I was floored as I watched Maddison have some kind of unexplainable outburst.
“Jealous.” Raven sneered the best she could in her drunken state as she wobbled in her chair. I felt like I’d walked into some alternate universe. I’d never seen the two of them being anything other than inseparable.
“Me? Jealous of you?” Maddison raised her voice, gaining the attention of a few others who stood around us. I was thankful that Rhett had finally looked back in our direction. He seemed just as shocked as I was.
“Why would I be jealous of you?”
“Because I have something you want.” Maddison faltered but only for second.
“Believe me,” Madd recovered quickly, “you have absolutely nothing I want. I have no desire to be a loose who—”
Before she had time to finish, Raven was out of her chair and lurching her body toward Maddison’s. I gripped her waist to hold her, and Mad stepped back into the guy’s chest, who stood closely behind her.
“Who the hell are you?” I asked this with true honesty, because this version of Maddison was one I had never seen before.
She stared at me without saying a word before spinning around and rushing off toward the front entrance of the bar. When the guy she was with didn’t even attempt to go after her, I felt my temper flaring.
“Take her.” I passed off Raven to Rhett just as he stepped up to my side and hurried in the direction Maddison had escaped. As I pushed open the door, I started to scan over the parking lot in search of her.
“Just go away.” I heard her voice and looked to my right into the darkness to find her leaning against a picnic table near the side of the bar. “I’m fine. Just go back to Raven.”
I moved in her direction, and when I was only a few feet away, I saw the tears glistening on her cheeks in the light of the parking lot.
“Are you okay?”
She laughed at my question, and I sensed the sarcasm in her voice instantly. “I’m great, Mike. Perfect, even. Best night ever.” She took in a shuddering breath. “I’m a bitch. A hateful, cruel bitch. Everything is exactly how it should be.”
“I think we both know that isn’t true.”
“Yes, it is.” She sat back on the picnic table and looked at the ground before her, unable to meet my gaze. “I can’t even find it in myself to be happy for my best friend.” I said nothing, just let her continue. “All week, all I’ve heard about is how you two are meeting up and how she hopes you finally give in to her. I’ve been forced to hear her read the flirtatious text messages the two of you have exchanged. I’ve also been on the receiving end of all the fantasies rolling around in her head of the things she plans to do to you.”
I took another step toward her, feeling my hands shake as I kept them hanging at my sides. I was fighting my need to comfort her.
“Then you showed up here to save her, giving her a small taste of exactly what she’s been hoping for.” She looked up, and her eyes finally met mine. “You kissed her.”
There was a sadness in Maddy that I wasn’t quite sure how to accept.
I wanted to tell her that it wasn’t what she thought. Raven kissed me, and if you asked her tomorrow, I could almost guarantee she wouldn’t remember it. But instead, I let Maddison continue without speaking a word. “And I can’t find it in me to just be happy for her.”
“Why is that, Mad?” I knew I was playing with fire, but at that very moment, I also couldn’t find it in me to care. “Why can’t you be happy for her?”
Our eyes met in the darkness, and I felt this pull between us I couldn’t explain even if I was forced to.
“Tell me.” I leaned in closer to her and placed a hand on either side of her hips, staring into her eyes.
“Because she’s right,” she whispered, her gaze shifting between my eyes and my lips. “I am jealous.”
Chapter Sixteen
Maddison
Mike rested his forehead against mine, a sweet gesture that only managed to leave me even more confused. “What do we do now, Mad?” I couldn’t do this; it was too much.
“We don’t do anything.” Mike leaned back, and though I knew that I shouldn’t, I looked up into his eyes.
“I don’t think that works for me.” I noticed the way his gaze lowered and rested upon my lips.
“We can’t,” I assured him, and I sensed the uncertainty in my voice. We could, I knew we could, but we shouldn’t.
The sound of tires crunching along the gravel lot pulled me out of my haze, and I looked up just in time to see my stepfather’s big red truck approaching slowly. “There’s my ride.” Mike looked up over his shoulder, and the moment he registered who I had called, he shifted his body away, quickly tucking his hands into his front pockets.
Colt rolled down the passenger window when I tried to stand, and Mike grabbed me quickly before I face-planted to the ground. “You responsible for this?” My mind was entirely too smashed to register his tone. I didn’t know if he was giving Mike a hard time, or if he was being serious.
“No, sir.” Mike held me firmly in his grasp. “She was like this when I got here.” He paused, and I took the time to lean my head against his chest. The gesture was something I knew that after this point I would no longer be able to do with the presumption that it meant so much more.
