You could’ve gotten arrested, or worse, those guys could’ve hurt you, Madden. There were two of them and only one of you.”
“It was nothing. I just had a few too many beers.” I toss her the keys. “You good to drive?”
She nods. “Yeah. But first I want to know why the hell you risked your ass in there. Tell me the truth. That wasn’t just having a few too many beers.”
“That asshole grabbed his dick while eyeing your ass. That’s why I punched him, Nat. And I don’t give a shit about getting hurt. That doesn’t bother me. I can take a few punches. He’s just lucky I walked out when I did.”
She swallows, her eyes meeting mine. “You punched him because he was looking at my ass?”
“He wasn’t just looking at it. He was imagining it in his hands and the fucker had a hard-on for you. He deserved to be hit.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” she says quietly. “I could’ve handled him. And besides, it’s not your job to beat guys up for looking at me wrong.”
“Well, my brother sure as fuck doesn’t find it to be his job. One of us has to do it.”
She runs a hand through her hair in frustration, before turning away. “Let’s just get back to the cabin and forget this ever happened.”
“I’m sorry.” I open the driver’s side door for her. “I shouldn’t have said that. I’m an asshole and I wish I could take it back.”
“Fine. I accept your apology.”
“I mean it, Nat.”
I help her into the seat. She looks at me while shoving the key into the ignition. “I do too.” She flashes a small smile. “You did get that fucker pretty good.”
“Yeah, I did.” I smile and shut the door, before jumping in myself. “Let’s just go back to the room and chill and watch TV. It’s been a long day of pretending for you.” I say once we pull up at the cabin.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Natalie
When we pull up at the cabin I consider taking him up on his offer and going straight to the bedroom to hide away for the night. That would be the easy option for me, but instead, I motion for Madden to follow me around back.
This is his time with his friends, and even though he offered to have an easy night away from everyone for my benefit, I don’t want him to miss out on time spent with his old friends. It’s not fair to him and I won’t do that.
“You sure you want to do this?”
“Yeah.” I wrap my arms around his neck because I know we’re within seeing distance of everyone now. “You don’t have a lot of time left with your friends. As much as I’d love to hide out and not have to play pretend every second of the day, I can’t and won’t be selfish. I’m here for you, Madden. Besides, you just punched some dude for me. I didn’t ask for it, but maybe I owe you one.”
“Fuck, my brother is an idiot.” He picks me up and wraps my legs around his waist, his smile widening as he grips my neck. “I believe that more now than ever.” His lips press against my forehead and my stomach fills with butterflies. “Thank you.”
“You owe me another cheesecake when we get back.” I tease. “The biggest one.”
“I’ll buy you ten.” He sets me down and whistles at Jake when he does a cannonball into the pool. “Nice one, dick!”
“Get the hell in, guys!” Seth holds up his drink, before tilting it back. “The water is nice and warm and we’re about to turn the party lights on.”
“Want to change first?”
I nod. “Yeah. You?”
He shakes his head. “Nah, I’ll wear my boxer briefs. Fuck it, right? Not like I haven’t already made a dick out of myself tonight.”
I think on it for a second and say screw it. I spend every day being uptight and thinking too hard. I’ve had a few beers and things between Madden and I are feeling good right now. I’m ready to just let loose and have fun. “Let’s go then.” I smile and walk backward, stripping his jacket off. “Who needs a bathing suit, right?”
“Fuck yeah.”
I barely wiggle his jacket free before he’s coming at me, picking me up. He’s jogging to the back with me over his shoulder, so I hold on tight, laughing as he sets me down next to the pool. “Your jacket. I dropped it.”
“I’ll grab it later.