Page 91 of Rematch
“I’ll text you the address of our spot and meet you there,” I told Adrian as we parted ways in the parking lot.
On the ride, I noticed Jayden was awfully quiet. He sat low in his seat, his eyes trained out the window. Any other time I would’ve chalked it up to weariness, but given the conversation earlier, I knew it was more than that.
While I hoped he felt comfortable talking to me about his feelings, I didn’t want to push too hard and send his guard back up. So, I let him dwell in his thoughts. In the meantime, I tried to think of something that would cheer him up.
“Have you ever been to an MMA event before?” I asked as we pulled up to his house.
Jayden shook his head.
“Do you want to? There’s an event happening this weekend. If I go through the grapevine, I could probably get us some VIP passes. We could sit real close, maybe go backstage and meet some of the contenders. Would you like that?”
“Yeah, I guess,” he said with a shrug.
I frowned. “You sure you’re alright?”
He pulled at the door knob and pushed the door open. “Mhm,” he replied as he hopped out of the car. “I’ll see you on Monday.”
He slammed the door shut, and I gripped the steering wheel to restrain myself from yelling at him for it. I could give him a pass for tonight. Space and time should help him come around. But next time, he was swallowing his pride and using his words - whether he liked it or not.
Chapter 37
Audrey
“Hey, I am so sorry,” I told Max as I scurried towards the table he was occupying. We’d texted over my break about plans to have appetizers and drinks with his cousin and his wife. I agreed, but underestimated the turn the end of my shift would take. I ended up leaving later than I was supposed to due to some emergencies that rolled through. Then, I still had to take a shower and put myself back together. Although I wasn’t terribly late, I felt bad about having to meet them there instead of riding with Max.
“Don’t apologize,” Max said, rising from his seat to kiss me. “It’s fine.” Wrapping his arm around my waist, he motioned to the other patrons at our table. “Audrey, this is my cousin, Adrian. I think you met him once.”
I nodded, recognizing the name more than the face. Max used to talk about him all the time when he first moved in. “Hello,” I greeted him.
“And this is his wife, Kiara.”
My gaze went to the beautiful woman sitting beside him. “Hi! I love your hair!”
Her polite smile grew as she patted the curls of her boho braids. “Thank you!” She replied, a southern drawl dripping offof her voice like honey. “I love yours too! Your curls are so pretty!”
I scooted into the booth to sit across from her. “Thanks! I put a lot of work into them.”
“We were just talking about you,” Max said.
“Oh, really?” I looked at the couple across from us. “Whatever he said, I promise it’s not true!”
Adrian raised a brow. “Oh, so you’renotthe girl he’s been drooling over since middle school?”
“Hey, I never said I was drooling,” Max corrected.
“Sounded like it to me.”
I shook my head at them. “Okay, so his words might be a little true.”
“And, you’re a doctor, right?” Kiara asked. “How are you liking the medical field?”
“Depends on the day. I work in the emergency room at a pediatric hospital, so I see everything from broken bones to life-threatening trauma.”
“Is it hard to keep calm in those more dire situations?”
“It was at first,” I admitted. “I cried a lot during my intern year. But, after a while, you learn to compartmentalize and deal with it later.”
I glanced at the boys and noticed they’d gone off in their own conversation. Turning back to Kiara, I asked, “What do you do?” I asked, changing the subject.
