Chapter 6—Madison

I emptied the bottle of wine into my glass and plopped down on the couch between Jessica and Vanessa. I’d just given them the play-by-play of my horrific night last night. It sounded even worse when I said it aloud.

“It couldn’t have been that bad,” Vanessa said.

I groaned. “It was worse than bad.”

“What you described doesn’t sound like Steven at all,” Jessica said. “I’ve never known that man to turn down sex.”

“Oh, that’s even better. The man who’ll have sex with anyone rejected me. What an ego boost,” I said, taking a long drink, almost draining my glass. Again.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Jessica said, uncorking another bottle of wine and refilling my glass. “It’s obvious Steven didn’t want to share you with Craig.”

“Looks that way to me,” Vanessa said, rubbing her hand over her protruding belly. “Maybe Steven has a thing for you, and the thought of another man touching you makes him crazy jealous.”

I laughed. “That’s a little dramatic.” A flicker of hope burned in my chest though. Of all the crazy scenarios that had run through my mind, the possibility that Steven didn’t want to share me because he wanted me to himself hadn’t been one of them.

“Why’d you do it in the first place?” Jessica asked.

“I didn’t know what else to do.” I sighed. “I’ve been flirting with Steven and giving him subtle hints that I wanted him and nothing. Not so much as a second look.”

“Men don’t do subtlety, sweetie,” Jessica said.

“I don’t even come close to measuring up to the type of women he normally dates. I guess I figured if I offered him something else he likes that he’d finally notice me.” I was such a pathetic loser.

“You’re so much prettier than the women Steven boinks,” Vanessa said.

Jessica and I laughed. “Boinks?” Jessica said.

Vanessa shrugged. “Well he sure as hell doesn’t date them. And I’d be shocked if they said anything other than ‘yeah baby’ and ‘oh do me harder big boy.’ The women he boinks are nothing more than a way to fill his sexual needs.”

I couldn’t stop giggling. Vanessa had said boinks twice in a matter of minutes. Jessica had said it once, and it was so absolutely ridiculous that we were talking about Steven boinking. God, I loved these women. “You two are so lucky,” I said once I’d calmed down. “Neither of you have to do the whole dating thing anymore.”

Jessica patted my knee. “Steven is a typical man. He’s terrified of commitment. What you need to decide is if you’re okay with that.”

That was a good question. I wanted Steven. There was no question about that. But did I want to waste my time with a man I knew I had no future with? “So, what should I do?”

“You’re going to go home, put on something sexy, march your hot little ass into Scorched, and call him out on what he did last night,” Vanessa said.

I looked to Jessica. She shrugged and smiled. “I’m with her,” she said.

“What if he turns me down?” No one liked to be rejected, but it was worse for me. I had a severe lack of self-confidence where men were concerned.

“Then he’s a bigger dumbass than we’re giving him credit for,” Vanessa said, trying to stand.

I stood and offered my hand to help her up. She gave me a quick hug and disappeared into the bathroom, muttering something about a weak bladder and the baby’s foot. “Do you think she’s right?” I asked Jessica.

She nodded. “You need to go talk to him.”

“Why can’t you be like normal friends who will pig out on ice cream and tell me just how awful men are?”

Jessica laughed. “I’ll tell you what. If he turns you down or in any way does anything stupid, you come right back over here, and we’ll think of creative ways to castrate him while we pig out on ice cream.”

I hugged her. “Thanks, Jess.”

* * *

I stopped outside of Scorched. My heart had dropped to my feet, my stomach was lodged in my throat, and my top was so damn tight it was cutting off my ability to breathe. I can do this. I was just going to march in there and demand to know why Steven had acted that way last night. It was a simple plan. I can do this. I exhaled loudly and swung open the door. The dance floor was shoulder-to-shoulder. Lucky for me the bar was busy, but not packed. I stood near the far end and waited for Craig to make his way toward me.

“Madison? What’re you doing here?” he said, stopping in front of me.

“I’m sorry about last night.” He cupped his hand around his ear and shook his head. Damn music. I leaned over the bar and motioned for him to come closer. “Can we talk?”

Craig signaled to Barb, the other part-time bartender, that he was he was taking five. We walked into the back room where we could talk without having to shout in each other’s ears. “What’s up?” he said.

“I’m sorry about last night.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

I knew he was trying to make me feel better, and I loved him for that. “Look, I don’t know what Steven said to make you leave, but I want you to know that it wasn’t my idea.”

He put his hands on my shoulders and kissed my cheek. “I know, but thanks for saying it anyway.”

I smiled. Why couldn’t I be attracted to a guy like Craig? He was sweet and sexy and not nearly as fucked up as Steven. “Speaking of Steven,” I said, clearing my throat. “Where is he?”

“He’s been sulking in the balcony all night.”

Steven sulking? That was something I’d never seen before. “Thanks.”

Craig grabbed my wrist before I could walk away. “I don’t know what’s crawled up his ass, but be careful, Madison. He’s only going to end up hurting you.”

“It’s too late for that,” I said, walking out of the room.