Beautiful Disaster (The Bet) (12 page)

Gabe had never spoken about himself or his life and Ellie only discovered he'd been in prison strictly by accident. One night when he'd been drunk off his ass, he’d let that little tidbit slip. She'd never known why he'd
gone
to jail for so long and because he'd never pried into her life, Ellie had given him the same courtesy and never asked.

When she'd
first arrived, he'd been cold and
distant, speaking to her only when she'd needed something. But over time, Ellie could say, he'd grown accustomed to having them there, she could even go so far
as to say that
he'd come to love them
,
too. In his own odd little way, he loved them and was undoubtedly overprotective of her and her daughter.
This was the reason
why
he sometimes acted like a guard dog, like
today for example. S
he’d almost believed he and Nicholas would com
e to blows. The thought of that
hadn't sat well with her. 

Ellie wrapped her arms around Gabe’s waist, hugging him close. "Thanks for caring, Gabe. You're a good parent. And don't worry about Nicholas. He's not even close to getting near my heart or anything else for that matter." This was decidedly true; as far as Nicholas Grayson went, Ellie still had no intention of sleeping with him, regardless of the fact that he had some killer dimples when he smiled.

Life continued as normally as possible with the addition of Nicholas in their little family. His presence always a constant when not occupied with the daily routines of his own life. It surprised Ellie how easily Sophie had taken to Nicholas and even more of a surprise was how comfortable Nicholas seemed in Sophie's presence.

The self-assured, immature boy Ellie had met nearly a month ago appeared to have morphed before her eyes into a sensible human being who could generally pass for a good friend. Through the hectic rush of taking entrance exams, applying to colleges, attending school, going to work and track meets, Ellie found that she'd grown uncomfortably accustomed to Nicholas's unpredictable visits in her life.

Like today for instance, while she prepped herself for her heat, she caught sight of his familiar dark head among the crowd and received a smirk when their eyes briefly met through the throng. As usual, he'd dressed in that offhanded casual manner of his, making dark rinse jeans, blue sweater and a scarf look remarkably good.  She watched with a soft smile as he made his way up the bleachers, heading toward the area where Gabe sat, with an overzealous Sophie seated on his lap.

She remembered speaking briefly about her meet today when they'd been in Calc together earlier in the week, but Ellie hadn't expected him to make an appearance. A sudden flood of elation pooled at the pit of her stomach which she instantly chalked up to indigestion or even nerves, refusing to acknowledge that her joy stemmed from Nicholas's unexpected appearance. Admitting that would just be foolish.

"Elle!" Ellie remained seated, but stopped stretching and turned to see Maddie making her way to where she sat in the middle of the large gym. Maddie took a seat across from her and made a chore of bringing her legs into a lotus position, before facing Ellie with a smile.

It was great to see her, since it'd appeared to Ellie over the last few da
ys that Maddie was avoiding her. S
he was happy to see that her burgeoning friendship with Nicholas hadn't ruined
their
friendship. Ellie understood the rift between them and had attempted, on several occasions to mend that rift so that they could all be friends. Maddie's evasions
, however,
had made the task nearly impossible thus far and her uncharacteristic actions had Ellie wondering whether there was more to the story than a simple break-up. She'd been meaning to ask Nicholas for some time now, but had never gotten around to doing so. Maybe, Maddie would be a little more forthcoming. 

"...Pink Elephants..."

Snapping out of her thoughts, she frowned, catching the last of what Maddie had been saying. "Pink Elephants...what?"

Maddie laughed, "I knew that would get your attention. I've been talking to you for like the last five minutes. What were you thinking about?"

Ellie shrugged, "You and Nicholas." She said levelly, remarking the telltale flush on Maddie’s cheeks. 

"There isn't a' me and Nicholas'." She said de
fensively, then looked up and m
et Ellie's stare, something like betrayal lurking in her turquoise gaze. "If anything, there's a ‘
you
and Nicholas'. Rumor has it that you're like friends now."

"Yeah, we're friends now. Just like you and I are friends. There's no reason for you to look at me like I've stabbed you in the back, Maddie. I've told you before that I'm not interested in him that way or
in
any other guy for that matter."

Maddie
bit
her bottom lip, hating the gurgling feeling at the pit of her stomach. She knew why she felt this way and even when she tried to make herself feel differently, she just couldn't fight the surmounting jealousy and envy that made her sicker and sicker as the days past.

She hated how chummy Ellie and Nicholas had gotten over such a short period of time and even when she attempted to make herself feel remotely better by telling herself that Nicholas was doing this only for the game, she found it more and more difficult to believe it.

Over the last week, she’d deliberated on whether to tell Ellie about Nicholas's game, wondered whether that wouldn't have been the best thing for everyone involved. Ellie would be spared, Nicholas would happily find another girl and Maddie ---well she'd just be content knowing that her best friend wasn't going to fuck the guy she'd been in love with for years now.

"Ellie…"

"John Edgar High Varsity heat on deck!" the announcer's voice booming over the loudspeaker prevented Maddie from continuing what she was about to say and she didn't know whether the sigh she released was in frustration or relief.

Ellie, unsure of what Maddie had been about to say, but knowing it'd been important, had her touching her friend’s hand in comfort. "I have to go, but how about you and I get
ting
together this weekend and
having
a sleepover or something? You can come over and we'll talk."

"Yeah, sure." She said weakly watching as Ellie made her way through the crowd, her lissome body making the task seem almost like a dance. With an irritated sigh, she stood and found the exit. She had every intention of going to the bathroom but stopped abruptly at the sight of Nicholas standing in the long hallway that separated the women's bathroom from the men's.

