His End Game (MMG #1) (29 page)

All I could think to do was run so I turned on my heels and took off for the door.

I made it inside and right as I got to my purse, a hand snagged me from behind. “Let me take you home,” Dillon said, pulling me tightly to his chest. “You can talk to me.”

“No talk,” I panted, out of breath from running, “you lost your chance tonight buddy.”

Max, Kurt and Joss were suddenly all three standing there. “Who the fuck is this guy and what did he do to her?” Max asked.

“That’s our manager and one of our bartenders, Dillon Whitaker and they are…uh… friends,” Kurt lamely replied.

“I thought you said she wasn’t seeing anyone?”

“She isn’t,” Joss answered, “at least not that I’m aware of!”

I don’t know why I found this funny. Maybe it was because there were four people talking around me and over me but none of them were talking to me. Maybe it was because it was all just too much. Picking up my purse, I dug for my phone and, when I found it, I punched in my dad’s cell number. The second I heard his voice something in me snapped and the laughter turned to tears.

Five years

“Ellie?” I heard my dad say. “Is that you? What’s wrong?”

“Dad, I need for you to come get me.” At this point I was crying so hard I couldn’t talk so Joss grabbed the phone and gave my dad directions to the bar.

“Ells, don’t go,” Max pleaded. “There’s so much I have to say, please?” All I could do was cry.

Stepping between us, Joss said, “Let her go Max. There’s plenty of time to talk later. Give her some space right now.”

“Fuck space! Don’t you think we’ve had enough of that already? I have been forced to live for five fucking years with
nothing but space. I need to be with her now. I need the chance to explain!” he shouted, running his hands through his beautiful black hair. I wanted to go to him, to be with him, to touch him, but….I couldn’t.

Dillon leaned in. “This is far from over between us, Ellie. I know you’ve had a shock tonight, but nothing is how it seems and I want the opportunity to explain, okay?”

God, I was so confused. I couldn’t seem to stop the tears and realized that the only way I was going to get rid of him was to agree so I nodded my head yes.

“Fuck!” Max shouted, “you’ll listen to this creep, but you won’t let me explain why I had to go? How is that right, Ellison?”

Right then my dad drove up and, without giving Max an answer or even saying goodbye, I got in the car, closed the door, locked it and started sobbing uncontrollably. “Get me out of here,” I told him.

I cried the entire way home. Thankfully, my dad didn’t ask any questions. He did, however, offer me comfort by slipping his warm hand into mine. We walked silently into the house. I felt numb. I had spent so many years crying and worrying about Max and here he was, alive and healthy.

And more beautiful than ever
.

After making us tea, which gave me time to pull myself together, my dad led me to the sofa. “You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to, but I need you to know that I will always listen.”

He really was a good man and at this moment I stopped fighting the urge to open up to him. “I wish I had grown up with you as my dad,” I blurted. I could tell from his surprised expression that this was not what he expected to hear.

He smiled wistfully. “Me too. I should have fought to see you. I shouldn’t have let Elizabeth scare me into walking away. I want you to know that I will regret that for the rest of my life.”

His words made me both happy and sad. Fanning my eyes I said, “No mushy stuff, Dad. I have cried enough tonight.” His chuckle made me smile. “Are you laughing at me?”

This made him laugh harder. “You do realize that that’s the third time you have called me dad, now, and I really like hearing it.”

Scrunching up my nose, I hesitantly admitted, “It just keeps slipping out.”

He winked. “I think we might be growing on each other.”

My mind drifted back to Max and the past month. I couldn’t wrap my brain around it all.

“Ellie?” he called out, interrupting my thoughts, “do you trust me?”

“More and more every day,” I told him and honestly meant it.

“Then you need to talk about what is eating you up inside, baby girl.” Calling me this did the trick and, before I knew it, I found myself spilling out the whole story. It took most of the night to get it all out.

“Okay, for what it’s worth, here is what I think. You can take it or leave it but know that I am on your side and yours only, okay?” I nodded. “Max has a story. He left you and his friends here for a reason and, by the sound of it, he didn’t want to go. I don’t think that you will be able to move forward, with or without him, until you hear what happened. You need that in order to either forgive or forget him and believe me, I sympathize with you. It took me years to forgive your mother.”

“You forgave her?”

“How could I not? I am here with you. You are a part of both of us and I am lucky to have this chance with you.” My eyes welled. “Okay,” he waved his hand, blowing off the mushiness, “let’s move on to Joss and Kurt. Did they really betray you? It sounds to me like they were trying to protect you. Could they
have handled it better? Sure. But, from where I’m sitting, it looks like they were trying to figure out how to ease the shock of Max’s return.”

Rubbing my hand over my eyes, I realized that he was probably right. “I said some horrible things to them, dad.”

“Give yourself a break, kiddo. You were hit with a couple of big whammies and were drunk to boot. No one would have handled that well even sober. As for Dillon, it sounds to me like that boy needs to screw his head on tighter and keep his dick in his pants for a while.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “I can’t believe you just said that.”

“Well, from what you have said, he’s been on and off with this Darla girl for quite some time now.”

“Dana,” I corrected, giggling.

“Darla, Dana, whatever her name is, she’s obviously got the boy’s nuts in a strangle hold and Ellie, she ain’t letting go without a fight. You have to decide if you want him bad enough to have this girl constantly at your throat.”

I didn’t even have to think about it before shaking my head no.

“I didn’t think so.”

“He wants to talk to me though.”

“Are you afraid to listen?”

“No but…he says that whatever I am thinking isn’t the way it really is… but I know what I saw.”

“So maybe the truth lies somewhere in-between.”

