“Why should I, when you can’t get better than strawberry?” I wagged my eyebrows at him.

“Okay, Grace. But sometimes wouldn’t you like a little chocolate? Or caramel? I tell you; you’re missing out.”

“I’ll take your word for it. And I’m going to have the veggie burger with wedges and sour cream.”

We ordered, but Mads didn’t settle, and his leg drummed a beat on the floor, sending vibrations through the table.

“Everything okay?

“Yeah. I’m good.” He put down the saltshaker and looked at me. “Listen, there’s something I need to ask you.”

My heart sat up and took note at his request. “Sure. Shoot.”

“Now, you have to promise me something first.” He looked worried, which made me worry about what he could need to ask that had put that look on his handsome face.

“What?” I sat forward and grasped his hand.

“Promise me you’ll hear me out and that you won’t freak out. And most of all, know that this is important to me and that I need you there. You and Oliver.”

“Oliver? What’s going on?” I squeezed his hand tighter.

“Zuri’s been lining me up for a while now, and next weekend, I have my chance. My first fight. It’s low-key, nothing big, but it’s finally my shot.”

Maddison’s face relaxed, and I could see how much it had taken to tell me this news—news that floored me and made me want to throw up my stomach lining.

“Fight?” I squeaked out.

The waitress dropped off our milkshakes.

“Yeah. The Club. It’s my time. But I need you there to watch, just like when we were kids and you watched me on the pitch.”

“That was sport, Mads, not you about to get your head kicked in for fun,” I whisper-shouted.

“It’s all good. I’ve been training for years. Zuri wouldn’t put me in if he didn’t think I was ready. Trust me.”

I put the straw between my lips and drank down the sweet and creamy goodness that, for a moment, let me escape what I was hearing.

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