Lost & Found

by E B Brooks

  “Where have you two assholes been?” Cody stared down at them.

  Skylar shrugged. “Busy.”

  “While you’ve been busy, your girl was drunk off her ass, walking around thinking she saw someone she used to know. When I took her outside for some fresh air and tried to get her to sleep it off, she told me to fuck off, that she was here to have fun, and that was what she was going to do. That was about two hours ago.”

  “And you haven’t seen her since?” Jace’s eyebrows formed a frown.

  Still drunk from all the body shots, Skylar stared at Jace. He always thought the guy looked cute when he frowned like that. Then he shook his head. Concentrate, Skylar, Maddy was missing.

  “At one point, she was on the dance floor, sandwiched between a girl and a guy. Good luck finding her.” Cody looked between them with disgust. “And, oh yeah, you guys are fools.”

  He walked back to the stairs and leaned against the wall.

  Cody was keeping something from them, and Skylar wanted to find out what it was, but Jace pulled him out onto the dance floor to search for Maddy.

  Feeling completely violated by random people groping him, they reached the other end of the dance floor without finding Maddy.

  Jace was becoming frantic that there was no sign of her.

  He put his hands on Jace’s shoulders. “Calm down. I know Cody wasn’t telling us something. Let’s go back and find out what it was.”

  When they got back to the stairs, Cody was walking down with clothes in his hands. Skylar spotted something green in the pile that looked like the same color as Maddy’s shirt.

  Cody gave them a half-smirk. “Can’t find Maddy?”

  “No.” Skylar looked from the clothes back to Cody. “We searched everywhere, but I think you know why we haven’t been able to find her.”

  Cody got in both of their faces. “You two are the dumbest assholes in the universe. You promised a girl who has never been to a party before that you’d look after her, and you both went off and left her alone. Ryder found her with a beer bong in her mouth and took her upstairs to his room.”

  “If he touches her, I’ll kill him!” Skylar ran up the steps two at a time, Jace following right behind him.

  From downstairs, Cody yelled, “All right, everyone out! The party’s over!”

  A bunch of awhs and boos followed the announcement from the crowd.

  Skylar reached Ryder’s room and turned the doorknob, only to have it stay in place. The fucker locked it. He switched to pounding on the door.

  Ryder opened it wearing only a pair of sleeping pants, with hair wet and sticking up everywhere. He stood with one hand on the wall and the other on the door, with his foot behind it, blocking the view into the room.

  The more Skylar examined him, the angrier he got until he was about three seconds away from punching Ryder in the face. “Move out of the way. We want to see Maddy.”

  Ryder cocked his head and gave them both an angry glare. “Is that right? Where were you an hour ago when she was throwing up?”

  “Both of you, stop it,” Jace pleaded. “Ryder, we just want to make sure she’s okay.”

  Ryder’s attention switched to him. “You should have thought about that before she saw you go into the bathroom with James.” He refocused on Skylar. “And before you started making out with Amber.”

  Jace looked down in shame as he rubbed the back of his neck. “She saw that?”

  “Yes, she saw that, and I wouldn’t blame her if she never wanted to see you two again.”

  Skylar had had it. “That’s up to her, not you. Now, let us in the fuckin’ room before I—”

  Maddy’s voice came from inside the room. “Ryder, let them in.”

  Ryder let out an exasperated breath and stepped away from the door.

  They rushed in to find Maddy in Ryder’s bed, wearing one of his T-shirts and with her hair all wet, too.

  “What the hell is this?” Skylar pushed Ryder up against the wall and sneered, “Did you fuck her?”

  Ryder gave Skylar his maybe look.

  He was going to skin Ryder alive. How dare he touch her? He said he didn’t want her. Skylar had said the same, but he planned to tell her he’d changed his mind.

  “Skylar, let him go, right now!” Maddy yelled then grabbed her head with both hands.

  Not listening, Skylar growled and shoved Ryder harder against the wall.

  Maddy suddenly jumped up, running around the bed and straight into the bathroom. A second later, the clear sounds of her throwing up drifted out.

