Even as I chuckled nervously, my heart continued to pound against my ribs. While I was half kidding, it was partly true. Madeline had pretty much made it clear she’d be a willing participant in any kind of thrill ride this might be the start of. As dense as I was to catch on to her game, I was fairly certain she wasn’t being literal.
Having her on my bike alone was already a huge risk. Getting any ideas about anything more would have been playing with fire, and I knew it. But God help me because fighting this now that she’d made it clear this was as thrilling for her as it was for me, was going to be infinitely harder.
The feel of her against my back again was pure heaven—something I already knew I’d never get enough of. As I slowed before jumping onto the highway and my motor idled so it was a little less thunderous, Madeline’s warm breath against my neck when she spoke made me tremble. “All those girls in that bus,” she said, leaning in even closer. “I didn’t recognize any of them. Are they from Huntsville?”
I shook my head. It was as much as I’d offer unless she pushed. “But you and your brothers know them?”
Thankfully, my bike’s motor was too loud once on the highway. I purposely revved it up even more as we turned a corner. Since it was too loud to talk, especially for me since I was facing away from her, there were no more questions or exchanges, except for her telling me where her friends would be waiting for her. When we reached the lake side where she’d be meeting her friends, I braced myself as I turned my bike off.
Even with the stop we made to get the helmet on her, we’d left so abruptly we got there before any of her friends. I was certain they wouldn’t be long since Maggie and Nolan looked ready to take off when we did. I just prayed Nolan hadn’t taken a detour and gone somewhere more private, leaving me no choice but to stay and keep Maddie company until the rest arrived. Not that it’d be a bad thing, but I had to remind myself how much more tempting this just got. More than anything, I did not want to deal with her mama’s wrath.
I got off my bike first. She stayed on the bike as I removed the helmet from her head, and once again, I was caught in those eyes. Jesus Christ, how the fuck was I supposed to keep doing the right thing and just stay away from her now?
Once again, she broke the silence by thanking me for the ride as she got off my bike. I lit up a cigarette because I needed something to keep my hands and mouth busy before they dared do anything else. Then she added another unnerving question. “Did you and your brothers invite those out-of-town girls tonight?”
“Nope.” I shook my head. “At least I didn’t, but if my brothers did, they never mentioned it to me.”
“But you know them?”
Shaking my head again, I glanced away as I let out a stream of smoke.
“Not even the girl holding your hand?”
I had to think about that for a moment. Had America held my hand? Then I remembered her playing with my fingers. No way in hell was I giving Madeline any details about my relationship with America. “I’d met her before.” The cute little brow went up, but before she could comment or ask more, I added, “Listen, just a heads-up about Shane. He’s . . .”
I thought about it before blurting out a fucking douche. I didn’t want my distaste for him to come across as blatant as it felt. Especially because, while I’d always considered him shady as fuck, it had never bothered me until now.
“. . . not as scrupulous as you might think.”
Since I didn’t give her time to comment further about America, the brow was still at attention. “He seems nice enough to me.”
“Yeah, well, consider yourself warned,” I said, looking away as if this was her last warning.
Truth was, if I didn’t before, I now had every intention of doing what I did tonight if I ever saw the guy trying to get her in his car again.
“I wasn’t going to take him up on the offer to drive me into town.” I turned to face her and she smiled. “Mama would kill me if she ever heard I’d gotten into his car—or on a motorcycle.”
Her gaze bore into me with a purpose. She wouldn’t risk getting in trouble with her mama for Shane, yet she did for me.
“Should I be worried about her hunting me down if she finds out about tonight?”
She shook her head, smiling sweetly. “Given my choices, I think she’d agree I made the right one.”
This surprised me. I knew Shane was a douche because of some of the things he’d bragged about doing to girls. Girls too intoxicated who otherwise might not have agreed. But I didn’t think her mom would know about all that. The surprise and confusion must have shown in my expression because she explained further.
