Her eyes narrow as she looks up at me. “So what?”
“How’ve you been?”
She blinks slowly a couple of times, sitting up a bit and pushing back from the table.
“You show up out of the blue, transferring to the same college as me with not so much as a text, and you’re going to start our first private conversion as basic as that?” Rolling her eyes, she starts to pack up her things.
Well, shit, when she puts it that way... “It’s not like you’ve replied to the last twenty or so I’ve sent you over the last three years.”
Zipping up her bag, she stands, ready to run away it seems. She’s always been really good at that.
“Alright, I’ll give you that one. But still, a phone call would’ve been nice. You know I absolutely hate surprises—and you being here is one of epic proportions.” Turning to move away, she pushesher chair back in. I stand, grabbing my things to follow her like the lovesick fool I am.
“Mads, come on. I’m sorry, okay? I honestly hoped you’d be excited I’m here. It can be just like we always talked about in high school. Both of us, at the same college together.”
She freezes by the door, her entire body tensing. I most definitely said the wrong thing.
Slowly, she turns to look at me. Her face is guarded, but her eyes betray her real feelings, just like they always do. There’s a war of emotions playing in them right now. Too bad for her, I still know her better than anyone. I know exactly what she needs.
“It might take you some time to adjust,” I tell her, stepping around and pushing the door open, “but at the end of the day, you’re still my best friend. A little bit of time and distance doesn’t change that.”
I hold out my hand towards hers, noting the faint smirk starting to form on her lips. God, I can’t help but wonder what they’d feel like against mine, what she’d taste like.
What the fuck? You literally just told her you wanted to be her friend, dick head.
Shaking those thoughts from my head, I give her my best puppy dog eyes.
“You’re joking. Jaxon, you’re freaking twenty one, not sixteen. That doesn’t work on me anymore,” she says, but I can already tell it is. I give a few fake sniffles to add to the dramatics.
A classic eye roll later, and I know I’ve won this round.
“Fine. But we have rules. Boundaries. You can’t just come back into my life and expect me to change everything to fit you in. I have other friends too, ya know.” She straightens the strap of her bag and tucks a few loose strands of hair behind her ear. “But, I’m open to being friends again.”
I can’t help the giant grin that takes over my face as I fling my arm around her shoulders, pulling her into my side and giving her a squeeze. Her arms instinctively wind around my waist, hugging me back.
“There she is.” She shoves me off, but I recover fast. “Oh, come on. You know you love me.”
Her tiny grin threatens to break free, but we’re interrupted by her stomach growling loud enough to wake the dead. She groans, turning her head up towards the sky.
“Exactly why I let ya walk out of the library and started leading you this way.” Pointing towards the small pizza place on campus, I direct her shoulders down the path that leads there. “You would’ve gotten us kicked out if you’d unleashed the inner monster that comes out when you’re hangry.”
Giving me a playful glare, she heads straight for the pizza joint, me right behind her.
Step one: get Madison to be my friend again. Complete. Hopefully.
8
MADISON
The mall hums with life, voices overlapping, footsteps echoing against the polished tile. People weave around me, moving with purpose, but I drift through the crowd like a ghost. My body is here, but my mind is miles away—stuck on the feelings resurfacing the last few times Jaxon and I have hung out.
The way my body comes to life with so much as an accidental brush of our hands. The butterflies and weird swoop thing my stomach does when he smiles right at me, just like it used to before college. I shake my head, trying to shove the memories aside.
Don’t go there, girlfriend.
But it’s useless.
The past two weeks replay like a highlight reel I never agreed to watch—late-night study sessions where I lost track of time, inside jokes whispered over too-hot coffee, the way his eyes crinkle when he laughs. His dimples when he smirks, the way he always smellssogood. He’s everywhere, in the spaces between my thoughts, in the places I swore I’d never let him live.
