Loose Ends

Book 1: Three, the Perfect Number

MADISON

Madison stood in the hall of her dorm listening to the sound of people fucking.

Normally, in a college dorm that wouldn't be that out of place...except for the fact that she was standing outside of her boyfriend's room.

And since he obviously wasn't fucking ~her~ then he was fucking ~someone else.~

She put her ear against the door and heard the slap of skin, a woman moaning, a man grunting. Not just any man - it had to be her boyfriend Daniel.

Madison tried the handle - it was unlocked. She pushed the door open and peered inside the room.

Then she saw with her very own eyes why she’d never been sure about Daniel.

Her boyfriend was happily exploring another woman’s body. Specifically, ~Joanna’s~ body. Joanna, who’d sworn Madison was her closest friend.

But instead of anger or jealousy, Madison felt a strange sense of calm as she pushed the door all the way open.

Daniel and Joanna both froze, then snapped their gazes to her.

Daniel’s stupid mouth hung open, gaping like a fish. Joanna just looked pissed.

“Well,” Madison said. “Thanks for making this easy for me, Daniel. We’re done.”

“Babe, let me explain—”

“There’s nothing ~to~ explain.” She turned to leave, and although she could hear him scrambling after her, she didn’t stop.

“Wait!” Daniel grabbed her wrist, and she turned, trying to yank herself away from him.

He was half-naked, with a blanket around his waist. His hands were damp.

~Probably Joanna’s sweat.~

“Let go of me!” Madison snapped, her lip curling in disgust. Her so-called ~friend~ was sitting on the bed, covering herself with a pillow. She didn’t even look sorry.

“If you’ll just talk to me—”

“I never want to talk to you again, Daniel. Now let go of me!”

His grip tightened, a manic look in his eyes, and Madison winced in pain.

“Let her go,” said a booming voice behind them.

Daniel let go immediately, his jaw dropping as he stared at the person who’d spoken.

Madison could recognize that husky voice anywhere - Ethan. One of her older brothers’ best friends. He’d come to pick her up because her brothers were busy. She turned to look at him and almost gasped.

He’d always been a good-looking boy, but now he was a handsome ~man~. At least six feet, three inches of God’s finest work.

His shoulders were so wide and his muscles so defined that even his clothes couldn’t hide them.

Ethan’s arms were crossed, and he wore a dark expression. No wonder Daniel looked scared.

“All good, Mads?” he asked, looking into her eyes.

The tone of his voice sent chills down her spine, and she forgot about Daniel as she returned Ethan’s gaze. Weirdly enough, she’d missed that protective stare.

“All good.” She stepped a little closer to him, then turned to Daniel. “I don’t think there’s much to explain here. You cheated.”

Her eyes slowly moved to Joanna as she spoke, still stone cold. “And y’know…I get that. Why work hard for something if you can get it the ~easy~ way?”

When her gaze returned to Daniel, he seemed to have lost the will to react.

“Plus, since we’re telling truths,” she continued, “if you’re no better at sex than you are at foreplay, I don’t think I’ve missed much.”

She fake-smiled at Joanna. “But if ~you’re~ happy with him, I’m happy for you to keep him. I mean, what are friends for? Besides, I’m looking for something…bigger and better.”

She just stared at them for a moment.

Her deadbeat boyfriend—~ex~-boyfriend—couldn’t seem to find any words, but Joanna had no such trouble.

“You bitch! How dare you talk to us like that? You’re the one who—”

“Watch your mouth,” Ethan said.

“Don’t talk to her like that,” Daniel said, stepping forward.

Ethan moved forward to meet him, practically filling the entire doorway, and asked, “Or what?”

Daniel didn’t have an answer. He just looked away, pathetically holding the blanket around his waist.

Ethan laughed, then put a hand on the small of Madison’s back and winked at her. “C’mon. We have better things to do.”

She shot one more death stare at the couple, and when neither of them dared to say anything else, she let Ethan steer her into the hall.

As soon as they got to the stairwell, he turned to her, eyebrows raised.

“Don’t even start, Ethan.”

“~What~ now? I wasn’t going to say anything.”

“Sure you weren’t.”

“Well, okay, one thing actually…” He stepped closer to her, close enough she could feel the warmth of his body. “You two never had sex?”

“That’s none of your business,” she said.

He leaned in, grinning and said, “That means no.”

His minty breath brushed her face. Disheveled dark hair framed his angular face perfectly, showing off the bright green eyes that distinguished him from his brother.

A short black beard, something she’d never seen on him before, defined his strong jaw and gave him a dangerous, sexy look.

But she couldn’t let him know that. Or that he was right about her not having had sex yet.

“Oh, please,” she said with an eye-roll and then hurried down the stairs. Ethan followed at a more leisurely pace. She glanced over her shoulder just in time to catch his intense gaze on her backside. He seemed to like the way her short green summer dress showed off her legs.

He helped her move all her boxes down to his SUV. When they were done, she thanked him.

