Page 56 of Our Ruined Beginnings

ThemomentMaddenstalksaway from us, I blow out a relieved breath.

The last thing I want to deal with right now is Madden in a mood, especially with Evan at my side being all touchy-feely. Since I accepted his tentative white flag, he’s been super clingy, and I’m struggling with what he’s expecting from me.

He’s never been someone I’ve spent lots of time with, nor someone I’ve chosen to seek out when in need of a friend, so I can’t understand why he’s suddenly being all up in my face now.

He turns to say something else to me, but I catch Kinsley waiting in line and rush off with a quick bye.

“Hey, girlfriend,” she says, her eyes darting from where I came from. “What’s going on there? Is he still being all weird?”

“Yeah,” I breathe, a choked laugh following. “He’s constantly there.”

“Sounds about right, actually.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, my brow furrowing.

“You never really noticed, ’cause you were always with Madden, but that dude has had a hard-on for you forever.”

“No he hasn’t…” I flick my gaze back to Evan, and a shiver passes over me as I catch him staring in our direction, a scowl on his face and his shoulders tense. “Has he?”

“Yup. I always thought it was a bit weird but passed it off as him being a bit jealous of you and Madden, you know.” She shrugs and grabs two trays, then hands one off to me.

“I guess I never noticed.”

“Not surprising. You were always in your Madden bubble,” she teases, wagging her brows up and down. I wince but pick up a slice of a pizza and an apple before moving along and swiping my lunch card.

“We weren’t that bad—”

“Oh, please,” she says. “You too were nauseating.”

“Give over. We were just friends.”

“Friends don’t have that much tension. Friends don’t constantly want to bump uglies.”

I scowl at her, following as she finds a table tucked away in the corner. Thankfully, while people stare at me, nobody makes an attempt to say or do anything, which might be a first. So, while creepy, I suppose I have Evan to thank for this, at least.

“He asked me on a date.”

“Who?” Harper asks, snapping her head up. “Madden?”

I snort. “No, dumbass. Evan.”

“What did you say?”

“Erm, well…”

“Harper Sarah Delaney, tell me you did not,” she demands, pursing her lips.

“I kinda did. I mean, we went for dinner the other day and that was fine, so really, what’s the harm? Plus, I may or may not have wanted to piss Madden off.” When she scowls at me, I smile sheepishly.

“Will you two ever stop playing games?”

“Probably not.” I sigh. “But it feels weirdly normal, you know. At least if he’s mad at me for this, then I can say exactly why he’s mad. Not like with all the other shit.”

“Silver linings, I suppose,” she deadpans, shaking her head.

“Anyway … enough about me. Tell me about this new guy you’ve been seeing! You’ve been far too secretive, and as your best friend, I think I have the right to knoweverything.”

Thankfully, Kinsley takes the bait, regaling me with the tales of her new guy. She never says his name, just that he’s a little older than us and a whole lot more experienced than any other guy she’s been with.

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