“Yes, and this is where it gets all messed up in my head. Black and white, I can handle. Grey? Not so much.”

“Let me ask you something. If you were to find out that Max had a valid reason for leaving you, never stopped loving you and wanted a future with you in it, would you give him a chance?”

My eyes instantly filled and I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Do you feel the way about Dillon that you felt about Max?”

“Not even close. I don’t think I will ever feel that way about anyone again.”

“Then I think you have your answer, baby girl. As for Piper, she can have my room. It’s bigger and I have more than worn out my welcome.”

My heart plummeted. “You can’t leave, not now.”

“Ellie.”

I couldn’t handle this right now. “Please stay…please?”

He pulled me in and wrapped his arms around me. “Tell you what. I promise to stay until I know that you are okay.”

I buried my face in his chest. “Promise?”

“Promise.”

It was around five in the morning when we finished talking. I brewed a pot of coffee and we took our mugs, wrapped ourselves in blankets and watched the sun rise on the back patio. Talking to my dad was cathartic. It was the first time I had told someone the whole story, including my feelings. Even though I was still confused, I felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from my soul.

We sat outside for a couple of hours and, when I started drifting off, he told me to go crawl in bed.

“Before I crash, can I ask a favor of you?”

He smiled. “You can ask me anything.”

I smiled back. “I need space from all of this….stuff. If I turn off my phone, would it be okay if I hid out in the house for a few days?”

“How about this, I will tackle anyone who tries to get through the front door.”

“Thanks dad.”

“Are you sure this is what you need?”

Sighing, I rubbed the spot on my head that was starting to ache. “No, I don’t know what I need anymore.”

“Take all the time you need, Ellie. You’ll figure it out.”

The second my head hit the pillow, I thought of Max and how long it had been since I last heard his voice. The memory of the day he disappeared washed over me and I remembered everything we did to find him, the last time I was in his house, his phone....So many memories.

I have pined for the Max I knew for five years but what if he hasn’t been doing the same? What if he got married? What if he has a wife and kids somewhere? He left me and stayed away for five years. What kind of person does that? Not one who really loves me
.

That was the crux of it all. If he loved me as much as I loved him, he would have fought Heaven and Earth to get back to me. But…..he didn’t.

The next day was horrible. I moped around the house until after lunch. Then, needing comfort, I found myself standing in the guest closet staring down at the box of Max’s things. My first inclination was to burn it all but then I remembered that, without these things, I probably wouldn’t have made it through the toughest time in my life. They had been my life line for a long time. Did I really want to destroy that? No. Instead, I dragged the box downstairs to my bedroom, pulled everything out, laid it on top of my bed and asked myself
what do I want
?

I realized that I couldn’t answer this question until I talked to Max. My decision hinged on that conversation. It didn’t seem fair, but it was true.

Crawling into bed with all of his things, I made my decision. Tomorrow we would talk.

I had pizza with my dad on the back patio that night. He told me that he had to unplug the home phone as it wouldn’t stop ringing. I told him about my decision to talk to Max and he suggested that I take the time to talk to Joss, Kurt and Dillon as well.

Looked like tomorrow was going to be a very busy day
.

The next morning, I woke to someone crawling into bed with me.

“Ellie,” Joss softly said, “are you awake?”

“No,” I groggily mumbled, “how did you get past my dad?”

“The back door was unlocked and I walked right in.”

Figures
.

Rubbing my arm, she whispered, “I am so sorry.”

I could hear tears in her voice and felt horrible. “Don’t cry Joss, I’m not mad anymore. I would have done the same thing. I was drunk and mad at Dillon and then Max showed up…and I took it out on you and Kurt. It was all just too much. Don’t cry, please?”

“What is going on between you and D? I didn’t even know you were interested in him? If I had known, I would have never let Max ambush you like that.”

Loudly groaning, I turned my head so I could see her. “You were right. I should have stayed away from him but he was so yummy to look at. I wasn’t seriously interested, but he just kept at me and then he kissed me. Then he really kissed me and…. I know he has a history with Dana, but he kept telling me it meant nothing. I wanted to believe him and then I saw them together and suddenly it was in my face and I just couldn’t ignore it any
longer. I feel like such a fool and the worst part is that I
let
him do that to me.”

“It’s not just you, honey. Dillon has been with Dana on and off for the past year. She’s like a bad wart. The second you burn her off, she just comes bag bigger, spreads farther and is much harder to get rid of the next time. She’s basically stalking him, you know. Kurt and I told him we think she’s pathological and probably dangerous but he’s taken no real initiative to permanently end things with her.”

“He swears it’s not what it looks like, if that makes sense.”

“Do you believe him?”

“I don’t know,” I sighed. “I walked into the bar Friday night so happy. I was ready to
be
with him. I didn’t expect to be slapped with an eyeful of them together. Then, to top that, he was kissing her in the parking lot. I actually believed him before all of that … but now?”

“Now, Max is back,” she finished for me. “He showed up late Thursday afternoon. I was shocked and after hearing some of his story knew that I needed to call Kurt.”

“Was that when you phoned the bar?”

“Yes, and I am sorry for being a bitch but I had to protect you and get to Kurt.”

“What did Kurt end up doing? And what does Garrett have to do with it all?”

“After punching Max in the face and yelling at him for the hell he put you through, Kurt ended up listening to what he had to say. As for Garrett, I’m not sure what part he has in everything.”

“What about the hell Max put Kurt through, Joss?”

“Trust me…I let him have it before calling Kurt. Listen, El, I really think you should hear him out.”

“I’m going to. But you need to know that no matter what he says, it won’t change that he left me for all of these years. Nothing will.”