by R. M. Lynn
I hesitated as my thumbs hovered over my touch screen, but before I could reply, I was startled with the sound of Maddox climbing in through my window. I gave him a small smile as I looked him over in his black joggers with a white pinstripe down the pant legs. His white t-shirt stretched across his hard chest as he closed the window. He sat down at the end of my bed, his biceps flexing as he stretched his arms up, resting his hands on the back of his head.
“Why must you do that to your hair?” he asked me with a scowl on his handsome face.
I frowned and ran my fingers through the straight strands. “You don’t like it?”
“No, I mean, I like it. I just like your hair the way it is.” He shrugged. “And some guy like Marcus shouldn’t make you feel like you have to change anything about yourself.”
“Come here,” I replied quietly and bit back a smile as he crawled up the mattress toward me.
His hands went to either side of my waist, leaning over as he sat next to me, and my hands went to the back of his neck. My fingers dipped up into his hair, and I let out a breath as I looked up into his stormy eyes.
“Thanks for coming over,” I whispered and watched his eyes flick down to my mouth before meeting mine again.
“Yeah, sure. Anytime, Daze.”
“You can kiss me.”
“Did he?”
My eyes found his, and I shook my head. “No. I didn’t let him.”
He released a quick breath before flashing a grin and pressed his lips to mine. His tongue grazed my bottom lip, asking for entrance, and I parted my lips for him. I felt him sigh as our tongues met briefly, but I had to pull away as heat began to travel up into my cheeks. You shouldn’t want your best friend as much as I wanted mine. It was a dangerous game, and I needed to practice some self-control.
He gave me a lazy smirk before shifting and settling beside me, saying, “I have to get up kind of early to head over to the field. Game’s at eleven. You’ll be there, right?”
“Yep,” I told him and curled into his side when his arm went around my shoulders. “Logan’s going to drive me there, but if you wanted, I could drive back with you.”
He got quiet, and I glanced up at him, raising a brow, before he finally muttered, “I, uh, kind of told Audrey I’d take her out for an early dinner after the game.”
I cocked my head to the side, sitting up, and looked at him. “You have a date with Audrey?”
“I wouldn’t call it a date. And, to be fair, it’s kind of your fault.”
“My fault?” I snapped incredulously and shook my head at him. “How it is my fault? Please, explain.”
“I was distracted. You got a ride home from Marcus when you know I always drive you home after practice.” He shrugged. “No big deal. I was busy watching you shit all over our friendship,” I scowled at him with that, making him chuckle, “and she asked me about getting food and going to that party after the game. I told her yes, but I didn’t know what I agreed to until later when she texted me to confirm plans.”
“Well,” I breathed out and gave him a small smile. “That’s exciting, right? You have a date.”
“It’s not a date,” he countered. “I told you that. I don’t date. You know this.”
“Right, you have your own version of dating.”
He smirked when I rolled my eyes. “Nailed it. Now, lay back down. Turn off the lights. I came here to sleep, remember?”
I laid back down as he sat up slightly to pull his shirt over his head. We finished the episode on the TV before I turned it off, allowing the moonlight sliding across the ceiling to be the only light in the room. He pressed a kiss to my temple before letting out a tired breath, and I pulled the covers over the both of us. I saw him smile up at the ceiling, and I let out a small laugh.
“What’re you smiling about?”
“Nothing,” he insisted and glanced at me, stilling grinning. “Go to sleep.”
I propped myself up on his chest and demanded, “You better tell me, Maddox, or I won’t be able to sleep.”
“I shouldn’t.”
“Why?”
“It’ll blur some lines, I think, if I do,” he told me quietly and brushed back some of my hair behind my ear.
I scowled. “Because we haven’t blurred the lines already?”
He grinned, shook his head, and sighed out, “I’m just kind of, I don’t know, glad you didn’t kiss him. That’s all. Don’t read into it because I don’t even know what that means.”
I laid back down, hiding my face from him as I pressed my cheek to his chest, and bit back a smile of my own. He quieted, and soon, we were fast asleep.
