What Deceit Looks Like | ✓

24: maddox

I rack the bar I just used for my reps, and sit up. "So what do you think I should do?" I ask Hayes, who is deadlifting next to me. We're currently doing our workout session at the gym on the main floor of his building.

He drops the trap bar with a clang to the floor, "Honestly, I don't know. I think it all depends on how much you actually want to be with her. Cass is the first girl you've even attempted a relationship with since Paige. No one is saying that you have to tie yourself down to her. It's okay to see other people."

"I don't want to see other people," I insist, grabbing my towel to wipe the sweat off my face. The idea of seeing other people just feels wrong.

"Then you have your answer."

I look at Hayes, allowing my annoyance to show. "You make it sound so easy."

"Because it is," He states matter of factly.

"Really? So you're telling me that you didn't fake two relationships with Sephine before you actually ended up together?" I retort, laying back down to do another set of bench.

"I don't really know what you expect me to say, Maddox. If you wanted the gushy relationship advice, Montgomery is bored out of her mind. She will be thrilled to have something to focus on other than whatever Housewives show she is on now."

I focus on my breathing as I finish my last set, "How are you guys doing?"

Hayes chuckles, "Goddamn I can't keep up with her mood swings. One minute she's crying about a commercial, and the next I'm getting yelled at for chewing too loudly. Other than that, everything's been going good. Lately, she's been referring to herself as Rapunzel since she feels like she's been locked in. I keep having to remind Seph that she is free to leave at any point in time."

"I think she's getting a little more dramatic with each passing week," I tease, and Hayes smiles.

"Most definitely, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. We've already made it further than last time which has my hopes up," He admits, adding more weight to his bar.

Whenever I think of everything that Hayes and Sephine have been through, it feels like a punch to the gut. From Sephine's struggle with addiction and assault, to the miscarriages they've had, it seems hard to believe she's the same person I know now. "I think that's already a good sign. When is she due again?"

"November sixteenth," Hayes says with a smile. "I know it's still early to begin planning things out, but making it past the first trimester is such a relief."

"I bet, do you know if it's a boy or girl yet?"

Happiness is practically radiating off of him, "It's a girl. Lord help me if she's anything like Sephine."

"Like mother like daughter," I remind him, and Hayes is quick to scoff.

"I know for a fact that I'm not going to let you around while she's learning to speak. I heard from Dean that Owen's first word was shit?"

"Oh give me a break, how was I supposed to know that he's a parrot now? Repeating shit he says," I try to defend myself, but it doesn't help that I cursed in my defense.

Hayes steps inside the trap bar, preparing to lift it, "Excuses."

I begin unracking my bar, I haven't been in to see Sephine since Cassidy and I left for Boston. I probably should have stopped by sooner than now, but I don't want to run into Dean. He'll only rub it in my face that he's seen Cassidy since and I haven't.

Seph can usually break these kind of things down until they make sense, but even I don't know how it happened this time. I said things I never should have allowed myself to think in the first place, and I was a complete dick about it. It's not Charlie's fault that Paige enlisted. She was stubborn enough that no one could have stopped her once her mind was made up.