Inevitable (19 page)

Trudy stuck to her word when my dad woke up by saying she’d
adjusted his alarm because he works too hard and needed a rest. She
then went on to say I’d worked extra hard in the gym this morning
–
even going
as far as mentioning how impressed she was by the size of the
weights she saw me lifting. To clarify – I didn’t step foot in the
gym this morning.

I could have easily been consumed obsessing over Trudy’s
sudden and unfathomable concerns for Maddie
– and me for that matter - but when
my cell vibrated in my pocket and I fished it out, Trudy was
abruptly shoved straight to the back of my mind.

Will b at school early. Meet me there? 8
o
’clock in
the car park? I miss u xxx

What a
ridiculous question. I didn’t even have to think about it.

I’ll be there
at ten-to :-)

I’d hit send before I even noticed the smiley face.
Instinctively I tucked my hands down into my pants.
Yep, still got a
cock.

I pulled into
the school parking lot at 7:30 am, wanting to make absolutely sure
I was there before Maddie so I didn’t miss a single minute with
her. Two smokes and twenty minutes later Lori’s car pulled up
beside me. I hopped out immediately before she’d even killed the
engine.

Maddie
got out first and practically pole-vaulted into my open arms. The
ache I didn’t realise had been weighing down my heart disappeared
instantaneously as I inhaled the scent of her hair. I opened my
mouth to say ‘good morning’ but then her lips slammed into mine,
rendering me speechless… and breathless.

“
I’ve missed you too, lish,” I said with a jaw-aching smile as
she pulled away.

“
Jeez, get a room already!” Lori chuckled as she made her
way over to us. She was wearing sweatpants and a vest so I assumed
she was here early for dance practice or some other kind of girly
exercise. “I’ll catch you later, Maddie…
Blaine
,” she muttered knowingly, winking in my
direction.

I knew straight away Maddie had filled her in about our
night together. Why did girls do that? I offered a half-smile back
when I started to wonder exactly which parts of the night Maddie
had confessed to her. Did she tell her about my back? About my
dad?
No.
She wouldn’t. I could trust Maddie.

Shame the same
couldn’t be said for me.

“
Are you sore?” I asked Maddie tenderly, skimming my thumb
along her cheek which blushed beneath my touch.

“
Blaine!” she scolded, glancing behind her to make sure no one
was listening.

“
What?” I was worried about her. What was wrong with that? She
rolled her gorgeous brown eyes at me. “So? Are you?” Her blush
deepened and she dropped her head slightly as if she was too
embarrassed to look at me.

“
A little,” she shrugged. “But it’s worth it.” She looked up
at me with a suggestive grin which made my pants feel painfully
restrictive.

“
Maybe I can remind you just how worth it after school?” I
whispered into her ear. God she was so fucking beautiful I could’ve
taken her right there in the middle of the lot.
She smiled wickedly at me and
then leaned in for a kiss – a reminder of last night and a taster
of the one to come.

I’d been
in such a hurry to see Maddie this morning I left my football gear
behind. After texting Maddie to let her know I’d have to miss lunch
I nipped home to get it. When I reached the porch I could hear
raised voices escaping from the open window in the main living
room. Worried it might be my dad pulling Trudy up on this morning I
almost turned around to leave but then realising I couldn’t afford
to miss practice again I decided to try and sneak in slowly,
quietly and grab my stuff first.

After twisting
my key in the lock I eased the front door open cautiously, leaving
it ajar whilst I headed to the stairs. I’d barely reached them when
I heard a familiar female voice – Maddie’s mom.

“
I did the best I could!” Annie blared.

“
Well it wasn’t enough! You swore to me, Annie. You promised
you’d take care of her! She deserves the best and I’m going to give
it to her!” Trudy snapped back fiercely. A faint voice in the back
of my mind told me I should leave but I told it to fuck off. What
the hell was going on?

“
Bullshit! You gave up your rights to her the minute you
swanned off to the states. You didn’t give a shit about her then,
did you? The smell of money meant more to you… it always
did!”

