Page 37 of Come Break My Heart Again

“How progressive of you.”

She giggles. “I mean it. Archer doesn’t let you guys come to his parties, but me? Everyone is welcome.”

I glance around the room again. “This is your place?”

“Uh-huh.”

“It’s nice.”

She smiles, then walks toward me. “Thanks.”

I tip my head back to hold eye contact as she approaches. “What’s your name?”

She rolls her eyes, silently agreeing I should have asked a while ago. Or maybe annoyed I didn’t already know.

“I’m Maddie. We had English together, freshman year. You sulked in the back the whole time.”

I remember sitting in the back of the classroom. I don’t remember Maddie, which must be obvious on my face.

“Ouch,” she says, shaking her head. One knee lands next to my left thigh, then the other by my right so she’s straddling me. “Well, you’ll remember me after tonight, right?”

Her hips are rocking against mine, her boobs right in my face. And rather than enjoy the experience, I’m busy cataloging all the ways her face is different from Elle’s.

It’s not Maddie’s fault her hair isn’t darker, and her eyes aren’t blue, and her smile doesn’t make me feel like all the air in the world has disappeared.

She wasn’t supposed to still matter.I don’twanther to still matter, but my brain—not to mention my dick—doesn’t seem to care.

My feelings for Fernwood’s golden girl were supposed to dissipate as soon as I left. Not linger like a hollow echo for the twenty-six months I was gone and then flare back to life with shocking strength after seeing her again. Every glimpse I got of her at school this week is burned into my memory like a brand. I spent the whole drive here obsessing over what her texting me earlier meant.

“I gotta go,” I say.

Maddie frowns, then stills. “What?”

“I gotta go,” I repeat.

Maddie straightens and climbs off. “Seriously?”

I’m being a dick, I know. But I’m not going to fuck her. Not tonight. Not ever. I could make up some bullshit excuse to soften the blow, but that’s never been my style.

As soon as she’s off my lap, I stand. Sitting was obviously a mistake.

“I can’t stay. I’ve got somewhere to be. I will remember you though, Maddie. Promise.”

I hustle out of the room before she can say anything else.

My phone buzzes in my pocket as I walk down the hallway. I pull it out, hoping it’ll be Phoenix, ready to head out. It’s not. It’s an unknown local number.

I answer. “Hello?”

No response. Although it’s almost impossible to hear as I walk closer to the living room, which is where the music is blaring from. I swerve left and head upstairs, ignoring the glances from a couple of girls stumbling down them.

The hallway is empty, most of the doors shut. I rub the back of my neck and exhale, then try to call the number back. It rings with no answer.

Halfway down the hallway, there’s a landing for a second set of stairs. Maddie’s home is huge. I’ve driven past the houses in this exclusive part of town, but never been inside one before. There’s a reading nook with more bookcases across from the landing, then doors that lead outside. I open one and step out onto the balcony that overlooks the backyard, tugging the box of cigarettes out of my pocket. I exhale as soon as the cool, fresh air hits my face, relaxing for the first time since we arrived.

“Thought you quit.”

I glance over one shoulder, my heart doing a silly skip when I confirm it’s really her. Elle’s leaning against the side of the roof, her expression inscrutable as she stares at me.

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