Face Off Read online

  “I’m not in trouble,” he grumbled good-naturedly. “I just need to learn to think before I speak.”

  They kept conversation to more mundane, and safer, subjects while they ate, and Amy retreated to her room after she’d cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher. Apparently, the fact Maddie knew Savannah had lost a bit of its shine. It was just as well because she really didn’t want to think about her any more than she already had since leaving her house earlier.

  “So, I can’t believe you actually asked her if you could use her shower,” Dana said after Trent went to his home office to get some work done.

  “I know, right? Even more amazing is she let me,” Maddie answered, resigning herself to the fact she wasn’t being given an option as to whether or not she was going to think—or talk—about Savannah.

  “Right?” Dana laughed. “Is there any kind of a spark there?”

  “Dana, I spent about five minutes with her.”

  “She’s not attractive?”

  Maddie snorted, and immediately regretted the reaction. Dana grabbed her arm and gave it a squeeze, causing Maddie to roll her eyes. Her sister was so much like their mother, always wanting to talk everything to death, and not giving up until they had every bit of detail they could possibly get.

  “Since your daughter is so enamored with her, I’m sure you know what she looks like,” Maddie said. She extricated herself from the grip Dana had on her and rubbed her arm. “So I have to wonder why you’re asking a question you no doubt already know the answer to.”

  “Yes, but I look at women differently than you do.”

  “God, Dana, you make it sound like I want to sleep with every woman I see.”

  “Oh, stop, you know what I mean.” Dana sighed in obvious exasperation, and Maddie smiled. She loved teasing her. “I might think a woman is attractive, and you could have absolutely zero interest. On the other hand, you might fall head over heels for someone I don’t find attractive at all. Like Mary.”

  “Okay, stop,” Maddie said, all humor gone now. Why the hell did she have to bring up Maddie’s ex?

  “When are you going to talk about it, Mads?” Dana asked, looking all concerned while she used her childhood nickname. Maddie shook her head. “Jesus, she is the reason you moved here in the first place, right?”

  “Yes, to get away from her. To forget about her. To move on.”

  “I get it, I really do,” Dana said, sounding sincere. But how could that be when she kept pushing Maddie for the details of their breakup? “I just think in order to truly move on, you need to get it all out of your own head. I’m on your side, sweetie. I want to help.”

  “She was verbally abusive,” Maddie said, even though she really didn’t want to talk about it. She knew Dana was right though—she probably needed to talk to someone about it. And actually, now that she’d said it, she wondered why she hadn’t opened up about it sooner. “And possessive. Way too possessive. I couldn’t have friends, and God forbid if I ever went somewhere without her. She was convinced I wanted to sleep with any woman I happened to speak to. Ironic, isn’t it? It took me finding out she was cheating on me to finally end it.”

  “Oh, sweetie, why didn’t you ever confide in me about this?” Dana moved closer and held her hand. “You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

  “I was embarrassed, Dana,” she said, shaking her head. “I couldn’t believe I’d put up with it for so long.”

  “Hey,” Dana said with a quick squeeze to get Maddie to look at her. “I’m your sister. You don’t have to be embarrassed about anything, okay? Promise me you’ll talk to me if anything like that ever happens again.”

  “I will, but I think maybe you should just shoot me if I’m stupid enough to get involved with someone like her again.” Maddie let out a humorless chuckle. “I’m sorry I didn’t come to you.”

  “I’m so happy you got away from her.” Dana hugged her tightly and then backed away so she could look her in the eye. “I would have gone after her myself if I’d known what she was putting you through. Although Trent would likely have beat me to it.”

  “I know this about both of you,” Maddie said with a sad smile. “And I love you for it.”

  “Is there any chance in hell she’d show up here?”

  “I doubt it. It’s been six months now.” Maddie shrugged, but realized she didn’t really have a clue what Mary was capable of. “I have my address book, and I told her you and I had a falling out so she would hopefully think I’d gone somewhere else. I guess we can’t completely rule it out though.”

