THE CRAZY GOOD SERIES - Rachel Robinson Page 0,43

left me,” he says. Oh, God. I dreamed about him saying those words for a year straight. I would have taken him back then. I would have forgiven him for everything and married the bastard. I was a lunatic back then.

I shake my head and get up from my seat. I can’t hear this. I dumped many hours and a lot of money in my psychiatrist’s office because of this man. “No, Nash. You don’t get to say things like that to me. You cheated on me for a very long time,” I tell him through shaky breaths. I start to walk away, but he grabs my wrist and follows me. I have to get away. The tears come and I know I won’t be able to stop them.

I enter the elevator and slam my finger on the number five at least ten times. “Come on, Winnie. I’m sorry. I am. I know now that Stacey is the kind of girl you date. You are the type of woman you marry. I should have married you. I’m so stupid. I’m so stupid,” he says. His blue eyes are pleading. That look used to get him whatever he wanted from me. I want to hug him. I want to smack him. My heart wants to forgive him. I feel like I might choke on my own shallow breaths.

“Why then? Why did you cheat?” I ask the question that tortures me the most. I hear the elevator ping and the door open. I get off, tears still pouring down my face. Nash follows me down the hall. I spin on him. “Why, Nash? You owe me the fucking truth!” I scream.

The wave of depression I fought through slams me. Every horrible thought about myself floats around me, taunting me. How his cheating was my fault. How I was a horrible person. How I couldn’t keep one man. How I was destined to end up just like my miserable mother. It took a long time to realize I was normal and Nash was the fucked up one. It still didn’t make the black hole that swallowed me whole any smaller.

He blows out a long breath and I know he’s about to say something horrible, but I don’t care. I need to hear it. I need to bury this in the ground so I can get over it, instead of burying it inside.

He takes my hands in his. “I was bored, Winnie. It was always the same with you. You were too predictable. Life got boring. You never took any risks,” he says.

There they are. The words I needed to hear, yet they are tearing me into two. I look down the hallway to the right, where my room is and see him—Maverick sitting on the floor in front of my door. He just looks at me, searching my face for something. Nash is oblivious that anyone else is present. I pray Maverick didn’t just hear Nash’s words, like maybe he’ll think that’s the person I really am.

“Take a risk, Winnie. Come back to me,” Nash whispers. I turn and look at the man who ruined my life, even though I can barely see him through my flooded eyes.

I decide to do something he’d never expect from me, because I know…I just know I have back up. Even if I ran away from him, even if I abandoned him and thought the very worst of him, I know Maverick cares.

So, I rear my hand back and smack Johnny Nash’s freaking face so hard that my palm burns like a million bees just stung me. I’ve never felt a better feeling. That was what I needed while I was lying in bed, pondering the worth of my life. I don’t need Nash. I don’t need anyone. I want someone, and it’s not the man who cheated and lied to me.

Like I suspected, Maverick is by my side quicker than seems humanly possible. He has Johnny by his collar, pinned up against the wall. His feet dangle off the ground like a little child. The sight actually calms me. Nothing about Maverick is calm. He is a ball of fury, anger probably directed at both Nash and I. His breathing is harsh and the muscles in his tattooed forearms bunch. It looks like he’s trying to stop himself from killing Johnny on the spot. A button pops off Johnny’s freshly pressed shirt. Maverick wears a stretched out black t-shirt and jeans. The difference between them is