Page 77 of Obsessed with the Heartbreaker

But of course, my best friend wasn’t satiated with just a crumb, so I briefly told him the story of how we’d been…close. How I’d missed him in my first year of college. How I’d kissed him on that one stupid day.

I told him of the way he pushed me away and how I never spoke to him again.

And I kept to myself the way my father had looked at me pitifully and said ‘He’s not for you, Henry.’

I knew, okay? I fucking knew.

The memory was like a blow to the gut all over again.

Maddox’s cold stare actually softened after I finished my tale. “Hen, I don’t know how else to say this, but that is the literal definition of pining.”

“Are you a dictionary now? Aloveguru?”

“I’m your best friend, and as the only person here who still has some perspective here, I’m telling you—There’s a word written on your forehead and it says ‘denial’.”

“I saw nothing wrong in the mirror this morning.”

“Exactly, because it’s been there the whole time.” Maddox let go of the door, instead leaning on it and sighed. “Look, I’ve been very hard on Antony and had suspicions about him, but…Hearing this, I don’t really hate him. Whether his motivations for approaching you have always been pure, I don’t know, but I don’t think they’re bad.”

I hadn’t really told Maddox anything aboutmyown suspicions about why Antony approached me, but I hadn’t needed to. Mad had been looking out for me from the start.

Almost with complete certainty, I knew that Antony must have had some motivation to approach me in the first place, someexcusehe could use, just like I’d had it to make our deal. There was no one with a better heart than him, though, so I wasn’t really worried about it, even if I would, eventually, find out.

Unaware of my inner monologue, Maddox continued. “And I should point out that you’ve been basicallyskippingthese past few days that you’ve been together. Even the guys are starting to notice.”

I groaned. “I haven’t beenskipping.I don’t skip. And I will not tolerate this slander.”

“Two guys have told me they heard youhumming. An actualsong.”

Silence reigned in the room.

Truth was a bitch and it had just slapped me in the face.

“I don’t see your point.”

“My point is that it wouldn’t hurt if you started calling this what it is.”

“There is nothis.”

Maddox practically growled with frustration, pushing his hands through his hair and pulling on it.

“I’m going to strap you onto a chair until you admit it.”

“You will do no such thing.”

“Hen, just face the music—”

“Maddie!”

Adam came in from the other room. “Some guys are looking for you. They want you to help them with something.”

Mad’s eyebrows furrowed. “What do they wantmeto help them with?”

Adam shrugged. “Didn’t ask. I’m just the messenger.”

Walking out of the kitchen, my best friend gave Adam an unfriendly look while the latter just smiled in his direction.

I finally exhaled in relief.

---