◆◆◆
I woke up in the morning when I felt Maddox nudge me gently a couple of times. I groaned, stretched my arms over my head, and looked up at him as he stood next to the bed, giving me a small smile. He brushed my hair away from my face and gave the side of my neck a gentle squeeze.
“Hey,” he whispered. “I got to go. I have to run home and grab my shit before picking up Dash. I better hear you screaming my name later, yeah?”
I smirked at the innuendo, and he grinned back with a wink before going for my window. I watched him go, letting myself curl up once he was gone to catch at least another hour’s worth of sleep. Once I got up again, I headed to the bathroom to get ready. I brushed my teeth before hopping into the shower. Once I was out, I pulled on a pair of ripped jean shorts and the football t-shirt with Dash’s number on the back, since he called dibs. I did put on a little makeup in the event I was forced to a party like last time. I was braiding my hair down my back when my phone dinged with a text from Logan letting me know she was on her way over. I pulled on a pair of Chucks, navy blue ones this time, and I hurried down the stairs when I got another text to let me know Logan was in the driveway.
“Hey, girl,” she greeted me as I got into the passenger seat of her car. “You ready?”
I gave her a nod, and we headed to the school. Next week, the team had an away game, so Logan brought up the topic, wanting to know if I’d go. I usually tried to go to as many as I could, but it depended on what town it was in. They were playing a school only half an hour away next week, so I’d likely go. When I told her this, she nodded and decided she’ll join me if she didn't have too much homework to do over the weekend.
At the field, we searched for a place to sit amongst the crowded student section. We found a place right up front and squeezed in. Unfortunately, this was right behind the cheerleading squad as they warmed up for the game. Avery spotted me immediately and glared at me, her nose scrunching in dramatic disgust. She approached the chain-link fence that separated the crowd from the field and leaned into it with her cronies behind her. Hannah and Riley smiled condescendingly at me, and I braced myself for whatever Avery had to say.
“This is the student section,” she began with a mocking smile. “The trash is out by concessions. You can’t miss the big blue garbage cans.”
“We get it,” I muttered back with an eye roll. “I’m trash. You’re losing your creativity, Avery. Are you picking up insults from Hannah? I thought you were the smart one.”
“Fucking bitch,” Hannah hissed as Avery snapped back, “Listen, slut, you may think you can blow The Trio and get away scot-free, but you’re sadly mistaken. As are they if they think they can stop me. Speaking of the guys, which one will you be fucking tonight? Dash? You’re wearing his number.”
“Fuck off,” Logan shot back as I bit my lip in order to try and contain myself.
They tittered off back to their positions on the sideline, and I let out a breath. It took everything in me not to scream after them. Maddox wanted me to be the bigger person, but, damn, it was so hard. They weren’t wrong either. It was only a matter of time for whatever warning the guys put out to turn into words that went into the ears of our peers and out the other side. While Dash, Maddox, and Colt may have been the kings of Whitewater Academy, Avery and her trolls were the queens. And since the three of them weren�
�t about to punch a girl in the face to defend my honor, they could get away with pretty much anything. It’d take a lot of convincing for said kings to convince their loyal subjects to reject someone like Avery.
“What a bitch,” Logan mumbled and put her arm around me in a half hug. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I insisted and put a smile on my face as the football team’s hype anthem began to play, signaling that the team was about to emerge from a side gate and run through a tunnel of cheer pompoms.
When they emerged, the crowd cheered and the bleachers shook with their enthusiasm. They immediately began warmups, and halfway through, Maddox was called to the sidelines to speak to Coach Dyer. He took his helmet off to speak, and as he gave a nod, the conversation ended, and the coach began shouting orders at the team. I bit back a grin as Maddox’s eyes found mine. He gave me a wink with a half smirk before putting his helmet on and jogging back onto the field.
By the end of the game, the team won 32-21, and my voice was nearly gone from all the cheering I’d done. We let the crowd clear out before we headed over to the locker room to find the guys, Logan greeting a few of her friends in the process. Dash found me before I could locate them, his tattooed arms coming around me from behind and hugging me back into his chest tightly. His lips smacked a loud kiss on my neck and then my jaw as I tried to squirm away from him with a laugh.
