Make Me Bad(18)

There is no way we’re going to make it to the poker game. More than likely, my entire night will be filled with small talk, and if that’s not hell, I don’t know what is. I contemplate stealing the beer from the woman currently blocking my path to the dining room. Becky is her name. She and her friend are flirting with me, but all I want is her beer. I’m eyeing it, and like a schmuck, I realize a little too late that she’s holding it level with her breasts. She thinks I’m staring at her cleavage. Shit.

I’m in a bad mood. Because of Madison. Because she’s not here and she told me she would be.

The noise level increases in the room even more. Becky’s friend elbows her in the side and angles her head toward the door. I follow their gaze just in time to see Colten Hart walk in with a case of beer in hand. He’s with a few of his buddies from the police force, guys I recognize from around town. Then he steps aside and reveals a small brunette standing behind him in a pale blue dress.

She didn’t change after work, but she took her hair down. It’s a wild mess, hanging in loose curls down her back. A few strands fall across her face and when she reaches up to push them behind her ear, my gut clenches.

“Is that Colten’s little sister?” Becky asks, curious.

“No way,” her friend replies. “She never comes to this stuff.”

She laughs. “Colten must have felt bad for her.”

I nearly snarl before I catch myself.

Madison is finally here and looking like an angel.

An angel, I remind myself, who’s decided to fall.





8





Madison





I haven’t seen Ben yet, but I know he’s here, and just the thought sends a shiver down my spine. He’s probably too busy to realize I just walked in the door. Chances are there are enough beautiful women flocked around him to keep him occupied. At this very moment he could be off somewhere with a woman, doing things with her—to her—things I’ve only dreamed about. Or, I tell myself, letting hope flap its wings inside me, he could be watching me right now. He could find me as beautiful and mysterious as I find him, but let’s get real—that’s highly unlikely. If he has seen me arrive, he’s probably assessing my appearance and wondering why the hell I didn’t change out of this silly dress or bother to fix my makeup or maybe, I don’t know, run a freaking brush through my hair. The truth is, it was hard work convincing my brother to bring me. I wasn’t going to make it even worse by strapping myself into a tight dress and sliding on five-inch heels.

Colten came over to eat dinner at the house after I got home from the library. Though I normally try to cook healthy options for my dad, I decided tonight it was better to strategize. I prepared lasagna and fresh garlic bread. I made sure there was a chilled beer waiting for each of them on the table. Also, I pulled Scrabble off the shelf in the hall closet—Colten’s game of choice. We hadn’t been playing for long when he warned us that he wouldn’t be able to stay too late because he had plans. I’d known that moment was coming. I’d thought about it nonstop during dinner. It was why the lasagna was slightly burned and why I was losing so badly at Scrabble (a game I usually won handily).

If I wanted Colten to take me with him to the party, I had to be careful and play it just right.

For starters, I had to sound casual when I asked him where he was headed. Still, he knew right away that something was up. I don’t usually ask about his social life. Even though he’s only a few years older than me, we don’t ever go out together. He never invites me, and I’ve never been brave enough to ask for an invite.

Until now.

“Jake’s party?” I asked, rearranging my Scrabble tiles.

“How’d you know about that?” he asked, frowning.

I tried to seem as if I was concentrating hard on the strategy of the game rather than the strategy of my reply. “My friend at work mentioned it.”

I even added a half-hearted shrug for emphasis.

He seemed skeptical. “Eli?”

“No, someone else. Anyway, I was thinking of going.”

He and my dad studied me intently from across the table. This cavalier suggestion that I would attend the party wasn’t just out of character for me, it was as if aliens had infiltrated my body and were now using me as a human proxy.

“Think that’s a good idea, kiddo?” my dad asked, sipping his coffee.

I ground my teeth together in annoyance. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

Colten played his turn and then replied, “Dad’s right. That sort of scene isn’t the right place for you, Maddie. I’ll take you another time. Hey, Cassie is getting a few people together to go to the Astros game next weekend. Want to come with us?”

A baseball game, really? Was he also going to buy me a little stuffed animal and some ice cream too? He was casting me aside. They both were. I was used to them handling me with kid gloves since they’d done it my whole life, but surely this was taking it too far.

“I’d like to go to the party,” I said, glancing up at Colten and making sure my features didn’t seem overly eager. “It could be fun.”

He and my dad exchanged a worried glance. They were about to forbid me from going, as if I still had to abide by their rules at twenty-five years old.