Page 109 of My Brother's Best Friend

“And, Maddie,” Coach Welker called, “take good care of him.”

“I will,” Maddie said, tugging me to the door. “We really appreciate this opportunity.”

After one last good-bye, we slipped through the door and headed down the hallway toward the exit of the stadium. Butterflies fluttered through my stomach, and I broke out into a full-on grin as excitement rushed through my body.

Is this really fucking happening? Has he alluded to making me an offer?

“I can’t believe it,” Maddie whispered, glancing over our shoulders and back toward the head coach’s office door. She tightened her grip on my hand and pulled it up to her lips, kissing my knuckles. “I can’t fucking believe it!”

“Thank you for coming with me,” I said once we made it out the double doors.

When we reached the top of the staircase that descended into the parking lot, Maddie wrapped her arms around my shoulders and pulled me down into a kiss. Her fingers tugged on the ends of my hair, and her lips were curled into a smile the whole time.

“You don’t have to thank me, sweetheart,” she murmured against my lips once she finally pulled away. She rested her forehead against mine as I felt her phone buzz in her purse again. “I would do anything for you.”

“You know, you should get that,” I hummed. “Vera’s probably pissed.”

“Vera? Pissed?” Maddie giggled. “Those two words don’t even belong in the same sentence.” She reached into her purse and turned on her phone to see almost a hundred messages in the last twenty minutes from Vera.

Then, the phone rang.

“Hey, Vera,” Maddie said through the phone. “Can I call you back? We’re finishing?—”

The soft look on Maddie’s face shifted into one of horror, fear, and sadness. I gripped her hand, brow furrowed, and wondered what the hell was going on with Vera back in Redwood. She hadn’t called all weekend.

“What do you mean?” Maddie said, stiffening. “Slow down, Vera. I can’t understand you.”

While I tried to listen to Vera through the phone, I could barely hear anything over her sobs. Maddie’s eyes filled to the brim with heavy, trembling tears. She clutched my hand as the phone slipped from her hand and onto the ground.

“Maddie, what is it?”

A stray tear rolled down her cheek. “I’m sorry. We have to go home.”

I grabbed Maddie’s hand before she could fly down the stairs to the parking lot, trip, and crack her head on the concrete. “What’s going on? What happened? Is Vera okay? Your brother? Tell me something, Maddie. Tell me?—”

Before I could finish my sentence, she wrapped her arms around my torso and pulled me to her chest. She buried her face in my shirt and sobbed. “Vera told me that Piper …” Sniffle. “And I don’t know what to think …” Sob.“This is my fault.”

After taking her face in my hands, I lifted her head so she’d look at me, and I pushed some tears off her cheeks with my thumbs. “Slow down. I can’t understand you.”

“Pip-p-per …”

“What happened to her?” I asked.

“She hung herself.”

CHAPTER67

ALEC

Solemn music played through the funeral home. I grasped Maddie’s hand and guided her to the back of the line, where Redwood Academy students were lined up to see Piper one last time before she was buried.

Since the plane ride back to Redwood, everything had been a blur. Maddie had woken up countless times from nightmares for the past three nights and had been pulling away from me. Not because she didn’t love me, but because she was dealing with shit.

We both were.

When Vera and Blaise found us, Vera hugged Maddie tightly as they both sobbed. Blaise kept his mouth shut. And I stared emptily in front of us with my hands in my pockets, stepping forward unconsciously. My mind was numb from the feelings inside me.

Part of me thought that Piper had gotten what she deserved, but the other part was upset.

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