“I think deep down inside, Mama knows Mr. Cortez raised respectable young men who just get a bad rap because of their looks and wild reputations.” The sweet smile was replaced with a frown, and she shook her head with a sigh. “Shane’s daddy, on the other hand, has forgotten he’s a married man and tried to persuade Mama to have a drink or dinner with him on more than one occasion. She questions the morals of any boy that man’s raising.” I started to smile until she shrugged and added, “Though he’s been a gentleman with me thus far.”
“Yeah, well, don’t let him fool you. Your mom’s spot on about him.”
She smiled again, only there was something playful—sultry—about it now, as if she knew I’d be making sure she never got in Shane’s car from then on. Just like before, I was sucked into those baby blues for too long, until, mercifully, I remembered something I’d been wondering about for a while now.
“That day last summer at the Stop and Shop,” I said as her brows pinched together curiously. “That couple arguing. Were they friends of yours?”
It took her a second, and then her expression soured, but even that had me smiling. “No, but did you hear what an asshole he was?”
“I was way in the back of the store, so I didn’t catch what they were saying.” I shook my head, confused, but I was even more curious now. “You didn’t know them?”
“Never met them before in my life,” she said very matter-of-factly. “But I couldn’t believe what a dick he was to her. If he’d been my boyfriend, I would’ve told him to go screw himself.”
“You had your friend drive a girl you’d never even met all the way to Fayette?”
“Shelby was all for it. Those two had been driving for over two hours, Nico, and Fayette is what? Almost an hour away? He refused to buy her lunch from the Stop & Shop—a freakin hot dog, chips, and soda—because he’d told her to pack something for the ride and she didn’t listen to him.”
That last part reminded me of Madeline’s retort that day. If she wanted to listen to an asshole, she would’ve farted. This had me chuckling now and refraining from pulling her to me so I could plant one on that animated face.
“You think that’s funny?” She placed her hand on her hip, and I was treated to that same glare I’d only seen on her the day she told that guy off. “She offered to pay him back, but the jerk refused, saying she should’ve listened—”
My finger on her lips stopped her from going on, even though I’d have loved to hear just how fired up she was going to get about this again, but I didn’t like seeing her upset. The glare morphed into a startled wide-eyed stare. “I don’t think it’s funny,” I said calmly as my eyes dropped to that once again falling open lower lip, but I forced them back up to her eyes. “I just remembered what you said to him that day.”
She pondered for a moment, and then everything brightened as I was treated to that beautiful smile once again. “I heard my grandma say that once, and it was the first thing that came to mind when the jerk kept saying she didn’t listen.”
She paused, and for once tonight, a hint of vulnerability showed as she smiled a bit bashfully—a smile I’d seen plenty of times on Margaret, not Madeline. But just like all the other expressions I’d been treated to from her, it suited her just fine.
“Anyway,” she went on with a shrug. “He just made me so mad. At first, I wasn’t go
ing to say anything to him, but when he saw me paying for her lunch, I guess he thought he could convince me of why he was being such a jerk, and I just couldn’t hold back anymore.”
I smiled, getting caught in those eyes once again as I wondered if this girl would ever do or say anything that didn’t have my insides feeling all the fuzzy shit girls were supposed to feel. Not a grown ass man.
The roar of more motorcycles driving into the lakeside area where a lot of the town’s young singles were still hanging out interrupted our stare down, and I took a much-needed breath. Her face brightened instantly when she saw her sister ride in on Nolan’s bike. As if she hadn’t just seen her a few minutes prior.
Maggie got off Nolan’s bike after removing the helmet. She and Nolan talked for a bit, too softly for us to hear. As she walked toward Madeline, she glanced at me timidly then back at her sister. “Bad girl, Maggie.” Madeline giggled.
“Mama better not hear about this,” Maggie said, reaching out to nudge Madeline even as Madeline continued to giggle.
Just then Shelby and Mason pulled in. “That’s why Shelby’s driving us the rest of the way home,” Madeline said.
