Bryce (Scandalous Boys #1)

by Natalie Decker

  “Hey, amigo!” he says. “You came. Thought you’d be over earlier.”

  “I got tied up in something,” I answer with a shrug. Hector waves me over to the cherry beauty taking up space in the garage. “She’s a sexy beast,” I say.

  “Yeah, she is. Come on. Get underneath her and check her out.”

  I work at the shop until nine—that’s closing time—and then swing by my house and call Madison. She doesn’t answer my calls, so I text her.

  Me: Hey u. How r u feeling?

  Mads: Tired. My parents are being jerks.

  Me: Because of me?

  Mads: No. Me. I have an interview in PA and they’re telling me I can’t go. It’s too far. And art school is a waste of money.

  Me: Mads screw them. I’ll take you. When do u have 2 go?

  Mads: This Friday. I was going to leave Thursday. Stay in a hotel and look around.

  Me: Ok. Wait, when do u turn 18? Dec 24th or 25th?

  Mads: 24th. Why?

  Me: Because I’m still on probation. And I don’t need 2 add kidnapping 2 my record. We’ll leave Thursday. Okay. Meet me in the park at 9am.

  Mads: Bryce, I can’t ask you to take me. I can drive myself.

  Me: I know. I want 2.

  Mads: You know earlier was just sex. It doesn’t mean we’re back together.

  I read her text and wince. We’re not getting back together. “Just sex.” But that was not “just sex.” I made love to her. We’d never have “just sex.”

  Me: Ok. I’m still taking u.

  Mads: Fine.

  Me: Good night. Sweet dreams.

  Mads: Night. Same to you.

  She’s going to be stubborn. I expected that. It’s okay, I’ve got a plan. As long as she doesn’t keep surprising me and I can keep surprising her, I’ll win her back. And this time, there won’t be any letting go. I won’t mess up. I won’t give her a reason to run. Madison has me. All of me. Problem is, the girl has no idea.

  It’s Christmas Eve. It’s the last day for shopping, and of course I’m in the mall hunting down gifts. Most of them are for Madison. Hailey is with me, which is really becoming more of a pain in the ass than a help. “What about this?” Hailey giggles as she holds up a piece of see-through lingerie.

  “Yeah, that will go over real nice.” I tug her out of Victoria’s Secret and down the crowded hall. “Will you try to be helpful? I need something special for her birthday. I also need something for Christmas, and a couple gifts for our road trip.”

  “Why not get her flowers?”

  “I did. Look, she’s more special than flowers. I need something that’s perfect for her. Are you going to help or not?”

  Hailey groans. “I said I would. Jeez. I swear, if she doesn’t take you back, I’m changing my number and you’re not getting it.”

  “Why?”

  She pulls me into a bookstore. “Because you being in love is kind of scary.”

  I glower. “Why are we in here?”

  “For these!” She grabs some books off the shelf and hands them over. “They’re art books. You said she’s into art.”

  I flip through some and start putting some back. I keep two and check out. The next store we go to is Kay’s. Hailey points at a bracelet. “You add charms to it. So make her a charm bracelet that’s unique to her.”

  I find a paintbrush, a tiny runner, a heart, and then I pick out an Eiffel Tower charm. After I pay for this, we head over to Michael’s, the craft store. Hailey finds a whole art kit. I’m not sure if it’s any good. The salesperson I asked said she thought it was good, but her bored facial expression was sending off a different vibe. Here’s to hoping, though.

  On the way home we stop at Target, and I pick up a couple of things for my mom and Hailey when she isn’t looking. Screw my dad. As soon as I’m home, I lock myself in my room and start wrapping. Yes, I can wrap. It might not be what you’d call Hallmark-worthy, but it’s decent. I slap on name tags and bows after I finish each gift; this way, I won’t forget and assign the wrong gift to the wrong person. I’ve done that before.

  Snatching up my phone, I text Madison.

  Me: Happy Birthday! Can u come outside for a minute?

  Mads: I’ll meet you in your tree house.

  Me: Ok. C u.

