Page 7 of Rising Star

“How are you this morning?” I asked, though small talk was something I didn’t excel in. We had broken so many of our own rules yesterday. So many boundaries. So many everything. I cared for Madison with the goodness of my heart. Without any ulterior motives. But right now, in the light of a new day, our night together seemed to mean an awful lot more. No matter how hard we tried to stay apart, we always ended up entwined in each other. And it’d be a lie to state waking up with her in my arms didn’t feel damn good, and I hadn’t slept this soundly in years.

“Better. I think.” She nibbled on her lower lip, leaving tiny indentations I wished I could erase with a kiss.

“Good.”

I stirred to rise when her hand reached for mine. “Thanks. You know…for making sure I didn’t like…you know…be alone.” She paused, her gaze trained on our joined hands. “And for warming me up.”

I nodded. “I couldn’t let you freeze to death. Ice blue isn’t your color,” I said in a teasing voice. I cocked my head to the side and ordered my entire body to stay put. “Now that you’re doing better, I should go.”

She nodded her agreement while fastening the tie of her robe around her waist and resting against the headboard.

“Listen, I know you told me once to never try to fix you or anything, and it’s not what I did. Or what I’m doing. But you were having nightmares last night, and they sounded kinda scary. I just—it would make me feel better if I knew they aren’t memories. Last night, you mentioned being neglected as a child. Call it father’s instinct...I don’t know…but it sounded serious. Like you feared something. Or someone.”

And now I was rambling, trying to not sound like a patronizing idiot.

Madison cleared her throat. “I did? Oh, I’m so sorry. This is embarrassing…it used to be a daily occurrence when I was a kid. I haven’t had those in years.”

“Are you okay?”

She offered me a tiny curl of her lips. “Huh, no need to worry. I’m fine. I’ve never been beaten up. It’s all in the past. Nothing to worry about.”

“You’d tell me if it wasn’t the case?”

“Yes.”

Without another word or look in her direction, I left her in the middle of the bed, closing the door behind me. Scratching my temple and pondering her words, I hurried to my bedroom upstairs.

3

MADISON

When I woke up, the scent of fever clung to me. My eyelids weighed tons, and I couldn’t seem to open them. My body felt sluggish, my limbs unable to follow commands. Disjointed memories of the previous day overtook my mind. I recalled being sick and Justine screaming for Sam. And then, blackout. The fever had messed with my brain. I remember feeling cold. Teeth-chattering cold. I forced my mind to work so I could figure out if I had made a fool of myself. Or thrown up somewhere I shouldn’t have. How did I even make it to my bed? I couldn’t even twitch a muscle when I had laid down on the bathroom floor.

My tongue swept across my upper teeth in a faint attempt to dissipate the bitter taste in my mouth.

A slight movement on my left startled me.

Oh no, had one of the girls joined me in bed in the middle of the night?

If so, we’d have to discuss it. Sam would never agree to this, and I wouldn’t too. Talk about blurred lines. And the idea of them walking down the stairs in the dark was enough to send a wave of panic through me.

My heart banged against my chest just thinking about it.

The deep breaths couldn’t belong to Mikaella or Justine.

Someone—a male someone—was lying beside me. Oh god, what did I do last night? Worse, I had no recollection of any of it.

My body recognized him before my mind had time to catch up.

His scent, a musky mix of woodsy aftershave and something exclusively him, filled my nose, and the realization hit me. I wasn’t just entangled with anybody. I was entwined with Sam Stevens. My boss. And the man I was madly in love with, however much I tried to convince myself otherwise.

A nightmare. It all boiled down to this.

I messed up. We messed up. Something must have happened.

I raked my brain, but I only recalled him talking about blankets.

I sucked in a hefty dose of oxygen. Think, Maddie.