Page 122 of Ever With Me

Lindsay stood. “Okay, Naomi, I love you, but that’s probably the meanest thing I’ve ever heard anyone say. Ever.”

She turned to Maddie. “And please don’t hate me when I ask this because I completely believe you know your own heart better than anyone, but could you tell us how Brooks differs from what the internet says? And why this is different for you?”

Maddie swiped her lashes. “I don’t think I need to defend what I feel, Lindsay. So what if I catch feelings easily? Just because I’m not afraid of falling in love doesn’t mean I should be an object of Naomi’s mockery.”

“I’m not mocking you,” Naomi said softly. “Haven’t you ever considered how hard it is for those of us who love you to see you go through that? To know that you’re suffering, even if it’s for someone who doesn’t deserve your tears...like how it was with Josh? Do you know how much it fills me with incandescent rage to know that Josh dumped you like he did and then got engaged to Gina? Gina, who doesn’t hold a candle to you, Maddie. I may be the quiet one of the three of us, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to scream at that prick for hurting you. And when I see someone like Brooks, where there doesn’t appear to be a single green flag in sight, Iworry.”

Naomi stepped closer, her own eyes shiny with tears. “I love our parents, but it’s always been us Yardley siblings watching out for each other. Mom and Dad are sweet, wonderful parents, but they don’t get involved in this stuff, even if it bothers them. Even if they should. No, I don’t think it’s a great idea for Maddie to hop into bed with Brooks after...I don’t even know how many days of knowing him. Especially not when she’s rebounding from a major heartbreak, and the guy practically has ‘love them and leave them’ as a tattoo.”

Jen cleared her throat. “If it helps, Naomi, I slept with Jason after knowing him for only a few days. We turned out all right.”

“And I had multiple one-night stands with Travis foryearsbefore we admitted we loved each other,” Lindsay chimed in.

“I’m not sure if they count as one-night stands if it’s with the same person,” Jen said wryly.

Maddie gave them a sad smile, thankful for their efforts, then glanced back at Naomi. “Not everyone gets together the way you and Jeremy did—friends, then college sweethearts, marry, and have a family. Some of us have a different path to take. That doesn’t mean it’s the wrong one.”

Maddie hugged her arms to her chest. “To be honest, I don’t think you’ve earned the right to know about Brooks just because you want me to prove he’s a good guy. But if you don’t believe me, ask Kayla. Ask her about the sacrifices he made for her. He didn’t grow up rich with a silver spoon in his mouth. Hell, Naomi, he would probably kill to have our good, sweet,detachedparents. He doesn’t have any parents, and that much you can find out online if you look. He’s had to work really hard to get where he is in life. A life I don’t even fully understand the difficulties of. And he’s attacked constantly, his privacy violated repeatedly.”

She didn’t mention that all week long they’d been finding themselves getting photographed. Since their picture at Applepalooza had gone viral, the paparazzi had found him in Brandywood. Making out on the balcony was no longer an option. Neither was any sort of intimate time in the hot tub.

Splotches of color formed on Naomi’s face. She stiffly sat on the loveseat perpendicular to the sofa, her shoulders falling with defeat. “I’m sorry,” she said at last. “I’m not trying to be a jerk. I just don’t want Brooks to hurt you, Maddie.”

“He’s not going to hurt me. There’s a much higher chance that I’ll hurt him anyway if I fall in and out of love as easily as you think,” Maddie said with an eye roll. She sat on the loveseat beside Naomi. She’d hated the distance between them over the past week and a half.

“I want my best friend back. It’s been killing me not to be able to tell you anything about Brooks. Why do you think I confessed so quickly? Meanwhile, I have Tweedledee and Tweedledum over here begging for all the details of my sex life and I’m strongly considering telling them incredibly NSFW stories because I don’t have my big sis to dish to.”

Lindsay’s jaw dropped with mock horror. “I resent that.”

Jen sipped on her glass of wine. “Long as you’re Tweedledum, I can live with the nickname.”

Naomi’s lips twitched with laughter. “God, I’ve missed your sense of humor. Family pizza night is boring without you.” She turned and slipped her hands into Maddie’s. “I’m so sorry. Ihavebeen an asshole. And honestly, it’s kind of impressive that you not only blackmailed Brooks into a concert but also bagged the man himself.”

“What’s that about blackmail?” Jen asked, looking from Naomi to Maddie.

“It’s a long story.” Maddie laughed and hugged Naomi. “I’m sorry for kicking you out of my apartment. And for breaking into Fred Strickland’s storeroom. It was stupid, and you’re right, if he’d caught me stealing that SD card, it all could have been much worse.”

“What!” Lindsay reached for a brownie. “I feel like I should have made popcorn. Y’all are gonna have to back up because clearly, Jen and I are completely out of the loop.”

“You guys don’t even want to know.” Maddie poured herself a glass of wine.

“Um, yeah we do.” Lindsay leaned forward eagerly. “Nothingeven remotely interesting happens around here, Maddie. It’s Brandywood. Gossip is all we have.”

Maddie smiled to herself, dropping back against the couch and curling her legs under her.

Somehow, in the past couple of weeks, Brandywood had felt . . . smaller.

But right now, she didn’t mind. Right now, she was with some of the people she loved the most. Including Naomi.

33

BROOKS

“Much as I’vecome to like your Brandywood,” Brooks said as he walked into the bedroom from the adjoining bathroom of the room they’d booked in the Serendipity Lake Lodge, “I’m still not sure how we ended up at this bed-and-breakfast when Paris was on the table. Or Quebec City, which might be one of my favorite places in the world.”

Maddie stood at the full-length mirror, applying her makeup, and she smiled at him. “Because it’s my grandfather’s birthday. My whole family wants to meet you. It’s not going to make a great impression on them that they’ve met Kayla three times and you not at all, considering she’s going to be there.”

Maddie had been unusually happy since she’d returned from a girls’ night with her sisters the night before. She’d suggested that they stay here at the Serendipity rather than at her place for the weekend, citing the nosiness of Main Street citizens.

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