It’s only a text, but I can hear him saying my name with a warning in it.
I turn the phone face down. I can’t explain it without sounding insane. Without admitting I made a shirt for a guy who can’t stop looking at other girls.
There’s a knock at my door.
I freeze. It’s not him. He doesn’t know my room number.
“Madeline?” Georgia’s voice comes from the other side of the door. “Let me in.” She ran to go get drinks.
I open the door. She’s alone, holding two bottles of water.
“He’s losing his mind down there,” she says. “Asking everyone where you are. I had to make sure he didn’t see me so he wouldn’t follow me.”
“Good.” If I’ve lost my mind, he can lose his too.
“Madeline.” She sits on the other bed. “You have to talk to him, or this is going to explode.”
Another knock sounds at the door. Harder. Urgent. My heart jumps. We both look at the door, knowing who it is already.
“Madeline?” Luke’s voice sounds muffled through the wood. “Open up.”
Georgia and I stare at each other.
“Tell him to go away,” I whisper.
She raises an eyebrow. “You tell him. See how well it works.”
Fine, I’m not scared of him. I walk to the door but don’t open it. “Go away, Luke.”
“That’s not happening.”
“I’m tired. I need my beauty rest.”
“You’re already beautiful.” My hand is on the doorknob. I should keep it closed. “We can do this the hard way or the easy way.”
“What’s the hard way?” I ask, and half a second later I hear the key card lock click. The door starts to open, and I quickly take a step back and then another. Luke fills the whole freaking frame of the doorway.
He’s standing there in his team jacket, hair still damp from the shower, eyes wild and desperate. He looks at me like I’m the only thing in the world.
It pisses me off.
“You want to know what you did?” I step toward him, tilting my chin up, wanting to appear confident and not hurt. “You stared at them. The whole time they were out there. You couldn’t stop looking.”
His face goes blank. “What?” His eyes flick over my shoulder, and I glance back to see Georgia staring at us.
“The Ice Crew. The sparkling girls.” I hate the slight crack in my voice. “I made you a shirt, Luke. I stood there screaming for you. And you were staring at them like—” I can’t even finish.
“Madeline.” He starts to smile. I narrow my eyes at him. I’m being ridiculous and irrational, but for some reason, I can’t stop it. I just keep going. Luke is rubbing off on me. Now I’m acting like him.
“Don’t think I won’t punch you in the dick.”
“Buttercup, I know you’re more than capable of that.” He reaches for me, and I take another step back. “I was thinking about you. How boring they were compared to you. How you actually give a shit and they don’t.”
“Bullshit.”
“All right, ask Georgia then.” He nods toward my best friend.
“She’s on my side.”