  “I guess we’ll cross that bridge if we come to it, right?”

  “Hopefully, we never will.”

  “Hey, maybe you can move on with Savannah Wells.” Dana winked and Maddie couldn’t help but laugh at her expectant expression.

  “I should go.” Maddie got to her feet and started for the door, fully expecting Dana to follow her, but was surprised to find it wasn’t the case. She smiled to herself as she walked out the door and headed for her car. It might be rather nice to move on with the sexy neighbor at that.

  Chapter Four

  “What do you mean you’re leaving?” Kelly asked after they’d been in the bar for barely more than an hour.

  “I’m not feeling well,” Savannah said, shaking her head and grimacing as though she had a stomachache. She wasn’t in physical pain but mentally she just wasn’t feeling it tonight. There was a certain new neighbor she couldn’t get out of her head. Of course, she hadn’t mentioned Maddie’s visit to Kelly, because, why would she? “I think I must have undercooked the chicken or something.”

  “I feel fine,” Kelly said, looking at her like she wasn’t buying what Savannah was trying to sell. “You just need another beer.”

  “No,” Savannah said, grabbing her arm before she could wave the bartender over. “I just want to go home and lie down, all right? We can do this some other time.”

  “I should have known you were planning to bail on me when you insisted on riding your motorcycle.” Kelly turned her back to the bar and looked out at the dance floor. She leaned closer so Savannah could hear her, but she never looked at her. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter. Not like we’d end up leaving together anyway, right?”

  “Kel,” Savannah said, feeling bad about lying to her, but not bad enough to come clean. “I really don’t feel good. I didn’t plan this.”

  “Just go,” Kelly said, waving a dismissive hand in her direction. “But next time, I’m not paying for a single drink.”

  “Like you ever do,” Savannah said with a chuckle.

  “Yeah, it’s a curse to look this good.” Kelly grinned, and Savannah knew she wasn’t really mad.

  “You’re an ass,” Savannah said before hugging her. “You’re my best friend, and I love you. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

  “Be careful on that bike,” Kelly said when Savannah walked past her on her way to the door. “I expect it to be my inheritance, and I don’t want it damaged.”

  Savannah just waved over her shoulder in response. Kelly was right about one thing. They usually went to the bars together, but rarely left together. It was a common occurrence for them to go home with women they picked up, and it was the reason they even went to these places at all. Like Lisa had said that morning—you aren’t going to meet a woman to marry in those clubs you go to.

  It took almost an hour for her to get home, and the first thing she noticed upon turning onto her cul-de-sac was the lights were on at Maddie’s house. She put her bike into the garage and stood there looking next door, fighting the urge to go knock on the door. What would she say?

  Just wanted to say good night.

  I had to see you because you seem to have hijacked my brain.

  Hi. I really need to taste your lips.

  “Fuck,” she said, turning away from the street and pushing the button to close the garage door. Like any of those lines would work. All she really wanted was to shove Maddie against th
e wall and have her way with her. No, more precisely, she wanted Maddie to shove her against the wall. Her step faltered as she entered the house. Where the hell had that thought come from? Savannah never let anyone, ever, take control of her. She shook her head and reached down to pick up Leo with one hand. “What’s wrong with me, little man?”

  He meowed and stared at her, his eyes half closed. She kissed his nose and set him back down on the floor with a sigh. After grabbing a beer and heading for the couch to try to relax and maybe watch a movie, she froze when there was a knock on the door. She glanced at Leo, who was running to the door to greet his company. As far as he was concerned, no one ever came over to see her. If they were there, it was all about him.

  “Hold your horses,” she said, assuming it would be Kelly. She was caught off guard when she saw Maddie standing there, the jersey Savannah had loaned her earlier folded neatly in her hands. “Uh, hi.”

  “I heard you come home, so I was hoping it was okay to come over.” She looked over Savannah’s shoulder into the living room, probably trying to see if she was alone.

