Just as she stilled her frayed nerves, the doorbell rang. She frowned at Brett, who smirked.
“Maybe Marcel forgot his key.” Brett shrugged.
Madi looked at her phone; it was too early for Marcel. She pulled the blanket from her legs and stood.
The doorbell rang again as she strode down the hallway to the front foyer. She pulled the door open and gasped as she saw Travis Redmond and Skyla Larson grinning at her.
Madi covered her hands over her mouth in surprise and turned to see Brett coming around her side to face her, grinning from ear to ear.
“Oh my…”
“Surprise!” Travis and Sky said in unison.
“I invited them down. Sky had a couple days off from the trial, so they said they would come down and keep us company.” Brett propped himself at the pillar next to the door.
Madi began to cry even as Sky launched herself at her, pulling Madi in for a tight hug. Madi squeezed her back, glad to see her friend. It had been since the funeral; she couldn’t remember what she’d last said or if she’d even been cordial to her then. It seemed so long ago.
“The Mexican sun becomes you, lady,” Sky said and pulled back, rubbing Madi’s tanned arms.
“She’s only sayin’ that ‘cause she’s a ginger and can’t tan.” Travis joked and kissed Madi’s cheek as he pulled her in for a hug.
“Watch it, Ares,” Sky scolded. Travis smirked, sharing an intimate moment with his woman that wasn’t lost to Madi and Brett. Madi envied their familiar exchange, feeling even more melancholy that she was on her period. Damn, her emotions were all over the place today.
“Come in, guys. Oh, I’m so glad you’re here.”
Sky entered the foyer and Travis lugged a duffle bag behind him, setting it down before they all moved into the living room.
“That view never gets old, does it, Zeus?” Travis motioned to the wall of glass in front of them.
“Oh, we’re back to the god names again? My bad,” Brett stated, rolling his eyes.
“This is our year, man. Gotta start early.”
Madi felt a pang of regret seize her stomach and looked away even as Sky gave Travis a look. Sky gripped her arm and pulled her into the living room, away from the guys who were walking over to the bar.
Sky sat Madi down onto the couch and pulled her back into a hug. Madi reveled in the comfort she felt from the friend she’d only had for a few months. The girls had connected quickly after meeting one another the Sunday after Thanksgiving, forming a close bond.
“How are you, really?” Sky asked and rested her hand on Madi’s arm as she pulled back.
“I started my period on Tuesday.” Madi looked down, trying to hold the tears back again. Sky knew that she and Hunter had been trying to have a baby and would understand her disappointment better than Brett ever could.
“Oh, honey, I’m so sorry.” Sky squeezed her again and let Madi cry on her shoulder. She did for a time before finally pulling back.
“I’m sorry, I’m not trying to spoil—”
“Hey, I’m here to be your friend, comfort, sounding board, anything you need. I’m sorry I’ve been MIA. This trial has been chaotic.”
Giovanni Geraci’s trial started the week after Hunter’s death, and Sky had been in the courtroom nearly the whole time, Brett had told Madi. Madi knew what getting the crime boss charged meant to Skyla and Travis too. She nodded that she understood, despite that she didn’t—not really. She’d seen court cases on television but had no idea the level of work involved in building a case.
Sky wiped the tears from Madi’s cheeks and smiled at her. “Have you at least enjoyed getting away?”
Madi nodded and smiled. “It’s beautiful here. How do Val and Linc ever leave?”
“Speaking of Linc and Val, they’ll be here tomorrow to spend the day,” Trav said from the bar as he poured himself a scotch. “They didn’t wanna overstep; figured the boys would drive us all crazy if they stayed too long.”
“Oh, nonsense. They’re precious,” Madi answered.
“Precious, demons, translates the same in any language.” Travis winked, and Madi knew he was only kidding, he loved those twins like they were his own. “Val’s words, actually.”
“I think we need a girl’s day when you get back home, Madi. Val needs a day. I say we let the boys babysit, go to lunch, and get mani/pedis,” Sky offered with a wink over at her man.
