Don't Hate the Player...Hate the Game (26 page)

The Parkers and Maddie laughed as Gerard sashayed
over to me. “Noah darling, it’s time for you to sing.”

For their first dance as man and wife, Mom wanted me
to perform one of her favorite songs. It was cheesy as hell if you
asked me—not me singing, but the song choice itself. It was from
the movie
What a Girl Wants
, which my mom adored for some
reason. Before Greg, I think she liked the fantasy of a long absent
father coming back to his daughter and in turn reigniting the
romance with the girl’s mother. In the end, Mom loved the song
Long Time Coming,
and she always liked to tease me that I
sounded just like Oliver James who sang the song in the movie. I
wasn’t too surprised when she asked me to sing it because when I
really thought about it, the lyrics really did sound a lot like the
shit she had been through and now the love she had found.

I nodded. “I’ll be right there.”

She arched her eyebrows teasingly at me about Gerard.
“You better hurry,
Noah darling
.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh give me a break.”

She giggled. “I might just have to start calling you
that.”

Leaning in closer to her, I challenged, “And I just
might have to hurt you.”

“We’ll just see about that,” she replied with a
wicked grin.

“I’ll come back when I’m done, okay?”

Maddie nodded. “Go and wow us.”

I headed over to the stage. Behind one of the giant
amps was my guitar—a Fender Stratocaster. I pulled it out of the
case and strummed a few chords to warm up. I plugged the amp in and
then strode to the microphone. Tapping it a couple of times, I
interrupted the buzz of conversation and clinking of
silverware.

“Good evening. As the son of the bride, I’d like you
all to join me in welcoming the happy couple, Greg and Maggie
Anderson to the floor for their first dance.”

The room erupted in applause. Greg took Mom by the
hand and led her to the middle of the floor. As I started the first
chords, he drew her into his arms, and she beamed.

It was a surreal experience having an entire band
playing with me, especially back-up singers. Once I finished, the
crowd demanded an encore, which made me grin so hard my face hurt.
So I kept singing. From Granddaddy’s instructions, I was able to
play rockier versions of classics like Sinatra’s
The Way You
Look Tonight
along with Etta James’s
At Last
. I kept it
up while people finished their dinners, and then as Mom and Greg
cut the wedding cake. They teasingly fed bites of sugary sweetness
to each other before gleefully smashing each other’s faces full of
icing. As they laughed in each other’s arms, I once again felt the
familiar tightening in my chest. Focusing on the lyrics I sang, I
pushed the unhappy thoughts from my mind. Instead, I was truly
grateful that Mom had found love and happiness.

When I finally finished singing, everyone applauded
and whistled again. I grinned. “Thank you. Now I’m going to turn it
back over to the real band.”

After depositing my guitar, I hopped off the stage
and weaved my way through the dancing couples. When I finally made
it back over to Maddie’s table, it was empty. I whirled around and
frantically searched the crowd. My heart stopped with every second
I didn’t see her.

A hand tapped me on the shoulder. “Looking for
me?”

When I spun around, Maddie grinned at me. I could
barely disguise the whooshing breath of relief I exhaled at the
sight of her. I licked my lips to dry and wet where my mouth had
gone dry. “Yeah, I was. I thought you’d bailed.”

Quirking her eyebrows at me, she said, “That’d be
pretty sad having your date bail on you at your mother’s
wedding.”

I laughed. “Yeah, it would be pretty pathetic.”

Maddie smiled. “Mom and Dad had to go to check on
Josh. You’ll give me a ride home, right?”

“Of course.” I glanced out at the dance floor. “Hey,
you wanna dance?”

“Um, I’m not that good at it,” Maddie answered.

“That’s true. I have seen you attempt it before.”

She playfully swatted me on the arm. “Whatever.”

“Come on then,” I urged, taking her hand in mine.