She wanted to hope that he'd come for her---
just
for her and not because Ellie was running today. In all the three years that Maddie had been on the team and the short time she'd known Nicholas, she had never, not even once, seen him at any school sporting event. His appearance today, was both a shock and a blow.

Had he fallen for her that hard? Maddie silently wondered.

Whereas before he'd kept his distance, remaining as aloof and withdrawn as ever, he now stood in front her, gorgeous as usual, hands casually tucked in the pockets of
his fitted dark jeans. His hair was
so dark it shown blue beneat
h the buzzing florescent lights. It
fell across his forehead in that alluring way that had her itching to brush it back for him. His silver gaze, always so acute and guarded, regarded her now with odd gentleness. The blithe expression on his face gave her momentary pause, startled to realize that she had never seen that look on Nicholas's face before. Even at his ‘happiest'
,
one could always expect that patronizing smirk of his, the one t
hat made you feel as though you
were inch tall. It was both odd and fascinating to see him this way. 

"You did great out there;
I saw you. You're pretty good with that shot put."

Disbelief had Maddie gaping, wondering whether she'd heard what he'd just said.

"Did---did you just compliment me?"

Nicholas shrugged. "Guess I did." He smiled and Maddie scowled. The rat, probably wanted something.

"Just what the hell are you pulling? I don't have any more information for you. You want to find out more about Ellie, go straight to the source and leave me the hell alone!"

Now Nicholas was taken off guard, not having expected the outburst from the usually timid girl. Hell, he didn't even know Maddie could form an entire sentence without stuttering or getting flustered. It appeared she didn't think so either because her face instantly morphed from righteous anger to stunned mortification and she gazed at Nicholas with those big turquoise eyes, torn between apologizing or fleeing.

Nicholas made the decision for her. "Don't apologize." He said firmly, instantly regretting his gruff tone when she winced. "Look, the reason I came was to apologize. I know I haven't been the nicest person to you."

Maddie pursed her lips, Nicholas's contrition snapping her backbone into place. Nicholas, seeing the expression on her face quickly retracted his words. "Ok, I've been a complete and utter dick, right down there with vermin and worms."

Maddie folded her arms across her chest, "You're not even in the same league as them."

Nicholas frowned and carded a hand through his hair, "You're not making this easy."

"I'm not trying to."

Nicholas sighed, trying to remember exactly why the hell he was doing this. He was remorseful, he felt guilty. Ellie would think him a better person.

Ellie.

A smiled tugged at the corners of his lips. Since the day of the picnic
,
thi
ngs had taken a surprising turn. Things
changed
so
remarkably, so much so that his friends were beginning to wonder what the hell was wrong with him. Thing was, Nicholas couldn’t give them an answer because even he didn’t know. What he did know was that being
around Ellie did things to him; t
hings he hadn't felt since he was five, things he didn't dare hope to ever feel again.

The best way he could even begin to describe what he felt when he was around both Ellie and Sophie, was to liken it to sticking a fork in an outlet and receiving bolts of surging electricity that supercharged every cell in his body. It was nerve-wracking really how with just one smile from either mother or daughter, the carefully built wall he'd constructed ages ago cracked inch by inch. Any longer and soon, Nicholas had no doubt that he'd be a lovelorn sap, with his heart on his sleeve, where it would present Ellie a perfect target.

He sighed again, regarding the red-haired girl across from him and saw, beneath the layer of anger, her grief. Grief that he'd caused her. It pained him to look directly into her eyes because he hated to see the sorrow there. He hated that she'd fallen for him, felt even sorrier that she had, because he'd known it for so long now and had deliberately used her emotions to get what he wanted.
Nicholas looked at her and things fell into perspective,
breaking the illusion that he could be anything but the sort of person who callously hurt people. He wasn't a good guy.
But when he was
around Ellie
the
illusion
seemed so real. It
made him believe that for just a fleeting moment he could be the guy she wanted him to be. But the reality was that things didn't happen that way.

"Look Maddie, I'm really sorry for what I did to you. I could give you reasons why I did it, but we'll both know that would be making excuses and I'm not about that right now. You didn't deserve the shit I put you through and I'm sincerely sorry for making you cry."

Maddie’s lip quivered and she berated herself for the oncoming tears, rapidly blinking them away before they could fall. "You---you--" she swallowed, desperately attempting to compose herself. "You really hurt me. I---I thought---" she swallowed again, sobbing when Nicholas embraced her. She buried her head in his chest, clinging onto his sweater with
a
tight fist.

"I'm sorry, Madd
ie." And truly he was. Her sobs were
like a battering ram to his emotions. He whispered his regret into her hair, holding her close. A scant few people walked past them, some diffidently looking their way to see what was happening, while others boldly glared at him, assuming he'd hurt her somehow. Nicholas ignored them all, Maddie’s sorrow taking the whole of his attention.

"You were a real jerk." Nicholas heard the muffled insult an eternity later and smiled.

"The biggest." He good-naturedly agreed as Maddie raised her head from his chest.

Captivated by the boyish grin on his face, Maddie's heart fluttered and hope foolishly flooded her marrow, her thoughts running away with her. She beamed at him, slid her hands to his shoulders and rose on her toes to press a kiss to his mouth.

Nicholas's eyes remained opened, crossing slightly in his attempt to peer down at Maddie, whose eyes were tightly shut. He brought his hands to her arms to gently push her away.