doesn’t argue as I walk away in search of Alana. I haven’t seen her since we came back from our walk this morning, which has me wondering if she’s been snuggled up in his jacket all day thinking of ways to break us apart. That thought angers me to no end.
“Has anyone seen Alana?”
“Yeah,” Jake says cautiously. “She just got out of the shower. Saw her in the kitchen making a sandwich.”
“Is everything okay?” Jess asks as I walk past her.
“Yeah, everything is fine. I just think it’s time we have a chitchat. That’s all.”
Jess looks a little nervous but doesn’t say anything as I make my way past her and Jake, walking inside to find Alana.
The sight of her in the kitchen wearing Madden’s jacket causes a surge of jealousy I wasn’t expecting. She doesn’t notice me at first, so I stand here and watch her, thinking about how many times over the years she’s worn that jacket just like she is right now. She looks comfortable in it, as if it belongs to her.
I hate that with everything in me.
“The jacket, Alana. Take it off.”
She puts the butter knife down she was using to spread mayonnaise and sets her attention on me. “Why should I? If you cared about the jacket I wouldn’t have found it laying outside in the dirt.”
“It was outside because—” I stop, realizing I don’t owe her an explanation. Not even for a damn second. “Just take it off. You lost your right to wear it the second you hurt Madden.” I step in closer until we’re only about five feet apart. “You’re done hurting Madden. I’m here to make sure you never get the chance to again. He might’ve loved you at one time—that I know—but what you did to him broke his trust in you. It broke him in the worst way. He never will trust you again. He deserves someone so much better than you. He deserves the fucking world. You had your chance, now back off.”
“Despite what you might think of me, I care about Madden more than I care about myself. I’d never hurt him again. Not if my life depended on it. But here.” She tosses the jacket at my chest and I catch it. “Don’t come crawling to my friends when Madden realizes it’s me he’s still in love with and breaks your heart. It may not happen in the next few days, but it will happen. Every year we get closer to getting back together. That’s proof enough that he still loves me. He’s loved me his entire life. That’s not an easy habit to break. You will get hurt. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
I feel sick to my stomach when she walks away, her words on repeat in my head. I won’t get hurt. That’s not going to happen, because I’m not Madden’s to hurt. But why does the idea of being hurt by him scare me?
“Maybe so,” I say before she gets outside. “But I’ll take that versus him hurting another day over you. He deserves anything he wants in this life. He deserves everything good, and I’m going to do what I can to give him that, so leave him alone. It’s the least you can do after ripping his heart out. I won’t ask nicely again.”
The look on her face confirms my words meant something to her. As if they have her thinking, and that’s all I wanted out of this conversation. For her to stop being selfish for once.
Without a word, she steps outside, leaving me here to think about my own words. He does deserve everything. Madden is one of the best people I’ve ever known, and this trip is quickly opening my eyes up to that. It’s scary, yet exciting to get to know the real him; the side he hides away with alcohol and partying.
I stand in the kitchen for a good five minutes to get my haywire thoughts under control before changing into Madden’s jacket and joining the others outside. Madden is sitting in one of the lounge chairs, and as soon as he sees me, he smiles and motions for me to come to him.
I climb into his lap as if it’s natural, making me realize that it is. Being with Madden is becoming natural.
He rubs his thumb over my cheek. “You okay?”
I nod and lean my head back so that it’s resting on his chest.
“I see you got my jacket back. You didn’t have