The Consequence of Loving Colton (Consequence 1)

Not that I hated it.

No sane girl would hate it. I don’t care WHO she was crushing on.

Jayne laughed loudly as if trying to take the focus off of us. “Um, excuse me? Can you guys not do that in public?”

“Sorry.” Max placed me on my feet. “I just can’t help myself.”

I looked into his eyes adoringly.

His eyes reflected the same look.

“Max, we should, uh, catch up.” Jayne fidgeted with her purse.

“Sure thing.” I watched the light fade from my friend’s eyes. “We should do that.”

“Great.” Jayne grabbed my brother by the hand, having already forgotten Max. “Let’s go have some coffee and you can tell me all about how you got a black eye.”

They walked away, leaving me clinging to Max and Colton shaking like he’d just gotten drenched in water. “Sorry, man, that woman freaks me out,” he explained, looking down at himself as if he wanted to make sure his body was still intact after a run-in with Jason’s fiancée. He shuddered and then pinched the bridge of his nose. “I have to go . . . shower or something.”

Max and I stayed quiet until we were the only ones outside.

“Spill,” I finally said a few minutes later.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I almost just got pregnant with your love child out here on my parents’ lawn—the least you could do is tell me what happened.”

He shrugged and looked down at the ground. “I wasn’t enough.”

“Enough?”

“To keep her.” Max frowned. “I wasn’t enough.”

CHAPTER NINE

MILO

“Sit.” I pointed to one of the chairs by the pool.

Max sat and leaned back in the chair, closing his eyes for a few seconds before cursing and leaning forward on his knees.

“She denied you?”

“For my brother,” Max said sharply.

Shock radiated through my body, making me stagger. “Whoa. Back up, you have a brother?”

“He’s old.” Max looked up and then shrugged. “Graduated like five years ago from NYU. He’s on Broadway.”

“Cool. Have I seen any of his shows?”

Max’s eyes went completely cold.

“Not the time. Got it.” I shook my head. “So Jayne’s a bitch.”

Max burst out laughing. “Yeah, something like that. I was in love with her my senior year of high school.”

“How did you even know her?”

“Summer camp.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope.” Max grinned. “I went to one of those really stupid theater camps during the summer.”

“Aww.”

“Shut it.”

“And?”

“And she was there, as well as my brother, though he was an instructor. Apparently she led us both on. I fell hard. At the end of camp I told her I wanted to see her again. She strung me along for an entire year. It wasn’t until the following summer when I was making plans to visit her for a week that she told me she’d been screwing my own flesh and blood behind my back, Reid had no idea so it wasn’t like I could be pissed at him.”

Wincing, I reached for his hand and squeezed. “Well, look at the bright side.”

He gave me a doubtful look.

“Now I’m stuck with her and while you dodged the bullet, my brother stood there and let it hit him square in the eyes.”

“He’s probably still bleeding, poor bastard,” Max grumbled.

“Tell me you don’t still like her.” I released his hand and stood. “She’s crazy.”

“Of course I don’t still like her.” Max rolled his eyes. “You know nothing of men.”

“You keep saying that, but—”

“Rejection’s a bitch, okay? It doesn’t matter if the girl goes bat-shit crazy on you—it’s a pride thing. She led me on, and she cheated, then she dumped me. While she was the one to blame, I never got to yell at her, slam a door in her face, call her a bitch, tell her she had lipstick on her teeth . . .”

“Yeah, you’ve thought about this way too much.”

“It just sucks. When you see your ex you want to win.”

“Win?”

Max sighed and patted his knee. “Have a seat while I explain how the world works, Milo.”

I sat on his knee and crossed my arms.

“Boy meets girl. Boy and girl break up. Boy and girl go separate ways. Fast forward ten years. Boy meets girl at supermarket. Boy wants to look like man, have balls of steel, sport a six-pack, and be driving a Ferrari. Now, tell me girl doesn’t want the same thing.”

“I’ve never wanted balls of steel.”

Max pressed his lips together and waited.

“Fine, if I was supermarket girl, I’d want big boobs, a tiny waist, killer outfit, sick car, and one of those credit cards that has no limit.”

“I rest my case.” Max popped his knuckles. “All I’m saying is, I want to win.”

Jayne’s screechy laughter pierced the peaceful morning air. Max and I cringed simultaneously.

“Winning,” we said in unison, falling into fits of laughter.

Max kissed my forehead and helped me off his lap.

“Max?”

“Hmm?” He put his arm around me.

“You’re not going to like . . .” I felt my cheeks heat with embarrassment. “I mean you won’t . . .”