Next to Never (Fall Away #4.5)

She pulled out a paper and pushed it in front of me with a pen.

I picked up the pen and started scanning the document. “What happened exactly?”

“A guy was messing with Tatum Brandt,” Madoc answered, coming up to the counter to stand next to us. “So Jared and I sent him on his way.”

“The boy was merely asking her to the school carnival,” Mrs. Bauer clarified. “And these two proceeded to steal his clothes while he was in the shower and hang them on Miss Brandt’s locker with a very vulgar message written on the underpants.”

She said the last part in a horrified whisper, and I heard Madoc snort next to us, doubling over and laughing as I felt Jared smile next to me.

I turned to him. “Why would you do that to Tate?”

“Because he likes her,” Madoc interjected.

“Shut. Up,” Jared growled.

Anger filled my chest, and I swallowed it down, because I knew it was exactly what Jared wanted. What was the matter with him? He lived for confrontation these days, and our arguments were a constant occurrence. I had no idea what to do with him.

The bottle of rum I had at home flashed in my mind, and I swallowed again, the dryness in my mouth like sand. I signed the paper quickly without even reading it.

I didn’t care. I just wanted to get out of here.

“Madoc,” a deep male voice called.

I froze. No, no, no . . .

Madoc turned around at my side. “Hey,” he replied in a casual tone. “I swear I didn’t do it.”

The pen shook in my hand, and I could feel the heat of his eyes on my back.

I hadn’t seen him in so long.

“Oh, of course not,” the man responded. “It’s never your fault.”

His voice was getting closer, and I closed my eyes for a moment, not wanting to turn around, but I knew there was no way I’d get out of here without him seeing.

In the five years since we’d ended things, a lot had changed.

But not enough. The anger still festered within me, time having healed nothing.

“Nope, never,” Madoc responded. “Everyone should have a kid like me.” And then he turned back around, winking at the middle-aged receptionist across the counter.

She scowled, tsking at him, and pushed another paper—I assumed for Jase to sign—forward. Madoc must be suspended, too.

“Just take them home,” she instructed. “Be back on Friday.”

I saw Jase’s black suit out of the corner of my eye as he stepped up to the counter, Madoc between us. He pulled the paper closer, as if reading it, but then I felt his eyes fall on me.

Damn it. I locked my jaw and steeled my eyes, so he wouldn’t see how nervous I was as I glanced over at him.

His eyes narrowed, and he seemed to stop breathing before quickly turning away, picking up the pen to sign the paper.

Yeah, I wasn’t expecting this either, College Boy.

We’d done a great job of avoiding each other the past few years. I knew which pubs to stay out of, and he knew to avoid High Street, since that was where I worked.

And even though I was no longer dirt poor and struggling, I made sure not to frequent fancy restaurants or the country club, where I might see him. And since Jase led such a blessed life that he didn’t ever have to step foot in a grocery store, pharmacy, or McDonald’s, we hadn’t crossed paths.

Except for once on the street while watching the Fourth of July parade, and that was two years ago.

He signed the paper and handed it over to Mrs. Bauer, and then I saw him look our way again.

“Jared?” he said, peering around me, surprised.

My son turned his head to look at Madoc’s father, and I glanced between them. Jared didn’t remember him, did he? We were careful.

Unless Jared had run into him at Madoc’s house, since they were friends.

Jase regarded him, though, as if he was seeing him for the first time.

“Yeah?” Jared asked, sounding annoyed.

But Jase simply turned away. “You’re both getting suspended together.” He handed Mrs. Bauer the pen, talking to Madoc. “How come I’ve never met your friend before?”

“Probably because he’s at our house more than you are,” his son shot back.

I smiled, taking too much pleasure in that comeback. Madoc might not be giving Jase the hell Jared gave me, but it was something, and I liked knowing someone in his life was holding him accountable.

A cell phone rang, and Jase pulled his out of his breast pocket, checking the screen. Tapping a button, he slipped it back into his pocket. “May I please have my stepdaughter, Fallon Pierce, as well?” he asked Mrs. Bauer. “Might as well pick her up while I’m here and save Addie the trip.”

The receptionist gave him a look, her mouth twisting in annoyance. “Of course,” she finally grumbled.

Heat covered my skin, and I wasn’t sure if it was Jase or the mention of a stepdaughter. I knew he’d remarried quickly after his divorce from Madoc’s mother years ago.

Very quickly, in fact.

Yeah, men like him didn’t know how to be without wives to handle their houses and kids and schedule the fucking gardeners and caterers. All so they can have everything and sacrifice nothing.

But it wasn’t me. He had his dirty fun with the trailer park girl. He couldn’t marry her.

I ground my teeth together and swung my purse over my shoulder.

“I’m going to go wait in the car,” I heard Madoc say as he grabbed his father’s keys off the counter.