We edged our way between the couples to find a place
under the sparkling lights. As I pulled her to me, she wrapped her
arms around my neck while my arms crisscrossed her waist. Suddenly,
conversation seemed to escape me. I couldn’t help focusing on the
way her ample curves fit so deliciously against me, making my dick
twitch in my pants. Her Noa perfume made my head spin as well. To
get my thoughts off of how much I wanted her, I just blurted one of
the first questions that popped into my head.

“So who did you go to prom with?”

Maddie peered up at me in surprise. “I didn’t
go.”

“You didn’t? Not even for senior prom?”

She shook her head. “I went to Homecoming with Percy
from church.”

I grimaced remembering that Percy was the glasses
dude that Jake bummed homework off of. He had struck gold that a
girl as hot as Maddie went with him. “But why didn’t you go to
prom?” I pressed.

“Nobody asked me,” she said, softly.

That was fucking mind-blowing. How someone as
beautiful, kind, and cool as she was could be dateless was beyond
me. Then thoughts of Jake’s feeling for Maddie crept into my mind,
and white hot anger coursed through me. Of course, he hadn’t asked
her. It would have been too embarrassing for him to explain why he
was taking a choir girl priss. Instead, he’d gone to Prom with the
most beneficial choice for his reputation and his dick—Presley.
What an incredible douche bag! Any painful feelings of loss escaped
me in that moment, and if Jake hadn’t been dead, I would’ve wanted
to kill him myself for being such a prick.

At the flush creeping on Maddie’s cheeks, I realized
I must’ve embarrassed her. “Maddie, I can’t believe no one asked
you. There’s too many jerks out there who don’t know what an
awesome girl you are.”

She stared in shock at me for a minute before she
finally smiled shyly. “Thanks Noah.”

“You’re welcome.”

We swayed in silence for a few minutes. When I
glanced down at her, Maddie was biting her lip like she wanted to
say something. Finally, she drew a ragged breath. “There was
somebody I really wanted to go with, but he didn’t ask me.”

“Who?” I questioned, my heartbeat accelerating in my
chest.

“No, it’s silly.”

“Tell me.”

Her dark eyes stared into mine. “Jake,” she
whispered.

My heart shuddered to a stop before restarting. I
fought to catch my breath as the voice of reason echoed through my
mind.
Tell her, Noah. Tell her about the ring and the song
lyrics.
But I couldn’t—my mouth felt cemented together.

A nervous laugh escaped Maddie’s lips. “Yeah, it’s
stupid, I know. I mean, we were just good friends and all. Plus, I
wouldn’t have been too much fun at the after prom parties.”

Dammit, you coward! Tell her!
the voice
screamed in my mind. I drew in a ragged breath. There was no
turning back now. I had to tell her the truth. “Maddie, there’s
something I need to tell you—”

“All right all you single ladies, move to the center
of the floor. Maggie’s gonna throw the bouquet!” the DJ’s booming
voice echoed over the sound system.

“Come on, Maddie. Let’s go try for it!” my cousin,
Isabella, shouted, grabbing Maddie by the elbow and dragging her
away.

I rolled my eyes up toward the glittering lights.
Dammit! Just when I was about to come clean, a freakin’ bouquet
toss stops me.

With all my mom’s family and friends, there were
quite a few single ladies itching to grab a symbolic nod towards
matrimony. The band leader gave a drum roll as Mom turned around.
Then on the count of three, she hoisted the large bouquet over her
shoulder.

Total chaos ensued as there was a mad dash. Snatching
and grabbing women even knocked two of my cousins to the floor.
With them down, the bouquet sailed easily into Maddie’s open
arms.

Even though we weren’t officially together, I
couldn’t help muttering, “Oh shit!” under my breath.

Alex glanced over at me and laughed. “You’re in for
it now, cuz!” he joked. Although I hadn’t said a word about how I
felt about Maddie, I knew he could see right through me. But at the
same time there was something else I wasn’t telling him and that
was about Jake and Maddie. He’d probably think I was a giant tool
for not coming clean with her.

