“Why are you giving me a dreamcatcher?”
I realized Maddox sometimes had bad dreams.
We fell asleep together last night, on his couch, while we were studying, and he had woken up from a nightmare. He didn’t speak of it, but the bleak look in his eyes broke my heart. He couldn’t go back to sleep and ended up going to the gym that was open twenty-four-seven.
Maybe it was fate or just pure coincidence, but as I was scrolling through Instagram, I found an ad for dreamcatchers.
Sure, it was a silly thing to give to him, but I remembered the dreamcatcher my mom used to hang on my headboard when I was a kid. She said it’d keep all my bad dreams and monsters away.
I didn’t really think much of it when I ordered it. True, Maddox and I were too old to believe in this, and he was obviously too macho for something so childish, but maybe…
Damn it.
I didn’t even know why I got this dreamcatcher, and now, I was doubting myself. The first gift I ever gave Maddox was a dreamcatcher. Oh, what a story to tell the world and our friends.
His eyebrows rose. “You seriously expect me to hang this on my bed?”
It wasn’t the response I was hoping for. My shoulders slumped, and I chewed on my lips, the feeling of bitter disappointment gnawing at my stomach. I thought maybe he’d be a bit more… appreciative?
I rose to my feet and squinted down at him, hands on my hips. Fuck him. “Look, if you don’t want it, you can throw it away. It was cheap anyway, so I don’t care.”
Maddox didn’t say a word. He just went back to looking at the dreamcatcher as if it was the weirdest thing he had ever seen.
I had thought he threw it away, like I told him to.
Except the next day, when I walked into his room… there it was.
The silly dreamcatcher I gave him, hanging onto his headboard. It looked so out of place in his bedroom, but Maddox kept it, close to him, right next to him while he slept.
We never spoke of it again, but every time I’d walk into his bedroom, that was the first thing my eyes would notice, and it’d always be there.
And months later, Maddox still had it. It was my first gift to him.
The dreamcatcher he didn’t want but never threw away.
I flipped my curled hair over my shoulders and stared up at Maddox. “Can you put it on me?”
He took the silver necklace out of the Tiffany box, and my throat went dry as his hands slipped around the back of my neck. He stood close, crowding into my space, but I couldn’t complain. His body heat caused me to flush, and his fingers were warm against my skin – a teasing touch, so featherlight that I barely felt it.
Maddox placed the necklace around my neck and the dreamcatcher charm laid on the base of my throat where it belonged.
“Beautiful,” he rasped, his breath caressing the tip of my earlobe. It made me warm and breathless, though we had been this close so many times: we hugged, we slept in the same bed, and Maddox would give me piggyback rides. We were always touching, one way or another, but some days… it felt more than just a friendly touch. Like today.
My eyes fluttered shut as his thumb brushed against the pulsing vein in my neck. His touch lingered there, feeling my heartbeat through my throat.
“The necklace or me?” I asked, my eyes still closed. Why… did I just ask that?
“You,” he said. “Always you.” His voice was soft and hot, leaving me feeling things I couldn’t explain, couldn’t put into words.
I leaned into him, my palms landing on his chest. The hard thump of his heart had my eyes snapping open. Maddox’s gaze flickered to my lips. His hands fell to my curve of my shoulders, sliding down my arms, and his fingers curled around my hips.
A single heartbeat passed between us.
I pulled back, breaking the moment between us. Maddox blinked before releasing a shuddering breath. My skin still burnt from where he had touched me, and I hated how cold I suddenly felt from pulling away from him.
Maddox took a step back, too, pulling us farther from each other. He ran his fingers through his hair, which he kept short since the first time I called him Poodle. He thought it’d make me stop calling him that stupid pet name if his hair was no longer long and curly like before.
Ha, he thought wrong.
Once a poodle, forever a poodle.
“Pictures!” Gran said. She waved Riley over, who came forward with Grayson.
“Closer everyone,” Pops demanded as he held a camera in his hand.
Colton and the boys – Brayden, Cole and Knox – all whom were Maddox’s teammates and close friends, surrounded us. Riley stood beside me, with Grayson on her side, while I stood next to Maddox. We formed a semi-circle and Gran was smiling from ear to ear.
“Say cheers!”
“Cheers,” we called out and the camera’s shutter clicked.
Picture perfect.
The moment our circle broke apart, we were surrounded by the other Berkshire students. I lost Maddox in the crowd, all the girls vying for his attention one last time. They were probably hoping he’d take one of them home for a graduation fuck fest. Colton and the boys had their own little harem around them, too.
I found Grayson and Riley, holding hands as they stood under a tree, watching from a distance. Grayson looked slightly relieved that Colton’s attention was no longer on his girlfriend.
Riley was convinced that Colton didn’t have any feelings for her. She was either in denial or she truly was blind to the tension between Grayson and Colton, which was extremely palpable.
Gran came to my side, pulling my focus away from the lovebirds as she hugged me, surprising me by her strength. “So proud of you, Lila. Your parents would be, too.”
I blinked back the tears at her words. “Is it weird that I felt like they were with me during the ceremony? Like they were right there, watching me?”
“No, sweetheart. It’s not weird because I know they’re watching over you.” Pops rubbed my back. “You’ve grown into such a beautiful and smart young lady.”
“I’m going to miss you two when I go to Harvard,” I confessed, choking back my tears. My heart was heavy in my chest as I realized I only had a few weeks left with my grandparents before I moved away to a whole different state.
Gran cupped my cheeks, smiling. “You have Maddox and Riley with you.”
In the end, Riley, Maddox, Colton and I were going to Harvard. Cole got accepted to Yale and that was where he was going. The other boys were leaving for Princeton or Dartmouth.
I sniffled, nodding. “Yeah, but they aren’t you.”
Even Pops looked crestfallen – I was his little girl – the one he raised and his only grandchild. Pops was rarely emotional but times like this reminded me just how much he loved me and Gran. He placed a chaste kiss on my forehead. “You’re going to be okay,” he said with strong conviction.
Hours later, I found myself in Maddox’s car. We no longer had our cap and gown on, but instead, Maddox was wearing a white buttoned up shirt, black slacks and a black tie. He was… in other words, sinfully sexy, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. He rolled up his sleeves to his elbows and flexed his forearms, his hands on the steering wheel.
“Where to, Sweet Cheeks?” he asked, flashing me a half smile. There was light in his blue eyes, and it glimmered with teasing mischief. “The world is ours. Let’s cause some trouble.”