“Oh really? And who is your son?”
“Cannon,” Harold replies, nodding over to where the man in question is talking to a woman, who is rubbing her hands over his arms and down his chest rigorously like he’s a magic genie lamp and she’s demanding her three wishes.
“Oh,” I finally say when I tear my eyes away from them. “It’s nice to meet you both.”
“Cannon told us all about what happened after we saw it on the news,” Jennifer says. “I’m so glad you’re staying with him and Conrad. They’ll keep you safe.”
“I can’t tell you how much I’ve appreciated their hospitality during this trying time,” I reply.
“Well, since you’re going to be staying a while, I hope you’ll join us for Sunday dinner tomorrow night.”
“Tomorrow?” I ask in surprise.
“Cannon and Conrad wouldn’t miss it two weeks in a row. We expect them to be there, which means we want you to join us as well.”
“Ah, well, I should probably talk to Cannon to make sure he’s okay with me tagging along.”
“I know he would love to have you along,” Jennifer says. “And I’ve noticed he can’t seem to keep his eyes off of you.”
I glance back over and notice that Cannon’s head is turned in our direction; but thanks to the mask, I can’t tell where he’s looking. When his mom waves her hand at him, he lifts his and waves back even though he has two new admirers in front of him.
“We won’t take up any more of your time,” Harold tells me. “I know there are a lot of other people here who can’t wait to meet you. Good luck with your campaign. We’ll be voting for you.”
“Thank you so much. I really appreciate that,” I tell him with a smile.
“Hope to see you tomorrow.”
“See you then,” I say automatically before I can catch myself. Shit. What if Cannon doesn’t want me to go with him? And I’m not sure I want to be around him after what just happened in the bathroom.
Everything is so much more complicated now. If only I hadn’t been such a mess about my social anxiety, then things wouldn’t have gone that far.
Guess it’s too late to do anything about it now. All that’s left is for me to just pretend like it never happened.
Chapter Twenty
Cannon
“It’s been too long since that amazing night we had,” Becky says as she runs her fingernails up under the pile of beads around my neck, leaving marks where no one can see them.
“Yes, yes, it has,” I agree even though I can’t remember if it’s been weeks or months. Hell, it could’ve been years, because sex for me is never all that memorable. Unlike a few minutes ago in the bathroom. I know I’ll never forget what just happened with Madison. “So, how many beads would you like to buy?” I ask as I glance back over at Madison talking to my parents.
Talk about embarrassing. I wish they wouldn’t have bombarded her, especially after what we just did together. I can’t tell if the conversation is pleasant or if she’s taking her anger at me out on them. I’ll have to ask Lucas later since he’s close enough to overhear.
Wait a second.
I do a double take at the prospect and notice his chest is totally bare. What the fuck?
“Excuse me a second,” I tell Becky before I start in their direction. My parents have already walked away, and Madison is talking to Roman and Charlotte when I grab Lucas by the elbow and haul him back a few steps.
“Jeez. What’s up?” he mutters.
“Where the hell are all of your beads?” I bark at him so loudly that several people turn to stare at us in concern, including Madison and Roman. I turn my back to them to face the prospect, who has an enormous grin on his face.
“Madison bought them,” he says.
“Madison?”
“Yeah, when we were in the lounge…” he explains. “Is that a problem?”
The thought of her hands on him, touching his chest, when the only part of me she touched was my hair when she tried to pull it out, pisses me off. What if she did more than touch him? After all, right before I left her, she was bending over in offering, her body begging me to fuck her. Since I didn’t, maybe she found someone who would.
Getting in his face so I can see his eyes, I ask, “Did you fuck her?”
His eyes widen so that there’s a lot of white showing before he stumbles back a few steps like I shoved him. “God, no! Why would you think that?”
“It took you both a helluva long time to come out,” I remark through my clenched teeth.
“That was all Madison. I swear! She was in the bathroom. Alone! Then she asked about the beads, paid me for them and pulled them off. That’s it. Nothing else happened, Cannon!”
Jesus.
Seeing the fear on his face and hearing it in his voice finally makes me draw back and ease off from him. I don’t know what came over me, why I thought Madison would do that. I think she shocked herself by letting me touch her. Fuck knows she wouldn’t even let me kiss her lips, so I doubt she would fuck a boy almost a decade younger than her.
That’s when it hits me that the sudden, out of control rage isn’t like me. Is this what fucking jealousy feels like? If so, then I know why men go insane and shoot other guys in the heat of the moment when they see their woman screwing someone else.
But Madison isn’t my woman. I’m not even sure if she would consider me a friend right now.
“Sorry,” I tell Lucas as I scrub my palm over the back of my burning neck, feeling ridiculous for nearly attacking him and accusing him of sleeping with Madison. “It’s been a stressful night.”
“No problem,” he
