Thunder - Willow Summers Page 0,3
on the coffee table unless it was needed. There was none of this holding the remote at all times nonsense in her apartment. Because honestly, how could a person relax if they were constantly concerned about changing the channel?
They couldn’t. Which was one of the reasons she’d finally admitted to herself that Frank was not her speed. Too keyed up.
“Hey.”
“Ah!” Madison kicked out, swayed, and fell back against the front door. Her heart punched her ribcage. “What the crap…”
She clutched her chest as Janie sauntered out from the hallway, holding an apple.
Solely her home, except for the constant stowaway with her own key.
“I hate you,” Madison said as she pushed away from the door.
“Good thing you took that self-defense class.” Janie bit into the apple and talked through a full mouth. “It came in handy just there.”
“I didn’t want to drive you to the hospital, that’s all.” Madison crossed the teeny living room/dining room and stalled as she entered the kitchen. She held up Frank’s dinner. “Are you hungry?”
“No thanks.” Janie followed Madison and leaned against the small island, which acted as a division between the kitchen and living room/dining room. “So? Was it what you were expecting?”
Madison tucked the to-go box into the refrigerator and pulled out a beer. She held it up in a silent question.
Janie scowled and switched her gaze to the cabinet above the stove. “Something stronger.”
Complying, Madison returned the bottle of suds to the fridge and took down the tequila for margaritas. “Yeah. He ended it.”
“Asshole.” Janie came around the island. She took down two shot glasses and banged them on the counter. “He was a douche, but we shall say goodbye like he wasn’t.”
Madison pulled her lip through her teeth. “Actually, after a year of distance, it doesn’t seem like a tequila kind of night.”
“Vodka?”
“Vodka martini. Dirty.”
Janie’s eyes glimmered and a smile played on her lips. “I like your style. Sit. I got this.”
Madison walked around the counter and seated herself. She eyed the invitation on the fridge and felt her heart sink. “I knew it wouldn’t last with Frank. I knew it wouldn’t. I should’ve ended it when that invitation came so I could find someone else. Eight months would’ve been plenty of time.”
“Number one…” Janie had abandoned the apple on the counter, half-eaten, to make their drinks, but she paused for long enough to hold up a finger. “You need to do something besides obsess about James. You guys broke up a long time ago, and he wasn’t that awesome in the first place.”
“He broke my heart so bad I still haven’t found all the pieces. He humiliated me.”
“So? That’s what first love is: conquering all your firsts, followed by horrible heartache that makes you want to break glass with your fist and use one of the shards to kill your ex. Bully to you for not doing it.”
“Not everyone is that violent—”
“Yes they are, they just don’t admit it.”
“—and first-love heartache doesn’t happen to everyone.”
“No, some do the heart-breaking.”
Madison ran her fingers through her hair. “Whatever. The point is, he invited me to his wedding because he must occasionally think about me.” Madison ignored Janie’s dramatically rolled eyes. “I want to prove I’m valuable. That I’m desirable. That he didn’t curse me to spinsterhood for the rest of my life. Which is not to say that I don’t want to be single. I do. I need a break from guys. But James can’t see me alone, or he’ll think I’m lonely. Before you say it, yes he will. Society views single women as pitiful creatures who can’t get a guy.”
“Since when do you care what society thinks?”
“Are you not listening? I don’t care about society. I care about James. It’s like a high school reunion. I want to be the awesome nerd who made something of herself.”
“Um, hello? You did make something of yourself.” Janie shook the martinis vigorously, as if to underscore her argument. “You have some sort of high-powered job I’ll never understand, you make bank, and you could afford to keep your own apartment even after moving in with Frank the douche, maintaining your independence. You’re awesome, girlfriend, and you did all of that on your own. James can suck it. What he did didn’t define you.”
“I didn’t say it did. I said he humiliated me. I want to punch him in the face with the knowledge that he was wrong, and I am awesome.” Madison held up a hand. “I know you think I’m awesome. I got