Page 123 of Off Court Fix

“I don’t know what you’re doing here,” she begins, “but you weren’t invited, and you aren’t wanted.Not now.”

Glaring at me, Ted shakes his head.

I make my way over to Maxine, and when she holds her hand out for mine, I take it proudly with no apologies and wind her fingers with mine.

“If there’s anything you need to say to me, you can communicate with my manager—Crosby.”

This takes me by such surprise I don’t think I can hide the shock on my face, but Maxine tugs me by the hand to bring me inside and locks the door behind us. We both stand still, holding our breaths until we hear the sound of footsteps against the small pebbles of her driveway, followed by a car engine starting a moment later.

“Your manager?”

Maxine shrugs. “You run a club. I can’t be more work than that.”

“You’re way more work than that.”

Maxine laughs, the sound breathy and nervous.

“Are you alright?” I step closer, taking both of her hands in mine.

She puckers her lips, shifting them side to side in thought. “I will be when this is over.”

Her admission reminds me we’re right back where we started. I don’t know what anything will look like when it’s over. “Maxine—”

“I’m trying to think of what to say to Samantha,” she begins, “I can’t really come up with the words.”

“You have to make me look bad,” I remind her.

She agrees. “Everyone needs to think you’re worse than you already are.”

“I’m pretty bad already.”

“No. No, you’re not.”

I stepout onto the hot sidewalks of Midtown Manhattan, heading toward 51stStreet. I tip my hat down, but the hustle and bustle of the city during a weekday afternoon is enough anonymity for me.

I wait behind lingering tourists as they head into St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which is more crowded today than it was the last time I was there, but it feels exactly the same—safe and inviting. Only this time, I’m not planning to pour my heart out to a stranger or pretend to be someone else. I’m here as Maxine Draper as I am. Incredibly imperfect, the girl who has a hard time saying no, the one who realized if you don’t fight for the ones you love—or what you love—no one will.

And today, I’m here to ask for help—from my father.

“Interesting location,” he says as I slide into the pew beside him, one flanked by a few empty rows. “Did you bring your henchman?”

I shift against the wood. “Crosby is at the hotel.”

I had him come up to the room well after I checked in. Crosby thinks I brought him to the city with me because tonight is our last night together. But little does he know, I brought him because I’ve made the decision I’ll never spend a night before a match without him again.

I need my father’s help to make that happen going forward.

My father grunts. “Maxine—”

“I told you tocall mebefore you come,” I begin. “Not just show up like you did yesterday.”

Dad rolls his eyes. “I really didn’t think a father needs a formal announcement to see his daughter.”

“You do,” I say firmly.

“Maxine—”

“It’s killing me that I have to come to you. I’ve been racking my brain, trying to come up with a solution to take care of things on my own and... I can’t. I just can’t.”

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