My thoughts were interrupted when a chair was brought
to the center of the dance floor. Mom sat down as Greg knelt down
before her. With a sly grin, he dipped his head halfway under her
billowing dress and slipped her garter off with his teeth. All his
friends, my uncles, and male cousins hooted and hollered. I, on the
other hand, threw up a little in my mouth. Greg took it from his
teeth and swung it triumphantly above his head before tossing it
into the eager crowd.

Even though I was a single guy, I sure as hell wasn’t
going to mow out people to win my mother’s garter. It was way too
creepy. Thankfully, Greg’s best man ended up getting it. He twirled
it around his finger, winked at Greg, and then drunkenly leered at
Maddie. I dragged her away before he could insist on dancing with
her as was sometimes customary.

After the bouquet and garter toss, Mom and Greg left
to get changed. Once they finished, they would be leaving on their
honeymoon. While we waited on their grand exit, Maddie and I ate
some cake. As the sugar rush danced over my body, I glanced across
the table to find Maddie staring dreamily in the space. “Hey,” I
murmured.

“Hmm?” she asked.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded. “Oh, I was just thinking how romantic the
wedding was and how wonderful it is your mom found such a great guy
after being alone for so long.”

“Yeah, it was nice.”

“I sure hope I don’t have to wait until I’m in my
thirties to get married. I think twenty-five is a good age, don’t
you?”

Frankly, I’d never given it much thought. I’d
certainly never considered a “perfect” marrying age or anything. “I
guess.”

Maddie raised her eyebrows. “Don’t you want to get
married?”

“Sure, I do. I just haven’t given much thought to
when.”

I thought about Jake and the ring. Eighteen was a
long shot away from her model twenty-five. I still couldn’t fathom
in my wildest thoughts the idea of Jake’s settling down—least of
all at eighteen or nineteen. Maybe he had intended a long
engagement. Or maybe it was like Jason had suggested—Jake had just
bought the ring with the hopes of bagging her and then bailing. But
the more I’d learned about the real Jake, the less I thought his
motives behind the ring were insincere.

Thinking of him proposing, I asked, “What if you
weren’t twenty-five? What if you were younger?”

Maddie shrugged. “As long as I was in love, it
wouldn’t matter how old I was. Sure, I’d like to finish college and
all, but when the right guy comes along, it won’t matter if I’m
twenty or forty.”

Okay, dipshit, do it. It’s the perfect time to
tell her.
But once again, I was a selfish bastard and kept my
mouth pinched shut. The prime moment once again passed me by. I was
then interrupted with Mom and Greg saying their good-byes amidst a
flurry of birdseed and bubbles. Mom hugged and kissed me bye. “I’ll
call and check in on you every day, sweetheart.”

I laughed. “Mom, I’m seventeen. You don’t have to do
that.” When she nibbled on her bottom lip, I said, “Don’t worry
about me. You just got have fun with Greg on your honeymoon.” The
moment those words left my lips I cringed.

“Okay, I will.”

Greg and I gave each other one of those awkward man
handshakes. “Have a good time,” I said.”

“Thanks.” Greg patted my back. “And thanks again for
coming around about me—it means so much to Maggie, but it means a
hell of a lot to me too.”

My mouth gaped open in surprise. I hadn’t anticipated
him saying something like that. “Sure man. I’m glad too,” I finally
replied.

After Greg and Mom left, the reception wound down,
and it was time to go. My conscience weighed heavy on me that I
hadn’t come clean about Jake to Maddie. Even when I was alone with
her on the way home, I still didn’t tell her. I mean, hell, it
should have been a fucking cake walk. I should’ve been able to turn
to her and say, “
Maddie, Jake was in love with you. So much so
he wanted to marry you, and here’s a ring. Have a nice life.”
I
don’t know what it was that made it impossible.

Maybe it was the sweet smell of her perfume that
drove me wild with longing. Or maybe it was way our hands brushed
against each other sometimes when I shifted gears. Or maybe it was
how much I enjoyed having her with me—just the two of us like we
were meant to be together.

So I just couldn’t find the words. And I began to
wonder if I ever would.

***