was looking forward to keeping my back toward her for this shit.
Her angry eyes meet mine as her hands go to her hips. “Your favorite jacket? You let her wear it? I thought it was special to you. You told me you’d never let anyone else but me wear it. You lied.”
I flick my cigarette at the ground and look up to meet her harsh glare. “You also told me you’d never fuck anyone else but me, and you lied about that too. It doesn’t feel good, does it?”
“It was a mistake!” she yells, coming at me to push me back down when I go to stand up. “I didn’t do it to hurt you, but you did let her wear your favorite jacket to hurt me. That’s so messed up, Madden.”
“Did I?” I pull out another cigarette and light it, keeping my eyes locked on hers as I take a drag and quickly exhale. “Who said I was even thinking about you when I let Natalie wear it? Despite what you seem to think, I haven’t thought about you in a long time. Have you ever stopped to consider that? Maybe I forced myself to stop because it was killing me. Now back off.”
“No.” She moves in close enough to wrap her arms around my neck, her lips lightly brushing mine when she speaks. “I need you Madden, and I know you need me. Stop trying to hurt me on purpose. Send her home, because we both know she’s nothing more than some random girl that means nothing to you.”
Hearing Alana refer to Natalie as a random girl that means shit to me has me yanking her arms off me and jumping to my feet. “Fuck off, and I don’t ever want to hear you call my girl random again. We’re together whether you like it or not, and you’re going to see that you’re wrong. You can be replaced, Alana. In fact, you already have.”
Before she can work me up even more than she already has, I walk away. I can’t let her get to me. I can’t let her work her way under my skin again.
My focus needs to be on Natalie.
My hands, my lips, and my fucking body needs to be on her if this is going to work.
I’m going to have to push the boundaries a bit with my brother’s girl, and I have no doubt that she’s going to kill me before this trip is over, but I’d rather die from her bare hands squeezing my throat than Alana’s squeezing my fucking heart until it bleeds out.
Either way, I may not make it out of this trip alive.
CHAPTER NINE
Natalie
The look of hurt and anger on Alana’s face as I passed her in the hall moments ago tells me she most likely wasn’t expecting to see me in Madden’s jacket. She kept looking me over in it as if she wanted to rip it from my body. I could tell she wanted to say something to me, but instead, she stormed outside to most likely find Madden and take it out on him instead.
I wonder what she’s saying to him, and that has me tense and wanting to get through this shower as quickly as possible. I’m not sure why I feel the need to protect him from her, but I do. Doesn’t she know that she’s already done enough damage? Does she even care?
My mind should be on Logan right now and what I learned about him in the woods, yet here I am, worried about his damn brother instead. It doesn’t feel right. This whole situation is fucked up.
“What am I doing here?” I lean against the wall of the shower and run my hands over my face, feeling lost. It’s only the second day and I’m already confused on how to feel and what to do. “You don’t belong here, Natalie. This is stupid.”
I stand here motionless for a few moments, lost in my head, before I shake off my thoughts and reach for the body wash that I borrowed from Madden’s suitcase.
Less than a week. Then Madden is on his own and I’m back to the Parker brother I belong with. I can do this until then. I can handle it.
At least I tell myself that, until I squeeze the soap into the palm of my hand and get hit with a scent that isn’t Logan’s. It smells incredible and I hate Madden right now for it. “Ugh!”
Madden’s scent assaulting me