6. Maddy
6
MADDY
“ H ey,” I whispered. “Come here.”
We were at my grandfather’s wake, and what a joke it was. We couldn’t even see him. Closed casket. Grandpa would have hated that. He was a good guy. I knew he hadn’t made the right decisions in his life. Man oh man, we heard that same old all the time, and hello? Grandma Analise had been a headcase. Those were her words. But they tried to change, and I thought they had. I don’t remember them being assholes. They loved me, still did in my books, and anyone who doted on me was good in my books.
I blinked away tears and shoved aside that stupid ball of emotion that kept trying to wedge its way into my chest.
Well, it was already there. It kept trying to move higher up in my throat to choke me, but nope. No way. I had no intention of letting myself submit to—what? Sadness? My emotions? My stupid grief?
I missed them both, and it sucked they were gone, but I’d see them again. They weren’t gone gone, and I mean, hell, if you believed in the afterlife, they were still around. That weirded me out, because I didn’t think either of them would be okay with what I wanted to do, but I also kinda didn’t care. If they were around and disapproving, they couldn’t tattle on me.
“Sorry, Gram, Gramps,” I said. It didn’t hurt to cover my bases.
I had this buzzing inside of me. It was in my blood. I knew I should be the good and dutiful daughter and sit by Mom’s side, maybe hold her hand. I’m sure she’d want me to help watch the kiddos, but I wasn’t doing that.
Max followed me. I led the way to the back of the building, exiting out to the lot behind it. It was more of an alley. There was minimal light. but it was enough to see the two guys waiting by the Ferrari.
“Oh. Whoa. Wait.” Max stopped me, touching my wrist. He went rigid, glaring at the guys before turning me around to face him. “What the fuck, Mads?” he hissed under his breath. “Do you know those guys?”
Beltraine Moreaux and Axel Johannson. Yeah, I knew them. They were seniors at my school, and they were the gatekeepers for mostly all the sorts of fun I wanted to do. Tonight, included. “Yeah. Duh. They’re why we’re here.”
“Little Kade.” Beltraine spoke up, lifting his chin.
“A second.” I held up two fingers, glancing over my shoulder.
Axel smirked, shifting to sit on the Ferrari. Why they brought a Ferrari was beyond me. They had money. I was aware. Everyone was, but they were stupid. Honestly. There were gangs in our town that would boost a car like that. If I were in a gang, and I needed to boost a car, that Ferrari was the first I’d go for. There was usually a GPS tracker installed and another added as a backup, but both were reachable. Yank them out, insert your modifier, which took twelve seconds to replicate the vehicle’s fob, and boom . Press a button, and that engine would be purring.
I wasn’t supposed to know this stuff, but I did. I’d done my research. Every adult in my family had been a hellion growing up. It was in my blood.
“What are you doing with those guys? I don’t want anything to do with them.”
God. Max. I fought against rolling my eyes, stepping back a little.
I loved Max. I did. We’d grown up together. We were best friends. He was family, though not actually blood, but he was such a smart, careful, don’t-get-in-trouble kind of guy. I wouldn’t call him lame or a goody two-shoes, because I knew he wasn’t either of those. If he needed to lay it down, he would, and when I say that, I meant whatever was needed in any situation. The guy was one of the most adaptable and intelligent guys I’d ever known, which was why I needed him to come with me.
He was my conscience.
If there was fire, I had to get so close to it that I burned. Something in me made me go to the fire. Max would pull me back. He kept me safe even from myself. It wasn’t fair to him, but that was our dynamic.
So, I needed him.
I shrugged, moving around him. “They’re just our way in. Don’t worry. We’ll ditch them when we get there.”
He groaned. “This is not a good idea, Maddy.”
I just grinned. I was going. And if I was going, he’d go too. Seeing the set expression on my face, Beltraine and Axel both straightened from their car. They were the cool guys at my school. Hot. Wealthy. Assholes. Both were tall, lean. Beltraine had dark shaggy hair. Axel had the same hair style, but with dirty blond hair. They were white, came from old money, and were beyond privileged. They both knew it too.
They were smug. They smirked at us, but neither said anything else. They didn’t dare. Because while these guys were the top of the top, they weren’t what Max and I were.
I was a Kade, and he was a Monroe, and no one fucked with our families.
“Boys,” I greeted, almost coyly.
Beltraine went to the driver’s side.
Axel opened the passenger door and stepped back. “After you.”
I climbed in, going to the back.
Max hadn’t moved. He stood glowering at the car.
Beltraine got in. “Are we leaving your buddy?”
I rolled my eyes, folded my arms over my chest, and slid down in my seat, getting comfortable. “No. He just needs a minute. He’ll come.”
Axel leaned down, poking his head into the car. “We can leave him.”
“ No ,” I said. “If he doesn’t go, I don’t either.”
The guys shared a look, but in the next moment, it didn’t matter.
“Fuuuuuuuck!” Max yelled, his head falling back as he let out another shout. He glared, his hands in fists, and stormed over to climb in next to me. His shoulder nudged against mine as he sat. He hissed under his breath, “You so fucking owe me.”
At this point, I’d owe him all the way until it was our coffin at our wake one day. Until then, I was planning on living it up and forcing Max along for the ride. He’d thank me when we were old and had to wear diapers again. You know, when we were fifty.
As we pulled out of the lot, the engine purring fantastically, we went past a line of people going into the funeral home for the wake.
A girl stopped on the sidewalk, watching us drive past. I recognized her. She went by a different last name, but I knew who she really was.
She was a Broudou.
Then we drove past, and it was as if she never existed.