Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 76205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
“Maddie,” Jesse says, “let us in. We’ll explain everything.”
“Fuck you both.” She walks back in the room, slamming the door.
I hold up my key card. He nods at me, and then I hover it over the door, opening it. We walk in. Maddie is sitting on her bed.
“We were going to tell you everything in the morning,” Jesse says.
“This doesn’t change anything, Maddie,” I say.
Maddie drops her jaw open. “Doesn’t change anything? Are you fucking kidding me? This trip was supposed to be about you and me, Brianna. About our friendship. Not about you shacking up with my brother.” Then she turns to Jesse, her eyes on fire. “And you? You’ve never given any one of the awesome foursome a look before. And now? It has to be now, when Brianna and I are supposed to be forging our friendship? Enjoying a trip to Europe together? Fuck you both.”
“Maddie,” I began, “I did lie to you, and I’m sorry. My feelings for Jesse are something I’ve had for a long time, and I never told anyone.”
“That’s another lie, Bree. I know you tell Gina, Angie, and Sage everything.”
I shake my head. “Not this. It’s something I’ve kept to myself since I was fourteen years old.”
“You’ve been after my brother since you were fourteen years old?” She grimaces, and for a moment I think she’s going to spit in my face. “You’re disgusting.”
“It started out as a crush,” I say, “and if you’re thinking badly of your brother, don’t. He didn’t know I was alive back then.”
“Listen, Mads,” Jesse says. “I didn’t expect this to happen. But if you want me to be honest, I’ve always found Brianna very attractive. I never acted on it because I thought our age difference was too great. But… I don’t know… Being in London and all…”
“You just couldn’t help yourself?” Maddie scoffs.
“No, that’s a lie,” Jesse says. “It started before we left Snow Creek.”
He’s talking about our kiss outside Murphy’s.
So it did mean something to him.
I can’t help a smile.
“And neither of you decided to tell me about it,” she says.
“Because I didn’t know what I was feeling,” Jesse says.
“Sell it to someone who believes you.” Maddie turns her back on us.
“Maddie,” I say, “I should have been honest with you. I wanted to come on this tour because of Jesse. But I also wanted to come to experience it with you. I still do.”
“Bullshit. You’d rather be sleeping with my brother.”
She’s not wrong, but Jesse and I can’t stay together, and if I’m going to convince him that I love him as much as he professes to love me, I think it’s better that we don’t. It’s better that we get to know each other more slowly.
He stays with Dragon, and I stay with Maddie. Maybe we can have a date here and there, if he has free time. And I’ll let him use my body for all the tension release he needs. Because he’s not really using me. Not now.
“I didn’t expect this to happen, Mads,” Jesse says. “But I’d be lying if I said it only started here in the UK. I began having feelings for Brianna before, though I lied to myself about it.”
“This is really happening…” She turns toward us again, and this time her cheeks are streaked with tears. She sniffles. “Not only my two sisters, but now my brother has fallen for a Steel. Has gotten a Steel to fall for him. You’re all going to be Steels, and where does that leave me?”
“Oh, Maddie.” I sit down next to her, push her hair out of her face. “None of this changes anything.”
“Brianna’s right,” he says. “Rory, Callie, and I are all Pikes first. That will never change, and all three of us will always be here for you.”
“And Jesse and I are just beginning,” I say. “We haven’t talked about the future. I mean, I hope we have a future, but it’s not something we’re worried about right now. What’s important right now is for Jesse and the band to give this tour everything they’ve got.” I grab Maddie’s hand. “I’m here for you, Maddie, and we’re both here for them—to give them the support they need to make this tour everything they’ve ever dreamed of.”
She sniffles back a sob. “That’s all I want. For the band to be a success. For Mom and Dad’s ranch and vineyard to be a success. And the success of the band can help that. I don’t begrudge any of you finding love. Not the two of you, not Rory and Callie. But I’m always the odd one out. I’m not a true member of the awesome foursome, and now, I feel like the only Pike left.”
“Didn’t I just say that Rory, Callie, and I will always be Pikes first?”
“Yeah, you did. But I know how it is once you get married, Jesse.”