Page 40 of Recklessly, Wildly Yours

“I did promise to let you worry about me, didn’t I?”

“You did.”

She releases a long breath. “I’m okay.”

“I don’t understand that.”

Her brows furrow. “What don’t you understand?”

I try like hell to keep my mouth shut, to let her figure this out in her own way, but I’ve never been good at keeping my thoughts to myself. “How can you be okay after everything that’s happened today?” I lean forward. “I don’t understand how you can be so calm about it.”

“You think I should be lashing out? Calling Tucker and unleashing my anger on him? Not enjoying myself with you?”

“Yeah, something like that. After you told me what happened and I had to go take that call, I expected to walk back into a trashed hotel room or to screaming and yelling. I’ve never met anyone who locks their anger up so tight.”

“I’m pissed off, Ethan. Don’t doubt that. In fact, I’ve never been so pissed off. I feel it violently in here.” She jabs her finger at her chest with enough force that I finally see a speck of her anger. “I feel like I could explode. And like I can’t breathe when I think about it. But, as much as I wish I could yell and scream to get it all out, I’ve never really let my feelings out in that way.”

“You wanna try?”

She stares at me like this idea terrifies her. “No…. Maybe. I don’t know.”

I jerk my chin at her while standing. Reaching for her hand, I say, “Come on, let’s go and do some screaming.”

She doesn’t take my hand. “You’re joking, right?”

“Nope. Serious as fuck.”

“Ethan.” Her tone is all kinds of what the fuck. “This is a crazy idea.”

I take charge of the situation and grab her hand so I can pull her up. “Have you forgotten we’re trying to break some rules on this trip? This is a great fucking idea.”

She allows me to lead her out of the bar. I let Dan know we’re leaving, and he makes it clear I still owe him for drinks and that I also owe him a longer catch-up soon. A minute later, we’re heading outside in search of somewhere I can encourage Maddie to let her anger out into the world.

Maddie’s hand grips mine like she’s relying on me to get her through this. Like she’s as far out of her depth as she could be. I feel her apprehension in that grip, which makes me even more determined to help her.

There’s a crowd outside Dan’s bar, lining up for entry. It doesn’t surprise me. His establishment is popular with its eclectic vibe and unpretentious charm. The crowd is rowdy tonight, thanks to a large group who appear to be here to celebrate something. Some of the guys in that group spill across the sidewalk, blocking our path, and one of them slams into Madeline after his friend pushes him.

“Shit, sorry,” he slurs as he tries to get his bearings, grabbing her arms in the process. I hear how drunk he is, but that’s also obvious from the way he’s stumbling around.

My instincts kick in and within seconds, I’ve got my arm around Madeline’s waist to steady her and to pull her in close, away from these guys.

“It’s okay,” she says to the guy while turning into me, letting me protect her.

“Oh my god,” one of the girls in the line screams, her eyes going wide as she points at Maddie. “That’s Madeline Montana!”

More screams of excitement erupt, and phones are pulled out, and before I know what’s happening, the crowd is all over us. It’s fucking chaos and Madeline appears bewildered.

“Get the fuck back,” I growl to everyone while holding Maddie tightly against me.

One of the assholes shoves his phone in Madeline’s face and I see fucking red. Moving Maddie behind me, I grab his phone from his hands. Then, I grasp his shirt and yank him to me, ignoring his outcry over the removal of his phone. “You need to get the fuck out of my face, and when you do that, you need to take all your asshole friends with you. And if I find any of these videos online, I will make it so whoever posted them really fucking regrets that decision.”

He sneers. “Sure, you will. Fucking dickhead.”

I clench his shirt harder, bringing his face right to mine and snarling, “Try me. You wanna violate Madeline’s privacy by sharing an unauthorized video of her, you better believe I’ll be sending my lawyer after you. And trust me, I have enough cash to waste on a million lawsuits if it comes to that. I also have people who know how to dig into a person’s life and find the shit they’d rather stay secret. So yeah, fucking try me, asshole.”

I shove him away as Dan’s head of security joins us, bringing three other men from his team with him. He shoots me a look that says, “Fuck me, Ethan,” before moving the group along. Some of the guys are hard to force away from me. It seems they’re ready for a fight, but Jason isn’t head of security for nothing.

Once he’s got them all inside, he looks at me with a shake of his head. “I thought you were done causing me grief.”

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