Page 61 of Mad As Hell

He gave a short, concise nod. “Then as your friend? I’m here for you. So are those other idiots. And Bex loves you to pieces. You aren’t alone.”

I nodded back even as I knew he was wrong.

I was alone. The only person who could save me now was me. But first I needed a plan, and for that?

For that, I needed the devil.

“Instead of making breakfast, can you ask Ryan to come up here? Maybe he’ll want to go out and grab something. I think I could use a change of scenery.”

Ash grinned, and I hated that he was probably thinking I was going to give his bestie a chance. “I’ll go grab him.”

“Thanks,” I murmured, watching as he went. I tucked Madelaine’s old phone in the waistband of my leggings and mentally started building the walls around my heart that I would need to survive a date with Ryan.

CHAPTER 17

MADDIE

In another life, texting my father to say I was going out to brunch with a guy might have been normal. But when you were texting to essentially ask permission to eat with a guy he expected you to marry for money, it was a little less normal.

I tried not to grit my teeth when his text reply was: Behave.

But I must have done a poor job of hiding my frustration, because when Ryan entered the room, his brows immediately shot up. His icy blue eyes flashed to the phone in my hands. “What’s wrong?”

I sighed, trying to censor my aggression a bit. If I wanted to figure this mess out, I needed to stop reacting and start thinking. “Nothing. Just… It’s nothing.”

He looked like he wanted to press the issue, but he didn’t. “Ash said you wanted to go out?”

“Yeah. I think it would be a good idea to figure out schedules and everything to make this as easy as possible on us both. I figured a neutral place would be best,” I added.

“Sounds good,” he agreed with a faint smile. “Ready now?”

I nodded back and stood up before grabbing my purse and shoving both phones into it.

“Ash give you that?” Ryan’s cool gaze lingered on my purse.

My fingers tightened reflexively around the fabric. “Yeah.”

He looked like he wanted to say more, but ultimately he sighed and crossed the room to grab his keys from the dresser. Giving me a tight smile, he opened the door and waited for me to walk out before leaving and locking the door behind us.

I hesitated and opened the purse once more before fishing out the piece of metal I was looking for. Without a word, I held out the key to him.

He stared at my hand, confusion wrinkling his forehead.

“Take it,” I finally said, shaking my hand emphatically.

His gaze lifted to mine. “No.”

I sighed. “Ryan—”

He shoved his hands into his pockets and squeezed by me in the hallway, his shoulder brushing mine. “No, Maddie. It’s yours. Keep it.”

“I don’t want it,” I said, digging in stubbornly. “Take it.”

“No.” His clear blue eyes were calm.

I was seconds away from stomping my foot like a petulant child. “Ryan, stop being an idiot.”

His voice lowered and he stepped closer to me, eviscerating the small space between us. “Maddie,” he began in a low voice that made shivers dance up my spine, “I don’t know what’s going on, but keep it. In case you need a safe space, you can come here.”

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