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“Fine, but you owe me one.”
She bit her lip, like she’d like anything else but to owe me a favor, but she must have really meant it because she nodded and said, “Fine.”
Thanksgiving was delicious, and Marley’s Harvard friends were so friendly. Her roommate happened to be a huge Academy fan, and I made sure to only sneak looks at Maddox once to see his reaction to her roommate gushing about my job. But he was purposely looking down and saying nothing.
By the time dinner was over, my entire body was on edge. This should have been my triumphant moment, and instead, I felt … empty.
I was glad when everyone else left. Marley’s roommate gave me her bedroom for the night. Maddox was taking the couch.
“I’ll just be a minute,” Marley said as she stepped outside with Derek.
When the door closed, Maddox and I were officially alone together. The silence was interminable. I wanted to shake something loose in him. Have him look at me or fucking say something. Fuck.
“She’s into a Holy Cross boy. Who would have guessed?”
Maddox shrugged. “She liked him in high school.”
My eyes widened. “Wait … what? She said college.”
“I drove her to his house once.”
My gasp made him finally look up at me. “How did I never know this?”
“You know Mars.”
I did. But now that his dark eyes were on me, I wasn’t thinking about my bestie at all.
“It’s good to see you, Maddox.”
He clenched his jaw. “I’m sure.”
“Maddox …”
“You got everything you ever wanted, Josie. I don’t really want to have this conversation.”
I nodded, swallowing back my own anger rising in me. “Fine.”
Marley rescued us by stepping back inside. She had a drowsy, lovesick look on her face. “That was fun.”
“Totally.”
Putting on a fake smile, I turned back to Mars and pretended Maddox didn’t matter at all. I felt him with us the entire time we enjoyed the night. Marley must have felt the tension. It was thick and toxic in the room, but she let us be. At least she was good for that.
Marley promised to walk me around Harvard tomorrow and then went into her room and closed the door. I went into her roommate’s room and lay in her bed, staring up at the popcorn ceiling. Maddox was a room away, and I could still feel the anger bristling between us. As potent as ever.
“Fuck.”
I didn’t want things to be like this. I didn’t want any of this.
19
HARVARD
NOVEMBER 23, 2012
Kicking my feet over the side of the bed, I pulled a cardigan over my tank top and stepped hesitantly out of the bedroom. Maddox was asleep on the couch. Damn, how had he gone to sleep so easily? Why wasn’t he fuming as much as me?
I poured myself a glass of water. As I went to return to the room, I heard his voice say softly in the dark, “Josie?”
I jumped, and water sloshed onto the rug. “Shit.”
“What are you doing?”
“Getting water.”
He sat up on the couch, shifting enough to reveal that he was in nothing but boxers and a loose T-shirt. My throat bobbed. God, he was handsome in a completely unruffled way. The opposite of every guy I’d met since moving to LA.
“Want something stronger?”
I bit my lip, wondering what the catch was, but still, I nodded. He got to his feet and went into the kitchen, appearing a minute later with two glasses of amber liquid.
“Thanks,” I said, taking a sip from the drink. I winced. “Whoa, what is this?”
“Whiskey and Coke. Marley only has cheap whiskey and brandy.” He shrugged. “Best I could do.”
I remained standing as he plopped back down on the couch. I was shivering where I stood in shorts. The California girl who had forgotten how cold Massachusetts winters were.
“You don’t have to stand there and freeze. I won’t bite.”
“That’s debatable,” I said. “You sure had some biting words to say about my career.”
He sighed and tipped back the drink. “Yeah. I guess I’m bitter.”
“For being wrong?” I shot back.
“For losing you.”
The malice left my voice at that admission. I walked the few steps to the couch and took a seat next to him, stealing the blanket and wrapping it around my bare legs.
“I know what you mean,” I finally said.
His eyes were still locked on me, almost as if he couldn’t believe we were sitting here. “Is that so? Off dating the man of your dreams and you want me to believe that you’ve thought of me?”
“I thought you weren’t going to bite.”
“Yeah. I guess I sort of hate Martin Harper.”
“That’s fair,” I admitted.
He’d been our joke. A hall pass if I ever met him. And while he wasn’t the reason Maddox and I had ended, it had to be salt in the wound that I was with him now.
“Marley mentioned you were seeing someone,” I said softly.