“No problem,” he said as he pulled her into a hug. He squeezed her a little against his body and kissed the top of her head, like he used to do when she was a kid. She inhaled deeply, taking in his familiar scent. It had matured over the years but was still musky with a pinch of spicy mint, and she’d missed it.

“I didn’t expect you to be so…grown up.” His voice rumbled through his chest.

“I can’t be a kid forever, now, can I?” she said, looking up at him.

“ Guess not. Ready to head home, ’Flake?”

She sighed, feeling like a huge weight had slipped off her shoulders. “You have no idea.”

They drove in companionable silence for a while before her phone lit up with an incoming text.

Daniel

Babe, I’m sorry! It was a mistake…you know how much I love you. Please answer my call 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

The second her phone started to ring, she silenced it and dropped it in her bag.

“That the cheating douchebag begging for forgiveness?”

“Probably,” Madison said. The last thing she wanted to discuss right now was her cheating ex-boyfriend.She turned to Ethan. “How come you had to come and pick me up, anyway? Why couldn’t one of my lazy brothers do it, like they said they would?”

He glanced over at her, understanding in his eyes, then returned his gaze to the road.

“Well, Liam and Ezra both got caught up at work, took Levi along for legal advice. But one lawyer was enough, so here I am.”

The mention of the family business didn’t do much to improve her spirits. The plan had always been for her to join her brothers in running it, but now that the time was almost here, she wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

“Are you upset that I came instead?” Ethan asked, misreading her expression.

“I mean, it could have been worse, I guess.” She stuck her tongue out at him in an attempt to lighten the mood.

“Yeah? How so?”

“I don’t know, like…the Evil Twins together?”

He smirked. “Nah, I think you would have liked that.”

She felt her cheeks flush, although she couldn’t have said why exactly. “Agree to disagree. I’ve already spent way too much time with the both of you.”

Lying had never been her strong suit.

Ethan looked at her appraisingly. “Oh, we weren’t so bad. And your brothers trusted us to take care of you.”

It was true that her brothers trusted the identical twins Ethan and Levi more than anyone—even the many professional nannies that had come in and out of their lives. The four boys had been as thick as thieves before Madison was even born.

She recalled a few useful things the twins had taught her while her brothers were away when she was a teen.

“Yeah, well, if my brothers had known exactly how you guys were ‘taking care of me’ back in the day, they probably wouldn’t have let you anywhere near me.”

“Oh, come on. We had so much fun! You can’t deny that.”

“Fun? I call you the Evil Twins for a reason. Beyond the fact that you two made all the boys that I liked run for the hills.”

“Hey, now. We did that for you! Those boys weren’t good enough.”

“And you knew this how?”

“We just did.”

ETHAN

Ethan snuck a look at Madison.

Her lips were curved into a relaxed smile that showed off her dimples.

God, she was adorable.

He just couldn’t help himself; he poked a finger into the cheek closest to him, making her jump.

“Really, Ethan?” she muttered.

Believe it or not, he’d missed that exasperated tone.

He chuckled. “You know I can’t resist your dimples. Besides, you’re funny when you’re annoyed. That doesn’t seem to have changed.”

But she sure ~looked~ different. Grown. The beauty beside him was not the sometimes shy, sometimes annoying little girl who’d left for college four years ago. Or even the blossoming young woman who’d come home nine months later.

Yes, she had the same huge ice-blue eyes and the same shocking cascade of platinum curls, but she’d grown into a gorgeous, confident woman with legs for days and a body to make any supermodel jealous.

~And why is that so surprising?~

The confusion on his face must have shown, because Madison frowned a little, then changed the subject.

“How is he? Levi, I mean. I haven’t seen either of you in ages.”

“But we called!” That had been mostly Levi’s doing, but she didn’t need to know that. “Besides, if we’d visited you, the college boys would have run for the hills too.”

“Yeah, true.” She sighed. “Better than nothing, right?”

Her sweetness, at least, hadn’t changed.

His mouth tightened as his mind hit a dark spot. But he forced a smile before his expression could give him away.

“Levi is just as fine as could be,” he answered. “Still a dick. But he’s definitely happy that you’re coming back.”

“I think most people would say, of the two of you, ~you’re~ the dick.” She snort-laughed, and he smiled at how cute she was, cracking herself up at his expense.

“You got me.” They might be identical, but he was definitely the moodier twin.

“Is he still with that blondie you guys told me about?” she asked, eyes still sparkling. “The one who works at the gym?”

“Nah, thank God. You know us. Long-term isn’t our thing.”

“That’s an understatement,” Madison said as a yawn escaped her lips. “Sorry, I procrastinated packing, as usual, and had to stay up all night to finish. I may try to sleep while we drive, if that’s okay.”

“Sure,” Ethan said.

She rested her head against the window and used her jacket as a pillow.

He watched her shift and fidget, trying to get comfortable for a couple minutes before he spoke up. “You can lay your head on my lap if that’s more comfortable.”

She opened her eyes and stared at him, wondering if he was serious. He held her gaze, trying to hide how much he wanted her to say yes.