Chapter 13 Maddox
MADDOX
“Phyllis! Kitty! Two of my favorite girls. How are we doing on this beautiful March day, besides looking as gorgeous as ever?”
My words make the two older women blush, but Gabi rolls her eyes as she takes their plates away. I’ll admit, that first day these two had me off my game. But since then? I’ve been able to charm them a little more each time.
And I’m ready each time Phyllis pinches my ass. She’s got strong fingers.
“How's our favorite hotty doing today?” Phyllis asks, patting the seat next to her for me to sit down. “We haven't seen you in a while.”
“I know, and I'm sorry,” I say. It’s been over a week since I’ve been here, which was the same day as my baking lesson. I feel guilty as hell about that. “I’m trying to negotiate a new contract so I can buy you two all the baked goods you could ever want. Those kinds of talks take time.”
“Oh you,” Kitty says, giving my arm a slap. “Nonetheless, it’s good to see you.”
“Good to see you, too.”
The last week has been an odd chaos of random things that have kept me busier than I’d like to be in the offseason.
There were a good amount of contract negotiation meetings, but my agent and the team lawyers are finalizing my new four-year deal as we speak.
I’m not the highest paid safety in the league, but if I keep going the way I have been my first four years, come time for the next contract, I could be.
On top of that, every single offseason commitment I had seemed to be scheduled over the past week.
A few days with my charity; meetings with some of the companies that I have endorsements with; shooting a commercial for one of those.
Sure, all of those are good for my bank account, but they’re bad when it comes to seeing the one person I want to see every day.
Actually, maybe it’s good that I’ve been away. Not because I don’t like spending time with her, but because I like spending time with her too much. And the more time I spend with her, the more I want to kiss her.
And I can’t do that. That’s not what friends do.
So, yeah, maybe time away was for the best.
Oh, who am I kidding? I’m a smiling fool right now as I watch her come out of the kitchen, carrying a tray of brownies.
Her apron is tied around her waist, there’s floury patches scattered randomly on her body, and the shirt she’s wearing isn’t supposed to be sexy, but it’s giving a peek at her cleavage, and I swear I might cry they look so good.
“Jaw up, Maddox,” Kitty says with a slap on my leg. “They’re just boobs.”
Damn. This is what I’m reduced to. Staring at her tits like I’m a horny teenager. Also, are they bigger?
“Sorry,” I say, turning away from Gabi and all thoughts of her lips and her boobs. “So what’s new with you two?”
Both of them simultaneously raised eyebrows. “Small talk, Maddox? You’re better than that.”
I shrug at Kitty’s words. “It was worth a try.”
“Let’s try again,” Phyllis says. “Be real with us. Is this a physical thing? No judgment if it is. We just need to know what direction you want to take this so we can make sure to push her the right way.”
God I love these women. I’m going to need to find out when their birthdays are. I have a feeling they’d love it if some of the Fury players dropped by for their parties.
“It was. But it’s not now,” I admit. “It’s just… she…”
I’ve never been one to stutter over my words. Every team I’ve ever been on has loved me because of how easy I am with the media—giving the right answer while also not giving away too much. But in this moment, I can’t articulate out loud what Gabi is to me.
Sure, I’m very attracted to her physically.
That’s obvious to anyone with eyes. But it’s more than that.
It’s her smile. Her laugh. The way she interacts with customers.
The way she can be so vulnerable at times, but I also know she’s also the woman who randomly jumped on stage to dance to a song with a complete stranger.
The way her voice and stage presence captivated an audience.
She’s the woman who I want to get to know better, whatever way she’ll let me.
“We get it,” Kitty says, gently patting my arm. “And so you know, she’s happy when you’re here.”
I turn to where Gabi’s standing at the glass case, grabbing the bear claw I didn't ask for yet. “You think?”
“Oh yes,” Phyllis says. “Every time someone walks in, her face is a little hopeful when she turns to see who it is, and it’s always a little sad when it’s not you.”
“But today? Today it was a smile that she tried to hide. But we saw it,” Kitty adds. “Because we see everything.”
“Well I appreciate the kind words,” I say, needing to not let my brain, or my heart, get excited over a smile. “But unfortunately, we’re just friends.”
“Horse shit,” Kitty grumbles. “You can't be friends with someone you've seen naked. It's not right.”
“I bet that’s why she smiles,” Phyllis adds. “If I saw this guy naked I’d be smiling every day.”
Yes, I can handle these two better than I could day one, but then they go and say shit like this and I feel my cheeks flush in point-two seconds.
