about me. I made a mistake, now can we all just move the hell on from it?”
“Oh, come on, Alana,” his friend Riley says after turning the music down with a small remote. “You laughed the last time we sang it. Stop being so pissy all of a sudden.”
She stands up and tosses her cup into the fire. Her gaze lands on me, and the way she’s looking me over as if I’m not good enough to replace her has me wanting to bitch slap her. “Last year Madden didn’t bring some random chick to try and piss me off either, when clearly we still belong together, so excuse me for being a little pissy. I didn’t expect anyone else to suddenly join in on our annual trip at the last minute.”
“Dammit, Alana. Stop calling her that shit,” Madden says, his voice taut. “Nat and I are together, and if you can’t fucking handle it then that’s too bad. I don’t feel sorry for you. I haven’t responded to any of your texts or given you a single reason to believe we’re getting back together this year. If you can’t deal with her being here, then leave. Either way, stop being a bitch to her.”
“I’m good,” she says, finally pulling her eyes from me. “I’ve known you long enough to know when you’re faking it. I’ve got six days—well, five since this shitty one is almost over—to figure you out, Madden.” She pulls her hair up into a ponytail before speaking again. “I’m going to sleep, but tomorrow is a new day; just remember that.”
Everyone watches as she stomps toward the cabin. “Sorry, guys. I’ll be back.” Jess stands up and follows Alana.
“I need a drink,” Madden says, before lifting me out of his lap. “Want another one?”
I nod and tilt back the rest of what’s left in my cup before handing it to him. “Make it a double.”
I don’t know why her words have me so worked up, but they do. Who is she to say I’m just some random chick? I may not actually be dating the brother I’m here with, but a random chick is something I’ve never been. And who is she to give Madden a hard time when she’s the one who screwed him over?
It takes a good ten minutes for Madden to return with our drinks, and when he does, he’s extremely tense, as if fighting hard to hide his emotions. I don’t know if his ex said something to him inside, but I do know that if anyone pays attention to Madden right now, he’s going to give away that he’s not over her, and if we want this to work everyone needs to believe that he is.
Standing, I grab my drink from him and nod toward the side of the cabin. “I think I left a few things in your truck. Mind walking with me?”
His jaw tightens as he tilts his drink back, before nodding and following me. Once we’re alone, he opens the tailgate of his truck and hops up, then reaches for my hand to help me up. “Fuck,” he breathes. “It’s so much harder to act like I don’t give a shit in person. As much as I hate what she did to me, I can’t erase everything else. I need this shit to work, Nat. I can’t leave here until it does.”
I shift so that I’m facing him. I hate seeing him in pain. We’re only a couple hours in and I’m already wondering just how he’s going to make it through the rest of the trip. “You need to try. At least for the weekend.” I take a sip of my drink, eyeing him over the rim as he watches me. “I know it’s not going to be easy, so let’s do this for a while to clear your head. We’re not even here.”
“Do what?” he questions with a small smile. “Sit here, drink, and pretend we’re not here?”
“Yeah.” I hold up my drink. “I mean, we’ll have to sip them if we want them to last, but I don’t mind just hanging here for a bit.”
“All right. I can handle that.” He eyes me, taking a drink from his cup. “You still going to kick my ass for pulling you into my lap?” he questions moments later. “I have to warn you that I might like it.”
I laugh and push his arm, the mood feeling lighter already now that we’re alone. “That wouldn’t surprise me.”