  Inside the tree house, I wait. My ass is freezing. We got a cold front last night, and it’s just hanging around. The temps are in the low thirties. The door to my tree house opens, and I say, “Hi.”

  I want to press Madison against me. But I’ve got to give her some space. That’s the only way this will work. She smiles at me and takes a seat near the window. She runs her hands across her legs, and I toss a thick blanket over to her.

  She raises a brow. “What’s this?”

  “To keep you warm.” I adjust it so it’s draping over her legs.

  “Thank you.”

  I nod. “You’re welcome. I don’t have a cake for you, but here is this.” I hand over one of the gifts I brought with me.

  She looks at it and smiles. “You didn’t have to do this.”

  “I know. But I wanted to.”

  “Thank you.” She unwraps it slowly and gasps once the paper falls away. “Bryce, this is amazing. Thank you.” She hugs me with the books still clutched in one hand and then kisses me.

  “You’re welcome.”

  “It’s the best gift I’ve gotten all day. Well, besides Em’s. She got me art and nail supplies. My dad bought me new track shoes. And my mom … She got me a snowflake necklace. No need to point out how much I hate Christmas-type gifts on my birthday, but who cares?”

  I laugh. “Well, I’m glad I made a good call.”

  “That you did.” She looks around for a second and then shivers. “Do you mind if we go inside? I’m so cold.”

  “Yeah. Here.” I grab the blanket and wrap it around her shoulders while I take the books and move down the ladder after her. When we reach the bottom, we go to my house. I lead her to the living room. Not really our usual place, but again, I need to keep this light.

  “Want some hot chocolate?”

  She nods with a huge grin. “Please.”

  “Marshmallows?”

  “Of course I want marshmallows. Who doesn’t like them in cocoa?”

  We both shout out, “Graham!” and then I start laughing. “He’s such a weirdo.”

  “That’s not even human,” Madison says.

  “Right. It should be a law. Must have marshmallows with hot chocolate, or you’ll be exiled.”

  Madison giggles. It’s the cutest noise ever made. I get off the couch and enter the kitchen. It takes me a little longer to make the hot chocolate because I’m making it from scratch, the only way I actually know.

  Madison enters the kitchen and sets the books down on the island. “Do you need help?”

  “No. I got this. Sit down and just bask in the deliciousness.”

  She laughs. I continue to melt the chocolate slowly in a pan. I carefully add warm milk to the pan and stir.

  “Did you literally melt down candy bars?”

  I turn the heat to low and look back Madison. “Yeah. Why?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve only seen the powder way and the syrup way. I’ve never seen anyone make hot chocolate using actual bars.”

  “Well, the trick is to add warm milk. Not cold. If you add cold milk, your chocolate can become hard, and then it’s not as easy to make into chocolate milk.”

  She smiles. “Aren’t you full of surprises?”

  I laugh and stir until the milk is a deep chocolate color. I pour it into two mugs, toss in a bunch of tiny marshmallows, and then top it off with whipped cream. I hand her mug to her and watch her eyes widen.

  “This looks delicious.”

  “Try it.”

  She takes a sip. Whipped cream blots the tip of her nose and across her lip. I crack up as she sets the mug down. “What?”

  “You have …” I lean in and decide to kiss it off instead of tell her. As soon a
s I’m done, I say, “You had whipped cream all over your face.”

  “Oh.” She covers her mouth with her hand. A deep blush spreads across her cheeks, and I plant a kiss on her forehead.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Bryce

  Christmas morning, all I want to do is sleep in. My mom, on the other hand, wants us to have a family breakfast, open gifts, and drive to her sister’s house. All this is fine, except for the fact that she wants to start our day at seven thirty in the morning. And do you know what she says to me when I grumble and put a pillow over my head? “Bryce, you have to keep yourself in an early-mode routine. This way, when you have to go back to school, it’ll be easier to get up.”

  I see the logic in this, I do, but fuck it. We’re on break for a reason. Sleeping in is always the top-choice thing to do. Getting up any earlier than ten is for the birds.

  She won’t leave me alone, though. She opens the blinds. Makes a crap-ton of noise. I actually wish she’d drunk herself to sleep last night. But yesterday was Dave’s night, so she spent the evening with him. When she’s with Dave, she doesn’t drink. Ironic, I know.

