"Why are you so upset?" I asked, catching up to Ethan as he stalked away into the parking lot. He growled something unintelligible.

       "That wasn't English," I said, as we approached his car. He ripped the door open and chucked his helmet in, glaring at me before he sat down in the driver's seat. I pulled open the passenger door and slid in.

     "Oh, so you're expecting a ride home now? Or were you expecting me to chauffeur you to the cool kid party again?" he demanded, staring over at me.

      "Just because I came to watch my brother play doesn't mean I want to be friends with them again!" I protested as Ethan slammed the car into reverse and entered the lineup to leave the parking lot.

       "Well it sure looks like you were having a good time," Ethan growled, running a frustrated hand through his hair.

       "So sue me for enjoying a Friday night," I huffed, crossing my arms. Ethan scoffed, pulling an unnecessarily violent turn out of the parking lot. When he didn't say anything, I persisted.

       "Maybe you should give them a chance, they're not as bad as you think they are," I said. Ethan slammed the brakes and we skidded to a halt in the middle of the road.

     "Get out of this car," he said, not even looking at me.

      "You know, it's pretty damned rich of you to come in here and judge us all and give us all labels. Just because I showed up to a football game with a group of people who used to be my friends doesn't mean-" I started. Ethan shot me a glare, then whipped his car around in a U turn and sped off towards the beach.

     "You didn't just show up to a football game," Ethan fired back, "You waltzed in with the queen of the clones herself, dressed up like one of them and giggling along while they mocked the cheerleaders,"

      I tried to his the squirming feeling I was getting in my stomach. So Ethan had a point, but it didn't mean he had to blow up at me.

      "I didn't have a choice, she just showed up and-" I started.

       "You always have a choice, Madison," Ethan said flatly, pulling in to the parking garage of the condo complex.

       "So I take it you're not dropping me off at home," I said, as he pulled in to a parking space a few spots down from the elevators.

      "Not until we're finished with this conversation," he said darkly, undoing his seatbelt and climbing out of the car. I felt that same pit of dread open in my stomach as I undid my own. Ethan dug his gear out of the back, crossing to the elevator and wordlessly punching the button. When the doors slid open, Ethan swiped a keycard past a reader, not even selecting a floor as the doors whooshed shut and we lifted. I watched as the floors counted by until we slid to a halt at the PH level.

       When the doors opened, we weren't facing a hallway, we were facing the foyer of a condo that spanned what seemed like the entire top floor of the building.

       "My mom just got back from Asia, so she's probably sleeping. Don't be loud," Ethan said quietly, stalking out of the elevator in front of me.

      I stepped into the marble foyer quietly, taking in the enormous living room and the expensive décor. Sleek leather couches surrounded a massive flat screen TV suspended above a gas fireplace on the right wall of the room. The wall directly opposite the elevator was entirely floor to ceiling windows, the lights of downtown Clairview twinkling next to a black expanse that must've been the ocean.

       "I'm going to shower," Ethan said, hoisting his gear onto his shoulder as he headed for a darkened hallway next to the TV, "Find something to do and don't break anything,"

      I dug my hands into my pockets and looked around some more. The place was decidedly devoid of knickknacks. There were a few picture frames on the sparsely populated bookshelves, mostly of Ethan and an older woman I presumed to be his mother. But other than that, there were very few personal items. The room felt like something out of a Crate & Barrel ad, complete with artfully placed accent bowls.

       I wandered around, at first trying to see how much of the beach I could make out through the massive windows before making my way to the kitchen. Whoever lived here kept it even more spotless than Rosa kept our kitchen, unless of course it was just rarely used. I wandered some more, discovering a powder room just off the foyer, complete with sleek suspended sink and a decidedly corporate feel. I didn't dare open any of the closed doors off the foyer for fear of it leading to Ethan's parents' room, so I made my way back to the bookshelves with the pictures.

       I looking over the frames in earnest this time, squinting against the dim lighting. There was one of a younger Ethan with another guy a few years older than him, both in football jerseys. I reached up to take it down, only to clumsily knock over another frame.

       "Ethan? Honey, is that you?" came a groggy voice from a huge ajar door connecting to the living room. I nearly dropped my picture frame as my first instinct was to look around for somewhere to hide.