  All the fight left Skylar’s body, and he pushed away from Ryder, who immediately ran into the bathroom to help Maddy.

  Skylar started pacing and running his hands through his hair while Jace sat at the end of the bed and hung his head.

  After a minute, the toilet flushed, followed by the sound of the faucet running. When Ryder walked out, he carried Maddy in his arms and lay her on the bed.

  Skylar didn’t know who he was upset with more; himself or Ryder. He knew Jace told her he’d be fine if Ryder and Cody both dated her, but Skylar was having a hard time with it. He ran his fingers through his hair and let out a long breath. Why did he always have to be second best to Cody? His whole life had been like that. He thought Maddy would be different. She would be his and Jace’s. But no, Cody and Ryder had to screw this up.

  “Okay, explain what’s going on,” Skylar said, trying to calm down.

  Maddy glared at him. “What’s going on is you two left me without saying a word in a room full of people I didn’t know. I told you yesterday I don’t deal well with crowds. Why don’t you explain to me why you were in the corner making out with Amber?”

  He tried to downplay it. “I wasn’t making out with her.”

  Her face turned red with anger. “Like hell, you weren’t. Your lips were locked, your bodies couldn’t get any closer to each other, and her hands were all over you.”

  “Amber and I had a fling this summer when I was here fixing the house. I told her when school started up, we could continue,” Skylar explained, like he should have done from the beginning. “When I pulled her away tonight to tell her I found someone, she said that was fine, and we could still have our thing on the side. But I pushed her away, Maddy. I told her no. I’m not a cheater. What you caught was a goodbye kiss, and her trying to win me back.”

  “That was a goodbye kiss?” She ran her hand down her face. “Okay. Anything else?”

  Her green eyes pierced his soul. Should he lie or tell the truth?

  If he lied, and she found out, she’d never trust him again. But if he told her the truth, she might not take him seriously when he confessed he wanted to be with her. While he’d told Jace he wanted to try a relationship with Maddy, would she believe him now? Or did he fuck this up before it even started?

  He pulled his hair. “Dammit, no. I did a couple of body shots off of her.”

  Shock and hurt filled her eyes.

  Damn, he screwed up big time.

  Putting her arms on the bed to steady herself, she turned to look at Jace. “Now, it’s your turn.”

  “Um… My story was about the same as Skylar’s. His name is James, and we hooked up over the last two summers. I told him there was no way I could continue, and that I found someone really special. He kissed me, and I fought him at first, but I’m ashamed to say I gave in. I pulled him into the bathroom to talk, but long story short, we ended up screwing.” Tears glinted in Jace’s eyes. “I’m so sorry, Maddy. I screwed up so badly. Please, tell me I haven’t royally messed up what we have.”

  When Skylar looked over at her, Maddy was crying.

  Fuck. Screw this. They weren’t the only ones who messed up. Something happened between her and Ryder.

  “So, what’s going on between you and Ryder? I thought you two were only friends.” Skylar was being a dick, but he didn’t really care right now.

  “The last thing I remember was dancing,” she muttered.

  The
whole time they’d been talking, Ryder had stayed on the far side of the room. Now, he came around and sat beside Maddy on the bed. His arm was behind her, not touching but close enough to rile Skylar.

  “I found her in the kitchen doing a beer bong. I picked her up and brought her here, where she got sick all over us. I helped her shower, then brought her in here,” Ryder said with no emotion. “We both fell asleep until you started pounding on the door.”

  Skylar stared at him, seething. There was no way Ryder didn’t touch her when he had a naked Maddy in his arms. “Yeah, I bet you helped her in the shower. With the way you are, I bet you were all over her.”

  “How dare you!” Maddy yelled. “He took care of me when I couldn’t. Where were you? Oh yeah, that’s right, off with Amber supposedly telling her you can’t be with her while you shoved your tongue down her throat. I told you both I have trust issues. I trusted you, and you both lied to me. Ryder, I don’t feel good.” She sank down in the bed, and Ryder covered her up. “Can you get them out of here? I can’t deal with them right now.”

