Page 82 of Anything Goes

Shaking myself from my thoughts, I looked back at Alauni. “Yeah, I’m fine. I actually need to head out for a minute. Everyone’s in the locker room getting changed. I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m meeting up with Maxine to do what I said I was going to do.”

“Oh okay. I hope it goes well.”

“Me too.” I restrained myself from giving Alauni a kiss. There were too many other coaches in the gym, and I didn’t want them all in our business. I gave her arm a gentle squeeze. “I’ll see you in a few.”

“Okay.”

I hurried out of the gym and into the teacher’s parking lot. I didn’t have time to waste. As soon as I arrived in the park, Maxine’s face was the first one I saw. She was sitting on a bench near a set of swings.

“Hey,” I said. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with me.”

“Like always, anything for you.”

“Don’t do that, Maxine.”

“Don’t do what?”

Frustrated, I sighed. “You know what I’m talking about.”

“No, I don’t, but feel free to sit down.”

She patted on the empty space next to her, and I quickly shook my head. “Nah, I’ll stand.”

“Wow, you’re that afraid to sit next to me?”

“I’m not afraid of anything. I’m just not going to take any chances on someone like you.”

“Someone like me?” she questioned, a scowl resting on her face.

“Look, I didn’t come here to trade insults and talk crazy. I came here to get an understanding so we can both move on with our lives.”

“What if I don’t want to move on?”

“Well, you need to. What we have is over and you need to realize that.”

“Okay, fine, let’s just say that I have realized that.”

“Great, that means you will stop with this ridiculous threat that you attempted to give me.”

“Maybe I will, maybe I won’t.”

Scrubbing my face, I blurted, “What the fuck do you want from me, Maxine?”

“An apology.”

“I’ve apologized to you.”

“Not in the way that I deserve. I want you to admit that you were really in love with me, but you were too scared to be with me. I also want you to admit that you wanted a child with me, and you were just scared of that too.”

“What?” I said, jerking my head back.

“You heard what I said. For once, I want you to be honest with yourself. I’m used to men getting intimidated because my father is the chief. I was hoping that you were different, but I see now that I was wrong.”

Shaking my head, I eyed her in confusion. “That’s not the reason I chose not to be in a relationship with you, Maxine.Youare the reason I chose not to be with you. I can’t deal with all of your issues. I’m sure there’s someone out there that can, but it just isn’t me.”