Take a Chance on Me(52)

He looked at her, one brow raised.

She cleared her throat. “It is.”

“All right.” His tone was soft, as though he pacified her. “Mitch is down by the river.”

She sat up straight. “River?”

He nodded, pointing to the corner of the house. “Through the backyard, past the trees.”

“How do you know?”

He shrugged. “His car’s here, there’s no lights on inside, seems the logical bet.”

She reached out and touched his arm, a simple brush of her fingers. “Thank you.”

He nodded, then got up and stretched before jogging down the steps. When he reached the bottom, he turned back. “Don’t be too hard on him. He’s out of his element.”

Maddie narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”

He picked up his duffel and gave her a little salute, walking away. “Night, Maddie.”

She called out after him. “How very cryptic of you.”

He laughed and disappeared into the night.

A warm breeze blew against her cheek as she looked in the direction Sam had indicated. The Maddie from a couple of days ago would have retreated, but the new Maddie wanted to face her fate, regardless of consequences. She bounded down the steps, rounded the corner of the house, and walked toward the trees.





The flowing water and millions of stars dotting the sky had done their job, calming Mitch like they had since he was six years old. He sucked in a lungful of humid air, the smell of dank earth and river water reminding him of a time when life wasn’t so damn complicated.

Behind him, a twig cracked, disrupting the gurgle of the water as footsteps rustled over the grass and leaves. Quiet as a mouse, Maddie sat down next to him, scooting onto the blanket he’d picked up from the back porch and laid on the grass. He tensed, waiting for the questions, the demand for explanations. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his elbow, and dropped her head to his shoulder.

His heart skipped a beat. The unsettling niggle that had hovered in the back of his mind since the first night he’d brought her home came into vivid, unavoidable focus: if he wanted her, he’d have to fight for her.

This wasn’t going to be some fun, easy, week-long distraction.

She’d leave a mark.

When was the last time he’d fought for anything? Had he ever? Before he’d crashed and burned, he’d never even broken a sweat. Every opportunity had either been handed to him or had been easy. Sure, he’d had the brains to take advantage of them, but he’d never fought for it. And when the world had come crashing down around him, he had run. Pure and simple.

He looked down at Maddie. All that red hair shimmered in the moonlight as it brushed against his arm. The soft skin of her cheek rested against his biceps, her breath warm as she sighed.

They sat for a long, long time. The lazy trickle of the river’s current, the rustle of leaves in the summer’s breeze, and their breathing were the only sounds. The longer they sat, the calmer he grew, until all his turbulent emotions smoothed over into something peaceful.


Untangling himself from her, he slid an arm around her waist, actively touching her for the first time since she’d shown up. She uttered another of those content sounds that tugged deep inside him.

Human again, he planted a kiss on the top her head. “I’m sorry.” The words were rusty on his tongue, and he realized he couldn’t remember the last time he’d uttered them.

“Me too,” she said, far too quickly.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, Maddie.” He squeezed her tightly, hating how she took responsibility for everything. “I’m the one who f*cked up, not you.”

She shrugged one small shoulder, as though it didn’t really matter. “I should have listened when you said you wanted to be alone.”

“Yeah, well, I can understand why your temper got riled.”

A small laugh bubbled from her. “It was the head pat that pushed me over the edge.”

“Not my best move. I’m sorry I took off the way I did.”

“Don’t be,” she said, her voice soft as the summer breeze. “I don’t know what came over me, but I shouldn’t have invaded your space.”

“I want you in my space, Princess.” Mitch stroked a trail down her spine, loving the slight tremble against his palm. “Wanna stretch out?”

She nodded, and they lay back on the old comforter, their shoulders touching.

He wanted to reach for her, but didn’t.

She laced her fingers over her stomach and looked up at the stars. “It’s beautiful here,” she said, gazing at the heavens above. “I can’t believe all the stars—it’s like the sky is closing in around you.”

“Yeah, it is,” he said, his tone thoughtful as he recalled all the nights he’d spent down by this river when he was younger. “When my sister and I were little, my grandparents used to let us stay up extra late to stargaze.” He searched out a cluster of stars and pointed to it. “There’s Hercules. My grandpa used to tell us the stories of Greek mythology using the constellations as his backdrop.”

He looked down at her, surprised to find her watching him with a curious tilt to her lips. “So that’s why you came here after your troubles.”

His brows drew together. “What?”