“Hey, baby, love that number on you,” he told me and spun me around to face him. “Heard you shouting for me. Almost like you practiced it.”
“Fuck off,” I laughed and pushed on his chest. “I don’t like what you’re implying.”
“Dirty mind,” he chuckled and pecked the tip of my nose with the pad of his finger.
I rolled my eyes at him before biting my lip and muttering, “Where’s Mac?”
The smile on Dash’s face fell immediately, and he jerked his chin off into the direction of where Maddox was standing with his dad. They were nearly to the parking lot, off to the side, and looked to be in a low, heated conversation. I hadn’t seen him in the stands, but there he was. I glanced up at Dash again and sighed.
“He doesn’t look happy,” I muttered, referring to Maddox’s dad, and let him put his arm around my shoulders and pull me into his side. “What’s he mad about?”
“Scouts were here for Stanford. Guess Daddy’s not happy with the way he played.”
“He played like a fucking pro,” I countered and shook my head angrily.
“You know how his dad is, Daze. Nothing’s ever good enough.”
Colt emerged from the crowd, shaking his head with a small smile as his mother shouted how proud she was from the mass of people, and he shoved Dash away playfully before pulling me under his arm.
“What the fuck are you wearing?” he demanded and spun me to see Dash’s number on my back. “Eighty-four? Eighty-fucking-four, Daisy?”
“Fuck off, Sutherland,” Dash laughed and pulled me from Colt and back against his chest once more. “Looks better on her than your twenty-one and Mac’s fifteen.”
“Yeah, fucking right,” he shot back with an eye roll. “Mine better be next, Daze, or we’re not friends anymore.”
“Bullshit,” I laughed out and shook my head at him. “You like me too much.”
“You’re right,” Colt agreed and yanked me back to him again, hugging me tight. “But, for real, flower, you’re wearing my number next. You’ll hurt my feelings.”
I couldn’t respond because I was suddenly shoved into Colt’s front, his arms wrapping around me as I stumbled into him. Looking over my shoulder, I caught the glares of cheerleaders, specifically Avery’s sour face, as they sauntered off to the parking lot.
“Fucking bitch,” Colt mumbled and looked down at me. “You alright?”
“Yeah,” I sighed out and gave him a smile. “Don’t worry about it.”
He turned me around just as Maddox approached, his face blank, his eyes cold, and his jaw tense. Maddox barely spared me a glance before he looked to Dash and spoke.
“I’m heading out,” he said. “I got to pick up Audrey in an hour. You good driving back with Colt or something?”
Dash gave a nod and muttered, “You good, man?”
Maddox’s jaw ticked, and he gritted out, “Fine. I got to go.”
“You’ll be at the party, right?” Colt asked, making Maddox stop a few feet away and turn back with a shrug. “C’mon, man, you have to come.”
“I don’t know, alright? Can I just get through this fucking dinner first?” Maddox snapped and shook his head. “I’ll let you know.”
With that, he stormed off, and I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding while Dash muttered something to Colt that I missed. I was too busy watching Maddox head off to the parking lot. His dad was a big trigger for him. He always had been, and I was upset for him. His dad shouldn’t have made a scene, and he shouldn’t have done it right after the game. The guys rode on the high of a win, and his dad successfully popped the bubble.
“I’ll drive you home, man,” Colt said to Dash and looked down to me. “You need a ride?”
“Let me just text Logan. I lost her in the crowd.”
Once I let Logan know I was headed back with the guys, they walked me to Colt’s car. I was just hoping Maddox’s mood got better.
“You going to the party?” Dash asked me from the front seat as we headed out of the lot.
“Um, I don’t know,” I mumbled with a shrug. “Aren’t you partied out?”
“Never,” Colt laughed out while Dash smirked at me. “You should come. It’ll convince Mac to come, and he needs it after that shit with his dad.”
