"I can't believe you talked me into wearing this."

"You look hot!" Nessa called from the other side of our dorm. She was staring in the mirror, applying a winged liner with a precision that I envied. And that was exactly why Nessa had done every bit of my make-up for the evening. And I had to admit, I loved it.

This dress, on the other hand...

"It's—It's..." I couldn't find the words.

"It's hot," Nessa supplied for me.

Keeping a close eye on my reflection, I experimented with sucking in. I'd definitely gained a few pounds since getting back to campus this winter, and I didn't like that those pounds would be on full display in this tight-ass gown. Hopefully, Bren wouldn't notice.

Although, Bren notices everything.

I groaned.

"Cut it out, Madie. You don't need to do that. You look amazing." Nessa said, walking over to me again. She, of course, was stunning in a deep mauve-colored gown that clung to her curves. Curves that did not have any extra pounds.

"Your date is a lucky guy, Nes!" I said, giving her a sly smile. "What's his name again?"

"Jonathon. He always sits next to me in bio lecture." She smiled, but there seemed to be something missing from it. "We should probably get going. I told Beau we'd meet him out front at seven-thirty."

After one more regretful glance in the mirror, I followed Nessa out the door to find our friend.

Beau, funnily enough, was awash with nerves, drumming his fingers on the top of the steering wheel the entire way to the hotel. Nessa said that he'd found a date, and I was sure that had something to do with it. But it was amusing; Beau was always so unaffected by everyone and everything.

Not anymore, apparently.

I wasn't one to talk, though. My entire body hummed with the anticipation of seeing Bren. He'd decided to meet us at the Cardairel, and Nessa had already put her hand on my leg twice to keep it from bouncing as we sat in the back of Beau's Range Rover.

The Cardairel Hotel stood tall in downtown San Francisco, and it was even fancier than that restaurant Bren had taken me to in LA. It oozed old-world elegance with its painted ceilings and golden fixtures.

As I stood with Beau, Nessa, and Jonathon—who seemed nice so far—at the top of a grand staircase, I scanned my surroundings. We were looking out over a gilded lobby, affording the perfect vantage point of guests as they streamed in for the gala. And I was adjusting the mask on my face as I saw Bren striding across polished floors.

It didn't matter that nearly every guy looked the same with their tuxedos, ties, and half-hidden faces. I knew it was Bren. I could tell by the way that he walked, by the way that he carried himself. By that hair, those shoulders. It made my heart lurch. Because it was him. And he was walking with a hot confidence, wearing all black.

From his tux to his dress shirt to his mask. Of course, he was in all black.

But it also made my heart lurch because he wasn't walking alone.

Bren started up the staircase, making his way to where we were gathered. And he still hadn't seen me. He hadn't noticed. No, Bren was far too busy paying attention to the girl on his arm.

"Who's that?" I heard myself snap.

"Holy shit," Beau muttered behind me. But it wasn't like a holy shit as in fuck, Bren is with another girl. It was a holy shit, like damn, she's hot.

Which she was. Whoever she was, she was gorgeous. She was tiny by powerful, wearing a strappy red dress that I would never be able to pull off. Ringlet curls spilled over her shoulders, and I just knew they were natural. Because everything about her seemed effortless.

Effortless and gorgeous. So gorgeous that Bren couldn't seem to take his eyes off of her. A nastiness filled my gut. This wasn't the first that I'd found myself feeling jealous about Bren and other girls. But this was by far the worst. Because he was mine. And yet, there he was, for some reason acting like that wasn't true.

Finally, Bren looked up. His eyes connected with my feet first, but they quickly traveled up to my eyes. He froze. His mouth popped upon. His hand hovered on the back of Ms. Gorgeous like he didn't know what to do. His mouth moved. But he was still too far away, and I couldn't tell what he was saying.

The painful moment stretched on and on until Bren seemed to snap out of it. He dropped his hand from the girl's back as something flickered in his eyes. With half of his face covered, it was hard to tell what it was.

But maybe I didn't want to know.

He climbed the rest of the steps toward me. And when he was within arm's reach, my ability to breathe seemed to vanish.

"Madie," he said, sounding gravelly.

God, his voice. There was a note of relief in it that I felt so acutely.  And hearing his low murmur so close to me—and not over the phone—was nearly my undoing. I almost forgot everything and flung myself into his arms, but then I remembered how those arms had just been around someone else.

So I forced myself to simply say, "Hi, Bren."

earlier that day

I was so ready to get the hell out of Fresno. Luckily, Collins seemed to be on the same page.

"What are we doing?" she asked after I gave my reservation details to the front attendant and drove over the spikes built into the floor of the parking garage.

"We're taking a rental car to Oakland," I said, quickly finding a spot and parking.

"Why?"

Because my dad is fucking stalking me.

"It's complicated. Stay here while I get the car."

Collins shrugged and adjusted the skirt on the red dress Beau had sent her. "Okay, whatever."

After getting the keys for the Toyota Camry I'd rented, I moved our bags over and motioned for Collins to switch cars as well. She nearly tripped in her heels as she walked the five-foot distance, and I tried not to laugh as she swore at herself. Looking away, I took the chance to survey the garage instead.

Even if my dad had been following me this morning, there was no way he could be here. Not in the third level of a parking garage that wasn't accessible without a reservation. But even knowing that, the urge to search for him didn't go away.

He was out there. Somewhere. And after this weekend, I was going to call Officer James to talk about how we could work together to find him. Because I was done waiting.

I saw that Collins had settled herself inside the Camry and slipped into the driver's seat next to her. Soon enough, we were on the highway. A smile stretched over my face as I stepped down on the gas. I was going to see Madie tonight.

