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Chapter Fifty-Three

M aggie didn’t let me wallow. The second she came inside, it was with guns blazing and questions flying before I even had a chance to brace myself for Hurricane Maggie.

“You need to explain to me what’s going on because, in twenty-four years, I have never in my life seen my brother look the way he just did in that hallway.” She pointed in the direction of the front door.

“I messed everything up.” I groaned into her pillows. “Now, you both hate me.”

“I don’t hate you. I care about you,” Maggie shot back, clearly affronted. “And if you think that my brother is anything other than completely in love with you, then you didn’t see the guy standing out there in the hallway.”

I looked up at her with cautious eyes.

“Do you think he meant that?” I asked, replaying the words I heard him say that stopped my heart. “That he loved me?”

“ Loves, ” Maggie corrected. “Present tense.”

My heart fluttered.

“What happened, Cass?” she asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

“I kissed him,” I admitted, watching warily for her reaction.

To my surprise, there wasn’t one.

“And then…” she prompted, waiting for me to continue. “You had an allergic reaction to him or something?”

“Maggie!” I hit her with the nearest pillow.

“What?” She held her hands up to block it. “I’m just having a hard time understanding how you went from kissing Liam to ending up here with everything you own.” She stared at me imploringly. “So?”

“So, I freaked out and left.”

“ What?” She leaped to her feet. “Why the hell would you do that?”

“Because I kissed him ,” I said for emphasis. “I crossed a line. Put him in an awkward position. He was probably about to kick me out.”

“Let me reiterate the fact that the guy is in love with you. ” She sighed.

“If he wanted to kiss me, he could’ve done it at any point,” I said, embarrassed.

“You’re really oblivious sometimes, Cass.” Maggie laughed. “Then again, so is he since you’re both equally responsible for this weird little dance you’ve been doing together.”

“Huh?”

“He’s into you. That’s clear as day,” she said. “You’re into him. Again, also obvious.”

I tried to protest.

“But, neither of you have been able to figure that out because you’re both shackled by all these little lies you’ve both convinced yourselves of.”

“What are you going on about, Mags?” I shook my head in a daze.

“,” she deadpanned. “Do you really think running away from Liam has nothing to do with your mom?”

“My mom?” I pulled back, dumbfounded.

“I only know bits and pieces, but it sounds like she was pretty inconsistent at best, neglectful at worst, throughout your life.” Maggie looked to me for confirmation.

“So?” I said, unable to deny it.

“So,” she said, “maybe you’re scared to have someone dependable and reliable and let me scream it one more time—totally in love with you because you haven’t had that before, and that’s the part that freaks you out.”

I lingered in it, letting the realization wash over me.

“I was with Dave for years, and that didn’t scare me,” I defended, though I had to admit what she said made some sense.

“Don’t even get me started on all the ways Dave screwed you over.” She held a hand up to pause me. “But the quick version of that is Dave kept you in the same up-and-down cycle your mom did. That was familiar to you. Comfortable. Doesn’t mean it was right.”

“Where’d you learn all this anyway?” I stared at her with a laugh.

“Uh.” Maggie gestured down to herself. “I’m brilliant and self-reflective, that’s why.”

I snorted.

“And I might be well acquainted with my therapist,” she added at the end with a smirk. “Who, by the way, I’ll be referring both you and my brother to immediately.”

I let out a soft laugh, lingering in the warmth that Maggie’s presence brought.

“If you have all the answers, what do I do now?”

“Glad you asked.” She grinned, pulling me off her bed to my feet. “You sleep here tonight, recover from all the drama while we eat copious amounts of food and watch One Tree Hill. ”

“You don’t think I should talk to Liam?” I frowned. “Apologize… explain.”

Hear whatever it was he wanted to tell me in the first place.

Good or bad, I could handle it. For his sake.

“There’ll be time for that tomorrow,” Maggie said. “We’ll both go to the game, and after they win, you guys can have your little rom-com-style make-up moment. Okay?”

“I don’t want to put it off that long,” I told her, jittery at the thought of him being upset somewhere over me.

Even though the idea of a girl’s night with Maggie sounded like the perfect remedy to the hell that the day had been.

Maggie waved away my concerns.

“He’s got forever to sort it out with you, Cass. He can spare one night. Plus, you can send him a text. You’ll see him tomorrow,” she offered as if it were as simple as that.

“Forever?” I asked skeptically.

“I know these things, remember?” she said, already leading the way out of her room. “Like I said, I’m super smart.”

For my sake, I hoped she was about this.