  “Maddy, I’m super sorry, but how many more times do you want me to say it? Since Ryder was there for you, maybe you should date him, since you think you know him so well.” Skylar stomped his foot in frustration. “Fuck!”

  She mumbled something about listening, but he couldn’t hear what she said. “Can you repeat that?”

  She waved him away and closed her eyes.

  “It looks like she doesn’t want to talk to you,” Cody said from behind him. “Brother, you just dug a hole I’m not sure you can climb your way out of.”

  When the hell did he sneak in?

  Skylar raised his arms and let them slap against his thighs. “Where the hell were you, big brother?”

  “Hey, don’t get snotty with me.” Cody loomed closer. “I didn’t promise her anything. I kept my eye on her as much as possible. When Ryder brought her up here after he found her in the kitchen, he told me he could take care of her, so I went back downstairs, then felt kinda guilty so I came back up. Ryder was just getting done with the shower, and I dried Maddy off and helped get clothes on her. We decided we would take turns watching her tonight. Their clothes needed to be washed, so I came back down, kicked everyone out, and started the washing machine.”

  At that, something in Skylar snapped. “You saw her naked, too?” He could feel the vein in his neck pulsing. “Just great. The two people who didn’t want her have seen her without her clothes on, and you both fondled her,” he scoffed.

  Cody got close to Skylar. “Where the hell did you hear that we fondled her? We dried her off.”

  Pfft. “Whatever you want to call it.” Skylar crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.

  How could Jace just sit there and be so calm? This was bullshit.

  Jace finally lifted his head and spoke, “She brought a bag with her clothes to change into. It’s in my room. I’ll bring it here.”

  “Thanks, Jace, I didn’t know.” Ryder looked down at her. “I think she’s fine, for now.”

  “Well, it sounds like she doesn’t need us, Jace. She has the slut of Blue Ridge and big bro to take care of her. Well, if you think about it, maybe I’m wrong. It seems like she’s the slut, jumping from one friend to another.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he wished he could undo them. He didn’t mean it; he was just so angry right now.

  Before he could take them back, Ryder leaped up and punched him in the face. “Get the hell out of my room! How dare you call her that! What is wrong with you? Do you know her at all? Get him out of here, Jace, before I do something I will really regret.”

  Skylar caught himself on the wall, his jaw throbbing.

  Jace grabbed Skylar’s bicep and pulled him out of the room. “You stepped over the line, Skylar. You know what was going on with Maddy. We did her wrong tonight. I’ll do whatever it takes to get back in her good graces, with or without you. You’ve said enough tonight. Let’s go.”

  Skylar stopped Jace at the door. “It doesn’t bother you that both my brother and Ryder have seen her naked, and we’re the ones who said we wanted to date her?”

  Jace shook his head. “I always knew Ryder and Cody would be dating her, too. So, no, it doesn’t bother me. Maddy did nothing wrong, Skylar. We’re the ones who screwed up. You need to figure out why it’s bothering you so much,” Jace stated matter of fact before he turned to glance back into the room. “Cody, we were supposed to take her furniture shopping tomorrow. I think it would be best if you took her. Skylar and I will clean up the house.”

  “I’ll take her,” Cody said.

  Skylar huffed. Of course, he would take her.

  He headed out of the room and toward the stairs, but before he touched the first step, Jace grabbed his arm. “What’s wrong with you? You’ve never been that spiteful.” Jace stared into his eyes.

  He hated when Jace did that; it was like he was looking into his soul.

  “Just leave me alone.” He yanked his arm away.

  “Where are you going, Skylar?”

  “Oh, my God, do you have to be so far up my ass about everything? Go find James and bother him. Leave me alone.” The hurt look on Jace’s face made him suck in a breath. Whipping around, he stormed down the steps and outside toward his bike.

  He scrubbed his fingers through his short hair. What was going on with him? He hadn’t been this angry in a while. Everything was so screwed up. He said shit he shouldn’t have. Shit, could things get any worse? He needed to get on his bike and just ride to clear his mind.

  When he rounded the corner of the house, Amber was sitting on his bike, and Skylar’s anger intensified. Maddy was the only girl he ever let on his bike. Now Amber’s skank ass was on it.