“Fireball, you say the word and I’ll play Mr. Mom. If that’ll start the train rollin’, I’m down. I can’t wait to work on making Travis Jr.” The lust that oozed from his eyes as he looked back at Skyla made Madison’s uterus ache. Madi knew Sky was giving him a look, but she averted her gaze to keep the pain from ripping through her again. Travis didn’t know, she couldn’t fault him.
“What are you guys watchin’?” Sky asked, pulling the conversation in a different direction as she looked at Arnold Schwarzenegger shooting through the jungle on TV.
“Ah, we can go back out to the beach. You guys just got here. Let’s go enjoy the day. We can watch TV anytime.” Madi smiled and stood.
“Sounds good to me,” Travis said. “Which room you want us in?” He asked Brett who suddenly looked back at Madi, a look akin to fear in his eyes that she didn’t understand. He’d been acting different lately, and she couldn’t pinpoint it. He was her best friend, and since Hunter died, things were just different between them. She was going to have to have a serious talk with him at some point, a talk they should’ve had a very long time ago.
Brett pointed to the room he’d been sleeping in. The housekeeper had just changed the sheets so they could’ve had either one, as far as Madi was concerned. But Brett was always putting her before himself, he always had, and she smiled back at him, thanking him without words. He grinned back and followed Travis up the staircase, presumably to move his things to Madi’s room.
They’d slept together many times before now; they’d simply do so again for the next couple nights. Although, Madi’s rapid heart rate stated it was going to be different this time. At least, for her anyway.
CHAPTER FIVE
“So, you told her yet?” Travis asked as they sat on the beach, sun beating down on them.
The girls were in the ocean, jumping the waves that crested in the distance.
“Told her what?” Brett asked wearily.
“You know what, Brett, don’t be coy.”
“You should tread lightly, Travis,” Brett growled beneath his breath.
“Oh c’mon, man. I’m not tryin’ to overstep here.”
“Then you’ll know that life is about timing as much as anything else, and now isn’t the time!” Brett spat, whipping his sunglasses off.
“Easy there, Zeus.”
“Stop fuckin’ calling me that.”
“Why?”
Because it makes me think of Hunter, he wanted to scream. Hunter who’d been thrown in his face far too much over the last three days. It was enough that he’d practically killed the man by being in the wrong seat at the wrong time. Now Brett was trying to pick up the pieces Hunt had left behind, including consoling the widow whom he’d failed to knock up. Brett was paying for that, too.
You selfish bastard. You had to go and die and leave me your messes to clean up, Brett wanted to shout to the sky. Brett felt a storm brewing, for he knew it was only a matter of time before the media caught wind of what happened back in Vegas last June, and when they did, he would be paying for even more. “You reap what you sow,” his mother had always told him. So then why was Brett being punished for Hunter’s fuck-ups?
“Hey bud, c’mon. I just see it on both your faces.” Travis shoved Brett’s shoulder lightly.
“See what?”
“Need. Want. Pain.”
“Her fuckin’ husband just died. She just found out she didn’t conceive his child because she started her period three days ago. What am I supposed to do? Just waltz right in and have my way with her like none of that matters? No, I can’t.
No matter how much I want to.”
“You love her.”
“Yes, and I have for the last twenty damn years; that changes nothing. I’m not gonna be her rebound guy because that’s exactly what would happen if I made a move right now. Besides, how the hell did you know, anyway?” Brett grumbled.
Travis looked him over and shrugged. “It’s not that hard to see, especially now that I know what love is. What happened between you two? How did Hunter even come into the picture if you knew her first?”
Brett didn’t wanna discuss this, not with Travis who’d never understood love until now. He looked into the distance, beyond the girls laughing in the surf, back to when he was a teenager, when his love for Madison Hope Taylor had been prominent and promising. Neither of them had dated anyone else, but they hadn’t really dated each other either. They were good kids, Christian kids, growing up with big hopes and dreams. They were inseparable, always hanging out, always together. They never had to worry about the other dating because everyone just assumed they were together—and neither of them had ever bothered to confirm nor deny it.