“I’ve also seen her ex,” Phyllis says. “And I’m not one to judge a person’s taste—different strokes for different folks and all that—but he’s not you. Definitely doesn’t have your ass.”
If I had water, I’d be choking on it right now. “Phyllis!”
“What! It’s true. He’s a scrawny little man. I bet he has a little—”
“Okay that’s enough,” I say, needing this conversation to stop because I don’t know where it’s going, and though I love knocking the fuckhead, I feel like it’s a train about to go off track.
Kitty leans over and puts her hands on my elbow. “What my uncouth friend is trying to say is that our girl has been through it. We’re pretty good at overhearing things, and we overhead a lot during the divorce. That ex? He’s a real piece of work. He screwed her up good.”
“She’s told me a little,” I say. “For the record, I’m not a fan of him either.”
“Oh you could take him,” Phyllis says with a wink. “Please be good to her. That's all we ask for. That and to see a few more butts in these seats. But we’ll take you making her smile.”
“And that’s all I want to do,” I say. “I want to make her smile every day.”
“Well shit,” Kitty says. “That’s so sweet I’m going to cry.”
“Oh no, there’s no crying around baked goods,” I say, trying to change the mood. “Unless they’re that good.”
“Is that my new slogan?” Gabi asks as she sets down my bear claw and a bottle of water. “What are you three yapping about?”
“Oh nothing,” Phyllis says as she scoots back her chair. “Thank you again Gabi for a lovely afternoon. We need to get going to make it back in time for bingo.”
“We don’t have bingo today,” Kitty says. “It's Friday. We don't do bingo on—”
Phyllis slaps Kitty's arm. “Yes Kathleen, we do. Don’t you remember they moved it?”
Phyllis stares down Kitty in a way that’s not discreet in the least of what she’s trying to pull here, especially when she adds the obvious looks from me, to Gabi, back to me.
“Oh that's right!” Kitty says. “You two have fun. Time for bingo! Now, don’t do anything we wouldn’t do.”
I stand to help her up and get both of their coats on. “Why do I have a feeling that's not a very long list?”
“Because it's not,” Phyllis says. “See you tomorrow, Gabi. Maddox, hope to see you too.”
In true Phyllis fashion, she gives my butt a squeeze before she and her sidekick make their way out of the bakery.
“I don’t know whether to laugh or press charges,” I say as I sit back down.
“I love them, and they’re pretty much keeping my business open right now, but one day they’re going to flirt with the wrong guy and it’s going to be very, very bad.”
“I mean, some men like older women,” I say with an exaggerated eyebrow wag. “I would know.”
My shameless flirting only earns me an eye roll. “So what brings you here today?”
Not a shut down. Not encouragement. I’ll take it. “Just wanted to see you. I had the day free, which hasn’t happened a lot lately, so I thought I’d stop in and say hi. I hope I’m not interrupting your day.”
“Well, hi,” she says, a relaxed smile coming across her face. “And no interruptions. It’s been pretty slow, which means I’m all caught up.”
I think back to the comment that Phyllis said about wanting to see more people in here. I’ve never come in during the morning hours, but each time I’m here in the afternoon, it’s always slow. I’ve chalked it up to the time of day. But is it more?
“Can I ask you a personal-ish question?”
“You can. I might not answer.”
I lean down closer, wanting to whisper even though we’re the only two in here. “Are you… is the bakery… doing okay?”
I hate to ask her this, but I like fixing things.
Give me a task to do and I’m your guy. On the football field, it’s to either take away the ball or make sure the opponent doesn’t score.
I’m not sure exactly what I can do yet, but if she needs it, well…
I have an offseason of free time to do it.
And I’m very good when I have a task. Keeps the squirrel brain calm.
“It’s… fine,” she says, but by the way the word comes out a little defeated—and growing up with a sister—I know that doesn’t mean fine.
“Could it be busier? Sure. We usually get a decent crowd in the morning. By lunch, it’s pretty much fizzled.
It’s not doing bad enough yet that my brother is threatening to shut it down, but I don’t know how much profit he’s making. ”
“Would he shut you down?” I ask. “Wait. You have a brother? Who owns the bakery?”
A soft smile comes across her face at the mention of her brother. “He’d never. He knows this is my dream. He’s living his, and he wants me to have mine.”
“And this was it?”
She nods with a smile. “I was always baking with my mom and meemaw. I loved coming up with new recipes, or adding different flavors and putting spins on things.”
“Sounds like this was your calling.”