  “Yeah, of course.” Savannah stepped aside and motioned her in. She took the jersey Maddie held out to her as she passed. “You didn’t have to bring it back tonight.”

  “I was informed it was an authentic game worn jersey, so I was under the impression that made it pretty special. I wouldn’t want to risk anything bad happening to it.” Maddie smiled and winked at her, and Savannah had to turn away or risk doing something that had the potential to be rather embarrassing.

  “Well, we play at least seventy games a year, so I have plenty of opportunities to get game worn jerseys.” Savannah tossed it onto the chair she walked by on her way to the kitchen. “Would you like a beer? Or I have soda. Water, wine.”

  “A beer is fine.”

  Savannah was trying really hard to not freak out. There was a beautiful woman in her living room, and she was nervous. That like, literally, never happened. She closed her eyes and took a couple of calming breaths before popping the top off the bottle of beer and returned to find Maddie studying the pictures on her mantel.

  “Those are my moms,” Savannah said as she stood next to her and held the bottle out. “Lisa and Faith.”

  “You have two moms?” Maddie smiled as she glanced at her, and Savannah simply nodded in response. She took a drink and returned her attention to the photo. “That is so freaking cool.”

  “Maybe to a lesbian who didn’t grow up with two moms.”

  “You just assume I’m a lesbian?” Maddie turned fully to face her and Savannah grimaced at having done exactly that.

  “Deductive reasoning.” Savannah gave her a shrug and met her eyes.

  “Do tell.”

  “Well, earlier there was the comment about not usually using a woman’s shower without at least knowing her name,” Savannah said, then paused when Maddie smiled and gave her an almost imperceptible nod. “And I don’t really think there are a lot of straight women who would say it was cool to have two moms. I apologize if I was wrong in my assumption.”

  “You weren’t,” Maddie said as she turned and moved to take a seat on the couch. Leo wasted no time getting on her lap. Savannah settled in on the other end, a safe distance away from Maddie. “So tell me why it wasn’t cool for you to have two moms.”

  “Where do I begin?” Savannah looked at the ceiling and sighed. “Honestly, it was kind of cool, until I realized they didn’t want me to turn out to be lesbian.” She looked at Maddie, who appeared to be perplexed by the statement. Savannah gave her a wry smile. “They knew how hard it was for them, and they really wanted a better, or easier, life for me. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be.”

  “So, did you have to come out to them?”

  “Yeah. And it didn’t go well. Lisa, the blonde in the pictures, spent the first six months after I told them trying to set me up with guys.” Savannah couldn’t help but laugh when Maddie did. It was such an infectious sound. “Once she realized I really was a lesbian, she decided to switch gears and set me up with women. Faith has given her a hard time about it for years, but she still tries to do it.”

  “You call them by their first names?”

  “Yeah. Weird, right?”

  “No,” Maddie said, shaking her head and scratching Leo under the chin. Savannah was jealous of her cat. There was no way around it. “It kind of makes sense, actually. I’m sure it might have been confusing otherwise.”

  “Which is why they insisted on it the year I started first grade.” Savannah took a drink of her beer before setting the bottle on the coffee table. “Who in your life is a big enough hockey fan to know the jersey was game worn? There aren’t any rips or blood on it.”

  “Blood?” Maddie looked horrified. “Why would there be blood? I thought women didn’t play physical. At least they don’t in the Olympics.”

  “No, they don’t,” Savannah said. “But we do. And even if we didn’t, there’s always a chance of a high stick hitting you somewhere you aren’t protected.”

  “Sounds brutal.” Maddie shook her head and looked at the cat for a moment. “To answer your question though, it’s my fourteen-year-old niece who noticed the black marks from the pucks on the jersey. It seems she has a bit of a crush on you. My brother-in-law’s words, not mine.”

  “No offense, but she’s about fifteen years too young for me. At least.”

  “That’s reassuring.”

