“Oh, look,” Madison muttered into her glass, talking to herself. “Haley is going home with Scott. Super fun!” She stared at the half-consumed drink in her hand, waiting for a reply, and decided it was better to finish her cocktail rather than trying to talk with it. Madison tilted her head backward and chugged. What in the hell had made her agree to come out with them tonight?
Two hours into the evening and Madison was ready to call it quits. She’d masochistically stalked Haley and Scott most of the night and had had enough. If Haley—who had insisted so much on this “night out drinking,” only to sip a single cocktail and ignore her friends to be with her boyfriend—was going home, so could Madison. She had drunk enough to be tipsy, and the constant thumping in her temples promised a mean hangover the next day.
Madison was about to follow the happy couple out when another member of the team leaned his elbows on the table next to her now-empty glass. “They make my stomach turn, too,” he said.
Madison detached her gaze from Scott and Haley to stare up at the newcomer. To call him “hot” would have been an understatement. “And you are?” she asked.
“David. Pleased to meet you.” He smiled a confident, lopsided grin that screamed danger.
Madison’s lips parted in a surprised O. “You’re the infamous brother.” It figured that Scott’s brother would be even better looking and into Haley just as much as his younger sibling.
“I hope you didn’t believe everything you heard about me.”
“Why?” Madison cocked her head to the side. “I’ve only heard good things. Are they not true?”
Whoops, she was flirting. So? David looked just as pissed off at the leaving duo as she was; so what if they mourned together?
Trouble shared is a trouble halved.
David jerked his chin toward her empty glass. “Want another one of those?”
“Sure, why not?”
Or possibly double-trouble.
“You go to Harvard too?” David asked, once he was back with their drinks.
“Yep,” Madison said between sips. “What’s your concentration?”
“Statistics. Yours?”
“Ew. No offense, but I can’t stand numbers.”
David smiled genially. “None taken.”
“I’m studying English Literature and Poetry.”
David raised his eyebrows. “I hope you’re not as much of a tormented soul as my little brother.”
Madison blushed at the mention of Scott. “I hope ‘tormented’ isn’t the first word that comes to mind when one looks at me.”
“Definitely not.” Davis brushed his right thumb across her cheek. “‘Beautiful’ would be more appropriate.”
The rosy tint on her cheeks grew a deeper red. “Want to dance?” Madison asked, for lack of other responses.
David pinned her with his blue gaze. “I’d love to.”
“Great!”
Madison gulped down the remains of her drink and grabbed David’s hand to lead him to the dais in the center of the room. It was already crowded with throngs of partygoers having a good time. She made to turn to face David, but he spun her round and wrapped his arms around her from behind. As they started swaying in time to the music, David’s chin brushed the top her head. He was so tall. Having him so close, Madison moved rigidly as a stick at first. Until David lowered his head and whispered, “Relax,” close enough to her ear to send shivers down her spine.
Maybe it was the one-too-many drinks, or the hot guy standing behind her, or the one that had gone home with her best friend. Madison didn’t care; she let her inhibitions melt away. She was happy to just dance to the fast rhythm of the music, pressing herself against the solid wall of David’s chest. She lost count of how many songs played before the dancing changed to full-scale making out. David was a great kisser.
Her phone started vibrating in her small leather clutch. Madison ignored it, too engrossed in the kiss to stop. But when it kept on vibrating, she pulled back with an embarrassed, “Sorry” to check out who it was.
She had two missed calls and a text from Alice asking where she was and saying she was heading home.
“It’s Alice,” Madison said. “She’s going home. You want to go, too?”
David smiled. “I’m having fun right here.”
“Yeah, me too. Do you mind waiting here while I go say bye?”
“Not at all.” David grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close to kiss her lightly on the lips. “Don’t make me wait too long.”
Madison blushed. “I won’t.” She took two steps backward, never breaking eye contact, and turned to push her way through the crowd to go tell Alice she was staying.