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“If you start showing your work, I’ll start letting you go to these things,” Gran said.
“Okay. If I agree to show my work, can I go?”
“You’d better hold up your end of the deal,” Gran said.
“I will,” he said swiftly. Anything to get to go.
“I want to speak with Philip’s parents before I agree to this,” she said.
I stood at the top of the stairs, waiting to see if Maddox got approval for us to go to his friend’s to watch a movie. He stomped up the stairs a few minutes later in a huff.
“Well?” I asked.
He shrugged with a twitch in his jaw. “She’s calling his parents.”
“Wow. She cares so much.”
Dad wouldn’t have even asked who was going to be there or what time I’d be back or if there were parents. The weekend before coming here, I’d gone to a house party. I’d gotten high with some random dudes I’d met at the basketball game and people were giving blow jobs in the bathroom.
He snorted. “Too much. It’s just a movie.”
“Must be nice,” I muttered.
“I promise, it just sucks.”
“If you say so.”
We’d gotten home from the beach a few hours ago as the temperatures dropped. Marley and Lila had to be at the dance studio for competition prep all night. They’d be there late, and I wanted nothing less than to go to my mother’s house. When Philip had invited us to come to his house and watch the latest movie release he’d rented, I’d jumped at the opportunity before thinking about whether or not Gran would even let us out of the house.
A few minutes later, Gran called Maddox down the stairs.
Then, Maddox stuck his head in the stairway. He gave me a thumbs-up. I jumped to my feet and trotted down the stairs after him. We waved good-bye to Gran, hurried into his truck, and pulled away.
“I can’t believe she let us go,” Maddox said. “I thought she’d stop us.”
“Me too. It’s kind of exciting. Back home, no one gives a shit where I am or what I’m doing.”
Maddox frowned. “Your dad probably cares.”
I shook my head. “He’s too busy at the art studio. Sometimes he forgets he has a daughter.”
“That’s sad.”
“It’s whatever,” I said dismissively. “So, what are we actually doing at Philip’s house? Did someone pick up some weed, or should we use my fake to get some beer?”
Maddox did a double take. “Uh … we’re going to watch a movie.”
I blinked at him. “Seriously? Like … actually watch a movie?”
He laughed. “Uh, yeah. What kind of parties are you going to in Atlanta?”
My cheeks heated. “The wrong kind.”
Maddox parked in Philip’s driveway, where a handful of other cars were already parked on the street. I slid out of the truck and followed him around back to the basement door. Maddox pushed his way inside, and we took the stairs down to a dark game room, filled with old couches, a projection TV, and tons of board games.
“You made it,” Philip said, shaking hands with Maddox. “And you brought Josie.”
I winked at him. “He couldn’t have left without me.”
“Of that I’m sure. Let me introduce you around.”
There were about a dozen people already crowded around the couches or digging through a mini fridge. I recognized some of the guys from the beach and was glad to see a few girls were also there. I accepted a Coke from Philip and took a seat on the last open couch. Maddox dropped down next to me with a Dr. Pepper in hand.
“All the movies out this month were shit,” Philip said as he slid a DVD into the player. “But the new Natalie Portman stripper movie just came out.”
I rolled my eyes. “Typical. It’s called Closer, and it’s a goddamn masterpiece.”
“It was nominated for two Oscars,” Maddox said.
“Right. Natalie Portman and Clive Owen put on the most incredible performance.”
“And the way it’s shot,” Maddox added. “I saw some of the clips, and it’s visually perfect.”
“They were robbed.”
“Can we not with the film bullshit, Mad Son?” Philip said.
I glanced at him in confusion. “Mad Son?”
Maddox sighed. “Maddox Nelson. Mad from my first name and Son from my last name. It’s just what he calls me.”
“Ridiculous.”
“It’s the best!” Philip said. “Now shut up.”
Then he pressed play on the movie.
I’d seen Closer opening weekend. I’d bought a ticket to see National Treasure and then slipped into Closer to experience the rated-R film. It had enraptured me. The four people who moved in and out of each other’s lives, wrecking everything in their path in the need for love. Somehow, I felt connected to that. Like I could understand the extremes they’d go to feel something.
The last light was flicked off, and Natalie Portman walked onto the screen. I leaned back in my seat, hypnotized all over again. But watching it with Maddox seated next to me was a whole new experience. His hip was pressed tight against mine. Our shoulders touched. Heat radiated off our bodies. I chanced a glance up at him and found he was already staring down at me.
