My bruises, which I had successfully been able to hide from my grandparents, were covered with makeup. I shrugged and took whatever Maddox was offering me. “Makeup did the trick.”
I peeked inside the bag. Mint. Chocolate. Muffin. Oh my God!
“You–”
“You’re welcome,” he said.
I let out a laugh. “Seriously, what are you doing?”
“I thought you said we were friends.”
I eyed him suspiciously. “We are.”
“So, I’m getting you breakfast. You and Riley tend to share lunch, right?”
I couldn’t decide if this was sweet or dorky, neither of which suited Maddox Coulter. I gave his SUV a once over. “I’m not getting in your car if you’re trying to bribe me with my favorite muffin. For all I know, you could be a kidnapper or an axe murderer.”
Maddox winked. “I’d make a sexy axe murderer, admit it.”
I rolled my eyes, for the umpteenth time, and took a bite of my mint chocolate muffin. “My bus is here,” I muttered around a mouthful. I bent down, so we were eye-level and gave him a smirk of my own. “You can follow me to school. Like you followed me home yesterday. You need to improve your stalking skills, Coulter.”
The look on his face was comical. Busted, Poodle.
I winked and sashayed away.
We rode to Berkshire separately, although it didn’t quite feel like it. The muffin he gave me kept me company. I tried to devour it slowly, but mint chocolate was my one and only weakness.
Maddox was waiting for me at the gate when I stepped off the bus. He hoisted his bag on one shoulder and gripped my hand. Surprised, I looked down at our interlocked fingers as he pulled me into the building. Wh-what?
“What are you doing?” I asked with caution.
“Holding your hand.”
His hand was warm and strong. I wasn’t sure how to feel about it, but I didn’t pull away. “Why?”
His eyes briefly met mine before he went back to staring everyone else down. “Because I need the world to know they can’t mess with what’s mine.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to rebut him. I didn’t need a savior, didn’t need to cower behind Maddox’s back because I could handle all the haters on my own. Yesterday, I let my claws out and I was no longer worried about using them.
But when I saw the look on his face, hard and serious–I swallowed the words.
Something in his eyes told me he wasn’t going to budge on this matter.
I didn’t know why I kept silent and let him hold my hand. It bugged me why I did it, but then I pushed the feeling down.
We marched through the halls, and the students stepped out of our way, like the ocean parting in half for us to walk through.
I bit my tongue, held my chin high and kept my hand in Maddox’s. His grip was firm, but comforting. I expected the whispers to follow us but was met with…nothing.
By lunch time, I couldn’t bite my tongue any longer. The day went on just like this morning. The other students avoided eye-contact, no one glared or sneered at me and no one dared to approach me. Even Riley found it odd.
When Maddox reached for my fries, I slapped his hand away and leveled him with a look. “Did you do something? Did you threaten people? They’re acting weird.”
Riley gave me a grunt of agreement.
Maddox took a bite of his sandwich, simultaneously throwing an arm around the back my chair, before glancing around the cafeteria to give his kingdom a once over. “I think you were threatening enough for both of us.”
“Huh?”
“Bethany’s nose isn’t broken, but you did a number on her. Gossip travels fast.”
“They’re scared of me?”
“They’re scared of us,” he amended.
I picked at my fries, no longer hungry. “Am I going to get in trouble… for hurting Bethany?”
Colton pushed back against his chair, rocking on the two back legs. “No, you won’t. We took care of that already.”
My eyes snapped to Maddox, frowning. “So, you did threaten someone.”
The side of his lips quirked up. “I have my ways.”
I should’ve been mad; I should’ve told him to mind his own business.
I really should have.
But then I had a brief moment of realization – he was protecting me. Even though I told him numerous times that I didn’t want him to. It was a very different Maddox, from the one who was jerk to me and it was shocking to the say the least. I was curious how far he’d go… to be my friend.
The moment Maddox and I did that pinky swear outside of my Gran’s grocery store, it became obvious that my business was his and his was mine. It was an unspoken understanding between us.
We both shared a smile.
And that was it.
The beginning of something Maddox and I weren’t ready for.
That day, we somehow sealed our friendship.
Friends?
Yeah, friends.
19
Maddox
Three weeks later
Lila slammed her thick textbook closed and growled low in her throat. If she thought she was being intimidating, she was highly mistaken. That was a kitten growl, cute and harmless.
“You’re distracting me. Stop!” she said through clenched teeth, keeping her voice low since we were both huddled in a corner of the library.
“What am I doing?” I feigned innocence because, seriously, my favorite pastime was annoying her.
She was studying for our upcoming calculus test while I was watching… porn. Okay, fine. Not exactly porn. But Tumblr was nasty, and I was making a habit of showing Lila all the videos I came across. Miss Garcia didn’t find that amusing, but it was hilarious to me, so she was growling and hissing. Like I said, a kitten.
I didn’t know if I had a semi-boner because of the videos I was watching or because Lila was sitting across me. Probably a bit of both.
“Do you realize you’re the most frustrating person I’ve ever met in my life?” she finally snapped. I bit my tongue to keep from laughing.
I’d give her credit, though, for lasting three weeks as my friend.
I thought she would break, but no, Lila was fierce, something I greatly admired about her.
She plugged her earphones in and went back to her textbook. Her notebook was filled with equations as she did the practice questions over and over again. Over the past few weeks, I’ve learned a few things about Lila:
She was a perfectionist.
She wanted to get into Harvard and was still waiting on her confirmation letter to come through. Every day, she grew more anxious, although she tried hard to hide it.
Since I got a football scholarship, I already had an early acceptance to Harvard.
She loved her grandparents dearly.
She was way too competitive.
Two minutes later, Lila gave up. She snatched her earphones out and glared at me. I tried to wipe the grin off my face, but damn it, it was hard when she was being so… cute.
“I know you’re getting into Harvard with a football scholarship but don’t your marks need to be just as good, or you could lose your scholarship?”
I swiped out of Tumblr as she ranted. My textbook and notebook laid in front me, untouched. “Yeah.”