ALEC
With her jacket zipped up to her chin, Maddie waddled next to me to the movie theater. It was lame to take her to the movies on a first date, but nobody that we knew would be here tonight since Oliver was throwing another fucking party. And besides, she had wanted to come.
“There’s anime playing!” She giggled, her curly hair blowing in the breeze.
I stifled a chuckle because this was the fifth time she had said that since the ride over from the stadium. It was amusing how excited she was about it, and I didn’t want to take that away from her.
“Can we see it?” she asked once we stepped in line to get tickets.
“Sure.”
“Are you sure, sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure, sure.”
She bit back a smile, wrapped her arm around mine, and peered at the ground, not speaking another word until we purchased tickets to the movie that she wanted to watch. Then, she grinned even wider.
“You really got them,” she said in disbelief.
“Of course I did,” I said. “You said you wanted to go.”
“Yeah.” She paused. “But … when I was with Spencer, he never let me watch anime.”
I clenched my jaw. That bastard. “Why not?”
She shrugged. “He used to say it was for kids.”
“He hasn’t watched enough then.”
“You’ve watched anime?” she asked, eyes wide.
“Yeah,” I said, stepping in line to grab drinks and popcorn. “I’ve been watching Attack on Titan.”
She beamed at me. “That’s, like, one of my favorites! I used to watch some slice-of-life stuff, but Vera’s brother watches AOT almost every time I go over there, so I kinda got hooked on it.” She pulled me closer, craning her head to look up at me. “Do you want to watch it with me sometime?”
My lips curled into a smile. “I’d love to.”
“Next!” the lady at the register called.
Once we ordered two slushies and a large popcorn, I walked with Maddie to auditorium 3. There were only a couple of people scattered in the room. We walked all the way up to the fourth row to our seats, and I placed the popcorn on Maddie’s lap.
* * *
“I don’t want to go home,” Maddie said, half-asleep after the movie ended. She desperately attempted to keep her eyes open. “Oliver is going to be there, and I want to spend the night with you.”
“Why don’t we head to the Overlook? Sound good?”
With her head resting against the seat belt, she yawned and nodded. “Sounds good.”
Once we made it to the Overlook, Maddie was passed out in the passenger seat with her mouth half-opened and strands of her red hair in her face. I tucked some behind her ear, admiring how the moonlight bounced off her face.
My lips curled into a soft smile, my heart swelling. Why had I been such a dick to her for the longest time? Why had I let Spencer take her away from me, treat her like shit behind closed doors? If I had known what he was doing to her, I would’ve fucking killed him at the time.
I still wanted to, but I wanted to be better for her. Stronger. Because she was strong for me. She was my fucking rock, my only friend when everyone had turned their backs on me, when everyone had laughed at that stupid video that I wished I could erase from existence.
Hand sprawling out on her thigh, I lightly dug my fingers into her leg and closed my eyes. The dream, the need, the fire that had once burned inside me wasn’t as bright—and I didn’t know if it would ever be—but I still imagined how my life would be in five or ten years. How I would be skating on the rink in the NHL, grinning as our daughter cheered me on with her mom.
I took her hand and brought her knuckles to my lips. “I’m going to get better—be better—for you, Cupcake.” I gently kissed her knuckles and closed my eyes, vowing that I would do whatever it took to be the man she needed me to be. “I promise.”