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“Liam?” She sounds as if she’s been crying, which causes me to pause and change my attitude.
“I’m here. Are you okay? What’s wrong?”
“I’m fine, just a little shaken up. The apartment next to mine caught on fire, and I had just enough time to pack a bag before I was evacuated. We don’t know when we’ll be allowed back in. Liam, I don’t know what to do. Soph’s out of town, and I don’t want to bug Lennon because she doesn’t have room.”
I go into full-on protection mode. “Where are you now?”
“Standing outside my building with a hundred other students. Fire trucks are everywhere, and the roads are blocked off.”
“I’ll be there as fast as I can.” The call ends, and I hurry and drive toward the university. When I get close, I see people everywhere as well as paramedics and the fire department, just as she said. Forced to park five blocks away, I make my way through the crowd until I finally find her chatting with someone. Maddie’s wearing her dance tights, and her hair is in a tight bun on top of her head. She has her backpack on and a duffel bag beside her. Though she sounded worried as hell on the phone, she wears a smile as she talks. When she spots me, her eyes light up, but she continues with her conversation.
“Yeah, I just finished rehearsing in the studio and was in my room when the fire alarms went off. I grabbed clothes, my laptop, and books before rushing out.” She turns and loops her arm through mine. “There you are, Hulk. Shelby, this is my future husband.”
Groaning, I pull my arm away, then look at Shelby, who’s giving me heart eyes. “No, I’m not. I’m her sister’s roommate.”
Maddie continues, “He’s just playing hard to get. We’ll see. Keep an eye out for the save the date card.”
Shelby giggles, and they say their goodbyes. Maddie looks at me with a mischievous grin on her tempting red lips. “Loosen up. You’re tighter than a virgin right now.”
I glare and shake my head at her. “Let’s go,” I say harshly, grabbing her bag and leading us toward my truck. She follows, staying in step with my fast pace.
After I unlock the doors, we climb inside, and she meets my eyes as I crank the engine and start driving. “What crawled up your ass and died?”
“I was worried about you,” I snap. “And you’re too busy making jokes.”
She gives me a lazy smirk. “Oh, I wasn’t joking. The quicker you jump on board, the better. So tired of this pesky V-card and—”
“Maddie! Just stop,” I bark, not wanting her to go any further.
She shrugs, not giving two fucks about it. Instantly, she changes the subject.
“So you wanna tell me what’s really going on with my sister and Mason this weekend?” She lifts her eyebrows at me and waits impatiently.
“Nothing is going on.” I press on the gas, zooming onto the interstate.
She scoffs. “Oh my God. You are so lying right now.”
“Just let it go,” I say, but Maddie picks up her phone and holds it up, showing off Sophie’s contact.
“All it’ll take is one press of a button. I’ll call her and ask her what’s going on and find out why you’re being so damn weird.” Her finger inches toward the call icon, but right before she touches it, I tell her to stop.
“Something’s going on.” Maddie narrows her eyes, continuing to play on her phone. “So shall I call Mason, instead? Okay.”
She goes to Mason’s contact and doesn’t even hesitate before pressing it.
“Holy fuck. He’s going to propose. There, are you happy?”
She ends the call and laughs. “What? Are you serious?” she squeals. “He’s finally going to propose to my sister?” With a genuine smile on her face, she claps her hands together, and it’s the happiest I’ve seen her in weeks, maybe ever.
Her phone rings a minute later, and I see it’s Mason calling. She answers it nonchalantly, saying a friend picked her up, and ends the call with an I love you.
“What the hell?” I ask.
“It was my mom. I changed her contact to say Mason’s name, you big ass sucker.”
My jaw nearly falls to the floorboard, and I shake my head. “You played me, you little shit.”
“Like a fiddle.” She chuckles.
“That’s it. You’re fucking grounded when we get home,” I say, somewhat shocked that she outsmarted me like that.
Maddie snorts and rolls her eyes. “So I’m on house arrest? Think you can handle me alone for that long?” she teases, and I groan, already regretting this whole damn day. I should’ve gone to Vegas when I had the chance.
“Change of plans.” I deadpan. “You stay home; I leave.”
She frowns and narrows her eyes. “They said they don’t know how long it’ll take to restore everything from the smoke damage. All the extra housing on campus is full, so a large group of us is shit out of luck, essentially. One person said they’d send us to a motel temporarily, but even then, we’d be on our own getting to and from campus.”
