“You can’t be serious!”
His lips quirked up. “Do you dare?”
I turned to face Maddox again, and he was chuckling. I flashed him the middle finger, and he laughed even harder. Maddox pulled away from all the girls as they tried to grab him, vying for his attention, but he shook his head.
He said something to them and pointed at me. Everyone turned to stare at the same time.
Suspicious, I squinted at him as he made his way to me.
“What did you say to them?” I asked with my hands on my hips. My eyes narrowed on him.
He smirked. “Told them my girlfriend was getting jealous.”
Huh? Wait… what?
I was in too much shock from his words that I didn’t see it coming until I was flung upside down and over his shoulder.
“Maddox!” I screeched.
He swatted my ass. “Be nice. These girls are driving me crazy, and you’re my escape plan.”
“Let me down. Now!” I banged my fists into his back, feeling his muscles clench under my attack.
“How about you be docile for five minutes?” He rumbled with a chuckle.
Docile? Excuse me, DOCILE?
I hit him with my fist again, although I was pretty sure he didn’t feel anything. “What am I? Your pet?” I snapped.
Maddox hummed, thoughtfully. What a douchebag.
“You’re such a wild chihuahua,” he said.
“Careful, or you’ll end up with a nasty bite, Coulter.”
His shoulders shook with silent laughter. “Bite me then, Garcia.”
I rolled my eyes as he stalked away from the crowd with me over his shoulder, caveman style.
Once we reached the boys’ locker room, he let me down, and I blew my hair out of my face. “Why are we here?”
“I need a shower and then we’ll be on our way to the bonfire. Berkshire is celebrating tonight. I need my favorite person there.”
I crossed my arms over my chest as he sauntered toward his locker. “You do realize if you keep grabbing me and throwing me over your shoulder like this, they will never believe that we’re just friends.”
We were already getting weird looks. No one believed we were just friends. Maybe that was partially our fault.
Maddox and I spent way too much time together. He’d hold my hands, kiss my cheek or throw an arm over my shoulders while we walked down the halls. He stole bites of my lunch, and we continued to play silly pranks on each other. At first, I hated the public displays of affection, but they grew on me, just like the rest of Maddox’s quirks. He still made inappropriate jokes, but he never tried to do anything… more.
Maddox gave me a nonchalant half shrug. He removed his shoulder pads and stripped off his jersey before throwing it my way. “A souvenir, Sweet Cheeks.”
“You really don’t care?” I asked.
He didn’t bother to hide his amusement at my question. “Lila, people’s opinions don’t matter to me. You shouldn’t care either. They live to gossip while we’re living our lives to the fullest. So, who cares if they think we’re friends or we’re fucking?”
Okay, true. Point taken.
Two hours later, we were celebrating with the rest of the Berkshire students around bonfire. There was a lot of us here but the open field was big enough so it didn’t seem crowded. Bottles and cans of beer littered around us. A few guys were already a tad drunk, and they were laughing about something, pushing each other around.
Maddox walked over with a beer in his hand and a paper plate in the other. “Got you some Hawaiian Teriyaki Chicken skewers.”
I smiled, taking the plate from him. “Thanks.” I looked around, seeing all the smiles. “They sure love celebrating.”
He took a long pull of his beer before wiping the corner of his mouth. His legs were lazily spread apart, and he was wearing black ripped jeans, expensive leather boots and a hat that probably cost more than my bra. Maddox looked like he owned the world – a god amongst us mere mortals.
He licked his lips, grinning. “This is nothing. The real celebration is at Colton’s house next weekend.”
My brows furrowed at that. “I don’t want to know.”
I munched on my grilled skewers while slowly nursing my own beer. A moment later, Maddox tsked. “I’m bored. Let’s cause a little trouble.”
He stood up and went to the middle of the field. He spread his arms out, smirking. “Let’s play a game,” he announced.
The others hollered in agreement.
Oh, no.
His gaze found mine, mischief flashing in his eyes. I glared, trying to look severe, but my own lips twitched with a smile.
Here comes trouble.
23
Maddox
I glanced down at my phone for probably the hundredth time, waiting for a text back. She wasn’t replying. I left school early today when Lila missed the first two classes. Now, I sat in my car in front of her grandparents’ home like a goddamn stalker. Worry gnawed at me because it was so unlike Lila to ghost me, and she never missed her classes.
I did the same shit a few weeks ago. Bailed on her and ghosted everyone who tried to reach out to me. I didn’t expect her to turn the tables on me, and I didn’t like it, not one bit. Now, I understood how she felt when I wasn’t answering her phone calls and she found me in that tub, freezing and pissed drunk.
Was she hurt?
Did something happen?
Why. The. Fuck. Won’t. She. Reply. To. My. Texts?
Goddamn it!
I slammed my fists against the steering wheel, slightly unhinged at the mere thought of Lila being hurt.
I went to their grocery store today and found out that her grandma was home. Sure, I could have spoken with Sven, her Pops, but I’d rather not. He liked me enough, but he didn’t seem to trust any boys around his little Lila, even ones who were her friends and didn’t want to get in her pants.
Okay, that was a lie.
I still wanted to get in her panties.
Maybe he could read me better than I thought. Was I that obvious?
Oh, she was my friend, but I still wanted to fuck your granddaughter. Up and down, sideways, on our knees, every possible position.
Well, yeah. No wonder he didn’t like, like me.
I rang the doorbell, and Lila’s grandma opened the door, a pensive look on her face. She looked tired and weary. At the sight of me, she smiled a little. “Maddox, what are you doing here?”
“Hi,” I said, peering behind her shoulder, expecting Lila to pop up. “Is Lila home? I tried to contact her, but she isn’t answering, so I grew worried.”
She was silent for a moment, her eyes turning glassy. “You don’t know?” She spoke the words so softly that I almost missed them.
My heart skittered a beat, and I started sweating. The blood rushed through my ears and my heart hammered in my ears. “Is… something wrong? Did something happen to her?”
She shook her head. “You don’t know what today is?” she questioned, but then answered her own question before I could say a word. “She didn’t tell you. I’m not surprised. My Lila always suffers alone.”
Suffers… alone?
Fuck, no. She would never. Not alone.
Lila had me.