Unconditional

“Madeline,” he growls as his hand grabs my ass and squeezes.

I giggle and press my lips to his. “Am I still grounded?” I ask when I pull away.

He sighs. “Were you going to listen to me if I said yes?”

“No.”

“Then go.” He rolls his eyes. “Keep your phone and your necklace on.”

“I never take it off, and my phone is never off.”

“Good girl.” The fire between my legs, that had cooled into a barely lit ember flickers to life at his words, and a whimper escapes my lips.

I bite my bottom lip and look up at him. “Okay, maybe I have like ten minutes,” I say as I send my panties back down my legs.

MY EYES FLIT TO MELANIE’S back door as it opens, and a slew of guys walk in with a billow of smoke. I’m standing near the built-in bar of her basement sipping the one beer I’ve had all night, just to keep Sasha off my case while my friends continue to take shots

like they’re immune to hangovers. Melanie’s house is enormous, but we usually stay confined to the basement after one wild party caused more than a few broken things, even more stolen things, and Melanie grounded for a full six months. Her father was a CEO of some huge company based in Portland which sent him and her mother away for galas, what felt like every other weekend, leaving a reckless Melanie to her own devices.

Melanie had set up a beer pong table in the center of the room, where two guys from the football team are currently going undefeated for the second hour while the rest of the team surrounds them. A group of six or seven are in the corner playing drinking games that require bouncing a quarter into a shot glass, and the rest of us are in the bar area. A few people are outside smoking—cigarettes or weed—causing me to sniff my hair every few seconds. Cal will murder me if I come home smelling like an ashtray. And I do not mean that it in any way sexual.

“Why aren’t you drinking?” Sasha asks me as Mike walks in and makes his way over to us.

“I have a headache,” I say without even meeting her gaze. A telltale sign that I’m lying, and more importantly that I don’t care that I’m lying.

She rolls her eyes at me, hearing the lie, but deciding to go with it. “You know what helps with headaches? Tequila.” She raises a shot to me before downing it. I roll my eyes at her when Mike approaches us with a familiar face in tow.

“There’s the prettiest girl in all of Oregon.” He wraps his arms around her, sticking his face in her neck and she squeals as he spins her around.

“What took you so long? I’m already drunk.” She pouts as he slips his hand into her back pocket and kisses her square on the mouth. “You smell good.”

I roll my eyes at my best friend and her boyfriend who rarely keep the PDA to a minimum when they’re sober. They are borderline offensive when they’ve been drinking. Maybe this is where I should make my exit.

“Hey, Maddie.” Brad steps next to me as Sasha and Mike continue to pretend that they’re the only ones in the room. He’s wearing the same letterman jacket and a pair of jeans that outline the muscles in his legs and thus seem a bit too tight. He’s still clean shaven and it makes me take note that even if I wasn’t with Cal, I wouldn’t be attracted to him. “You’re a hard girl to see. I’ve been hoping I’d run into you since we sort of went out last month.”

“She’s been MIA.” Sasha rolls her eyes. “I’ve even barely seen her except for at school!”

I ignore Sasha’s dramatics. “Brad…hey, how are you?” I’m not sure how to handle this situation. Is he still interested? Or had he gotten the hint when I didn’t reach out after Cal crashed our date? Is he planning to ask me out again? I decide to wait for him to do any of those things before I just assume he wants a real chance with me.

One he does not have.

“Good, I’m glad you’re here.” He starts and my eyes widen in preparation of letting him down easily. “Not like that.” He shakes his head. “Just…I felt bad that I acted like a dick on that date.”

Phew. “Oh! Oh my God, not at all. You weren’t a dick. I just…left. I’m sorry about that, I wasn’t really feeling great, and Sasha dragged me out without telling me what I was walking into.” I shoot her a look, but she seems unbothered with Mike’s tongue down her throat. “Okay, I’m walking away from this.” I point at the two who’d be defiling one of Melanie’s guestrooms within the hour. Brad follows me outside onto the patio and I make sure to leave enough space between me and the smokers which dangerously enough means I’m alone with Brad. Fuck, I didn’t think this through.

Maddie, relax you’re talking to a guy. You should be able to do that without Cal turning into a caveman. The words in my brain are rational, but they don’t stop me from taking a glance around the patio just in case Cal has manifested.

“Mike told me about what happened…why that guy acted like that…the one you live with?”

“Oh…” I clear my throat. “Yeah, he’s just protective.”

I close my eyes, my heart thumping in my chest as my brain fights to stay in the present and not return to the night that my life changed forever. I take a deep breath and for a quick second I smell my mother’s perfume and the pain lessens slightly. I miss you, Mama.

“That must have been really hard.” He shakes his head before putting a hand on my shoulder gently then letting it graze my back. He rubs it in circles and the fog of my past immediately lifts as I return to the present. “I can’t even imagine.”

I move so that I’m out of his grasp and try to put some space between us. Why is this man so handsy? “Maybe I should get back inside,” I start when he grabs my arm.

“Maddie, I’m really a nice guy. I don’t see why you can’t give me a chance.” I don’t know if he drank something or did something moments before getting to Melanie’s and only now is it catching up with him because I notice his pupils are dilated and slightly glazed.