Xavier
After taking an Uber to Cass’s house where she refused to talk to me, I was sober enough to get into my rental car and drive over to Macy’s apartment complex.
I call my sister from the parking lot.
“What’s up?” she asks when she answers on the second ring.
“Good. You’re still awake. Can I stay with you tonight?”
“Ah, why can’t you stay with Cassidy?”
“Long story. Let me in. I’m sitting outside in the parking lot.”
“Done,” she says as I hear her turning the lock and pulling open the door. “Now get your ass in here and start talking.”
“On my way up,” I tell her as I climb out of the car and end our call.
“Whoa, Zave,” Macy says when I walk into her apartment and she shuts the door behind me. “You look like shit.”
“Good, it matches how I feel.”
“Why do you look and feel shitty?” she asks, folding her legs underneath her as she sits down on one end of the sofa and I flop down on the other side.
“I fucked up.”
Macy’s jaw drops dramatically before she says, “Xavier Malone fucked up? No, I can’t believe it. You’re Mr. Perfect. Mr. Perfect doesn’t ever fuck up.”
“Well he did. I did. And I’m not Mr. Perfect.”
“Tell Mom and Dad that,” Macy snorts.
“I slept with Cass,” I blurt out.
Rather than look shocked, my sister rolls her dark brown eyes and says, “Finally! That’s a good thing, though, not a fuck up.”
“It is a good thing. Or was,” I agree. “Until Camilla showed up at our reunion and Cass realized I hadn’t told her the entire truth about our divorce.”
“What about the divorce?” Macy asks.
“I haven’t technically filed for one yet.”
With a gasp, my sister leans over and then slaps the shit out of the back of my head. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“You haven’t been married!” I point out. “You don’t understand the pressure you feel to try and make that shit work, no matter what. I was waiting to see if I could forgive Camilla for screwing around on me.”
“She fucked someone else?” Macy says with genuine surprise on her face. “That’s why you left her, not for being a nagging, evil money-sucking witch?”
“Yep.”
“Wow, Zave, that’s…wow,” she mutters.
“I think I wanted to try to forgive her and I kept waiting for that to happen. It never did, though,” I explain. “And I don’t think I want to forgive her. Now, I’m certain I don’t want to be with her.”
“Good for you,” Macy agrees. “So you’re gonna get a divorce?”
“Absolutely. Tomorrow, I’m heading back to Seattle, and first thing Monday morning I’m going to find an attorney and start the process.”
“But that doesn’t exactly help resolve Cass’s anger at you for lying to her, right?”
“Exactly,” I reply with a sigh. “And things were so perfect tonight. I want to be with Cass. There’s no doubt in my mind that we could be great together.”
“Well, duh,” Macy huffs. “Cassidy has known that for years, but you ignored her and then left for college and got married.”
“I didn’t ignore her,” I grumble. “We were best friends. I just didn’t take a second to consider her as more…”
“Now you have. But you screwed it up.”
“Right,” I say.
“Well, for starters, you can’t expect her to forgive you for lying and then concede to a long-distance relationship,” Macy says.
“I’m not. I had already decided to move home to train, so being with Cass here is an added benefit,” I ramble, saying way too much.
“Back the hell up,” my sister says, having obviously caught my slip. “Did you say you’re moving home to train?”
“Ah, yeah. I’m going to train to be a circus acrobat.”
“I would pay good money to see that,” Macy snorts again. “So you’re gonna finally fucking fight? About time!” she says, reaching over to punch me in my upper arm. “Have you told Mom and Dad? No, of course you haven’t,” she says, answering her own question with another roll of her eyes. “If you had, Dad would’ve been screaming it from the rooftops.” Pumping both of her fists in the air, she deepens her voice to imitate our dad and says, “The prodigal son has returned!”
“Every time I see him, he’s bragging about you and your success in the cage,” I point out.
“Pah-lease,” she drawls. “I’m just a scrawny girl goofing off in a man’s world. You’re gonna be the real deal.”
“You’re not a scrawny girl goofing around,” I assure her. “You’re on a ten-win streak, which is huge!”
“Yeah, yeah,” she mutters.
“Do you really think I can be the real deal?” I can’t help but ask.
“Honestly? I’m already jealous of your MMA career, and you haven’t even started yet!” she exclaims.
“Thanks,” I tell her. “Could you just not mention anything to Mom or Dad until I sign a contract? Coach Briggs is still waiting for someone to bite on a fight. And I’m not looking forward to mom flipping out about me giving up practicing. At least I can wait until it’s official before they find out.”
“Oh, no,” Macy starts, reaching for her cell phone from the coffee table in front of the sofa. “You’re not gonna drop this bomb and then back out of it.”
“What are you doing?” I ask as her fingers move over the phone.
“Making sure you don’t back out.”
“Oh hell no!” I exclaim as I try to grab for her device. My sister’s expecting my lunge, so she quickly jumps out of my reach.
“Don’t tell them yet, Macy!” I warn her because I’m not going to tackle my sister. “Please?”
“Watch out MMA world,” my sister says as she continues to type on her phone. “Xavier Jackson Malone is finally ready to kick some ass in the cage,” she finishes. “There! I tweeted it. No takebacks.”
All I can do is blink at her, completely speechless because my sister is not one to bullshit. If she says she sent that message out on social media, I have no doubt that she really did it. I thought she was going to text our parents, not share it with the entire fucking world!
The phone in my hand starts dinging as notifications pop up on the screen one right after another.
“Shit,” I grumble as I turn it face down on the coffee table. “Do Mom and Dad follow you?”
“Of course!” Macy says.
“I can’t believe you did that,” I tell her with a sigh and a shake of my head.
“You’re welcome,” she replies with a grin as she retakes her seat.
“I wasn’t thanking you.”
“You will one day. I know you, Xavier. You always need a little push in the right direction before you’ll take the first step. Fighting is what you want to do, right?” she asks.