It Burns Within Us | Wildfire Series Book 1

F O R T Y - N I N E

B R E N

The semester was finally over.

I didn't tell Madie, but I barely made it out alive.

Some of the final work had been literally impossible to do without physically being on campus, so I had to e-mail a few professors and beg for alternatives. Some were understanding. Some were not. It probably had something to do with me waiting until the last week of the term to say something.

Whatever.

It was over.

There was only one class—Civics—I actually didn't pass. And of course Statistics, which I had dropped out of before we even came to LA because there was no fucking way I was gonna manage that. But the rest I'd squeaked by well enough not to get put on academic probation.

I tried. I really did. I studied my ass off the last few weeks in preparation for finals. Madie and I had been buried in textbooks night and day.

But when your brain is fucked, it doesn't matter how hard you study.

We were celebrating the end of the semester by going out to a divey restaurant and bar about fifteen miles down the coast. It had been forever since we'd left the beach house, and even though that place was paradise, it felt good to stretch our legs in a new spot.

It was packed inside, so we had to wait for a table. The beachside hangout had an odd combination of decor. Dinged-up road signs and sports' paraphernalia hung haphazardly on the walls. There were also some tiki torches sprouting from sand outside and grass skirts taped along the bar, and I decided that the owners must not have been able to pick what kind of bar they wanted it to be.

Madie spotted the pool table in the corner and walked her cute ass over there, picking up a cue stick before looking over her shoulder. "Play with me, baby."

I guess flirty Madie was out tonight, and I was here for it. But I was here for anything that involved that girl.

"You got it," I said back.

Madie took her sweet time, setting all the balls in that plastic triangle thing in the middle of the table. Did those things have a name? No fucking clue. But Madie was making damn sure that the balls alternated stripes and solids, and they were all turned just right. I had no problem leaning back against the wall and watching her.

Eventually, she plucked that triangle off the table and then leaned over to take the first shot, breaking the cluster she'd made. There was probably a name for that, too, but I didn't give a shit about pool or this game. I heard the balls ricochet off each other, not paying attention to where they ended up. I was far too busy staring at my girlfriend's ass, which was damn near close to falling out of the bottom of her flowery sundress.

It might have been December, but she was literally summer in a person.

Before Madie had the chance to stand, I walked up behind her and placed my hands on her hips. I found her ear, nudging aside the hair covering it so I could whisper in it. "Are you trying to tell me something?"