“We should get going,” Maggie said, looking down at her phone. “If we miss curfew again, Mama will have our hides.”
The rest of the crowd that’d gone out to the barn started to arrive back at the lake as well, including the Volkswagen bus. Instantly, Madeline’s eyes were on it; then she turned to me with that lifted brow again.
Of course, the bus headed straight to us. “I’m outta here,” I said to no one in particular, but then Nolan turned to me in question, so I explained. “I have first shift tomorrow.”
“Dick!” Nolan laughed. “The shop doesn’t open ’til ten.”
“We have inventory tomorrow, ass. And you know what that means.”
Just as the bus approached, I glanced one last time at Madeline, who smiled when I started up my bike. Like a kid given a good ole “Atta boy,” I ate it up. Before I could rev it up and get the hell out of there so I could avoid getting felt up by America, Madeline turned to her sister. “Yeah, we better get going too.”
They looked back at Shelby’s parked car where their friend was still chatting with Mason.
“Don’t forget what I said,” I reminded her though she looked confused. “About Shane.”
She stared at me for a moment, her expression unreadable until she smiled so beautifully I felt the air sucked out of my lungs. “I won’t.”
Madeline glanced around cautiously, stopping when her eyes were on America and staring at her long enough to unnerve me to no end. But she didn’t walk away until she turned back to me and added, “Just remember it’s you I want, not anyone else.”
As she had the very first time we’d ever spoken, she walked away leaving me sitting there speechless. As much as I’d have liked to tell her I felt the same way about her, I couldn’t. Not yet. Only tonight further confirmed what I’d begun to suspect. I was in deep shit. If I’d felt entitled before, this just made those feelings a million times worse.
Chapter 4: Sweet Seventeen
As expected, with Madeline putting it out there the way she did, I was incapable of staying away from her now. Along with the good, some bad came from Madeline hopping on my bike that night and for months after. Word had gotten around real fast about my “cock-blocking” Shane. So for the most part, the guys who so blatantly sniffed around her before, weren’t so barefaced about it anymore. At least not when I was around. But the bad thing was, just like the guys who knew better than to fuck with a girl who I may or may not have staked my claim to outright, word had spread among others in town. But I dreaded most what might happen if her mother found out.
To make things worse, the more I attempted to be cautious and keep her at bay, the more Madeline was bound and determined to force me to stop fighting the inevitable. As discreet as I was whenever hanging out with another girl, somehow I got the feeling it always got back to her anyway.
Fucking small towns.
Each time I saw her after having just spent time around other girls, Madeline would be laughing it up with other guys. I hadn’t seen her around Shane since the one night, but I now hated any guy I saw her indulging with her bright smiles.
Every time I’d gone out with the intention of not reacting to her around guys, something new happened. Apparently, her sister attended weekend nursing classes. So one night, as we were out by the lake, everything was as it should be. I hung with the guys, pretending not to be continually distracted by Madeline. Then Shelby had some kind of diabetic incident and nearly passed out. With Maggie’s nursing experience, she was all over it. I wasn’t even sure what was going on until I saw all three girls get into Shelby’s car with one of a couple guys. One of them appeared to offer to drive Shelby home while his friend followed in his car since Shelby was in no condition to drive. Madeline looked far more concerned about Shelby than the fact that she was driving away with two dudes because the entire time she hadn’t even glanced my way.
As insane as it sounded, every minute that passed and those guys weren’t back I got hotter. I could only assume they stayed and hung out with the girls at Shelby’s. I was this close to just leaving when more than an infuriating hour later Madeline and her sister arrived back at the lake with those same guys.
Not even her glancing my way with a reassuring smile eased the tension that’d begun to build from the moment I saw her leave. It didn’t help that, while she was gone, the girls hanging out with my brothers and me got a little friendlier. As soon as Madeline picked up on that, she was back to laughing it up with the guys, who apparently either didn’t know, or didn’t give a fuck, that she might be my girl.
