Page 1 of Defending Madison

Chapter 1

FRESHMAN YEAR COLLEGE

MADISON

“Benny?”

I roll my eyes. Brian, my brother, constantly annoys me when he’s home on leave. He’s a big, bad Navy SEAL and a genuine hero. It doesn’t change the fact that he treats me like he’s my third parent. He’s the one who nicknamed me ‘Benny.’ He told my parents I was as cute as a bunny. My mother wouldn’t let him call me bunny, so it became Benny instead. Stupid story for a stupid nickname. I wish he’d just call me by my actual name.

Ugh. “What?” I walk around the corner from the open family room in my childhood home as he’s holding his phone out like it’s a snake.

“I need you to pick up Dix at the airport.”

I scoff. “Wait a minute! I’m not a chauffeur for your friend.”

“He’s not my friend. He’s my SEAL teammate. He’s family.”

I thrust out my hip and slam my palm on it with an annoyed, sour look on my face. “So, you pick him up.”

Brian puckers his mouth and clicks his tongue. “I’ve got a date.”

Rolling my eyes more deliberately, so he sees me. My mom stands at the doorway behind my brother, giving me the ‘go do what he asks’ sign. “Fine. But I’m not entertaining him. And I’ll have to take the truck because there’s no way he’ll fit in my little sedan.”

“Sure.” My brother is running out the door like someone’s chasing him. He calls over his shoulder. “Take him to get food. It’s late, and I’m sure he’s hungry.”

“Oh. Come on. I said…” He slams the door as my mother chuckles.

“You don’t mind Dixon.” Her eyes twinkle. Her petite frame no longer carries the extra weight she had a few years ago, and her dark blonde hair is now highlighted with more silver than color.

“That’s not the point, Mom. This is my vacation from school. I planned on binge watching some show while I chatted with Penny on the phone until the wee hours of the morning. Brian’s ridiculous. I did not plan on taking care of his teammate.” I use my fingers to make air quotes as my mother shakes her head.

“His plane lands in forty minutes.” She shrugs as she walks toward the front door with a profound goodbye wave above her head.

“Shit!” I grab my purse and the truck keys as I head to the garage. Dixon makes my panties wet. He has since Brian first brought him home three years ago. Not that he noticed me at all. I resembled a pimply giraffe with my long neck and legs. At twenty-two, he was so ridiculously out of my league, but a high school sophomore can dream, can’t she? When I met him,his huge frame filled the doorway, even more than my brother, and unlike my brother and the other boys around here, he’s hot. Rarely does a man tower over me, but he’s tall, like six and a half feet tall, with short blonde hair and piercing sea-green eyes that remind me of the water at a clear lake in the summer. I bite my lip as I pull the truck out of the garage. And his body is banging. More muscles than Arnold Schwarzenegger inTerminator. Put his body on the side of a bus and it would sell anything imaginable. I snicker. Not to mention cause accidents because who could take their eyes off him?

Our house isn’t far from the airport, so I don’t have to rush. Houses in our neighborhood are one of five cookie cutter designs. Different fronts and colors, but similar in style and structure.

I pull to the arrivals area at the Dallas/Fort Worth airport, and he’s leaning against the wall chatting up some cute, dark-haired woman in a short dress. I hit the horn and wave as he slings his bag over his shoulder and walks toward the truck. He tosses the bag in the backseat and smiles. “Hey, Benny.”

“Dixon.” I motion to the woman who’s shooting daggers at me with her squinty eyes. “I hope I didn’t tear you away from something.”

He glances at the pouting woman standing at the curb. “Oh. No.” He gets into the passenger seat. “Where’s Bri?”

I side-eye Dixon. “You know.”

“Some woman?”

I nod as I pull the truck into traffic. “He’s been home for more than a day, so yeah. Where do you want to eat?”

“Huh?”

I blow out my breath. “Eat. You’ve had a long flight, and my mom is on some health food kick, so there isn’t much in the line of quick food at the house. She’s out with church friends, so we’d have to fend for ourselves at the house, anyway.”

He nods, leaning against the seat. “Where can I get a burger?”

“Mark’s. They’re good.”

His eyes scan my body as I drive. “I can’t imagine you eat burgers.”

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