  “I’m up! Jesus Christ.” I throw the blankets off and grab some clothes. I move out of my room and into the bathroom down the hall. Once I shower and change into my clothes, I head downstairs.

  At the bottom of the stairs, I glance out the big picture window facing Madison’s house. Usually my mom has the curtains closed so no one can see in or out, but today, for some reason, it’s open. I can see directly into their dining room.

  I catch a glimpse of someone entering the dining room in a skimpy outfit. So, of course, I’m curious and staring like a pervert. I take a seat on our huge leather couch. As I adjust my position to get a better view, I notice it’s Madison in the skimpy outfit. She takes a seat at the dining-room table and flips open a laptop.

  Why doesn’t that girl ever sleep in? Wonder what she’s looking at? And fuck, what I would give to bend her over that table right this second. I’m getting excited just thinking about the positions and ways I could have her.

  Then my mom has to bust my train of thought with, “Breakfast first, then presents.”

  “What?” I blink at her.

  “Breakfast. Kitchen. Come on.”

  I move away from the window and follow my mom into the kitchen. There is a big, buffet-style layout of breakfast foods. Yeah, I eat a lot, but this is like we’re feeding twenty of me. “Mom, who else is coming for breakfast?”

  She gives me a puzzled look, sinks down into a chair, and starts crying. Damn it! The last thing I want to do is deal with this crazy-ass episode of hers. “Mom, it’s cool. Never mind. Maybe, um … maybe we can invite Aunt Gretchen to our house, and they can have breakfast with us.”

  “We can’t,” she wails. “They went to your uncle Barry’s brother’s house.” She lifts her head, and then she moves away from the table toward the liquor cabinet.

  “That’s okay. I have a better idea. Madison is up; I’ll invite her over. Will that be okay?”

  My mom pauses. “Her mother is probably cooking.”

  “Yeah, she’s probably making dinner. Think of how much we’d be helping out if we brought them breakfast. Less cleaning. Gives them more time to spend doing whatever.” Come on. Take the bait, woman.

  She nods. “It would be like my gift to them, huh? Okay. Go over and ask Madison and her family to join us for breakfast.”

  “I will, but you should probably stay out of the liquor.”

  She looks at the cabinet and then over at me. “You’re right. I’ll just set out some plates and move this into the dining room.”

  I grab my coat off the hook by the door, slide into my boots, and shuffle next door. Madison is still on her laptop when I ring the doorbell. She opens the door slowly. “Bryce, what are you doing here?”

  “Look, I’ve got a … uh … situation.”

  She raises a brow. “I can’t help you with that. I told you it was a one-time thing.”

  “Not that! God, what’s wrong with you? Look, my mom is kind of going through a spell. You’d be helping me out by making sure she doesn’t have a meltdown.” I rock on my heels. “Will you have breakfast with us? Or at least take some home and you and your family can eat it this morning? She made too much, and she’s really upset. And today, of all the days in the world, I don’t want her getting depressed over it.”

  Madison turns from the door but leaves it cracked. She’s gone for, well, it feels like forever, and my ass is freezing. She returns, wearing yoga pants and a hoodie, with not only herself, but Kyle, too. Great.

  “She said you had food?” Kyle asks, but there is still an unmistakable glint of hate in his eyes.

  Madison smacks his chest. “Don’t be an ass or you can stay home.”

  “Nah, it’s cool,” I say. “My mom made enough to feed two football teams.”

  “My kind of mom,” Kyle chimes in. “Lead the way, Brycey!”

  I swear if he calls me Brycey one more time, I’ll knock him on his ass.

  We stalk into my house and make our way to the dining room. My mom has it all decked out with the fine china, silverware, and way more plates than we need. She enters carrying a huge casserole dish. “Mom, you remember Madison’s brother, Kyle, right?”

  “Yes, hi. Come sit down, help yourselves. I’m sure Bryce told you about our little mishap this morning. I thought my sister was coming here. Apparently, they’re at her husband’s brother’s house in Elizabethtown. No one tells me anything until the last minute.”

