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“All over me? I’m pretty sure we werejustsleeping. And it takes more than one person to get married, you hotheaded ass!”
“Guys,” Mom says gently, and I spot her beside Dad, a few feet away.
“What is he even doing here? Didn’t you have enough fun together these past two weeks?” Maddox asks.
“Don’t speak to her that way.”
I shut my eyes as Maddox turns on his best friend again. He looks like a bull with a red flag waving in his face. Cooper doesn’t back down. I wish he would.
“I don’t want to hear your voice right now,” Maddox tells him.
“And I didn’t want to get punched in the face first thing in the morning, but here we are. If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at me. But don’t take that tone with Adalyn.”
“I agree with Cooper,” Mom joins in.
All I want to do is rush toward her and hug her after being away for these past two weeks, but now is not the time. Dad’s beside her, but he still has yet to look at me. Hurt pinches my stomach, our last conversation replaying in my mind.
He might not have told me outright, but he’s deeply upset with me and my actions. I don’t remember the last time I upset him this much.
“Why are you all here?” I ask.
“I wanted to see you, sweetheart. I didn’t know Cooper was here,” Mom says sheepishly.
Maddox scoffs, glaring at me. “What a surprise it was to walk in and have our mother try to shove me back out when she found you cuddled up in my best friend’s lap.”
“What can I say? He has a very comfortable lap,” I reply.
Cooper must not care much for his life because he grabs my hand and interlocks our fingers, squeezing tightly. “I wouldn’t have come if I knew you would be making a surprise visit.”
“You shouldn’t have come at all,” Maddox grunts.
“Can we all sit down and talk before someone ends up with more than a bloodied nose? Adalyn, you should help Cooper clean himself up,” Dad suggests, finally stepping in. “Maddox, clean up the blood from the floor and then go make some coffee for everyone.”
“You’re not suddenly alright with this?” Maddox asks him, sounding bewildered.
“No. But throwing punches isn’t going to change anything.”
“I like my coffee with an eighty-twenty creamer-to-coffee ratio, Maddox. The opposite for Cooper. We’ll be back,” I say before pulling Cooper right past my brother and toward the bathroom.
Once I lock us inside the small room, he sits on the toilet lid, and I grab a washcloth from beneath the sink. I gasp when I get a good look at his face.
“He got you good, huh?” I crouch in front of him and hold his head in my hands, turning it side to side as I examine the damage.
“It’s not broken. Just hurts like a bitch.”
“Maybe I should go back out there and punchhimin the face.”
“Don’t break your hand defending my honour. I deserved the punch. Hell, I was expecting it one day or another.”
“That doesn’t make it any better. He’s being dramatic.”
“He’s hurt.”
I wet a washcloth with warm water and begin to dab at the blood on his chin and upper lip. “Well, now you’re even.”
“Not quite, but it’s a step closer.”
“You didn’t do this to spite him. He has to see that.”