  Skylar scowled at her. “What do you want? We’re over, and the party is over.”

  She flung her hair over her shoulder. “Did you really think I’d let you go that easily?”

  He ran his hand down his face. “I’m not in the mood for you. Tell me what you want, then leave me the hell alone.”

  Her mouth curved into a smile. “The same thing I always want. You.”

  Angry, he ripped her off his bike, and when he let her go, she tumbled to the ground.

  “Hey, that’s no way to treat a lady,” a gravelly deep voice said from behind him.

  Skylar twisted around to see Matt at the corner of the house. “She’s no lady, believe me. What the hell are you doing here? Do you need to talk to Cody about a fight?”

  Matt was one of the guards at the underground ring. He was two sizes bigger than Skylar and had always reminded him of Arnold Schwarzenegger when he was bodybuilding. Skylar didn’t know him that well, but from their limited interactions, Skylar didn’t think he was too smart.

  “Why are you on the ground, Amber?” asked a smooth, sexy voice Skylar knew all too well.

  Amber pouted like a little child. “Because, Aunt Lisa, these two numb-nuts haven’t helped me up.”

  Aunt? Gary’s girlfriend was Amber’s aunt? He’d never liked Lisa much. Don’t get him wrong, she was hot as hell with dark-blond hair and hazel eyes, but there had always been something off about her.

  Lisa strolled over and helped Amber up. Something in his gut told him this wouldn’t turn out good.

  “What’s going on, Lisa? I haven’t seen Gary around.” He leaned against his bike, crossing his arms.

  He knew damn well there was a reason she was there, and he had a feeling he wasn’t going to like it.

  Lisa seductively made her way over to Skylar, and the plunging V-neck shirt and tight ass jeans she wore distracted him from the slap coming until he felt the sting.

  She grabbed both sides of his jaw with her long ass nails and squeezed. “You don’t treat any girl in my family like that, and I wasn’t looking for Gary. I was looking for you. I want you to fight for me.” She squeezed his jaw until he swore it was close to popping.

  He gritted out, “Cody will never let that happen—”

&
nbsp; “He won’t know.”

  Skylar popped an eyebrow. This could be interesting.

  She released his jaw. “I have my own ring, and I want you to fight there.”

  He rubbed his sore jaw. “I don’t have the funds…”

  “I’ll fund you, and I already have a coach lined up. We split the winnings sixty-forty. This ring makes more money than the one Cody fights at. Gary doesn’t push the line; I don’t care about the line.”

  Even though Gary’s business was illegal, underground fighting, it never got busted because he stayed within certain limits. No guns, no drugs, no prostitution. As long as he toed that line, the cops let him run the business.

  “Two things. What about Gary?” He thumbed a finger at Amber. “And what’s the deal with your niece?”

  Lisa’s face turned serious and scary as she leaned closer to him. “You give her what she wants. You date her. Make her happy.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “And if I don’t?”

  “Fighters can get hurt, even in Gary’s business, or maybe a trick can turn bad.” She shrugged.

  She just threatened Cody and Ryder; he had no choice. How did he get himself into these situations? He could forget dating Maddy, now. Guess the fight worked out for him.

  Looking up, he let out a deep breath. “Since I have no choice, you got a deal.”

  He just hoped his family could forgive him after this.

  She slapped Skylar’s cheek, then handed him a card with an address on it. “Meet me here. You start training tomorrow.” She smiles lovingly at her niece. “Do you need a ride home, sweetheart?”

  What a bitch.

  “Pick me up Tuesday at seven for our date.” Amber smiled as she walked away with her aunt.

  19

  Maddy

  Knock, knock.

  “Oh, please, stop the fucking pounding!” Maddy’s head was already thumping. “Why does my head hurt so bad? Someone, please make it stop!”

  She covered her ears and slowly opened her eyes to discover she wasn’t in her room. Maddy’s heart rate picked up as she tried to remember what the hell happened last night, but her head hurt too much. Trying to stop the thumping, she buried herself deeper into the bed.