Page 111 of Keeping Score

I turned in shock, eyes focused on Cassie, who I hoped was clearheaded enough to tell me every detail.

Maggie had seen her dad? Without me?

No wonder she was such a shell right now. That guy screwed with her head like nobody’s business. My hands balled into fists at my side at the knowledge I hadn’t been there beside her during whatever happened.

“Assaulting a parent is still considered assault, Mrs. Brynn,” the clerk’s voice countered.

“She didn’t assault him,” Cassie emphasized. “She threw a punch at him. Just one. And trust me, it was well deserved.”

“Why didn’t you just come home, Cass?” Liam groaned. “Or call me?”

“You think I’d let Maggie sit in jail alone all night?” Cassie asked, affronted at the insinuation.

Hell yeah, Cass, I thought. Maggie needed someone by her side.

If she wouldn’t let it be me, I was grateful it was Cassie, at least.

“Maggie, what the hell were you thinking? I told you that guy was no good. I told you to stay away from him, but you think everyone in the world is wrong except you—”

“Hey!” Cassie raised her voice, turning her angry eyes onto Liam. “That’s my friend you’re talking to. And she already had a hard night, so leave her alone.”

Then, in predictable Cassie fashion, she still leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “But thank you for coming.”

Liam sighed, draping an arm around Cassie’s shoulder.

“Look,” he said, “we’re all tired. We can all talk about this in the morning. Let’s just go home, okay?”

“Maggie?” My voice nearly cracked, and finally—finally—she rewarded me with her gaze.

It was a look of exhaustion from fighting battles unbeknownst to me, and it hurt me just as much to know I wasn’t able to fix whatever it was haunting her.

“Yeah,” she said, standing. “Let’s go.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

Maggie

Brody breaking me out of jail took the top slot for the most humiliating things to ever happen to me in my entire life.

I had started the night with the hope of swooping in, winning him back, and showing him how much better I could be than I’d been. How ready I was to grow and change.

And what had I done? Given him more proof of the exact reason why he deserved better.

I was a loose cannon, unpredictable, and easily led astray by her emotions time and again.

All I could do was stare out Liam’s car window, fighting to suck in a breath each time Brody’s knee brushed against mine in the backseat.

After the fourth time, I started to think it was intentional, which just seemed cruel after his lips had been locked with some random girl from his past mere hours ago.

I forcibly turned my body to look out the window, scooting as far to the left as I could possibly get.

Ha. There was no way he could accidentally bump me now. Even with those outrageously long legs of his.

Part of me knew that I was responsible for all of this.

But the part of me running the show right now was the emotional, high-strung girl my father accused me of being, and even though she understood the logic of it all, it didn’t stop the pain from scorching her.

“Maggie,” he said through a wince. “Maggie, talk to me.”