B R E N

"Madddayyyyyy!" Beau barged into the room without a care in the world, flinging his hands up in a dramatic entrance.

I glanced apologetically at Madie. "Also, Beau has been taking shots of this new bougie tequila for the last hour, and I was supposed to ask if you wanted to go to a party with us."

A smile threatened to break free on her face, and I was positive I'd never been more grateful for Beau than I was at that moment. It also didn't escape me that Madie quickly hid her arms behind her back, leaning on the mattress.

Beau tripped over his feet a little but somehow managed to land gracefully on the end of Nessa's bed. "So. Are ya coming?" He wiggled his eyebrows, and Madie laughed a little. "You have to. Nessa is coming!" He prolonged the last word, adding about five extra syllables.

"I sure am," I heard Nessa's voice say, and her head popped into the doorway.

The three of us turned to look expectantly at Madie, but she merely gazed longingly at The Awakening. With a big sigh, she eventually relented. "Okay, I'll come. Just give me a minute to get ready."

Obeying, we all flooded into the hallway, giving Madie space.

"Did you talk to her?" Nessa muttered under her breath as we walked toward the commons space to wait.

"I tried to," I breathed back. "But I don't know..."

Who knew if anything I said to Madie would ever make a difference. I'd spent the better part of the last week trying to decide if I should say anything at all. But as time went on, it became clear to Nessa—and to me—that something within Madie had changed after that day at The Grounds. We weren't sure what that meant, but we couldn't ignore it. So Nessa had sent me in.

"There's something else I didn't tell you," Nessa said, grabbing my arm to stop me. Beau continued to prance away, not even realizing that we'd halted in the middle of the hallway. "Quinton cheated on her, too."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I grumbled, dragging a hand down my face in frustration. The idea of Quinton as a cheater wasn't one bit surprising, but it pissed me off that he'd found more than one way to hurt Madie.

"Well, Madie won't put it like that," Nessa said. "She won't call it cheating. According to her, he just kissed some other girl at a party when they were playing a drinking game." Nessa sighed, folding her arms over her flowy black top. "But I know that's part of why she's acting so strange this week."

"Shit." Shaking my head, I took off to find drunk Beau. I didn't want to lose him before even making it to the party.

Madie joined us in the dorm commons about ten minutes later. Shockingly, she'd tossed the black hoodie aside for the night out, instead wearing a thin grey sweater beneath a leather jacket. Tight, dark jeans clung to her legs. Her messy bun remained, but it looked like she curled the escaping wisps. They fell around her face in soft waves.

The party was loud, noisy, and smelled like shitty beer. Luckily, Beau didn't notice the poor taste in liquor being served, considering he'd already downed half a tequila bottle. There was still enough left to pass around, though, and it quickly lit a fire in my throat to go along with the harsh buzz in my head.

There were too many people here, continually pushing past us to find their friends or the missing beer pong ball that was rolling beneath our feet somewhere. At some point, Beau yelled at some guy with a man bun, overthrowing his command of the music that pumped through huge speakers.

But as the pulsing bass grew hazier, the need to hover my hand on the small of Madie's back grew stronger. None of this was a good combination. And my predicament became even larger when a drunken Nessa threw out, "Let's play a game, shall we?"

Beau paused from looking through his music library, leaping at the idea. "Hell yeah, Nessy."

Nessa glared at him for a moment before continuing. "What about good ol' truth or dare?" she asked, smirking above the nearly empty tequila bottle. Her tongue flicked out, licking the glass rim. You'd think I'd feel something at the sight, considering the things that same tongue had done to my dick, but I didn't. We'd grown too close as friends, and it was hard to believe that anything else had ever happened between us.

But I did see the glint in her eyes, and I didn't trust it. Immediately, I snapped back at her. "No way."

Nessa's devilish grin grew. "I'm so happy that you volunteered to go first, Bren."

"No, let me go first!" Beau whined, and Nessa rolled her eyes. I didn't hear Madie's voice, so I turned to look over at her. She'd been pretty quiet tonight, but I saw amusement in her eyes now.

"Fine. Truth or dare, Beau?" I heard Nessa say and switched my attention back to the whole group.

"Dare," he said without hesitation.

"I dare you to go chug a Bud Light." Nessa pointed to the cooler full of beer, which sat next to a row of mismatched cabinets in the kitchen.

"What?" Beau exclaimed as if we'd asked the worst of him. A look of disgust washed over him. "God, no."

