Melting Hearts (Loving the Soun - Kat Obie Page 0,16

was creepy.

She had a bad feeling about this. He shouldn't be here. She clutched her books tighter.

"Madison, we need to talk." His words came out like ice. It was better than anger, but it was still far from comforting.

Her knuckles turned white. She couldn’t show fear or weakness. "I don't have time, Jared."

He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him. "Please. I want to get back together."

Her eyes went wide. It was so completely insane. There was no way they were getting back together. She was glad to be out of the toxic relationship once she got over him. Even if she wasn’t “engaged” to Petey, it was never going to happen. But Petey was in the picture now. "No!" It was loud and sharp. “I have a boyfriend.”

He had to know she meant business. He’d already love-bombed her once and she went back to him after they broke up the first time. She wouldn't buy his crap again. She knew that for all his grand gestures of love, the moment they were dating again, he would become such a creep and way too possessive. Those gestures were meaningless. Thankfully, Professor McMartin came out of the room. "Is there a problem, Ms. Hyland?"

Thankfully, Jared realized what her teacher was up to. He quickly let go and said, "No, sir. I was just leaving." Although before actually leaving, he did say, "We should talk when it's more convenient."

Relief set in. Her arm throbbed from where Jared had grabbed her. Thankfully, it was cold out and no one would be able to see the bruises that would be there tomorrow. She stopped clutching her books. "Thanks for checking on me, Professor."

"No problem. I've seen it happen enough times." He'd been a criminal attorney for years, so he probably had seen plenty of abusive partners in his lifetime. "Let me walk you to the car."

She nodded. She was glad to have someone take her to the car. That way, Jared wouldn’t try to approach her again. She should start to think about a buddy system or an escort to her car.

Once she was in the car, she started to shiver. She wasn't going to cry, but her confidence was shattered. Jared never should have showed up at her school.

After the run-in with Jared, she was shaken. She bundled herself into a blanket and made herself a hot chocolate. She hoped that Petey would give her a call, but she didn't want to call him. It didn't make sense. His voice would calm her. But she didn't want to sound weak in front of him.

Right as she was getting settled in, her cell rang. Seeing Petey's name on the caller ID, she accepted the call and said, "Hey, you. How was your game?"

"You didn't watch it?"

"No. I just got home from class." She laid her head on her knees and tried to calm down.

Petey's tone shifted big time. It went from jovial to concerned. "What happened, Mads?"

"It's nothing." She tried to pretend it hadn’t happened.

"I don't believe you. Should I fly out there to get it out of you?"

She laughed. "No." It was so ridiculous that he’d just offered to fly so many hours, just to find out what was going on. But he would do it if she was that shaken up. "You don't need to fly out."

"So, why so glum?"

"I had a run-in with Jared after class."

"I really hate that guy," Petey said immediately. He’d never liked her ex. His tone softened. "So, you okay? Did he do anything?"

She took a sip of the chocolaty mixture to help coat her throat. "I'm okay. He did grab my arm and was insistent upon wanting to talk with me alone."

"Please tell me that you didn't go with him."

"I didn't go, and I told him that I have a boyfriend."

He chuckled at that. "I like that I gave you the perfect excuse to blow the guy off. I guess it’s not such a bad thing that we are fake dating.”

"Yeah."

"Hey, even you got to admit I’d make a better boyfriend than he ever did."

Oh, that wasn't even close. Petey was an amazing friend. He actually listened and cared for her. Jared only cared about her looking beautiful and being a trophy girlfriend. He was obsessive and delusional. She hated how Jared would get so jealous of her friendship with Petey. "True."

"Do you need to get away?"

"What?"

"Do you want a mini vacation? I know we talked about you coming out to visit me over spring