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I wanted to kiss Madison—I wanted to do a lot more than that. But in the back of my mind, I knew I should wait. I truly believed I was over Katie, but I had to make sure, absolutely sure, that I was one hundred percent clear of her before starting something with Madison. And it wasn’t because of her crazy family, who would probably find some way to incarcerate me if I hurt their daughter. It was because I cared about her. She deserved the best. She was also skittish—she’d been single for a long time. If I slept with her tonight and then we had Katie drama when we got back to the city, Madison wouldn’t be able to handle it.
So there I was, alone, my head starting to throb.
My phone buzzed again. Shaking my head in disgust, I answered.
“Finally!” Katie yelled. “I’ve been trying you for hours!”
“What do you want from me, Katie?”
“I just left Dave at the altar for you! I want you to come home.” She started crying. “Why are you making me wait like this?”
“Katie…don’t. Stop crying.” She was being insane, but she sounded hysterical. “C’mon now, you need to calm down. Everything’s going to be okay.”
I heard something behind me and turned around. It was Maddy, standing in the doorway, her eyes wide as she listened to what I said.
“I have to go.” I hung up, but Maddy was already gone, slamming the door behind her. “Maddy, wait!”
I ran to her room and knocked.
“Go away.” Her voice came out muffled, but it sounded like she was crying.
"Maddy…” I rested my forehead against her door.
“I mean it.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. But she didn’t answer. After a minute I gave up and headed back to my room. I sank onto my bed. All the red flags in all the nations didn’t even have to wave anymore.
This weekend had exhausted them on all fronts.
Chapter Eighteen
MADISON
The words played over and over in my head, an endless loop set against the crashing of the waves against the shore. “Katie…don’t. Stop crying. C’mon now, you need to calm down. Everything’s going to be okay.”
He was comforting her. After rejecting me.
I lay on my bed, staring up at the ceiling in the darkness. I’d gone in there to ask if he was okay. Our kiss had been wonderful, but then he’d pulled away, and it had gotten so awkward. It was maddening. We were adults, though, so that was why I’d gone to his room. I wanted to apologize for running away.
He’d been so wrapped up in his phone call, he hadn’t even heard me knock.
I’d been an idiot this weekend. Apparently, I’d been so starved for male attention, any small scrap of affectio
n meant too much to me. It had only been two days, but every time Bob had touched me—held my hand, played with my hair, and worst of all, slow danced with me—I’d wanted him. I’d basked in his attention, reading way more into it than was appropriate. If he’d asked me to, I would have spent the night in his room in a heartbeat.
Instead, I was in my room, alone. And he was next door, probably back on the phone with the runaway bride.
He’d said he wanted to get away for the weekend because he didn’t want to deal with his ex-girlfriend’s wedding. The red flag had been raised right then, but I’d ignored it. He was still emotionally involved with his ex. Clearly, she still had feelings for him—just ask the guy she’d left at the altar!
All I had to show for this weekend was a fake date and a massive hangover.
Not to mention my bruised ego…and aching heart.
Bob waited for me the next morning. “I heard there’s a brunch or something.” He looked nervous.
“There’s always a brunch.” My head throbbed, and my pride was so wounded that I couldn’t bother to use a nice tone.
His shoulders slumped. “Maddy, about last night—”
