She should know by now I’d shoulder any pain for her without hesitation.
I’d doanythingfor my girl.
She has a power over me that would probably unnerve most people.
But me? Iloveit.
I love that she can lean on me. That I can be the person she turns to.
Finally, she exhales. Her voice is so small, so fragile, it nearly wrecks me.
“I called my mom earlier, and she said something that upset me.” She swallows hard. “It’s silly. I know better than to listen to her.”
But if it hurt her, it’s not silly. And if it’s fromhermom, I already know I’m not going to like it.
“Maddie,nothingthat upsets you is silly. Talk to me.”
She nods, fiddling with my most prized possession, my glass bead hanging from my chain. “You know how Mason accidentally let it slip about us? And I told you she wasn’t as mad as I thought?” She continues when I nod. “Well, I just figured out why. It’s because she’s waiting for it to end.” She blows out a breath, her voice dropping as she repeats her mom’s words, trying to act as if they haven’t affected her. “She said I shouldn’t get too comfortable with you because it’s silly summer love, a fling.”
“Mads…” My jaw tightens.
“And I should forget about you when I go home.” She chokes out the last words, and my stomach twists with anxiety from the image of a fate she’s put into Maddie’s head, one I know we’re both petrified of.
But I’ll never let it happen.
We’re going to fight hard for this relationship.
There’s no end, only a forever.
My face hardens at the thought of that woman putting these ideas intp her head.
“When did she say this?”
“This morning.”
“And you’re just mentioning it? I’ve been with you all day. Don’t hide things from me, Maddie, especially if it’s upsetting you.” I regret my cold tone the second the words are out of my mouth when I see her shudder. “Hey. Look at me, please.”
“Yeah?”
“I didn’t mean to snap.” I shake my head, disgusted with myself. “It’s just…you mean so much to me. I hate to see the spark in your eyes dim. I hate the thought that your mom’s going to brainwash you into thinking that this is some fling. That I don’t…”
“That you don’t what?”
I twist the ends of her hair and press my forehead to hers. “That I don’t love you, Mads. Because I do, so fucking much, there is no going forward without you. I don’t care if people say we’re too young or whatever bullshit they want to spew. All that matters is that we care enough to make it work.”
A smile of relief crosses her face before she throws her arms around me. “I love you too, Nate.”
“It’s not going to be easy?—”
“I know.” She cuts me off. My words spur a newfound excitement in her. “Nothing in life comes easy. I shouldn’t have let her get to me.”
“You, Mads, are not a summer love…unless summer is endless.”
“That sounds nice.”
I reach over and grab two Diet Cokes from her mini-fridge, popping them open. I hand her one, clinking the cans together.
“To an endless summer.”