Then it all changed come college, and Brett failed to make his move. He’d realized after their night in her dorm when they’d made out and he’d stopped her from going further, that something had changed. Madi was different with him, distant with him. And before he’d gotten the chance to even talk with her about it, Hunter was moving in and taking her away from him. It had all happened so fast.
“Why didn’t you stop them from getting married if that’s how you felt all along?”
It was as if Travis was reading his thoughts; how did he know? Brett sighed heavily and pulled his ball cap off, running a hand through his hair. “Fuck! Because I thought she loved him and was happy. Who was I to take that away from her? She’d never told me she loved me—not like that anyway. I just… I thought it better to have her for my friend than nothing at all. What if I told her how I felt, and she thought I was nuts and cut ties with me? At least at a distance I could still love her and have her in my life, even if it wasn’t exactly where I wanted her to be. I know it doesn’t make sense to you but, at the time, it was my best option.”
“You got comfortable.”
“Comfortable? Fuck no. I’ve never been comfortable. You think I’m ok with this?” Brett growled again, but it finally felt good to get it all out and in the open. He’d kept his feelings bottled inside for far too long.
“I know you aren’t; it’s written all over your face. That’s why I’m saying something about it.”
“Alright, Casanova, you’re so good with all this shit, what would you do? Did you push Skyla into something you knew she wasn’t ready for to serve yourself? Would you disregard it all, knowing she isn’t mentally ready?”
“No, but a nudge in the right direction always helps,” Trav smirked.
But Brett wasn’t Travis. He knew Madi, better than anyone else did; he’d known her his entire life. She needed time to grieve for her loss. She needed space. She didn’t need Brett confessing his undying love and forcing himself on her right now. It would be a mistake, and Brett had waited far too patiently for far too long to blow it—all because he simply couldn’t wait any longer.
“Honestly Brett, I’m not being pushy. I just know what I see and you deserve to be happy,” Trav insisted.
It had been so long since Brett had felt happiness, he didn’t know what it was anymore. He’d thrown himself into the game, for if he couldn’t be happy in love he could be happy with his accomplishments at least. Then Hunter had died, and his life felt like it had been upended and frozen. The emotions running through him were heightened to spiked edges. He now had Madi to consider over everything else. Not that he hadn’t prior to that but, for the last five years, she’d been Hunter’s direct responsibility; now, suddenly, she was his.
After Madi and Hunt had gotten married, Brett didn’t call her as much as he used to or text or come by—which had been easier when they were in Denver. Once they’d moved home to Atlanta, he’d been there and, of course, had seen her almost daily at the complex over these last five years, but he’d tried very hard to give her and Hunter the space they deserved. Brett had always felt Hunter’s subtle jealousy of his and Madi’s relationship, despite his and Hunter’s own closeness.
To say that Brett and Hunter had a hot and cold relationship would be an accurate statement. But how could another man really love the man who coveted his wife? Even if they had been like brothers. Hunter’s intolerance of Brett’s infatuation with Madi had become more and more evident as time had gone on, causing Brett to be even more cautious with her this past year.
Now, Brett could have a clean slate, with Hunter gone. He and Madi could go back to the way things had been, before Hunter… but they couldn’t, not really. Not with Hunter’s shadow always hanging over them both…and Brett realized that was the real problem here.
Even with Hunter gone, he’d never be truly gone.
And Brett hated that he hated that.
“Maybe it’s me who should be committed,” Brett stated and covered his face with his palms, misery etching his heart.
“Aww c’mon, man. Don’t say that. He was your friend. He’d give you his blessing where Madi’s concerned. What kinda selfish prick would he be if he didn’t? I mean he could be a prick, but—”
“He did,” Brett confessed, “give me his blessing, I mean. On his death bed. He knew, all along he knew. And yet he was still my friend. Fucked up, right? Could you be friends, no best friends, with me even if I was head over heels in love with Skyla? Tell the truth.”
