Page 121 of Ever With Me

Lindsay shut the door behind him and squealed. “Okay, now that he’s gone, you have tospill.”She dragged Maddie into the living room, where Jen Cavanaugh was setting out charcuterie. “Is Brooks Kent as yummy as he looks? We need every sordid detail.”

Maddie’s face flushed. “Jen doesnotwant to hear about my sex life.”

Jen’s blue eyes lit with interest as she sat on the sofa and grabbed a piece of prosciutto-wrapped melon. “Jendoeswant to hear about your sex life. I had twins a year and a half ago, Maddie. Action in my house in the middle of the night is Jason or me getting up to walk someone around until they fall back asleep again. And because there are two of them, they like to take turns on being awake.”

“Does he have stamina?” Lindsay asked, pouring a glass of Riesling. “He looks like he would have stamina. All those ab muscles.”

Maddie covered her face, chortling back a laugh. “You guys are ridiculous. What the hell do ab muscles have to do with stamina?”

“I don’t know. He clearly works his core muscles.”

“The hell with stamina. Who needs long-drawn-out sessions anyway? Wham, bam, thank you, ma’am, can be pretty great. I want to know if he sings to you,” Jen said, lifting her brows. “Becausethatwould probably make me fall completely in love.”

Maddie looked at their eager, expectant faces and shook her head.I’m not seriously considering telling them anything about my love life, am I?

Then again, it was fun to be with Lindsay and Jen. She had missed their company despite her time with Brooks. And Jen had always been like the fourth Yardley sister because she’d only had two older brothers and had been best friends with Lindsay her whole life.

Maddie chewed on her lower lip slowly. “He’s very?—”

The doorbell rang.

“Hold that thought. I’ll get it,” Lindsay said, popping up from the couch again. She crossed back toward the living room and opened the door. Naomi stood there, holding a plate of brownies.

Maddie’s heart lurched.

All week long, she and Naomi had done a decent job of avoiding each other. They didn’t both need to be on the floor of the Depot at the same time, and most of Maddie’s work was behind the scenes anyway.

Naomi locked eyes with Maddie, a frown settling on her lips. “I didn’t know Mad?—”

“Oh, cut the crap and get inside,” Lindsay said, dragging her by the arm. She shut the door behind them and pulled Naomi into the living room.

“Hey, Jen,” Naomi said, setting the brownies on the coffee table.

“You can’t ignore Maddie, Naomi. We all know what you’re doing, and she was just about to tell us all about Brooks’s skills as a lover, so don’t ruin it for us.”

Naomi made a face. “I’d really rather not hear about that.”

“You know what? Maybe I should go. I don’t want to kill Naomi’s fun. She’s the one with kids who doesn’t get to get out for girls’ night as much.” Maddie glanced back at the exit.

“No.” Lindsay stamped her foot. “What, are you guys just not going to talk anymore?” She turned to Naomi. “So Maddie lied. She fessed up and told the truth. Apologized. She made Travis lie to me, and I’m not still mad at her. Can’t you forgive her already?”

Naomi crossed her arms defensively. “I’m not the only one who’s mad, you know. Maddie kicked me out of her apartment.”

Lindsay backed away slowly, heading to the sofa and the safety Jen offered there.

Maddie sighed. “After you insulted Brooks and were incredibly rude to him?—”

“Well, what was I supposed to think when Fred Strickland called me to tell me you were having sex in his storeroom?”

“Oh, Brooksdoessound like fun,” Jen whispered to Lindsay as she sat.

“Heisfun,” Maddie said pointedly. “And a good person. One who doesn’t deserve to be judged by my older sister—who doesn’t know a thing about him—yet assumed every bad thing people say about him is true.”Nowshe was getting mad. “Logan said you practically rolled out the red carpet for him when he introduced you to Kayla. Why can’t you do that with the man I’m falling in love with?”

Naomi flinched. “Because I’m the one who has to be there to pick up all the fallen pieces of Maddie when the breakup happens. When was the last time Logan brought someone he cared about home? Never. You’ve met the ‘love of your life’ a half dozen times.”

Lindsay drew the gasp that Maddie felt deep in her own heart. Her eyes pricked with tears.

The room seemed to freeze, the four women staring at each other tensely.

---