Page 36 of Make You Mine

For a moment, it crosses my mind. Mike himself could be behind this. What happened affected his family, too.

Except the weirdo knows Maddy is my stepsister, and Mike asked if she was my girlfriend.

It’s not him.

Besides, we used to be friends. There’s no bad blood between us.

I thank Mike for his kindness and decide to leave a big tip when we leave.

This road trip may have been a failure. But there’s one thing I’m sure about.

I’m not backing down until I know who this fucker is and what the fuck does he want.

He’s not getting Maddy.

He’ll have to kill me to get a chance.

12

HIM

The one good thing about me is that I’m resilient. I don’t give up easily, nor walk away from a challenge.

I persist. I keep showing up.

My feisty girl is lucky she’s got me, so determined to make her happy. Make her see me.

I’m a very attentive guy, too. She has no idea how much I care.

For example, I replace the boxes of her favorite cereal before they run out, so they last longer.

I also make sure there’s always a fresh cup of coffee on her desk at work, whenever she accidentally leaves one unattended for too long. I even make sure her drawers are stacked with tampons and pads, so she’s never unprepared when it’s that time of the month. Heck, I’m so devoted that I charge her Kindle when she forgets to and even set up notifications for when her favorite authors have a new release.

With that being said, being attentive has its downsides. Because I saw what she did, and I can’t say it didn’t sting.

I knew it was a risky move.

My girl was ungrateful, throwing out my gift that way. Inconsiderate.

Like, I didn’t gather every ounce of courage to walk into that store and get it for her.

It was a first for me, too.

My heart clenches in my chest at the results, but the consequences will follow.

She won’t get away with this.

That doesn’t mean I give up on her.

I wish I knew what Madelyn sees in him. The tension between them is clear.

It makes me fantasize about crushing his skull.

But I can’t hurt him. At least, I’m doing everything in my power not to. My girl is making it hard to resist, though. She’s giving him all the attention I deserve. He’s been given a warning. Hopefully, he’ll listen.

She’ll be a good girl, and he’ll be a good guy and behave. It’s going to be tough, given he’s a piece of shit.

But I’m not innocent either, I’ll give him that.