Page 73 of Brandishing Betrayals
I’m left gasping against the door as Hillcrest climbed out of my car. Fear gripping my heart as the reality of what just happened settled on me.I’m done playing around, Maya. Now you get to deal with the consequences of your actions.
Fuck.
My heart pounded in my chest. My ears rang and my breathing started coming out in short, fast puffs. Oh fuck.
A knock on the window behind me had me whipping around in fright, yelling out. Slade’s bright smiled dimmed as she saw the utter terror in my eyes. “Maya?” she called through the closed car door. Slade opened the door and crouched down beside me, her hands cupping my face gently. “Maya, what’s going on?”
I gasped for breath, clinging to Slade’s wrists. “I fucked up. Dax saw me kiss Marcos Monday night. He was just here, in the car. He said he was done playing around and I would have to deal with the consequences.”
“Fuck. Maya you have to tell them. Right now.”
“I can’t, I can’t,” I shook my head vehemently.
“If you don’t, I will!”
“No, no, no! Please, Slade. Please don’t,” I begged her frantically. I held Slade’s wrists tighter; I needed her to listen. Slade couldn’t say anything.
“Ok, ok,” Slade agreed, soothing me. “Shh, it’s ok. I won’t say anything.”
“Promise me!” I said, my eyes flaring wide as I stared at Slade. “Promise me!”
“I promise, I promise,” Slade said, nodding. “Maya, I promise you.”
I looked around the parking lot frantically. “He has people watching me always. He always knows what I’m doing, who I’m with. He will know if you say something.”
Slade stiffened, but nodded. “Ok. I promise. I won’t tell anyone.”
I took a deep breath and slowly let go of Slade’s wrists. “What are you doing here?” I asked, after moment.
Slade chuckled softly and shook her head. “I thought I’d come see Luke’s first game. Come support you, too. I didn’t want you sitting alone for his game—in case things were weird with the guys.”
I laughed and then continued to laugh hysterically, until I was almost sobbing in front of Slade.
“Fuck, Maya.” Slade sighed.
“I know, I know. I’m a fucking mess.” I shook my head. Hastily wiping my eyes, I tried to calm my breathing. “Fucking hell.” I let out a deep breath. “Girl, I have so much to tell you.”
Slade chuckled lightly. “I bet.” Standing up, Slade stepped away from the car, giving me the space to get out of the vehicle.
I composed myself, checking my make up in the rearview mirror and cleaning up my eyeliner. Slapping my sunglasses over my puffy eyes, I grabbed my ice coffee and keys, before I climbed out of the car and closed the door. “Fucking hell,” I said, glancing around the busy parking.
“Yeah, game’s in five minutes. We gotta roll,” Slade said, glancing at the time on her phone.
“Shit. Let’s go.”
Maya
The game turned out to be not that bad. Slade and I found a spot on the opposite end of the bleachers than where Marcos, Jason, and Nico were sitting. I managed to ignore them for most of the game, cheering on Luke with all my might. I tried not to show that anything was amiss with me, which should have been easy after all the practice I’d had lately, but it was still torture.
Slade was fantastic though. After telling her all about the paternity test subpoena I had been served the day before, Slade glared over at Marcos as much as possible throughout the game. She had kept up a constant stream of chatter too, keeping my brain off of everything going on. She even managed to make me laugh a couple times and cheered like a crazy person when Luke scored a touchdown.
She had been a complete life saver.
A couple of the moms had walked over to me after the game, introducing themselves as mothers of other players—names of boys I recognized because Luke talked about them. It was nice to meet other moms, especially in the area.
After we exchanged phone numbers, the women left, leaving Slade and I alone to wait for Luke. He was still on the field with his team, huddled around the coach. While the kids all listened and ate a snack, I thanked Slade for coming. “Seriously girl, I don’t know if I could have made it through this without you.”
Slade wrapped an arm around me and hugged me close. “After what you said about everything lately, I don’t know how you’re still standing.”
