Page 58 of Make You Mine

“The weirdest part is the janitor ended up here, too.”

“Joseph?”

“Yeah. I mean. It’s not weird,” she says, speeding up her speech. “But it is a weekday, and yeah, I don’t know. Who goes out to a bar on a weekday? Except Hannah and me, of course.” She giggles.

It is weird. My chest churns.

“Did he hit on you?” I ask.

“No, silly. But he stared at me for quite a bit.”

Of course he did. The creep. How could anyone not when she’s a fucking goddess?

“Is he still there?”

“I don’t know. I lost him.”

Those words raise a red flag in my peripheral vision.

What was Joseph doing there? And where is he now?

Does he have anything to do with the psycho?

I’m gonna have to exchange words with Joseph when I see him. He never stood out to me, and okay, we all live in a small town without many bars. But being there at the same time as Maddy is sketchy.

“His friend hit on me, though. He bought me a drink.”

“What?” I shout into the phone, startled. “Tell me you didn’t accept a drink from a stranger, Madelyn.”

“Oops.”

“God, Little Demon. What are you doing?” I mutter, more for me than for her. “Are you with that guy right now?”

“N-no.” She laughs. “Of course, he left me, too. As usual. They all do.”

“Maddy…”

The feeling squeezing in my chest is the last straw, and I push open the door of my car.

This whole pretending to be on the road so I don’t come running to Madelyn right away and look like an obsessive guy is over.

“I’m here. I’ll see you soon,” I murmur into the phone.

I have to get to her. She is in potential danger, and she won’t even be able to protect herself or notice with the amount of alcohol in her system.

I’ve been patient enough. I’ve been parked outside the bar for the last hour and a half. Well, a block away. I couldn’t be that obvious, but I had to make sure my little demon was okay. The idea was to wait until she left and pass by with the car, pretending to be in the area and taking her home safely. Scratch that plan now.

I wait for the blur of cars to pass until the street is safe enough and I dash for the other side, my jaywalking the least of my concerns.

Once I’m past the door, I scan the room. People are filling the tables with drinks and laughter.

A surprise to me, given it’s a weekday.

My eyes find Madelyn within seconds, sitting at the bar in the same baby pink overall dress and shirt she wore today with one of the straps undone. Her long brown hair cascades down her shoulders, and a choker with a heart design decorates her neck.

Her cheeks turn pink when she catches me staring. Her eyes are glossy and as deep brown as ever.

She waves her hand, and I rush past the row of tables to save her from the darkness ahead.