  Kyle nods, but I don’t think he’s really listening. He piles his plate with food as he makes his way around the table. Madison is doing the same, not exactly piling on heaps of food, but she is putting a little bit of everything on her plate. I wait until they both get what they want, and then I fill a plate. My mom smiles and pulls me aside when I come near her. “Thank you.”

  “No worries, Mom.”

  “Hey, Mrs. Matthews, these potatoes are the bomb!” Kyle says with a mouthful of food.

  Madison kicks him. “Swallow first. Jeez, you act like you grew up in a barn!”

  “Screw off, Mom!” he snaps back.

  “Thank you,” my mom says. “There’s plenty left, so really, help yourselves. And if you wanna take some back with you, please do.”

  “Awesome!” Kyle says.

  I take a seat next to Madison. Kyle looks over at me but doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t even give me a dirty look, which kind of surprises me. Madison sets her plate down and asks, “Where are your cups?”

  “Shit!” I say. My mom glowers at me. I cringe. “Sorry. Um, what do you want? Juice, water, milk?”

  “Juice would be great,” Kyle says.

  I wasn’t asking him but okay. Madison follows me into the kitchen. “Sorry about Kyle. He asked me where I was going. I told him you invited me to breakfast. He asked why, so I told him how your mom made too much and it was only you two here to eat it. He said he was starving, so I told him to come. He’ll eat three helpings if you let him.”

  “I won’t stop him.” I grab three cups and fill one with juice. “What did you want?”

  “Milk.”

  I smile. I pour milk for me and her and then hand her a glass. “Thank you,” she says in a quiet voice.

  “You’re welcome.”

  “I’m sorry for my bitchiness this morning.”

  I shrug. “It’s fine.”

  “I don’t want this to be weird.”

  “Then don’t make it weird.”

  She chews her lower lip. “But it is. I mean … I feel like everyone knows.”

  I can’t help but smirk. “Seriously, Smalls, you’re worrying about nothing. I’m not going to go telling everyone. First, because it’s no one’s fucking business. Second, I’m not like that. Third, I don’t want you to feel awkward around me. I love you.” I peck her forehead and leave her in the kitchen with those thoughts.

  She comes storming into the dining
room, grabs my arm, and yanks me into the living room. She pulls me all the way to the far corner where the tree is. Her hand slaps my chest, then my arm. It doesn’t hurt. She scrunches up her nose; her skin is turning pink, her eyebrows drawn together. She hits me a few more times. I try holding in my laughter, but it slips out.

  “Ohhh! You make me so mad!” This time she slaps my face.

  I back up and stare at her. “Why are you hitting me?”

  “Because you’re laughing at me. You hurt me. I don’t know if I can trust you. I’m trying. I want to. But then you just go and say those words to me. Then you laugh at me.”

  “Sit down.” I guide her to a chair near the tree. I snatch a present out and hand it to her. “I’m not going to stop saying I love you. Because I do. And I’m laughing at you because you look adorable as hell when you’re pissed off.”

  She unwraps the gift. “You shouldn’t have gotten me anything else.”

  “But I did.” Once she opens the art kit, I say, “Merry Christmas.”

  She throws her arms around me and kisses me. “Thank you.”

  “Madison, any school will be lucky to have you.”

  She smiles. The art set is clutched to her chest as she whispers, “Thanks for believing in me.”

  “Anytime.”

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Madison

  Today is my long drive to Pennsylvania. My parents still have no clue I’m going. I don’t care. Call me selfish or crazy, but it’s my future. They’re trying to squash my dreams before they even get started.

  I sit on the park bench waiting for Bryce. I must be insane. Spending almost eight hours in a car with Bryce, then possibly sharing a hotel room? Yeah, what was I thinking? And let’s not forget the fact that I keep thinking about our act in the tree house. That deliciously dirty deed.

  Again, what is wrong with me? I don’t know. But I hope it’s out of my system soon. I can’t keep thinking about Bryce and his sexy body. I can’t keep wishing we were together because I know it’s impossible. Come graduation, he’s going in one direction, and I’ll be going in another. This will never work.