Wait… were
they talking about Maddie? No… they couldn’t be. That was a
ridiculous idea. I kept listening.

“
That’s not true and you know it. I was a fucking mess,
Annie! I had nothing. I could provide her with nothing. Hell, I was
too fucking high to know what day it was, how was I supposed to
bring up a daughter?”

“
Listen to yourself god dammit! I was in the same boat as
you. You might have it all now, but once upon a time we were
exactly the same you and me. The only difference being, I didn’t
give up on that little girl.
Your
little girl! I had nothing either but I did the
best I fucking could. I loved her. I still love her. Maddie
is
my
daughter now and
you’re not taking her away from me!”

Holy
motherfucking hell… No way… No fucking way…

The revelation
physically winded me and I stumbled back a step, knocking into the
round glass table by the stairs and sending one of Trudy’s prized
porcelain vases flying.

“
Shit!
” I uttered under my breath when it landed on the marble
floor with an almighty crash, shattering into a thousand
pieces.

“
Mitch?
” Trudy exclaimed. Moments later she was in the hallway
with me, her face void of colour.

“
It’s me,” I said trying to sound nonchalant…
innocent.

“
How long have you been there?” she asked solemnly.

“
Just walked through the door,” I lied. “I forgot my kit. I was
in a hurry and I ran into the table. Sorry, I’ll get it cleaned up
right away.” I thought a little sucking up would bode well at this
point.

“
Don’t worry, I’ll do it,” she said, relieved. Then she
mopped her brow with her flattened palm. She was flushed now,
nervous…
guilty.
“I don’t want you to be late for school. Go get your things
and head back.”

I nodded once
and leapt up the stairs two at a time before I landed myself in it
by yelling in her face. How could she abandon Maddie? My head was
fucked. What was I supposed to do now? Pretend I’d never overheard?
Tell Maddie? Betray her trust yet again by not saying anything?

Maybe I’d misunderstood. I nodded fervently to myself at
that idea. Yes. I’d got it wrong. I must have. There’s no way Trudy
could be Maddie’s mother. I might not particularly like her but she
would never abandon her then only daughter – leave her with
nothing
. Leave her with someone so unstable they’d be hard pressed
to obtain a licence to keep a goldfish let alone a
child.

Yes, I’d
definitely
misunderstood.

I hastily grabbed my kit from my room and headed straight
back to school. The bell was echoing through the halls when I
arrived, signalling the start of afternoon classes, so I threw my
kitbag over my shoulder and ran for my fucking life towards the
stadium. When I got there the rest of my team were warming up,
running up and down the bleachers. Coach flashed me an icy stare
which chilled my veins as I prayed my lateness wouldn’t
get back to my dad
and then I hurried into the locker rooms to get changed.

Practice
passed quickly as I wholly immersed myself in the game. It was a
welcome distraction that ended all too soon. I had decided Trudy
was most definitely not Maddie’s mom so why the hell couldn’t I
stop thinking about it? More importantly, why was I so nervous
about seeing Maddie?

“
I saw Lori crying before, man. Maybe you should tell Dora or
somethin’? I mean, I asked if she was okay but I’m no good with all
that girly shit,” Jason said, entering the locker room in just a
towel after his post-practice shower. As usual, I was waiting for
everyone to leave before I had mine. I often wondered why Jason
never questioned that.

“
What did she say to you?” I asked curiously.

“
She just shrugged and then ran into the girls bathroom. She
looked to be running away from Sky, who as usual had a smug fucking
grin on her face. I swear just looking at that bitch makes my dick
want to shrivel up and die.”

I rolled my
eyes at him – although I wholeheartedly agreed.

“
Well I’m meeting Maddie in a few – I’ll pass on what you
saw.”

Jason
nodded and strolled over to his locker to get changed. He hollered
a ‘laters, man’ at me when he was done and I decided to text Maddie
while I patiently waited for the showers to clear.

