All The Wild Ones | Wildfire Series

The Dirty Thirty - Bonus

G R A Y S O N

—
S E N I O R Y E A R

"Do you think they're gossiping about us?"

Freddy's was the same as it always was on a Friday night. Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors—you name it, and they were here looking for a hook-up in the last thirty minutes before closing. The dirty thirty.

Lights were low, music loud, and I was ready to get out of here. Have a dirty thirty of my own.

Alright, maybe more than thirty.

I glanced toward the bathroom where Bren and Nessa had disappeared to, strumming my finger on the bartop. On a crowded night like tonight, I usually wouldn't let Nessa out of my sight. But Bren would keep his eye on her. Just like I'd keep an eye on—

"Oh, they're definitely gossiping about us." A sharp laugh left Madie's mouth, cut short by the appearance of a drink, slid straight into her open hand by a passing bartender. Her eyes grew wide before she quickly shot a look over her shoulder.

"Shit."

Following her gaze, I searched the hallway by the bathrooms. But it was empty. Well, empty of Nessa and Bren.

"What?"

Madie was staring at her glass now, which was filled to the brim with a clear, bubbly drink. Panic painted her expression.

I frowned. "Do you...not want what Bren ordered you?"

"No, I really don't." She shook her head, eyes not moving from the drink. "I mean...I do, but—"

"He's not going to care if you don't want it, Madie."

Looking over her shoulder for the second time, Madie bit her lip before quickly looking back at the glass in her hand. Sighing, I turned around again, and sure enough, there they were.

Bren and Nessa pushed through the crush of college students trying to find a spot on the dance floor. A few of them fell back when they recognized Bren, who'd gained and maintained quite the reputation around campus after word spread of his face-off with Brodie freshman year. And at the sight of Nessa, eyes flicked around. Probably looking for me.

It was so fucking satisfying that everyone knew she was mine. And that I was hers. Her gaze sought me out in the crowd, and she gave me a tiny grin that I understood completely.

That's right. Get back over here, baby.

Madie swore, bringing my attention back around to the bar. What gave? I'd be damned if I ever saw lil Lenertz freak out at seeing her boyfriend and best friend walk up. Usually, I could see the countdown playing in her head until Bren returned to her side.

But right now, she looked about ready to take her drink and run.

"Seriously. He's not going to care," I repeated.

"No, he will," she hissed beneath her breath. Frantic. "Because if I don't drink this, he'll ask if I'm still not feeling good, and then he'll worry, and he's already been so stressed out this week with finals. And there's nothing to worry about. Nothing at all—"

"Woah, Madie." I clamped my hand on her shoulder. And I could feel how tense she was. "Slow down."

"No, you don't get it." She looked up at me beneath sooty blonde lashes. Poor girl looked tired. "I need to make it until graduation, Grayson. He already has so much on his plate this week. I just...I just need to make it to graduation. One more week. And if I don't drink this, he'll know. He'll just—"