Page 83 of Between Regrets and Promises (Between Us Trilogy #2)

When her eyes, full of tears and happiness, meet mine, she blows me a kiss and winks at Liam.

Laughter escapes me, and I’m so damn honored to call her my sister that I can barely contain myself.

She’s a shining star, burning so brightly, and deserves the world.

When the curtains close again, we leave the auditorium, and I hope Maddie hurries and changes so she can meet us in the foyer.

When I look at Mason, he’s as taken aback as I am. “Wow.” It’s all he can say.

I glance at Lennon who’s as teary-eyed as I am. “Our sister is a badass,” she says proudly.

Liam’s mouth is hanging wide open, and I lean over and place my finger under his chin to shut it.

“Speechless?” I tease. “Maddie’s really gonna like that.”

We wait for about ten minutes, and as if she was summoned, she comes from behind us wearing a huge smile on her face. “You liked it?”

I go to her and pull her into my arms. “I loved it, and I love you. You were amazing.” She’s worked so hard for this and deserves all the praise she’s receiving.

She rolls her eyes. “You’re just saying that because you have to.”

“I don’t have to,” Mason says, giving her a friendly side hug. “You were incredible, Mads. Like, for real.”

Lennon barrels her way through with her baby bump and pulls Maddie into a big hug. I’m still wiping away tears, but I’m smiling the whole time. While Hunter is giving her all the compliments, she studies Liam.

“Well, Hulk?” She smirks, giving his tie a hard tug. “What’d you think?”

I wondered how long that’d take. Apparently only a couple of minutes.

Liam places his hand on her shoulder, and Maddie melts into a puddle. “You were phenomenal.” He shakes his head. “I really have no words.”

A blush hits her cheeks, and Mason wraps his arm around my body. I lean into him, welcoming his touch as Liam compliments Maddie. She’s eating it up, and it makes me happy that everyone now has seen what Lennon and I have seen for years.

“Thank you,” I tell Mason, squeezing him.

“For what?”

“For always being there for me.” It was like watching that performance made something click deep inside my soul, and I’m still trying to process it all. To find a love so great and then for death to rip it away in the blink of an eye feels a little too close to home, a little like reality.

Fans eventually bombard Maddie, so we give her space. We wait for her to make her way back to us.

“So I get a drink to celebrate tonight?” She perks up although she already knows the answer.

“No, but I did plan on kicking your ass at darts tonight. Gotta knock you down a few pegs,” Liam teases, but I notice the way his eyes soften as he speaks. Maybe Maddie finally kicked through his wall with her ballet shoes. I laugh to myself, and Mason notices.

“I don’t even want to know what you’re thinking.”

“You don’t,” I agree as we walk out to Mason’s truck.

Maddie and Liam sit in the back seat, and Maddie continues to talk shit about how she’s going to kick everyone’s ass at darts and how she deserves a drink because she’s worked so hard.

“Oh whatever,” I interrupt. “You made it look so freaking easy. Like you were making soup.”

“It’s because I’m so flexible.” She chuckles.

I glance over my shoulder and roll my eyes at her obvious

We pull up to the Coliseum, and Hunter and Lennon are waiting for us at the front. Maddie is on cloud nine, fluttering around because Liam is finally giving her more than five seconds of attention. Mason and I walk behind them, giving them distance.

“Do you see what I see?” He nods toward Liam and Maddie.

A grin fills my face. “He’s in trouble now. Give her an inch, and she’ll take ten miles.”

Mason chuckles. “Yep, although I have a feeling he’ll always think she’s too young for him.”

“Well, if we’re talking maturity years here, then they’re basically on the same level.” I snort.

“Eh, more like he’d be too young for her then. He wouldn’t even have his driver’s license,” Mason mocks, opening the door for me.

We sit at the table, then order drinks and food.

After the guys have their beers, we all bombard Maddie.

With a performance like that, it’s almost impossible not to.

Of course, she’s so modest about her craft, and she blows it off like it’s no big deal.

Maddie won’t always take the compliments about her dancing, but she’s polite and appeases us.

As she continues on about the underlying theme of the dance, Liam listens intently to her every word with bated breath. After we get our food and eat, we decide to go over to the game room area and play darts. We gave Maddie the choice since it’s her night.

Mason lazily hangs his arm on my shoulder as we stand off to the side and watch her and Liam battle, but it’s not without smack talk from either of them.

Lennon walks over to me, and Hunter decides he wants to start in with the trash talking too.

The three of them have me nearly bending over with tears from their comebacks, but it doesn’t surprise me that Maddie can hold her own.

She had lots of practice growing up with Lennon and me as sisters.

