Page 75 of Mad Love

“You gonna tell us what’s going on with you?” Rhodes says. “Or are we gonna have to pull it out of you?”

“What? I’m fine.”

“Yeah, I can tell you’re keeping up with workouts because you’re ripped as fuck, but your eyes look like this.” Rhodes does puppy-dog eyes and pokes out his lower lip for good measure.

“I do not,” I snort.

“He’s not lying for once,” Bowie says.

“How are things going with Sadie?” Henley asks.

“Fine.” When they all look at me pointedly and I shake my head and focus on my coffee mug. “She has Caleb right now and they’re at the apartment with her mom going through things.”

“So, she’s still staying with you?” Penn asks.

“Yeah, she hasn’t threatened to leave again.”

“Wait, she threatened to leave? You didn’t tell us that.” Henley frown.

“I…something happened. We kissed and…it’s been a while ago now.” I lift my hand when they start talking at once. “We didn’t have sex, but we messed around and after…she said it couldn’t happen again. I told her I’d keep my hands to myself…which I’ve done. It just?—”

“Just what?” Rhodes prods.

“Don’t leave us hanging there,” Penn says.

“It was different for me,” I say.

I glance up and see blank faces staring back at me before they start talking all at once again.

Finally Rhodes whistles between his teeth and it’s quiet again.

“Explain thyself,” he says, holding his hand out and nodding like I’ve got the floor.

“I’ve never felt anything like that from a kiss.”

“In a good way?” Henley asks.

“In an incredible way.”

They hoot and holler and carry on and Rhodes doesn’t do anything to stop it this time because he’s the main instigator.

I lean back in my seat, my head falling back as I stare at the ceiling, and their noise dies down.

“What’s the problem then?” Bowie asks.

“She said it couldn’t happen again,”I reiterate. “At first I thought it was because she didn’t feel the same, but I don’t know, the way she looks at me, the way she kissed me back before she let her head shut it down…” I lean forward and they all do too, completely invested in what I’m saying. “When we were in Landmark Mountain, a bunch of girls came up to me and they were flirting hard and gave me their numbers. At first, I thought she was a little bit jealous and it made me hopeful, you know? But then she brought up an old conversation we’d had and sorta threw something I’d said back in my face.”

“That sounds like jealousy to me,” Rhodes says, tilting his head.

“She said it’d been a while for me and that I’m probably ready to have sex just for the sake of having sex.” I fling my palms out.

“Well, yeah,” Penn says. “How long has it been anyway?”

“She was testing you,” Henley says.

I frown. “She doesn’t play games. She’s not that way.”

“Maybe not, but did you reassure her? Did you sayonly if it’s sex with youor something like that?” he asks.

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