"Then drink up!" She shoved the tequila bottle in his face, but Beau didn't seem bothered about his punishment. That was the thing about drinking games—people didn't really care if they had to drink. It was the whole point, after all.

"Now, it's Bren's turn." Nessa turned to me, eyes shining. 

"No, it isn't," I protested, beyond nervous about whatever was up her sleeve. "This isn't even an actual drinking game, Nessa. Stop being childish."

"Truth or dare?" she asked anyway, ignoring me.

My friends stared expectantly, and I swore under my breath. Fine. I would go along with their little games, but hell would freeze over before I drunkenly revealed my secrets.

"Dare," I grumbled, and Nessa had never looked happier.

Shit.

"I dare you to kiss Madie," Nessa proudly announced, her grand fucking idea revealed.

I gritted my teeth, shooting Nessa a deadly glare.

The party scene blurred like a kaleidoscope as I turned to face Madie. Nothing seemed real, certainly not Madie's expression. With the way she blinked up at me, I could almost pretend that she was eager at the idea of Nessa's challenge. I surveyed her perfect face, probably for a moment too long. She darted her tongue out, licking it across peach lips. Goddamn, I hated Nessa.

I tried not to let myself think about kissing Madie because I knew it would be like falling down a rabbit hole that I'd never escape from. But the alcohol coursing through me and Madie's eager face and Nessa's dare left me imagining what it would be like. Her lips parted, her tongue licking mine, her moans in my mouth. I wanted it so bad, and Nessa was putting me through the worst test. 

Something told me that a kiss from Madie would spark something uncontrollable.

But I also remembered what she'd told me about Quinton cheating, though. And I knew, without a doubt, that this was Nessa's idea of a revenge game.

But Madie Lenertz wasn't a game to me.

Closing the space between Madie and I felt like resisting the pull of a magnet. Because if it had been my choice, I would have crushed her to me. Instead, I leaned down, agonizingly slow. I leveled my head with hers and brushed my lips across her cheek—and only her cheek.

Her skin was so soft.

Refusing to look at Madie's face, I stood back up, swiveling toward Nessa. I could tell by her frown that she was annoyed by my performance. But what the hell had she honestly expected?

By the time I did turn back to Madie, she was gone.

"Jesus, Bren!" Beau yelled over the music, swinging around his bottle of tequila. "How did you possibly fuck that up?"

A plethora of curse words came to mind. But I was more focused on Madie. "Which way did she go?" 

Someone, either Nessa or Beau, gave me a little nudge in the right direction, and I took off, making my way to the front door. Madie quickly came into view through the rain-splattered glass pane. She stood near the curb outside, letting the mist cover her.

"Madie!" I called, throwing open the door. The cool air hit me, clarity coming with it.

She spun around. Droplets of moisture rolled down her cheeks. God, I hoped it was just rain.

"Just go away, Bren," she yelled, beginning to take off in the direction of campus.

"No." I followed. After throwing my hood up, I shoved my hands in my jean pockets and strode after her.

She ducked her head and continued to walk through the rain.

"Come on, Madie. Talk to me."

Surprising me, she spun on her heel. "God, I'm sorry." She threw her hands in the air—the universal sign of defeat. "But Quinton goes out to parties and kisses other girls. And then he comes home and doesn't even bother to kiss me. But when I go to parties..."

She trailed off, swaying a little. Whether it was from emotion or alcohol, I wasn't sure. Her mouth popped open in a kind of horrified expression. "Oh my god, Bren. What does it say about me that I would have let you? All because I'm just so..."

She didn't finished, but I knew what she was saying. It was all because of Quinton.

Stepping through growing puddles, I made my way to her.

"It says nothing about you. You're feeling angry with Quinton, and that's normal. You should be mad at him."

She frowned, and I sighed.

"But that's why I didn't, Madie. I'm not going to kiss you so you can get back at your boyfriend. I'm not going to kiss you because you have a boyfriend. I'm not going to be apart of that." I sputtered the next words through a clenched jaw. "As much as I fucking hate him."

She shook her head, the rain falling down it. Her hair became a gorgeous gingery plait when it was wet.

"I know."

Then Madie's eyes flicked upward, and she asked me the one question designed to destroy me.

"But I have to know. What if I didn't have a boyfriend, Bren?"

She swallowed. Rain was the only barrier between us when she whispered, "Would you have kissed me then?"

🖤
What do we think Bren will say to that?
Thanks for reading, you fabulous people xoxo