AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A feminine voice floats in from the doorway, and I turn my head with a sniffle to see Roxy standing there, peering in at us in what must appear to be a very compromising position. My cheeks immediately redden with embarrassment, eyes flickering back up to meet Madd’s.
He doesn’t even look in Roxy’s direction. His gaze is still intently focused on my face as he growls, “Fuck off, Rox.”
“But Madd…” she whines, edging into the doorway.
He rocks back on his heels, the heat of his body leaving mine as he rises up on his knees and twists his upper body toward her. “I said fuck off!”
I flinch at the savagery of his yell, watching as he pushes off the couch and stomps over to the double-doors, grabbing onto one with each hand and slamming them in her face so hard that they rattle on their hinges. Engaging the lock, he whirls back around and strides toward me.
I scramble to sit up on the couch, afraid of what’ll happen if he climbs on top of me again. At least Roxy showing up was enough of a distraction that I’ve stopped crying. I wipe the wetness from my cheeks, hoping my makeup isn’t a mess, then wondering why the hell I even care about my makeup at a time like this.
“That wasn’t nice,’ I say quietly, tipping my head toward the doors.
“I’mnot nice,” he retorts.
I fight the urge to roll my eyes. I’m not convinced he’s truly as heartless as he portrays himself to be these days. If he was, he would’ve left me sitting in the other room crying in front of everyone, not carried me away and licked my tears. He wouldn’t have dismissed Roxy like that to preserve my dignity.
I wet my lips with my tongue as I look up at Madd hesitantly. “You used to be.”
“I used to be a lot of things,” he grumbles.
A long pause falls over us as he stands before me like a statue, his tall, looming form making me feel even smaller.
“She’ll be losing her mind out there,” I say, glancing toward the doors.
“Let her.”
My chest rises and falls rapidly with my breathing, my heartbeat pounding out of control. Knowing I need to put some distance between us in order to think clearly, I abruptly push up from the sofa, squeezing past him to pace further into the room.
This suite used to seem like a palace, but now, it’s impossible not to notice how dirty and aged everything in here appears. A long time ago, this place wasours; me and Madd’s. We claimed it when we first started throwing parties here at the lodge in our teens. If you look closely at the large oak door, you’ll see our names written on it in permanent marker: Sloane and Madd, the duke and duchess of mayhem. Silly titles we anointed one another with and proudly claimed.
Memories flood in as I glance around the room- so many memories of our nights here together. We lost our virginity to one another on the king-sized bed situated on the rear wall, just two fumbling, awkward teenagers who had no idea what they were doing but were so in love that it didn’t matter. We got better at it with practice. The way Madd’s eyes flicker over to the bed tells me he remembers the significance of this room, too. It’s a shame that it has fallen into such a state of decay, but it’s also apt, considering the same thing happened to our relationship.
I step up to the dresser, trailing a fingertip through the thick layer of dust on the surface. “I haven’t been here since that day,” I say quietly, scrutinizing the dust on the tip of my index finger before rubbing it away with my thumb, turning to glance at Madd. “The lodge, I mean. I haven’t been here since… the accident.”
I don’t miss the way he flinches slightly when I bring it up, regret flickering in his eyes. He raises an arm to rake a hand through his messy hair, the hem of his t-shirt riding up to reveal his lower abs and sculpted v-line, unsurprisingly inked to match the rest of him.
“I came here the day you left,” he murmurs. “Trashed the mechanism for the lift. Like that’d make a difference somehow, and you’d come back.”
Pain lances through my chest, my heart aching for that teenage boy I left behind. “I didn’t have a choice Madd. You have to know that.”
He shakes his head with a frown. “There’s always a choice.”
“But…”
His pained expression morphs to anger on a dime, and he cuts me off before I can finish. “You could’ve fought.”
“I tried!”
“Then you should’ve tried harder. You could’ve at least…” he trails off, shaking his head again. “Doesn’t matter. What’s done is done. Ancient history.”
My throat aches, stomach twisting in regret. “Madd…”
“No, Sloane,” he snaps. “Yougave up on us, not me. You left for Denver and never looked back.”
I feel tears welling up in my eyes again, the finality in his tone shattering any hope I had for us into a million pieces.
He points a finger at me, taking a step in my direction. “Don’t you dare cry, Sloane. Don’t you fuckin’ do it.”