  “So,” Savannah said, glancing away when Maddie looked at her because she was dangerously close to making a move on her off limits neighbor. No way could she look into those intense green eyes for any length of time and not make a move. “Are you living alone next door?”

  “Is this your way of asking if I’m single?” Maddie winked at her when Savannah’s head whipped around, and Savannah felt her cheeks begin to burn. “Because I am. Single. And living alone. How about you?”

  “Perpetually single, yes,” Savannah said with a nod.

  “Why is that? Have you been hurt by someone you loved?”

  “Nope, I’ve never been in a relationship. I refuse to allow anyone to have so much power over me and my happiness.” It was a lie, but Savannah saw no reason to tell her about college. About how Shauna had not only crushed her heart, but shattered it completely.

  “Why do you feel that way?”

  “I don’t know anyone whose parents aren’t divorced. I don’t believe in love as a long-lasting entity.”

  “How long have your moms been together?”

  “Since before I was born, but it doesn’t mean they haven’t had their share of problems.”

  “Everyone has problems, Savannah, but that doesn’t mean they don’t love each other. And not every marriage ends in divorce. My parents have been married for almost forty years.”

  Savannah didn’t want to be having this conversation, especially with someone she’d only just met earlier that day. Yes, she wanted to get to know Maddie better, but she wasn’t used to tackling such heavy subjects with anyone other than Kelly.

  “Why are you single?” Savannah asked in an obvious attempt to change the subject.

  “Subtlety isn’t your strong point, is it?” Maddie laughed and Savannah chuckled as she shook her head. “Okay, so your private life is off limits, but not mine. Got it. I moved here a few months ago after my girlfriend decided she’d be happier with someone else. In fact, she’d been happier with someone else for about three months before she finally let me know.”

  “She must be insane,” Savannah said before she could stop herself.

  “Why do you say that?” Maddie had been watching Leo as she scratched under his chin but raised her gaze to meet Savannah’s eyes.

  Savannah tried to look away. Really, she did. But Maddie had some sort of force field surrounding her and she found it physically impossible to do anything but stare into her eyes. Yeah. A force field. It was the only logical explanation, right? She struggled to come up with something witty to say in response to Ma
ddie’s question, but nothing was coming to mind.

  “Have you looked at yourself?” she finally managed to say. “If you were my girlfriend, I wouldn’t need to look anywhere else for happiness.”

  “Thank you, but considering you’re perpetually single, I’m not sure your opinion would hold much sway.”

  “You’re probably right,” Savannah said with a shrug. “But it’s still my opinion.”

  “You’re sweet.” Maddie nudged Leo to get him off her lap before getting to her feet. “And I think I should go before I do something I’ll no doubt regret.”

  Savannah walked her to the door where they stood in awkward silence for a moment. Savannah sighed and placed her hand on Maddie’s arm, a move she regretted almost instantly because of the spark seeming to ignite between the two of them. In spite of the regret, she left her hand where it was.

  “Anytime you need to use my shower, it’s yours,” she said with a grin.

  “Good to know,” Maddie replied with a nod. She reached behind her and opened the door before leaning in and kissing Savannah’s cheek. Her lips lingered a moment, but then she pulled away when Savannah’s hand moved up her arm to her shoulder. “Good night, Savannah.”

  “Good night,” she replied, an overwhelming feeling of disappointment washing over her as she watched Maddie walk out her door. She locked up for the night and went into her bedroom. Leo jumped up on the bed and looked at her, an undeniable question in his eyes. “I don’t know, little man. I can see myself getting in over my head with this one.”

  Chapter Five

  “Holy hell, there’s a lot of people here this year,” Kelly said as she took a seat at the table next to Savannah.

  “I think every year there’s more than the year before,” Savannah replied, scanning the crowd for her parents and brother. The yearly Fourth of July carnival had really taken off since the team started doing it six years before. It was a fundraiser for multiple charities in the area, and people always seemed to open their wallets more freely when it was for a good cause.