Page 28 of The Love You Win

Griffin rubs the back of his skull a few times while he shoots Maddox a dirty look. “I was just joking, Dad. Geez.” Then he turns to me, looking sheepish, and says, “Sorry, Isla.”

“That’s okay. I actually do have a coworker like that. Her name is Cynthia, and she teaches science. I heard a rumor that she’s an actual dominatrix and makes men wear collars and g-strings while they clean her apartment. If they don’t do a good enough job, she flogs them, then makes them lick the floor as punishment.” Cynthia is also sixty-two, but Griffin doesn’t need to know that.

He shivers with his whole body. “Ugh. Who would clean for fun?”

My description of Cynthia prompts Logan to tell a story about the time he went home with a woman after an away game and found himself handcuffed to her headboard, wearing nothing but nipple clamps and his dress socks. I don’t think I’ve laughed so much in months. Hell, maybe even longer.

I try to remember the last time my belly hurt from laughing when I was with Alex. I can’t. He was so obsessed with appearing perfect that it bled into our private lives at home. I stopped cracking dirty jokes or telling him anything that might make him scowl at me with that judgmental look of disdain that made my insides wither. At the end, he was a completely different person than the one I’d met. It wore me down, the way he’d tell me every little thing I did wrong every day. Even if it was something as insignificant as laughing at something crass.

The realization that I stopped sharing anything real with Alex years ago hits me hard. Or maybe, worse still, it’s not that I stopped sharing things with him so much as I stopped enjoying things. I stopped living outside of work and being there for him.

I jump when Maddox’s low voice rumbles in my ear. “Hey. You okay?” His eyes are kind and concerned when I look up at him. They search my face, lingering on my frown. Like he actually cares. But that’s wishful thinking, because clearly I’m desperate for positive attention.

“Yeah, sorry. I’m good.”

He studies me for a moment before nodding. “Let’s get you some food. The alcohol’s probably hitting, and I suspect you can’t knock back as many beers as these idiots can without it affecting you.” Without waiting for a response, he raises his hand and waves at our server. I don’t correct him because I could eat. And I can’t tell him what was actually going through my head because it’s too pathetic. That kind of confession would bring this night to a grinding halt, and to my great surprise, I’m actually enjoying myself. And there’s a secret part of me that hopes Sebastian’s offer to go see a game is genuine because I wouldn’t mind doing this again. Hanging out with these guys. With Maddox. Nothing romantic will ever happen between us, but maybe we could be friends.

I could use more friends.

The dark cloud over my head lifts when Maddox puts a plate of assorted appetizers in front of me. I guess I was hungry. It doesn’t hurt that he has to slap Griffin’s hand away at least five times, which makes all of us laugh.

“Isla,” Logan says, “did Madds ever tell you about the time he got locked out of his hotel room in Montreal in nothing but this tiny little hotel towel?”

I almost choke on my panko-encrusted onion ring. “What? No.”

“Dude.” Maddox gives Logan a look that promises retribution, but his teammate ignores him.

“Yep. We were there for a two-game series, and Wright over there stole all of his clothes while he was in the shower. So Madds is soaking wet, the hotel towel barely covering his whole ass, and he’s going from room to room demanding to know who took his stuff. Unfortunately, there were quite a few families on our floor, and this young mother comes storming down the hall and starts yelling at him. She’s calling him a pervert and a sicko, and all the shouting draws a crowd.” Logan snickers while Maddox has his head in his hands next to me. “At one point, he was so flustered that he started talking with his hands, and the towel fell. He was so shocked that he just stood there, hands mid-gesture, dick swinging in the breeze. His ass almost caused an international incident.”

I can’t hold back my laughter. “No.”

“Oh, yes.”

“What did the woman do when his towel dropped?”

Logan chuckles. “She got real quiet for a minute while she made eye contact with his dick and then screamed bloody murder. Bash pulled Maddox into his room and Coach had to talk the chick down from calling the cops.”

“Oh, my god.” I sneak a glance at Maddox as I struggle, and fail, to hold in my laughter. His cheeks are bright red and his lips press into a thin line, but his eyes sparkle with humor. “You dickmatized that poor woman.”

He barks out a laugh. “Dickmatized?”

I nod. My whole body shakes with laughter. “Yep, dickmatized. Like hypnotized or traumatized. Probably a mix of both in your case.”

Sebastian throws his head back and howls while Griffin and Logan join in. “God, that’s perfect. That’s exactly what happened.” He raises his beer to me. “We are so going to convince you to come to our games. You’re one of us now.”

One of us now. The words burrow into my heart and make it swell with their easy acceptance. I risk a glance at Maddox to gauge his reaction to Sebastian’s proclamation and find him smiling.

You’ll only ever be a friend, I remind my traitorous heart as it beats a little faster. You’re not his type, and he’s not yours.

Maybe if I say it enough times, I’ll actually believe it.

thirteen

MADDOX

The guys love her. They’re instantly protective, can’t stop laughing when she cracks jokes at my expense, and they haven’t stopped trying to get her to agree to come to at least one of our games. I’m so screwed because the minute we drop her off, they’ll be up my ass about trying to win her over. And if I tell them there’s not a chance in hell, I suspect Griff will take that as permission to shoot his shot.

As much as I love Griffin, in the time I’ve known him, he’s never been with the same woman for more than three days. Some bullshit about how he’s cursed, so why fight fate? Isla deserves better. It’s not even that I want her; it’s just that I know she’s recently been through a nasty breakup, and Griff’s not capable of offering a woman more than a few nights of fun.

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