Page 54 of Keeping Score

“It’s just not your place to make that call for him, though, Mags,” I said as gently as I could. “If he didn’t want to see the guy, you should’ve respected that.”

“Well aware, thank you,” Maggie fumed, never liking to be told she was in the wrong about anything. “But this is Liam. It’s not like he’s going to hate me forever, right?”

I didn’t think so.

But like she said, this was Liam. The guy who loved and hated with equal intensity. There never seemed to be much middle ground as far as anyone else was concerned.

You either existed in one of those two categories or you simply didn’t exist at all to him. At least, not in any way that he’d acknowledge.

“I think it’ll be fine,” I told her after thinking about it for a minute. “But I think you really have to make it up to him somehow.”

“He was so mad, Brody,” she groaned, eyes getting watery. “I’d never seen him look at me like that.”

“It’ll be okay,” I told her. “We’ll fix it.”

“Yeah?” she asked hopefully, wiping her eyes.

“Yeah, everything will be fine.”

Everything was not fine.

The air inside the arena was frigid, having nothing to do with the ice and everything to do with a one Mr. Liam Brynn, who was apparently extending the cold shoulder not only to his sister, but also to me by association.

“Liam,” I urged, watching as he skated right past me for the thousandth time that practice. “Please stop ignoring me, it makes me feel neglected.”

Fragments of ice kicked up behind him as he skated past me without a glance.

“Have a fight with your boyfriend, Callahan?” Coach raised an eyebrow, having seen the whole encounter.

I rolled my eyes.

“Looks like it,” I agreed, attempting to skate after him once more.

“Liam, please,” I said. “I know you’re upset, but it didn’t have anything to do with me. I had no idea Maggie planned that.”

He answered back with a snort.

“You have to believe me—”

He turned to face me, finally.

“I do believe you, Brody. I know Maggie is more than capable of coming up with diabolical schemes entirely on her own.”

I frowned.

“I’d use the word mischievous over diabolical—”

“You let it happen though.”

“What?” My head jerked back in shock. “I didn’t—I told you, I had no idea.”

“Not that.” He shook his head. “I meant in general. Life. You let her think that every day is The Maggie Show, where she can do whatever she wants while screwing people over in the process.”

“She doesn’t screw people over, jackass.” I countered, protectiveness rising in my chest. “Believe it or not, she usually thinks she’s helping when she interferes.”

“But that’s what it is. Interfering. And she needs to learn to mind her goddamn business, which she never will since you go around enabling every shitty decision she makes.”

“That’s not true.” I shook my head. “You just expect people to be perfect all the time.”