“Let it go,” Xavier said under his breath.
Clearly, I’d been glaring because of Madeline, and Xavier caught me—again.
“What is it with you and this girl?” Xavier muttered under his breath, sounding a little frustrated, but kept his tone calm. “Look around you, dude. There’s plenty others.”
I didn’t bother looking around because I could hardly keep my eyes off Madeline now to notice anyone else.
“I don’t know what it is.” I saw the surprise in his eyes when I actually answered, since I never bothered to respond to any of my brother’s comments about me being hung up on Madeline. “But it’s like she’s fucking plagued me from the very first day I spoke to her, and she just keeps getting deeper and deeper under my skin.”
Xavier stared at me for a moment, not nearly as concerned as I know Dad would have been if he’d just heard me admit to this, but he didn’t look thrilled either. “Yeah, well, don’t forget what Dad said, man. You don’t want any beef with that crazy Hellman lady.”
Seeing one of the guys reach out and touch the clip on her hair had me standing up ready to rev my bike to life. Thankfully for me, Nolan couldn’t stay gone too long. He was home again for the weekend from his internship. “Nolan,” I said without taking my eyes off her. Nolan turned to me curiously. “Go talk to Maggie, will you?”
He turned to Maggie, who was leaning against the car, talking to the guy who’d driven Shelby’s car home. I didn’t have to ask my brother twice. I was only surprised he hadn’t noticed Maggie being back yet.
“I ain’t bailing anyone out,” Xavier warned as we both geared up to head in the twins’ direction.
“Yeah, you will,” I said.
“Wouldn’t be the first time.” Nolan laughed.
“Fine,” Xavier conceded. “But I’ll let you sit there for a while and think about your actions.”
Nolan laughed, and if I weren’t so fired up, I might have been laughing too. Before I even got there, I could already tell Madeline was pleased that I was heading her way. She pushed away from the car she’d been leaning on with a subtle grin.
Just like with Shane, I didn’t acknowledge the guys when I drove up. “Need a ride?”
Nolan pulled up right behind me, and the sisters exchanged glance
s. “Yeah, it’s near curfew,” Madeline said but then turned back to the guys. “Thanks for helping out tonight. That was real sweet of you guys.”
The guys nodded but didn’t say what I was sure they were thinking. We could take you home too.
After playing the heroes, they probably weren’t expecting this, I was sure. They likely anticipated having the twins to themselves eventually. Maybe even imagined a better way of being thanked. The very thought had me gnashing my teeth, but Madeline was by my bike now. She made a face but didn’t protest when I placed the helmet on her head.
We had another one of our moments, only this one felt even more intense. I knew it had everything to do with the fact that this was getting real. Doing even this out here for everyone to see was proof enough that I was nuts to think this wasn’t going to happen. As much as my head tried to fight it, my heart wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer.
Madeline climbed on my bike, and it felt like that spot on my bike was made for her. She felt perfect back there. The warmth of her body against mine was pure heaven. Nolan and I rode them back to about a block away from their home, since, despite my being so blatant now, I was still leery of her mother.
I helped her as she climbed off my bike as I always did now by holding her hand. Our fingers intertwining and lingering that way for a while was as far as I’d let things go. Using my other hand because I wasn’t ready to let go of her hand yet, I helped her get the helmet off.
“You were gone a while,” I said at the risk of ruining the moment, but my dumb ass was incapable of holding back my curiosity about why that was. “Shelby okay?”
She tilted her head with a knowing smile, as if she knew why I was really asking. “She’s fine. Her blood sugar gets a little too low sometimes. Mrs. Connor . . . uh, Shelby’s mama, insisted the boys have some of her derby pie as a thank you for helping Shelby home. Even gave them an extra pie to take home to their mama.”
It was only then that it hit me. “Their mama? They’re brothers?”
She nodded again, a hint of humor dancing in her eyes. “Twins. Only not identical like Maggie and me.”
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