Free Back Where We Belong (A Second Chances New Adult Romance) by Alana Hart, Caia Fox

ridiculous. But I
know how it feels. It's like someone died, someone special who is never coming
back.

CHAPTER 24
MADISON
 
     
     
    I don't even mention Luke to my
new roommate at college. Chelsea is bright and bubbly. We're not very well
matched on the surface, but she's like a breath of fresh air after my mother.
Nothing seems to get her down. Not even being landed with a roommate who
doesn't want to socialize much.
    “You've got to get out more,
Madison,” she says, “and start living a bit.”
    I guess she's right, and
sometimes I go out with her to stop her going on at me.
    Usually, the parties are not as
bad as I expect, and sometimes I even find myself enjoying being among a crowd
of Chelsea's friends who seem intent on nothing more complicated than having a
good time. I don't think I'm naturally gloomy. I've just had a crap time
lately. It's good for me to come out of my shell after the hell of a summer I
had.
    It's at one of the parties that
Chelsea drags me to that I meet Brad.
    I notice him as soon as we
arrive. He's tall, with thick, short sandy hair. A college jock type. He looks
like he works out.
    When he comes over to us and
says, “Introduce me to your friend, Chelsea,” I'm flattered. Chelsea knows him
from high school.
    He takes me out to dinner that
Saturday. There’s no point feeling sorry for myself forever and acting like a
hermit. He's good company and flirts with me. I need that. I need to feel
wanted again, and he has all the words and easy manners to make me feel good.
    “So where have you been hiding
out on campus?” he says. “I haven't seen you around.”
    “Oh, you know, class, the
library, the usual places.”
    “The library this early in the
semester? No wonder I haven't seen you.” He laughs. “I don't hit the library
until I have to.”
    “Don't you care about your
grades?”
    “Eventually, I'll care, but not
tonight. Tonight I have dinner with you on my mind.”
    I smile. He takes my hand. It
feels odd holding a guy's hand again after Luke. But I have to brush all
thoughts of Luke aside. Holding onto him is like believing in the tooth fairy.
The special relationship I thought I had with Luke didn't actually exist.
    Brad walks me back to my place
and kisses me gently on the lips. It's nice, but I don't melt. I want that
melting feeling back like an addict needing a drug.
    “Want to go to a movie during the
week?” he asks, and I tell him I would like that.
    He holds my hand at the movie and
kisses me more deeply than before when he drops me at the door of my dorm. I
like him. We meet for coffee a couple of times during the week. He tells me
about his family. His father is in finance in the city. Brad plans to do
something similar when he finishes school. He asks me to dinner again, and we
go out.
    After dinner, he takes my hand.
We walk through the campus as he takes me home and I don't mind at all when we
stop now and again so he can kiss me. He's a fun date and I'm starting to like
him more and more. As we get to my building, he pulls me into the shadows.
    “I want to kiss you properly,” he
says.
    I smile, and when he kisses me,
it feels good, his hands at my back and the heat of his body against mine. It
feels good to be in his arms, to have someone who likes me again.
    His kisses become more urgent,
his tongue probing, and I respond. His hands are all over me now and I know
it's time to stop before someone tells us to get a room. We're just around the
side of the building, so I break away.
    He laughs. “Sorry, I got carried
away there.”
    I smile. He’s a real gentleman.
    “We're throwing a party at my
place next weekend. I just wanted to make sure you were free Saturday and
didn't make any plans to go off with other guys.” It sounds like he wants to
know where he stands.
    “No other guys,” I say.
    “Good.” He smiles and kisses me.
     
    ***
     
    Brad shares a large apartment
near the campus with three guys he knows from high school. It's no