Page 111 of Mad Love

“Seriously?” Ryan snorted at my back. “Come on, Mads. You can’t tell me you haven’t noticed the way he’s always finding reasons to be near you. The guy’s fucking obsessed with you.”

“No, he isn’t,” I denied, shaking my head as I looked at him.

“Don’t be stupid,” he told me.

I backed up a step. “I’m sorry. What did you just say to me?”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “Maddie, you know what I meant.”

“Yeah, I do, and you better check the attitude,” I warned him.

“What do you expect, when I walk into a room and he’s all over you?” he demanded.

I ticked up a finger. “One, I expect you to see that I wasn’t doing anything with my friend that I haven’t done with Linc or Ash or Court. It’s okay for me to joke with them, but Chase is a hard line?”

“My friends don’t want to fuck you,” he answered, arching a brow.

I held up a second finger. “Still not done, okay? Most importantly, I thought you trusted me.”

He sighed. “I do.”

Yeah, that didn’t sound convincing at all.

“Wow, maybe try meaning it when you say it.” I shook my head in disbelief. “I cannot believe that we’re back to square one.”

“That’s not what this is,” he insisted.

“No? Because it sure as hell seems like it, Ryan.” I pointed at the garage. “You’re keeping things from me again, and you think I’d, what? Screw Chase amongst the frozen pizza boxes while you guys could walk in for front row seats to live porn? Have I not convinced you enough that you’re it for me? What else do you need me to do?” I threw my hands in the air, frustrated to the point that I wanted to scream.

Guilt flashed in his eyes as he reached for me. “Nothing, okay? Baby, it’s me. I’m sorry. Of course I trust you.”

My head landed against his hard chest, but I didn’t hug him back.

“Maddie,” he whispered, his lips brushing the top of my head. “I’m sorry.”

Reluctantly, I lifted my hands to his waist, looping my fingers in the front pockets of his jeans. “I know you love me, but it doesn’t mean shit unless you trust me, too.”

“I do trust you,” he replied. “I don’t trust him.”

Scoffing, I looked up at him, unimpressed by the answer.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated, staring into my eyes. “I have my own shit to work through, and it’s not fair to put that on you. Forgive me, please?”

Now I wrapped my arms around his waist, accepting his apology. “Of course I forgive you. But you chased out the cook, so that means you’re making dinner.”

CHAPTER 39

MADDIE

I knocked softly on Bex’s door, and when she didn’t answer, I tested the knob. Surprisingly, it twisted open. I peeked in, my gaze sweeping the room until it landed on her, curled up on the queen-size bed and facing the window as more snow fell.

“Can I come in?” I asked, hating to disturb her, but also needing to fix the hole in my heart caused by her pain.

Sighing, Bex waved a hand, indicating I was free to enter, so I did. Once the door was closed, I walked across the room and sat on the edge of her bed. “I’m really sorry, Bex.”

“You should be,” she muttered, still not looking at me. “I thought you had my back.”

“I do,” I insisted. “When Ryan told me, I said that he needed to talk to Court and have Court tell you the truth. That it wasn’t fair. I also said I wouldn’t keep their secret indefinitely, but then everything went to shit, and I honestly forgot.”

---