Page 6 of Trust Me
“Every woman in town notices that man. You should just walk up to him, throw your arms around him, and kiss him. I bet you won’t be disappointed.”
“Well, I’ll keep that in mind,” I reply, knowing good and well I won’t be doing that anytime soon.
“Hey, why don’t we go out next Saturday night? It’s been a while since we went to Jack’s for some drinks and pool. I bet your mom would keep Brookie Bean for you until Sunday dinner.”
“Okay. That does sound like fun. I’ll ask her tomorrow when I swing by the bakery.”
I proceed to tell her all about my conversation with my mom about Drake and his newest squeeze, Kelsey. “Geez, Kelsey? She sounds eighteen. Is she a cheerleader too?” Holly asks sarcastically.
“She’s a junior in college, apparently. I hope she doesn’t mind sharing her boyfriend,” I throw out there as my mind returns briefly to my own relationship with Drake.
If there’s one thing Drake can’t do, it is monogamy. I started dating him the summer before my seventeenth birthday. Drake was myfirst boyfriend; my first everything. Well, almost first everything. He had just turned twenty when we met, and I was smitten from that first moment. We met at the river where all the kids go for swimming, sunbathing, and to hang out with friends. He was super tan in his board shorts that hung low on his lean hips. He had just finished his freshman year of college, and every girl was looking at him with lust-filled eyes. Ultimately, it was me he approached that day, and we hit it off right away. He used his good manners and sexy smile to charm his way into my life and, eventually, my pants. On my seventeenth birthday, he gave me a beautiful heart necklace, and in return, I gave him my virginity. I fell hard and fast for Drake Connor.
It took a while before I heard the first rumor of Drake being with another girl from a few towns over. It was my senior year in high school, and he was away at college. When I confronted him on it, he swore he was faithful to me, and the rumor was started by a jealous frat brother. Of course, being the naïve eighteen-year-old, I believed him. In fact, the way he looked at me made me feel guilty for questioning his faithfulness and loyalty to me.
By the time I graduated from high school, I started hearing more and more rumors. Girls Ididn’t even know were coming up to me on the street and telling me he was cheating on me. One girl in particular called me up and told me she had been with Drake multiple times. Again, I confronted him, and he denied it. So when she called again, I told her off. I didn’t have time for jealous girls and their petty stupidity.
That’s when she sent me copies of their text messages back and forth. She even had photos, lots of photos. I was sick, literally sick to my stomach at his betrayal. Turns out it wasn’t only his betrayal making me nauseous because that’s also when I noticed my period was late. After a brief conversation with Holly over the phone that involved a whole lot of crying, she met me at my parents’ house with a drugstore bag full of pregnancy tests. First test came back positive right away. So did the next four. I was nineteen, pregnant with a cheater’s baby, alone, and nursing a broken heart from the man who swore he’d always be by my side.
Even after we broke up, I assumed he’d be a part of his child’s life. When I told him I was pregnant, his response was to tell me it wasn’t his. Apparently, in his mind if he’s not faithful, I’m not being faithful either. He threw me out of the apartment we just rented together. Seriously, the ink was barely dry on the lease. He walked away, telling me he wasn’t ruining his life bysaddling himself with a baby.
Who says that anyway? I didn’t get myself pregnant, mister.
I can count on one hand how many times Drake has seen Brooklyn in the three years since her birth. Even then, he doesn’t acknowledge her as his child.
Jerk.
I wrap up my conversation with Holly with a promise to call her as soon as I confirmed my sitter situation for next Saturday night. After our goodbyes, I sit on the swing in the crisp October air, staring into the dark of night, and recall all those nights I cried myself to sleep over Drake. How can one person be so stupid? And not just once, but twice. You’d think, with the Drake drama, I wouldn’t be so stupid as to put my heart out there a second time. But no one ever said I was the brightest star in the sky. The fact was I wanted to believe in the magic of true love. But the one time I finally decide to open my heart again, that person rips it out and stomps on it too. Is it so hard to find a guy who wants a relationship with you and you alone?
As I’m sitting on the swing, I see a shadow coming toward me down the sidewalk across the street. As the running figure crosses the street a few doors down and heads toward the sidewalk in front of my house, I realize I know that shadow. It’s Maddox.
As his swift, strong legscarry him along the sidewalk in front of my house, he turns his head and catches my gaze. He stops his jog and pulls the earbuds from his ears. His breathing is labored and his body is sweaty. I can hear the faint music from the earbuds and can tell it’s loud and edgy. Probably AC/DC if I had to guess.
“Hey, what are you doing out here?” he asks.
“Just enjoying what’s left of the nice evening weather. Out for a jog?” I ask.
Well duh, Miss Obvious.
Idiot.
“Yeah,” he says as he approaches my steps. “Mind if I join you for a minute?”
My brain almost shuts down, and I can’t think. Maddox wants to sit with me on my front porch? Hell. He actually sits down on my porch swing with me. I can’t help but wonder if it would be inappropriate to climb onto his lap. Maybe lick his sweaty neck and rub my hands through his damp, messy hair?
So I just shake my head, nodding my approval to join me.
“Can I get you a drink of water?” I finally get out.
“No, I’m good. So what are you thinking about out here all by yourself?”
There’s no way I can tell him what I was honestly thinking about, so I decide to go the safe route and mention my conversation with Holly about Saturday night. “It’ll be good for you to go out for a night. Of course, Jake and I will be there after we get off work to keep an eye on you,” he says.
Great. Maddox is in big brother mode.
“Well, I’m a big girl. I don’t really need you to watch out for me,” I reply, my tone kind of short.
I look over at him, and he’s staring at my chest. Not like a little glance, but full-fledged staring at my girls like he’s picturing what they look like under my shirt without my bra. My nipples pucker under his intense watchful eyes. He glances up and makes eye contact with me, which causes me to blush. Not just a slight pink, but a full-blown, red-faced, “Oh my God, it’s two hundred degrees out here” kind of blush. He gives me that crooked half smile of his, not even embarrassed I just busted him ogling my girls.