Collins seemed to notice. "Someone's excited," she commented, laughing a bit as she glanced over at me.

"You have no idea," I said, sighing.

"Wow," she laughed again. "This right now—" She pointed a finger at my face. "This isn't a Bren Hadaway that I've seen before."

My grin grew. "It sounds cliche as fuck, but my girlfriend is my whole life, Collins. And I've missed the shit out of her."

Her head tilted in curiosity. "If she's your whole life, then why did you leave Oakland?"

"It's complicated."

She rolled her eyes. "Is that your new tagline or something?" She shifted in her seat, getting comfortable. "We have the time; you might as well tell me about it."

I took a few moments to stare at the endless road we were on before giving in. And by the time we made it to Oakland, the whole story had spilled out. But I had to admit, it felt good to talk to someone who understood—at least to some extent. After all, Collins' childhood was as fucked up as mine.

Once we'd parked in front of the Cardairel Hotel, I escorted Collins inside, fighting my way through the crowds with an eagerness that could only be explained by my need to see Madie.

Sweet perfumes and musky colognes were clogging my senses as we followed the stream of people to a massive carpeted staircase. Collins swore beneath her breath as we stepped onto the bottom step.

"I shouldn't have worn these heels," she muttered.

With a light laugh, I gave her my arm. The last thing I needed right now was Collins falling down a flight of stairs. Making sure that didn't happen, I kept my eyes on her as we made our way up. And luckily, she managed to keep from tripping on the hem of Beau's expensive-as-fuck gown.

As we reached the top steps, I glanced up.

"Oh my god."

Madie was poised on the landing, leaning an elbow over a shiny banister and looking like she could be on the cover of a goddamn magazine. Her gown was a tight, cream-colored contraption that seemed to have glittery flecks in it. Or maybe she just fucking sparkled like that. The hell if I knew, but she was beyond beautiful. Her winged mask was gold, and the wig she'd borrowed from Nessa was short and brunette. But damn if it didn't look good on her. Everything looked good on her.

Everything looked good off of her, too, but that was a thought for later.

Collins' voice eventually pulled me out of my trance.

"Is that your girl?" she hissed.

I nodded mutely.

"Then get your hand off me, crazy boy." She twisted, swatting at the hand I had rested on the small of her back as we'd walked up the stairs.

"What?" Bewildered, I dropped my arm down to my side and glanced at Collins. Her eyes were wide beneath her white mask.

"Get your shit together, Hadaway," she hissed again, "and go over there before your girl's scowl grows even deeper."

"Scowl?" I turned back to Madie, whose facial expression had, indeed, soured. Her eyes flicked between Collins and me. She said something to Beau and Nessa before her lips tugged downward.

"Oh my god," Collins groaned, "What are you waiting for?"

"Nothing. I just...froze. She's so fucking beautiful."

"Holy shit, you're ridiculous." Collins gave me a little nudge, and suddenly my feet were working again, closing the distance between Madie and me.

"Madie," I murmured.

I heard her suck in a breath. But when she spoke, her voice was clipped. "Hi, Bren."

"You stunned me, baby," I said softly as I leaned in to kiss her. Her lips pressed against mine, and I fucking reveled in the feel of her so close. Of touching her. Of feeling her hot, sweet breath on my skin. She smelled like a whole goddamn bouquet of flowers.

And yet, the kiss was light. Reluctant. Nothing like how I'd imagined.

"Apparently," she muttered against my mouth when our lips broke.

I pulled back. "What does that mean?"

"Were you stunned that I caught you with your date?" Madie crossed her arms over her chest, and I tried—and failed—not to notice the effect of that. "Who is she?"

Frowning, I said, "What? You're my date, Madie."

Her eyes rolled behind her mask. "Who is the girl you walked in with, Bren?"

I swiveled, looking for Collins. But she was nowhere to be seen. Nessa and Beau had vanished, too.

Sighing, I glanced back at Madie. "Her name is Collins. She's Beau's date."

For fuck's sake, hadn't he told her?

"But who is she?"

"An old friend, Madie."

She raised a brow, and her lips flattened. This was not how I had hoped our reunion would go.

I shoved my hands into my pants' pockets and explained, "I've been doing a lot of digging into my past lately. You know that. So I went back to that church where I used to go for grief counseling in high school. Anyway, Collins used to go too, but she runs the program now, and I bumped into her."

Running a hand nervously through my hair, I realized just how much I hadn't told Madie. Grimacing, I reluctantly added, "Actually, she got me a job there. I've been helping out in the office."

Madie's lips popped apart at that. And I knew I was single-minded, but all I wanted to do was kiss her. Forget everything else and just kiss the hell out of those lips. But based on her expression, I knew that wouldn't go how I wanted it to. She began to shake her head at me.

"Madie, you're not honestly concerned—"

"When I asked you to come," she said lowly, cutting me off, "I didn't realize that you'd be bringing one of your old fuck buddies with you all the way to Oakland."

My mouth snapped shut. And then for some reason, I dared to say, "I never said—"

"No, but I can put two and two together, Bren." Her crossed arms tightened. "You think I forgot about your church basement hook-ups?"

"Madie," I pleaded. "All of that is in the past."

She nodded. "Okay. But just be honest with me, Bren. Did you bring a piece of your past with you tonight?"

I couldn't lie to her.

"Yes."

"And you've been...seeing her while you've been in Fresno?"

"Working together, yes," I clarified. "But I barely even—"

It was too late. Madie had turned on her heel and walked away.

🤍

I feel like a hyped you all up and then dropped this. I'm sorry but trust the process!

xoxo amelie