       "Yeah, it's me," Ethan said, suddenly reemerging from the hallway in sweatpants and a t-shirt as he toweled off his head. When he looked up, he held a finger to his lips as he looked at me.

       "Yeah, it's me," he said, listening for a reply.

       "Okay honey," was all that his mother said, in her half-asleep, groggy voice. He waited for a few seconds before crossing the room to close the door.

       "Is your dad home too?" I whispered, once he'd made his way back to me.

      "He hasn't been home in five years, he's too busy injecting silicone into blonde South Beach bimbos," Ethan said, more than a hint of bitterness in his voice, "And before you ask, no they're not divorced. Apparently the status of single mom doesn't fit well with the CEO profile her company is going for,"

      "Sorry," I said softly, kicking myself. I hadn't just touched a nerve, it seems I'd pretty much hammered one.

       "It's fine," he sighed, "Come on, before we wake her up again,"

       Ethan led the way down the darkened hallway, turning into a room that was just as big as mine. His guitar sat propped up next to an amp, a decidedly less massive TV suspended on the wall above it. A sofa divided the living space from an unmade bed towards the other end of the room. His football gear was in a pile next to a door that led to an ensuite bathroom.

      Ethan flopped onto the couch, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. At a loss for what to do, I hesitated in the doorway.

       "You can come in you know," he said finally, patting a spot on the couch next to him.

       "I think I should just go home," I said, still hovering near the doorway. Ethan sighed, opening his eyes and sitting up to look at me.

      "We have a conversation to finish first," he said, staring me down. I stood rooted to the spot, folding my arms again.

       "Or we could just call it a night and I'll leave," I said, not exactly eager to be yelled at again.

      "Cut and run, nice move Madison," he said. I met his gaze and he lifted an eyebrow, patting the couch again as if he was daring me to approach. I narrowed my eyes as I crossed the room and perched myself as far away from him as I could on the other end of the couch.

       Before I could glance over to see what Ethan's sigh was all about, he'd reached over to grab me around the waist and drag me over to be sitting next to him.

       "Believe it or not, I don't actually like fighting with you," he said, leaving his arm around me as he looked down at me. My arms were still crossed as I attempted to scoot farther away from him, only to be tugged back against his side.

      "Sure could've fooled me," I muttered.

      "You need to ditch them, Madison, stop talking to them and stop listening to them. They don't matter," he said gently. I looked up at him, an expectant look on his face.

       "I can't do that, Ethan. My own brother's one of them!" I protested. Ethan inhaled, running his free hand through his hair.

       "Then you leave me no choice," he said. I had opened my mouth to ask what he was talking about when he leaned down and kissed me.

      My first reaction was to push him away and demand what the hell he thought he was doing, but then I got distracted by the fact that he was very, very good at kissing.

      We jumped apart right as his hands had found their way around my waist again when Ethan's phone buzzed to life on the coffee table. I recognized the bespectacled face on the caller ID before he could reach over and silence the ringer. A million questions exploded in my head, the biggest one escaping my lips before I could stop it.

       "Why is Dakota calling you?" I asked, my arms returning to their crossed position. Ethan leaned back, still staring at the phone.

       "It's...complicated," he said, not looking at me. A swooping feeling of dread erased all the good things I'd been feeling mere seconds ago as one question rose up out of the post-kiss haze.

       "Are you dating Dakota Schneider?" I demanded.

        "If I was dating Dakota do you think I would've kissed you like that?" he asked, an amused look on his face. My frown softened, but something in my gut didn't like the way he reached down to switch his phone off.

       "Answer the question," I said.

        "I must be losing my touch," he said, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear, "Because I thought that kiss spoke volumes,"

       He leaned down to kiss me again and my arguments dissolved as his lips silenced my brain. My goodness this boy knew how to kiss.

       But there were no butterflies to be had as that ignored phone call nagged at the back of my mind.

                                                    *****************************************

Looks like Madison's got a new love interest! But what do you think about that call from Dakota? Hope you all enjoyed my long weekend Saturday bonus chapter. Please don't forget to vote and comment! :)

This one is dedicated to the very lovely and talented LizCharnes! Thank you for your dedication, reads, votes, and helpful comments! Check out her hilarious and thoroughly entertaining story FlyGirl, along with the prequel The Summer Associate. Mobsters, high flying lawyers, and one of the strongest, funniest, and all-around badass heroines I've read in awhile.