Hey, lish.
Missed u today. Jase said Lori was upset B4. Thought u might wanna
check on her? I’ll be at my car in 20. Don’t be late! B. xxx

I debated with
myself over the kisses for a good few seconds before deciding to
embrace my newfound womanliness. Maddie replied almost
instantly.

She’s been
acting off all week. I’ll go find her now. Miss u more
:-)

Great. Maddie was an
actual
woman and she didn’t put kisses. I rolled my eyes
at myself. It just wasn’t normal to be obsessing over fucking ‘text
kisses’. It was official – I was either turning into a woman, or a
raging homosexual.

Eventually the
locker room emptied and I grabbed a quick shower before heading to
my car to meet Maddie. I planned to spend most of the night with
her again and any concerns about that happening without my dad
finding out had faded. I was certain Trudy would back me up again –
especially now she had a secret of her own she needed my help to
keep.

Wait… I’d
forgotten that I’d misunderstood. There was no secret. I literally
shook the thought away when I saw Maddie approach my car. The
secret that didn’t exist would ruin her life – how could I even
think of using it as a pawn to get my own way?

She
ran over to me wearing the cute yellow sundress I very
first saw her in, dropped her backpack to the asphalt beside her
and greeted me with a deep, lingering kiss. Man, she tasted good –
of that sweetness that I could never quite place.

“
I’m going to have to take a rain check on tonight,” she said
desolately, lowering her feathery black eyelashes. “Lori needs
me.”

I need
you.

“
Why? She break a fingernail or something?” I didn’t want to
come across as the pathetic, possessive boyfriend but I couldn’t
seem to keep the
offence I felt seeping into my voice. She smacked my
shoulder hard – I barely felt it.

“
I’m really worried about her, Blaine. She’s just… not right.
Something’s bothering her and I’d bet my granny it has something to
do with Sky pushing her around all the time.”

“
Well how long will you be? I could come over when you’re
finished with her?” Christ, I sounded desperate. Probably because I
was.

“
I don’t know. I guess that depends on whether she actually
tells me what the hell is going on with her. It could be late.” I
was getting irritated. Did she not want to see me? She still hadn’t
pressed me for an explanation behind my scars – was that why she
was avoiding me? Did I make her uncomfortable?

“
I don’t have a bedtime anymore, lish. Is this about last
night?” I asked, sounding utterly pitiful.

“
Of course not!” she insisted. “You’re right though, we do
need to talk. And we will, I promise. Lori’s coming over to mine
after school – I’ll call you when she’s gone.”

That was
exactly what I wanted to hear, so why did I feel like such a
jackass? I was being a jerk that’s why. Maddie’s life revolved
around taking care of other people – everyone except herself, and
now I was adding to it. How thin could she spread herself before
she cracked? I was a selfish asshole.

“
I’m sorry, lish. I’m being selfish. We can catch up
tomorrow.” I was doing the right thing giving her one less person’s
problems to fix tonight, yet all I could think about was how shit
I’d feel if she agreed.

“
No you’re not. T
here’s enough of me to go round,” she teased with
a cheeky wink before planting a soft, chaste kiss on my lips and
twisting her fingers into my hair. “I’ll call you,” she said with a
stern look that said
get-the-hell-over-yourself-and-come-when-you’re-damn-well-told-to.
She was all firm and masterful – I was more than happy to be her
submissive.

“
I guess I’ll see you later then.” With that I pulled her in
for a goodbye kiss, leaning her body against my car so I could
trail my fingers underneath her dress and give her a taster of what
I had in store for her later. I stopped when my pants got so tight
and uncomfortable I literally started to squirm.

“
Definitely,” she breathed when I reluctantly released
her.

The
house was empty when I got home. It was Clarabella’s day off, my
dad would still have been at work, Kara mentioned something about a
sleepover at a friend’s and Trudy was probably off being tanned or
waxed or whatever else it is women with no job and too much money
do. My plan was to order in a pizza, maybe grab a beer and re-watch
a couple of DVD’s whilst I waited for Maddie to call. Therefore I
was surprised when I found myself in my father’s office, rifling
through his drawers.