FOURTEEN
Jaxson
Even after years apart, I can still feel when she walks into a room.
Heartbeat racing. Blood buzzing through my veins.
It’s like all the air has been sucked from the room when our eyes meet across the crowded bar.
She looks incredible, then again, she always does.
I see a hint of something in her eyes but before I can identify it, the Douchebag tugs at her arm, dragging her attention away from me. Drying glasses, I watch as they make their way to the reserved table. Madelyn sits as he leans down to talk in her ear. She shakes her head, turning away from him with a frown.
He heads toward the bar, leaving her by herself, and I can’t help but wonder what he said to put that look on her face.
Shrugging it off, I head to the back to grab a few bottles. I need to distract myself. It seems no matter what I do, I can’t stop thinking of her as mine. I can’t get over the fact that she’s with someone else now. She’s not mine to worry about. She clearly made her choice.
Douchebag is down at Noah’s end of the bar.
At least he was smart enough to avoid mine. Little does he know, Noah can’t stand his ass either. Not after the incident with Zoey. If it weren’t for Holden, the rest of us would refuse to serve him.
I busy myself serving drinks, sparing a glance at Madelyn every few minutes. I hate that I do it, but I’ve always been drawn to her. It’s a natural instinct ingrained in me after so many years. She’s a habit that’s insanely hard to break.
It’s been at least fifteen minutes and she’s still sitting alone at that table.
Looking down the bar, Douchebag is still propped up on a stool, only now he’s got a girl hanging on his every word. A girl that is obviously not his wife.
I glance at Noah and lift a brow. Is this asshole really flirting with some chick when his wife is sitting at the back of the room?
Noah stoically dips his head, confirming my suspicions. Sure as hell is, man.
Fucking hell.
The two of us watch as the girl leans in, whispering in Douchebag’s ear with a giggle. He palms her ass before leaning in, nuzzling her neck. I have to keep my jaw from dropping when he glances at me before slipping a card into the girl’s bra. The asshole has the audacity to smirk before he plants a kiss on her lips as he picks up drinks and turns toward Madelyn.
“What. The. Actual. Fuck?” I say to myself.
“That’s messed up shit, man.”
I hadn’t noticed Noah appear at my side. We both stand, arms across our chests, and watch as he slides into the booth next to Madelyn. She accepts her drink but fidgets and tries to move away when he wraps his arm around her shoulders.
“Is it just me or does she seem uncomfortable?” I ask Noah.
“I see it too. Think she saw him?”
“No clue. I was too busy watching that shit go down.”
Running my hand through my hair, I curse under my breath.
“I don’t even know what to do with this shit. Do I ignore it? Do I tell her? Shit. Maybe you should tell her.”
“Look. I don’t know Madelyn like that. Yeah, we all went to the same school, but we ran in different crowds. Well, the two of you were your own crowd.” —he chuckles— “I think she’d probably take it better coming from you. Either way, she deserves to know. No one deserves that shit.”
With that little nugget of truth, he walks back to his end of the bar, muttering something about a “slimy bastard” needing a beatdown.
He’s right. Madelyn deserves to know, but I don’t necessarily agree that she’ll take it better coming from me. The only other option is to tell Holden and let him tell her, but he wasn’t here to see it happen.
Fuck it. Time to man up.
I need a minute alone with Madelyn.
She needs to know her husband is scum.
About an hour later, I finally see my chance.
I watch as Madelyn rises from the booth. My hands curl into fists at my sides when Douchebag grabs her arm, pulling her back to him. I don’t like the way he fucking touches her. He leans in close, saying something to her that sparks her anger. They argue for a minute before he releases her, and she storms off.
Not wanting to miss my opportunity to get her alone, I catch Noah’s attention and motion toward the back. He glances toward the table Mads vacated and nods. I dip into the back and use the back hallway to get to the bathrooms. I feel like a total creeper standing outside the women’s room, but I need to talk to her.
She exits a few minutes later. Eyes red and puffy. She looks absolutely miserable.
“You okay, baby?” The endearment rolls off my tongue without thought.
Mads ignores it. “I’m fine, Jaxson. Did you need something?”
“I need to talk to you.”
Sighing, she leans against the wall, dropping her head back. “Not again, please. I can’t do this with you.”
“Mads, your husband isn’t a good guy. You deserve better than the way he treats you.”
That was the wrong thing to say. She makes that blatantly clear when fire sparks in those gorgeous eyes of hers.
“The way he treats me? You know nothing about my relationship and the way he treats me, Jax. Green really isn’t your color.”
Fuck, I miss this girl’s sass.
Ignoring the dig, I do what I came back here to do.
“Nothing? Is that so? Then why did I just watch him flirt with some random girl at the bar and slip her a card. Why did I see his lips touch someone that wasn’t you? You don’t deserve that shit, Mads.”
That fiery spark comes to life and she crosses her arms, pushing up her tits. I try to ignore it, but I’m only fucking human. I used to piss Mads off on purpose. She’s hot as hell when she’s all fired up. Always gets me hard. Even now.
“Are you fucking kidding me, Jaxson? You come at me with this bullshit and I’m supposed to just believe you?”
Something about the look in her eyes tells me that she does believe me, only she doesn’t want to admit it.
“I don’t have time for this. I need to get back to my husband.”
She starts to walk away. I refuse to grab her like he did, but I won’t let this go so easily either.
“He’s cheating on you, Mads.”
Stopping in her tracks, she slowly turns and stares me down.
“This is pathetic, Jaxson. Even for you. What do you plan to accomplish by ruining my marriage? We were over a long time ago. It’s time for you to move on. You and I will never be together again.”
Damn. That was pretty harsh.
The Madelyn I love would never say something so hurtful, not to me.
She starts to walk away again, but I push back the hurt and give her another dose of truth.
“I’m not trying to ruin your marriage, Madelyn. I’m trying to save you . I once promised to always look out for you, to protect you. That’s all I’m doing now. It doesn’t matter whether or not we’re together. All I’ve ever wanted is your happiness. You’ll never be happy with him.”
The hitch in her breath is audible over the noise from the bar, but she doesn’t respond. I watch her back as she walks away from me once again.
It’s becoming a habit of hers.
I can only hope that she’ll take what I said to heart. Consider the truth about the man she vowed to spend her life with. Deep down, she knows I wasn’t speaking out of jealousy. It’s not my style.
She lashed out at me in anger because she knows the truth.
I’ve done nothing to make her genuinely believe that I want to ruin her marriage and if she was with a man deserving of her, I would wish her nothing but the best. I tried one time to get her to come back to me. Only once. When it didn’t go the way I’d hoped, I stepped aside.
It burns to know she chose him over me.
But I’d never stand in the way of her happiness.
Tonight, I’m only trying to save her from more pain.