It Burns Within Us | Wildfire Series Book 1

T W E L V E. F I V E

** I've been doing a little editing, and this is a newly added chapter. check out the end of the last chapter for a little context. enjoy & let me know what you think!**

MADIE

September Twenty-Seventh

Two

Sometimes I swear I can be standing

with two feet on the pavement,

and I still wouldn't feel the ground.

—

With each pull of my laces, guilt tightened around me. Quinton didn't want me hanging out with Bren. He'd made that abundantly clear after I'd gotten home from The Grounds the other evening, and we'd ended the night in another argument that left me shaking.

But here I was anyway, meeting up with Bren on the empty campus soccer fields. What Quinton didn't understand was that this didn't have anything to do with Bren. Well, not really.

There weren't a lot of things around campus that reminded me of home, but the second I stepped foot onto this open stretch of grass, I got a little buzz of nostalgia. And after nearly everything had flipped upside down over the last year, I needed that to keep me grounded. I was searching for anything to keep me grounded.

Quinton was my only other tie to stability and normalcy, and even that had been wavering lately. To my credit, I'd asked him first if he wanted to come to the soccer fields with me, but he'd shrugged off the request with a joke about how he only liked to play real football.

It was something he used to tease me about back in high school, something I usually giggled at because it had felt cute and flirtatious. A playful grin had always accompanied it.

It didn't really feel that way anymore. There was no grin. Closer to an eye roll, actually.

I looked up from tying my shoes just in time to see Bren trotting across the parking lot with a ball in his arms. He had on joggers and a plain white tee that tightened around biceps I hadn't noticed before. I mean, I knew he had muscles. Everyone had muscles. I'd actually seen his muscles the other day when he'd been getting sucked off by my roommate.

I cleared my throat as if that would somehow clear my memory of it. But it was useless. The scene was seared into my brain, stuck there. But for some reason, I still hadn't remembered how built Bren was. I actually was surprised when he mentioned he was an athlete the other night. But now I saw it easily. He was quick, lean, and strong; I should have known soccer was his sport.

"Hey," he called breathlessly as he made his way onto the field. "Sorry I'm late. Beau would not shut up about some upgrade he made to his computer. I swear when that dude figures out that you're going somewhere, it's like he latches on harder to get you to stay."

Picturing the scene in my head, I smiled. "You should have just invited him."

The words were a lie. I was glad Bren hadn't invited his roommate.

Beau had joined Bren and me at The Grounds when we'd gone to study again last night, and I honestly thought he was a great guy. Beau Martin was the kind of funny that didn't seem forced or over the top. The effortless humor brought an ease about him that made other people relax, too. Not to mention he'd been more than happy to help me with my chemistry.

But Beau's personality dominated any social situation. Bren had withdrawn his presence, happy to let Beau take over the conversation. Happy to sit back and quietly work on his homework, separate from us.