Until Friday Night (The Field Party #1)(20)

“Stay with me,” I asked her, not taking my eyes off Brady.

“Okay,” was her soft reply.

Brady walked toward us. Maggie stayed by my side. Brady glanced over at her but only for a second. He was focused on me. He wouldn’t know what to say to me. I knew that, because if the situations were reversed, I wouldn’t know what to say to him, either.

“You okay?” he asked, watching me cautiously. Like I would break down at any moment. Didn’t he get that I’d been dealing with this for a long time now?

“Yeah,” I replied, which was a lie, but I wasn’t going to make him feel any worse.

He let out a heavy sigh and ran his hand through his hair as he stared off across the street. He was thinking. He wanted me to tell him. I knew that. But what was he going to do once I did? Tell me he was sorry? That he was here for me if I needed him? Didn’t he know how pointless those words were? He couldn’t do anything for me. He couldn’t make this better.

“He’s been sick for about eighteen months,” I finally said, knowing it was the right thing to do. “The past couple months he’s gotten really bad. Doctors sent him home because there’s nothing else that can be done.”

Brady closed his eyes tightly and inhaled sharply through his nose. I waited for him to speak. I wasn’t sure I could tell him anything more. I didn’t want to talk about it.

When he opened his eyes, he looked at me. “Why didn’t you tell us . . . or me at least? This isn’t something you have to go through alone. We’d have been there for you.”

I felt Maggie’s fingers gently brush against my hand. She was silently trying to encourage me.

“I didn’t want to accept it or talk about it. Telling y’all made it real. I needed to keep going like it wasn’t real. But now . . . I can’t keep doing that. Things aren’t good. It’s bad now,” I explained.

He needed to understand why I’d left him in the dark about something so major in my life. He’d been my best friend since we were six. I knew he didn’t understand this and my not telling him. But it was how I needed to cope. “What can I do?” Brady asked, looking pained.

Before there wasn’t anything he could do. But now he was standing between something . . . or someone I needed. Someone who could help me.

“Let me be friends with Maggie. Just friends. She’s helped me in ways no one else could.”

I glanced over at her and saw her eyes had gone wide. She hadn’t expected that. It made her gorgeous face cute. For the first time in a long time I felt like laughing.

“You want to be friends with Maggie?” Brady asked, sounding confused. “I don’t understand.”

He wouldn’t. But she didn’t talk to him. He didn’t know how the sound of her voice could soothe an ache. He didn’t know having someone to talk to who understood the pain I was going through was exactly what I needed. I didn’t need to talk to him or any of the guys. They didn’t get it. Only Maggie.

Then You Shouldn’t Be So Damn Pretty

CHAPTER 13

MAGGIE

I watched Brady’s face as he stood there staring at me, then staring at West as if he hadn’t heard him correctly. I had to admit, I was just as surprised. West wanted to be my friend. Because I helped him. Like no one else could.

My chest felt warm, and there was a funny flutter in my stomach.

“You wouldn’t understand. No one does. Except for Maggie. She’s helped me a lot the past few days. Having her to talk to is what I need right now.”

The flutter turned into birds flapping around in my stomach. I had to remember West had said, “Just friends.” He hadn’t said, I’d like to kiss her again.

He was hurting, and he liked talking to me. That was all this was.

“She . . . uh . . . she doesn’t talk,” Brady said, glancing at me with an apologetic look on his face.

I waited. I didn’t want West to tell Brady that I talked to him. But then how else did he explain wanting to be my friend?

“She has her own way of communicating, and that’s enough,” West replied.

I wanted to sigh in relief. If my aunt Coralee knew I was talking to West, she’d be trying to get me to talk to her.

Brady pressed his lips together then nodded. “Okay. Yeah . . . if you want to be friends I’m okay with that. But just friends. Don’t—” He paused, and I felt West tense beside me.

“She’s safe with me. I respect her, and I also won’t let anyone else hurt her,” West said with firm determination in his voice.

The birds in my stomach started up again. He wanted to be friends. I could do that. I wanted that. I needed that too.

Brady appeared to believe him. “Good. Well, you want to come inside? Mom made chocolate cake.”

“Yeah.” West looked down at me. “You like chocolate cake?”

I hesitated then nodded. I didn’t want to interfere in Brady’s life, but West wanted me there, and I wanted to be there for him. This side of West wasn’t anything like I expected. He wasn’t cruel or hard. He wasn’t putting up a façade for anyone. This was the guy I wanted him to be when he kissed me that time at the field.

“Then let’s go get a slice of Coralee’s. It’s delicious.”

Brady looked confused, but he turned and headed inside. West nodded for me to follow Brady, and as I did, West fell into step beside me.