{18+ COMPLETE} For the past three years, Bren Hadaway has been preparing to die.
When he was sixteen, he watched his dad murder his mom. And ever since, he's been counting down the days until it was his turn to be at the end of a gun. And Bren has...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Letting go of our slice of freedom was harder than I thought.
We took the scenic route to Caroline's, driving along the coast first before veering inland. Directionally, it made no sense.
But we weren't following anyone's map except our own.
Madie wore a cute floral sundress with a sweater wrapped around her top half. I worried that she would get too cold with the convertible roof down, but she said she liked it that way. So we sped up the highway with the wind whipping through our hair. And I tried to ignore the fact that the hem of Madie's dress kept flying up.
Also ignoring the twinge of pain in my shoulder, I smiled as I reached over to squeeze her uncovered thigh. Madie slipped her fingers beneath mine, slowly tracing a design on my palm with the tip of her finger. "Bren, baby?"
I was trying to keep my eyes on the road, but fuck, she made it difficult. It'd been this way the last time, too. When we'd driven down to LA from Oakland, and Madie had been grinning so freely that my heart threatened to explode. When she had rested her head on the car door, hair blowing in the wind as she admired the ocean. When she'd thrown her hands in the air, and I'd known that taking her away with me was the best decision I would ever make in my life.
It was definitely the best decision I'd ever made in my life.
After a steadying breath, I said, "Yeah?"
"What do you want for Christmas?"
I laughed and shook my head. "Don't you dare get me a present, Madeline."
"Why not?" she asked, clearly pouting just by the way she'd said the two little words.
California's Highway One was a curvy devil, and I kept my eyes trained on the lines of the road despite desperately wanting to see her cute face. "You've given me everything. I don't need anything else."
The view opened up then. The vast sea was before us, and I knew this would probably be the last time we saw it. It wouldn't be long before the road would curve inland.
But as I watched the tangle of waves and shimmer of the far-out midnight ocean, I made a promise to myself. I might be going inland, traveling back to buried, trapped memories, but I was going to be free again soon. I wasn't going to let my asshole of a father keep me away from seeing everything I wanted to see in this goddamn life.
I wanted to see more of the ocean.
With Madie.
Madie's hand slipped from mine, and I glanced over at her. She crossed her arms over her chest.
"Okay," she said, sighing. "But that means you can't get me anything either."
I frowned.
I've never had a girlfriend before. I've hardly even had anyone to buy a present for at all. For the past few years, the only person I ever got a Christmas gift for was Caroline. But this year I had Madie, too. And I wanted to buy her a damn present.