I didn’t really want to party, and if I was being honest, I really didn’t think I wanted to see Maddox after his date, or whatever it was, with Audrey. I didn’t want him to feel weird, and I really didn’t want to make his mood worse if it persisted. We pulled up to my house, and the two of them both turned in their seats to look at me.
“Think about it,” Dash instructed me quietly. “You’d have some fun.”
“Maybe,” I told him with a laugh. “Where’s Jimmy live? It’s his party, right?”
“Yeah, he’s down by my mom’s,” Colt told me. “Place is right on the beach, so it’ll be fun.”
I gave a nod, thanked him for the ride, congratulated them both on the win, and headed inside my house. It wasn’t until later that night, around ten, that I felt like I’d made a mistake not going to the party. The FOMO was real as I checked my Snapchat and scrolled through Instagram. Maddox ended up going, apparent by his own social media as well as other’s. Logan was stuck at home as her mom didn’t want her going out that night, and I was left wondering if I should risk heading to the party alone.
With a sigh, I climbed out of bed and quickly pulled an outfit together. It was simply a ripped pair of jeans and a white camisole. I pulled on a pair of Chucks, ran my fingers through my hair, and quickly applied some mascara before heading down the stairs. I heard my mom in the kitchen and shouted to her that I was heading out before doing just that. I texted Dash, letting him know I decided to come, before I climbed into my car and headed toward Colt’s house. I rarely drove, much to my parents' dismay, but they bought me the BMW when I turned sixteen, so I tried to use it enough to appease them.
I wasn’t sure where Jimmy actually lived, but I figured if I headed to Colt’s it’d be easy to find the line of cars and the mass of people there. Sure enough, the house was easy to find, and once I found a spot, I parked and headed up the walk toward the massive white structure. I hit the doorway and felt like I’d made a mistake instantly. Why would I show up to a party alone? The guys were likely already past drunk.
I felt myself take a step back, ready to bolt back to the car, just as my name was called. Colt approached and pulled me into his arms. I could smell the booze on him, and I shook my head as I looked up at him.
“You’re drunk,” I laughed out and smoothed back his hair from his forehead. “Wh
ere’re the others?”
He shrugged and gave me a lazy grin. “I don’t know. Dash is being Dash, and last I saw Maddox, he was with Audrey when they got here. So, it’s been awhile since I saw him.”
“I’ll look around,” I said and started toward the crowd of dancing bodies.
Colt grabbed me by the wrist gently and pulled me back to him. “Hey, be careful. Alright? Don’t take any drinks from anyone but me, Dash, or Mac.” When I rolled my eyes at him, he shook his head and snapped, “I’m fucking serious, Daze.”
“Okay, Colt, I’ll be safe. Go back to whatever girl you were trying to seduce, okay?” I smirked. “I’ll be fine.”
He reluctantly let me go, probably realizing I’d be more than annoyed if he shadowed me around. I squeezed through the couples grinding to the beat of the music playing and made a round of the first floor of the house. I even checked out on the beach where people were congregating to escape the loud music to actually have a conversation. Dash was in the kitchen when I looped back around, and he had a girl up on the counter, her legs wrapping around his waist as he slipped between them to kiss her roughly.
“Dash, hey,” I said, knowing full well that I was interrupting as I put my hand to his back.
He looked over his shoulder to glare me, but his eyes softened as he realized it was just me, and he stepped back from the girl to face me fully. “Hey, babe, I didn’t know you were actually coming out. When you’d get here?”
“I texted you, but you must not have looked at it yet. I just got here, though,” I told him. “Is Maddox around?”
“Uh, I don’t know,” he muttered and shrugged. “I’ve seen him here and there, but we’ve all been kind of floating. He was really drunk the last I saw him. Audrey was with him. Maybe he took her upstairs.”
That made my chest tighten slightly, and I gave a small nod before flashing a small smile. “Okay, um, I’ll go check up there.”
He let out a small laugh. “Daze, you know what goes on upstairs at parties, right? He probably doesn’t want the interruption.”
