Madison

It doesn’t seem real.

After four years of forcing myself into a life that wasn’t really mine, I’m ready to go home.

I just need to put a big fat end to what lately made me miserable, and after that, I’m ready to go home to my brothers and the twin­s.

God, I haven’t seen those boys in almost three years. I wonder how they are.

With these thoughts in mind, Madison is moving around her dorm like a tornado.

The excitement of finally leaving this place and the faces that live there is pumping her up like adrenaline.

One box after another, she packs away her college life.

Now, only one more thing separates her from a complete and total end: her so-called boyfriend, Daniel.

For the last month, Madison had kept promising herself that she would break up with him.

And today is finally the day.

What she doesn’t really need right now is to know that her brother, Liam, can’t make it.

And, on top of that, as if today wasn’t already fucked up enough, Ethan is going to pick her up.

Ethan Thompson, evil twin number one.

She answers pretty quickly.

She still has things to pack and, besides, in about fifteen minutes she is supposed to meet Daniel.

For the breakup.

Right, I know that. And sometimes I’ve wished they’d actually found the time to come and visit me with my brothers, but they never did.

Although I’ve never talked to them so much in my life—they called almost every day.

Right. Focus, Madison.

The twins have always had this power of destabilizing her, but today she needs to be focused.

At least for the next thirty minutes.

Daniel needs to be out of her life as soon as possible—not only because things aren’t going well, but because she knows he’s a cheater.

Not to mention the fact that they are really worlds apart.

Madison, for instance, is the classic girl next door: genuine, gentle, funny, ready to help, very proactive, and integrated with college life.

Part of sports teams and all.

That doesn’t mean that she’s a bore. In fact, she also goes partying every chance she gets.

Of course, what attracts people at first, before her constant smile and her bright personality, is her looks.

Her big, ice-blue eyes, the cascade of pearl-white, curly hair (a peculiarity that she has only now started to appreciate), legs for days, and a toned body that makes the most beautiful models jealous.

Daniel, on the other hand, is the classic football team member: a womanizer, and not committed to anything apart from that.

Sure, he’s beautiful, and sure, at first, he was a real charmer, but things got different and weird after the first few months.

The reason why, truth to be told, was Madison never felt strongly enough to give her full self to him.

They’re not engaged, and absolutely not in love, so she is still a virgin.

At twenty-one years old.

Madison checks the clock—a quarter after two—and, with adrenaline running through her body, leaves her room and walks all the way to the opposite dorm.

She reaches Daniel’s floor. No one’s around. Many people had already left the day before.

“Here we are,” she whispers to herself, approaching his room. But a few steps away she stops.

The door is slightly open and the noises coming from inside are not the noises of people packing. Those are the noises of people fucking.

Walking a little closer and peeking inside, she sees what she expected she would.

Daniel is happily immersed in Joanna’s body.

The same Joanna who swore to be her closest friend, sure. But this is something that she already knew about, so she isn’t shocked.

Just in a big hurry to end this thing.

So, snapping a picture of them, she writes a message and attaches it.

With a smile and an immense feeling of satisfaction, she presses “send,” and she’s ready to be out of this place.

Once back in her room, she goes straight to finishing her packing.

When a message pops onto her screen, she sighs, sure of who it will be.

For once, she is happy to be wrong. It isn’t Daniel. Instead, it’s Ethan.

And for the first time, she is super happy to see him. Not that she doesn’t like him. On the contrary, he and Levi are like an extension of her brothers.

It’s mainly that since Madison is the last of her siblings and the only daughter, all the boys in the house are very protective.

That is, when they aren’t annoying the shit out of her or making her life a living hell.

Not to mention the fact that she basically didn’t have a personal life or a boyfriend until she left for college.

Why? Because they prevented it.

And not even a minute after she presses “send,” the door of her room opens slightly with an audible crack.

“I thought once you knew I was coming you were going to run away.”

She would recognize his husky voice out of thousands. Turning her head in his direction, she is taken aback for a second.

He’s a handsome man now.

Not that before he wasn’t. It’s just now, he’s a man and not a boy.

He’s at least six foot three of God’s work.

Disheveled dark hair frames his face perfectly, showing off his bright-green eyes, the only bright thing on his face. A layer of thin black beard defines his strong jaw and makes him look incredibly sexy.

His shoulders are so wide, and his muscles so defined, that his clothes can’t even hide them.

And those perfect lips, curved into a smirk that really speaks for itself.

“Trust me, I thought about running away, but I have too much stuff to do this all by myself.”

She smiles and, pointing at the ten or so boxes on the floor, slowly walks in his direction.