Lennon gives me a smile, then yawns as she sits on a barstool.

“How are you doing, Mama?” I lean over and rub her belly.

“Tired, but good. This pregnancy is so much different than the last one,” she admits as I impatiently wait to feel a kick or something. She’s not due until March, but we find out next month what she’s having, which is so damn exciting.

“Is Hunter still dead set on it being a boy?” I ask, glancing over as he smacks Liam on the back.

“Yeah, and he might be right. For his sake, I hope he is, or he’s gonna have a house full of women, and he can barely handle two.” She snorts.

“And we all know how Dad turned out after us,” I admit. “But if you do have a girl, you can always try again for a little boy.” I waggle my brows, making my hint more than obvious.

Instantly, she starts shaking her head. “No, I think after this one, I’m done. If I survive being a mom of two toddlers, that is.” Hunter walks over and places a quick smack on Lennon’s lips and then gives Mason a high five.

“You’re all way too competitive for my taste.” I point at each of them.

Mason scoffs. “Says the girl who nearly had Liam naked the first time you came to the house.”

Lennon giggles, and we all remember the night of strip pool. It seems like a lifetime ago now. The guys walk to the bar for a refill, and Maddie comes over to us with rosy cheeks and a mile-wide smile.

Lennon shakes her head.

“You’re way too transparent,” I tell her.

“I’m determined to break him down, and I think it’s working this time.” She falls back into an overly dramatic ballet pose, her body nearly bent in half. I don’t know how she’s so damn flexible. There are times when I can barely tie my shoe.

“He saw my moves, and now he can’t stay away,” she says with a bow.

Lennon nearly spits out her water, and it causes me to laugh at both of them.

Soon the guys return, and they go back to playing darts.

“I might make a million dollars soon,” Maddie says to all of us.

“How?” I ask, and she gives me an evil grin.

“Selling my virginity. I read an article about a girl who sold hers on eBay. She literally auctioned off her V-card,” she tells us, and Liam’s jaw nearly snaps.

Maddie notices too, which only encourages her further. “Apparently, she used the money to invest in some tech company, and it basically saved her life. She almost went homeless.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Liam tells her, his expression hard as stone.

“Stupid or smart? I could make a lot of money,” she retorts. “I’m not rolling in the dough here. Or dick. So…” She shrugs.

“It’s probably a fake article. You can’t believe everything you read on the internet,” I remind her.

“What if you get some weirdo or some old guy with shriveled up balls?” Liam’s trying to reason with her, and all she’s doing is teasing the hell out of him.

“If you’re so worried about it, I’ll give you the link when I make the listing, and you can place your own bid,” she quips, going back to her darts.

Liam grunts.

“What? Worried you’ll lose? Not a gambling man?”

When I look at Liam, he’s tense as fuck, and I think Maddie might’ve actually hit a nerve.

As Liam and Maddie go back and forth, Hunter notices how tired Lennon is, and they decide to call it a night.

We all exchange hugs, and after Maddie completely destroys Liam and Mason in two more rounds of darts, we leave too.

The entire ride to her dorm, she has me laughing to the point where my face hurts, and it feels good.

There’s no worry or stress, and right now, I feel more like myself than I have in a month.

We pull into the dorm parking lot, and when Maddie gets out of the truck, Liam volunteers to walk her to her door. Mason and I watch as he chats all the way up the sidewalk with wide eyes.

“I’m shocked,” he says. “I think she’s really getting to him.”

I snicker. “She said it was her dance moves.”

“It might’ve been.”

The air in the truck is thick as he gazes at me with bright eyes. “Next week, my aunt wants us to have dinner with her.”

“What? I thought she would’ve forgotten by now,” I exclaim, and he shakes his head with a smirk.

“Nope, and it’s gotten to the point where she texts me twice a day to remind me. She said Tuesday. Will that work for you?”

I catch a glimpse of Liam smiling at Maddie, and I wish I could hear what they’re talking about. “Hmm,” I say, stalling.

“If you say no, I’m giving her your number so she can text you all day,” he threatens.

I lick my lips, wishing he’d kiss me, but he won’t cross the line. “Yeah. I’ll go.”

He grabs my hand and kisses my knuckles. “Thank you. She cooks a mean spaghetti and meatballs and doesn’t serve small portions, so wear your stretchy pants.”

A giggle escapes me. “She better because I can put away a lot of food.”

Unspoken words linger between us, but my thoughts are interrupted by Liam climbing into the truck.

“Did you kiss her good night?” Mason quips.

“Shut the hell up and take me home,” Liam snaps, and it makes me wonder if Maddie’s now playing hard to get. I think she might actually have him where she wants him.