Page 23 of Trouble
7
Maddox
Slumped against the filing cabinet, I tentatively reached up to my jaw, moving it around with my fingers and wincing at the pain. My mouth was bleeding, but I refused to wipe it or acknowledge it. Andre glowered at me from the other side of the room, shrouded in a darkness I had never seen before. And didn’t ever want to see again.
I wanted to go after Lyla and tell her everything was okay. But was it? I hadn’t really thought it through. What it was supposed to mean, where we were supposed to go from here. I could play it as if it were a weekend fling, although it was so much more than that. Always had been.
Judging by the flinty expression in Dre’s eyes and the way his lips were curling, I was pretty sure he wasn’t prepared to leave it. He needed some kind of explanation.
“I deserved that,” I said.
“Damn right you did,” hissed Andre, advancing towards me again.
I flinched and cowered backwards. “Unless, of course you take into consideration she chased after me.”
Andre snorted. “Yeah, course she did, Maddox.”
Truth hurts, huh?I think my bruised jaw was evidence.
“Why would I make it up?” It was true. I’d been weak and crumbled every time she’d come close to me over the past couple of days, but I hadn’t forgotten she was Andre’s sister, how could I?
“Bro code. You broke it.” Andre glared at me. “You’re messing around with my sister. How long has it been going on for? Sneaking around behind my back, laughing at me.”
“What difference does it make? A week, a month, a year. You’re still going to hate me.” I shrugged, grimacing as my ribs burned.
“A year? You’ve been fucking my sister for a year?” Andre advanced towards me, fists scrunched up tight, veins standing out prominently.
I held up my arms to protect me from another beating which was surely inevitable. “No, Andre. I haven’t.”
His eyes flashed. “How long?”
If it was out in the open, it might as well be all the way out, right? Why bother trying to sugar coat it or downplay it? He’d already caught us in the act, what’s the worst that could happen if I told him everything? Well, maybe not everything.
“You had to know that I had a crush on Lyla, and she had one on me. We spent the majority of high school tiptoeing around each other, trying to date other people.” A trickle of blood dripped onto my chin and grabbed a napkin from the table, holding it to my split lip.
“Doesn’t mean you have to act on it. I happen to have a thing for Beyoncé. Do you see me sleeping with her?”
I fought back a snigger at his analogy. “That’s a terrible comparison. You don’t have a shot at hell at Beyoncé.”
“And you shouldn’t have a shot in hell with Lyla.”
“Beyoncé’s married. And Jay-Z would kill you or hire someone to take you out. Besides, would Beyoncé really want anything to do with a guy who couldn’t sing or dance?” I was sailing close to the wind, knowing the wrong words could set Andre off again and I would find myself with worse than a split lip and a couple of bruised ribs.
Andre let out a harsh laugh and he seemed to relax slightly, coming to sit on the edge of the desk. I heaved a sigh, perhaps it would be okay after all.
“How would you feel if I dated your sister?” he countered.
“Dammit, Dre, I don’t have a sister!”
“Yeah, but what if you did?”
An uneasy silence descended over us as I thought about the answer. How would I feel if I were in his shoes? If I’d found out my best friend was sleeping with my sister.
“I’d be glad she had someone I liked and knew well enough to be sure he would love her and respect her,” I began, choosing my words carefully. “I’d be glad that if things worked out, you might be my brother-in-law and we’d spend every holiday together. I’d want my sister to be cherished and cared for by someone like you, regardless of our friendship.” There, I’d said my piece. He couldn’t fail to be impressed by my sentiments.
There was a lull as he chewed over what I’d said. “Nice words, buddy. Not sure I believe you though.”
“I don’t know what else I can say to convince you.”