Travis gritted his teeth, air hissing through as he pulled in a breath. “Yeah, I’d probably wanna beat the living hell out of you, honestly.”
“Exactly!”
“But you knew Madi before he did, so he kinda didn’t have a choice in the matter. If he hated you, it wouldn’t have made a difference, Madi was your BFF first. He had to accept you.” Travis shrugged, his logic sound enough.
That was probably true. Madi had chosen not to cut Brett out of her life when she and Hunter hit it off, so Hunter had to accept Brett’s relationship with her. Knowing Hunter, he’d kept Brett close out of necessity. What was that old saying about keeping friends close but enemies closer? Even still, Hunt could’ve forced Madi’s hand—maybe he did at some point; but their friendship never seemed to suffer during Madi and Hunter’s relationship of seven years, despite the imposed distance between the two of them. Perhaps it was Madison that bridged the gap, the glue that kept them all linked. It didn’t much matter now, either way. Brett simply had to be glad that Hunter cared for him despite his secret love for the man’s wife.
Brett remembered Hunter’s dying words, “I knew, and yet I was still going to have her.” Did that make him selfish? Yes. Hunt had known, and he hadn’t cared. He’d known Brett was the right match, too—he’d said that also. Brett had Hunter’s blessing, so why was he still so tore up about moving in and doing what he should’ve done all along?
“Know what I think?” Travis asked quickly as he saw the girls coming out of the water toward them arm-in-arm, laughing. Brett’s brows arched in question. “I think you need to take Hunt completely out of the equation. He’s gone now, buddy. Do what you would’ve done had he not been here. Because he sure as shit would’ve done the same if it had been you who’d died instead.”
As much as Travis was right, it stung. Hunt, as much as Brett loved the jerk, was a selfish dick. If Brett had died and the roles had been reversed, there wouldn’t be anything stopping him from taking what he’d always wanted if he were in Brett’s shoes.
“That’s true, but there’s one thing you forget, Ares,” Brett grated.
“What’s that, Zeus?”
“I’m nothing like Hunter. I’ve always put my queen first, and I always will.”
“Marcel, another delicious feast. I must say, I think I’ll kidnap you and take you home with me,” Madi cooed to their talented chef.
> Marcel laughed and kissed Madi’s cheeks, getting a giggle from her. “Muchas gracias! You flatter me, señora McFadden.”
Damn that sounded good, Madison McFadden, but Madi was blushing. “Oh, no, I— were not…”
“You no married?” Marcel looked surprised even as Brett’s big palm rested on Madi’s back. “You two are perfectos juntos.”
“Right. I said the same thing, amigo.” Travis winked at them, and Brett rolled his eyes at him.
“Oh, you too, señor Redmond—pájaros del amor.” Marcel pointed to Travis and Sky getting a blush out of them. He blew them kisses and moved back to flip the fish for their next round of tacos.
The food here was as amazing as the view and Madi had indulged on several skinny margaritas tonight, feeling her lips starting to numb. It was perfect outside with the warm, Caribbean breeze blowing as they listened to the sound of fresh fish charring on the grill, the ocean lulling them in the distance.
Madi smiled up at Brett who returned it. He seemed lighter too now that Travis and Sky were here—or it could be all the Coronas he’d been throwing back—either way it was good to see Brett break out of his serious-Captain-America shell. She nudged him and kissed his cheek, lingering a little longer than usual to inhale his aftershave, letting her nose hover at his scruffy jawline. He shivered and her body tingled as if striking an electric wire.
“I’m planning to propose to Skyla soon. Any ideas, Ms. CEO?” Travis asked as Sky walked inside to go to the restroom.
“Already?” Brett asked, surprised.
“Yes, already! Dammit. Y’all know that woman has me all kinds of crazy. I am not letting that sexy little spitfire get away before putting a ring on it. Beyoncé warns about that, you know? And don’t say, ‘She already has a promise ring.’ That’s not enough.”
FALSE START (Gods of the Gridiron Book 2) Page 7
