Page 32 of Whiskey Run Heroes

We’re seated almost immediately, and our drinks and chips and salsa arrive just as we’re putting our food order in. “Talk to me,” I tell her. She’s so quiet, and that’s not the Madison I know. The Madison I know is fierce, and nothing gets her down.

“I don’t know what to say. I’m so sorry, John. I shouldn’t have gotten you involved in this.”

“You didn’t. Remember, you didn’t even tell us what’s going on. I sort of ambushed you.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you did. Can you imagine if I just rolled up there tomorrow and didn’t know all this? So what should I do?”

Surprised by the question, I sit back. I know Madison, and she’s not going to like what I have to say. “You are not going to do anything.”

She puts her hands on the table and looks at me with wide eyes. “I have to... you said it yourself. He’ll kill him.”

I reach across the table and grab both her hands to hold them in mine. “Madison, I can’t force your brother into rehab. I would if I could. But what I can do is protect you. You can’t go tomorrow.”

She stubbornly shakes her head. “I’m going.”

“Madison...”

She pulls her hands back. “No, John, look. I’m going. I’m going to pay him the money, and I’m going to figure out a way to get him the rest. I need you to let me do this.”

I start to laugh because how could I not, which makes her even madder. I stop laughing when the server brings out our food. I take a bite and point at her plate. “Eat up.”

She grabs the fork and pokes at the chicken and vegetables. “I’m doing it.”

I smirk and put a piece of steak in my mouth. “No you’re not.”

“I’m doing it, and it would be a lot easier if you’d just quit being stubborn and give me some tips on what I should do when I get there.”

That makes me stop. I lean forward. “Wait... you think I’d let you go by yourself?”

She puts another forkful in her mouth and nods. “Yeah.”

I just shake my head. “You have no idea, do you?”

She looks at me curiously. “What do you mean?”

How could she not know? Does she really think I’d let her go alone? I know I tried to hide my feelings for her, but fuck, she should at least know I care about her. “Madison, I’ll be going with you tomorrow.”

She does stop eating then. She swallows the food in her mouth and points her fork at me. “Oh no, you are definitely not going with me tomorrow. Jenna would never forgive me ifsomething happened to you. Hell, John, I would never forgive myself. You’re definitely not going.”

Madison is stubborn, and I know that look on her face. There’s no changing her mind on this. It looks like I’ll just have to do things without her knowing about it. “You’d miss me, wouldn’t you? Just say it,” I tell her, switching over to flirting with her—hell, anything to get her mind off tomorrow.

She takes the bait and rolls her eyes. “Whatever. I swear your head is so big.”

I can’t resist. “That’s not the only thing that’s big.”

She just took a drink of water, and she starts to choke, sputtering the liquid all down the front of her. Her eyes are big, shocked that I would say something like that to her. I am too, really. I’ve never allowed myself to talk to her like that, even though any time I’ve been around her lately that’s all that’s been on my mind... straight-up filth.

7

MADISON

His words bring a very clear image to mind, and even though I’ve never seen that much of him, I can just imagine. The rest of him is cut and built, why wouldn’t that part be, too?

“You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?” he asks with a twinkle in his eye.

I know my face is red, but I keep it guarded, not wanting him to know exactly what I’m thinking. I’ve never seen this side of him. He’s never flirted with me before, and I don’t know exactly what to do with it. “I’m not thinking about it... I’m thinking about how this might just be my last meal.”

He drops his fork and leans across the table. “I. Won’t. Let. Anything. Happen. To. You.” He enunciates each word. He looks fierce, and if I didn’t know him, I’d be scared.

---