The moment he opens his arms to her, she sinks into them, letting her body relax in his warm embrace.

Although the way he stares at her makes her bite the inside of her mouth.

“Umm…I didn’t expect you to be so grown up.” His voice rumbles through his chest and, squeezing her a little against his body, he kisses the top of her head, like he used to do when she was a kid.

An action that only makes her inhale his scent more. It’s matured over the years. A musky scent with a pinch of spicy mint.

“Well, I can’t be a kid forever, now can I?”

Just as she pulls away to lock eyes with him, her door slams open and a very distressed Daniel walks in, followed by a very irritated and half-naked Joanna.

“Madison, let me explain—” he mumbles, gasping. He must have been running.

His jaw, however, drops open the moment his eyes land on Ethan, who’s a few steps away from Madison and not too far from him.

With his arms crossed, wearing a dark expression, Ethan is quite intimidating.

“All good, Flake?” Ethan asks, looking at Madison.

“Flake.” Snowflake was the twins’ nickname for her from when she was little. They’d shortened it when she’d gotten older and it never failed to annoy her.

His firm and protective stare is something that, weirdly enough, she missed.

Ethan

“All good,” she mouths back at him before stepping a little closer to Daniel. If there is any emotion in her, it is hidden.

“I don’t think there’s much to explain here. You’re a cheater. You were literally having sex with her a few minutes ago.”

Her cold and almost deadly tone makes Ethan smirk.

“So, let’s just make things easier. We’ve never been compatible and surely we can’t be. You’re a cheater, and apparently you have low standards.”

Her eyes move from him to Joanna in slow motion as she speaks, still stone-cold.

“And you know, I get that. Why would you try harder to get something if you can win the game the easy way? I wouldn’t have sex with you, so you found someone that actually would. So, what is there to explain?”

Madison’s eyes are locked on Daniel, who at the moment seems to have lost any willpower to react.

“Plus, since we are here and the truth is being said, if you’re as good in bed as you were at foreplay, and last as long, I don’t even think I’ve missed much.”

Turning to Joanna, she smirks at her proudly.

“And if you’re happy with him, well, I’m happy for you to keep him. I’m looking for something bigger and better than”—she gestures at Daniel—“this.”

Stepping a little closer, she stares at them for a moment, then points at the door.

“You can go.”

Daniel is too shocked to say a word.

“You bitch! How dare you talk to us like that? You’re the one who—” Joanna tries to say, but Ethan stops her by stepping in front of her and Daniel.

“I suggest you leave now. We have better things to do, and they don’t involve either of you.”

Madison

Ethan’s voice is so warm that it gives Madison a jolt of chills down her spine the moment he speaks, and with a wink, he reaches for the small of her back with his hands.

“Bye, now.”

One more death stare to the couple. Neither of them dares to say anything else. When Ethan arches his brow harshly in their direction, they walk out without even looking back.

The smirk on Ethan’s face is so big that it makes Madison laugh until he turns to her with a very questioning expression on his face

“Oh, Ethan, please, don’t even start.”

“What now? I wasn’t going to say anything.”

“Mm-hmm. Sure you weren’t.”

“Well…one thing actually,” he says now, stepping closer to her.

From where he stands she can feel the warmth of his body.

“You two never had sex?” He is so close that his minty breath brushes her face, forcing her to bite the corner of her lip.

“Seriously?” That’s all she says and, turning her back to him she moves a little further away, to where all her boxes are stacked.

“Come on, let’s get moving. I can’t wait to leave this hell behind me.” And with that, she bends over to take a box from the floor.

For all the time she goes up and down with the boxes, she can’t stop feeling Ethan’s eyes on her back.

It’s only when she actually spots his intense gaze on her bottom that she realizes that probably her short green summer dress isn’t doing a great job covering her curves.

However, she doesn’t pay much attention to it right now.

After twenty-five minutes, all the boxes are loaded in the car and, given the hot weather and the fact that her room was on the second floor with no elevator, they both look pretty heated and messy right now.

“Jesus, girl, I can’t believe how much stuff you’ve collected over the years! Good thing I came with the SUV.”

“Well, smartass, I’ve been here three years. Of course I’ve accumulated a few things.”

Ethan shakes his head while getting in the car on the driver’s side with his usual cheeky grin.

His hair now is even messier than before; a few locks on his forehead are slightly wet now and that only makes him look even more incredibly sexy.

Jumping in the car and adjusting herself in the seat smoothly, she looks over at him, because she can’t really stop herself.

When she is buckled in, Ethan smiles at her once more before starting the engine.

She’s never felt so happy and relieved at the same time.

Finally, it’s over.