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hockeyboysimagines · 10 days

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I’ve loved you three

Summers

Chapter 3

Warnings: language, kissing, mild sexual content, some angst and mentions of manipulative/abusive relationships.

Hello friends! Happy this is starting to catch on a bit. @cellythefloshie s chapter should be up soon! When it’s posted I’ll link it here!

Thanks!! Enjoy and let me know what you think.

The grocery store was mostly empty at this early morning hour and Madison was thankful because she had Seth on the brain.

They’d parted ways last night with more kissing and she hadn’t seen him since then.

And she was kind of glad.

She hadn’t even begun to process what had happened the night before and was still not totally sure it wasn’t a dream. The situation with her and Seth could go one of two ways. It could either be a wonderful amazing adventure or she could run the risk of losing a lifelong friend. It really just came down whether it was worth the risk, which she already decided it was. But it wasn’t only up to her. She had no idea how he was feeling.

If she hadn’t been thinking about Seth, she would have been paying closer attention, but she didn’t even see him coming till it was too late.

“Madison?”

She turned and felt something that could only be described as dread start to settle in her stomach.

Darren was standing a few feet away, fake smile plastered on his face, the same one he wore the very first time she ever met him. She did not return it.

“Hey how are you?” He moved closer and she took a small step back. Annoyance flickered across his face.

“Fine.” She moved to walk away from him but when he followed and she turned to face him fully, arms crossed with a frown.

“Is uh-is Harper here?” He asked glancing over her shoulder.

She scoffed “No Darren. She’s not here, but I’m guessing you knew that already. Leave my sister alone.”

“How is she?”

“Did you hear what I just said? It’s none of your business. If you wanted to know that I guess you should have spent the last 6 years treating her better.” Madison’s brows were pulled low over her eyes which were blazing with anger. She wanted to punch him right in the throat and run him over with the cart.

“You don’t know anything!” He snapped loudly at her, drawing the attention of the few people nearby.

But Madison wasn’t having it and stood her ground.

“You might have been able to bully my sister but don’t think for one second you’re going to bully me.” Madison was glaring at him “Stay away from Harper. If you ever really loved her you’ll let her move on. Or if you want to tempt fate show up to the house. I dare you.” Madison smiled a little and for the first time Darren’s confidence faltered. He knew better.

“Can you tell her-“

“Fuck off.” She turned away from him, heart beating loudly in her chest. Darren didn’t scare her, but her sister potentially having to suffer for it did.

She didn’t want to tell Harper and upset her but it would also upset her if she didn’t and Harper found out later. She was glad she had elected to take the grocery store errand and that Harper didn’t or it would be a very different conversation they’d be having

Madison checked out, not even sure she'd gotten everything, and made her way home, noting Seth’s car absent from his driveway, but that Harper’s car was parked in theirs.

She made her way very slowly inside, dreading the conversation she was going to be forced to have with her, and found her at the island in the kitchen.

Harper glanced up with a big smile but it faded a little when she saw her face “You didn’t hit another car in the parking lot, did you?” she teased.

Maddie shook her head and cleared her throat “I ran into Darren while I was at the store, i was just grabbing-“ she sighed, it didn’t really matter what she was grabbing “Nevermind, when he approached me, he acted like he just happened to be there at the same time, which was fine, until he started looking around, waiting, as if you were just going to walk up to us right there in the store, and when you didn’t he got really….” Maddie trailed off “Angry. He started asking where you were, how he could contact you. If I could give you a message-“

Harper’s face was unreadable, and Maddie wasn’t sure if she was mad or sad or even maybe a little bit scared. It had upset Maddie that she’d seen him and he made a huge scene like that, but it would upset her more if this upset Harper.

Sighing, Harper ran her hand through her hair, and sat down with her sister at the island shoulders slouched “He knows where I am,” she sighed, “He’s just too scared to come here.”

They shared a smile and Maddie said, “Dad.”

“Exactly. I can be safe here-” Maddie frowned hoping that Harper wasn’t alluding to what she thought she was “Hey,” she took her sister’s arm, “He never hurt me. Not in the way you think. And he didn’t hurt you, right?”

“I would have cut his hand right off if he had touched me.” Harper laughed and hugged Maddie to her.

”You still going out with your friends?”

Maddie nodded. She had lunch planned with friends mostly as a distraction and to give her some extra thinking time before she saw Seth later on. She would be prepared by then.

“Good, you go get ready, I’ll put the groceries away. Before you go, my new number is on the fridge, and if you need me and I’m not in here, I’ll be by the pool.”

Madison stood and squeezed her hand “I’m really glad you left him Harper. He never deserved you.”

She made her way through the house and up the steps to her room to ready herself for lunch with friends.

**********

Seth was sitting on his bed with his arms crossed staring at the opposite wall. His house was completely silent, which was unusual under normal circumstances but now with Svech living there it was even more. He’d watched Madison leave early, and then leave again and had been sitting in silence since then thinking about her.

He’d done a lot of reflection over the last few hours, having not slept barely at all, and he’d come to the conclusion that he and Madison just made sense. The writing had been on the wall for years and he’d been so wrapped up in hockey that he hadn't been playing close enough attention. If he had it wouldn’t have taken him 21 summers to realize that there’d always been something there just under the surface. It couldn’t be undone now, and it almost made him laugh at how dumb he was. Things he’d forgotten about were starting to come back to him. Most of their close friends knew that their friendship was strictly a friendship. But there had been some questions about them and their relationship over the years.

“So what’s with you and Madison Alexander?”

Seth looked up and frowned at Meghan, a girl he’d been kind of hanging out with for the last week or so. She was picking at a manicured fingernail and glanced up.

“What do you mean?”

She shrugged and crossed her arms “Well you guys seem close and she’s the most popular girl in school.” She said it with some bitterness. Madison was in fact the most popular girl in school and for good reason. She was gorgeous, friendly and approachable, and Seth could tell Meghan was jealous. Madison’s popularity wasn’t anything new to him though and he never really thought about her the way others did. But Meghan was obviously insecure and he could sort of understand why.

She was popular but not Madison popular and the one times they’d crossed paths Meghan had been standoffish. Maddie seemed to not notice, but Seth did and it was starting to make sense now.

“And that’s got what to do with anything?”

Meghan shrugged “Just wondering.”

“Mads is my oldest friend. We basically grew up together.”

“And you like her?”

Seth paused and turned to her “No….? Not like that anyways-“

“Then why’d you blow me off for her last night?”

He hadn’t.

Well sort of. He was supposed to hang out with Meghan the night before but he’d spent the afternoon with Maddie and Harper next door. So when they’d insisted he come with them to get food, he had cancelled plans with Meghan and went with Maddie and Harper instead, unbeknownst to them.

He liked Meghan but she could be a lot, and hanging out with Maddie and Harper was so easy.

“I just-“

“I think your hanging out with me and hooking up with her or the other one behind my back.”

“Woah woah hang on.” He held up a hand “First of all, I’m not hooking up with Madison and if I was I wouldn’t be hanging out with you, and second of all, Harper is 23 and used to babysit us. What is your problem? Maddie’s been nothing but nice since you met her.”

“I don’t want you hanging out with her.”

Seth’s mouth fell open “Are you kidding? Your telling me who I can and can’t hang out with? We’ve been talking for like a week.”

“Okay well let me make it really easy for you then. If you wanna continue to talk, and you wanna date me, you can’t be friends with her.” She crossed her arms “Pick one.”

Serbs mouth fell open and he scoffed “Okay. Her.”

The smile slipped from her face and her mouth opened “Wh-what did you say?”

“Her.”

Meghan started yelling and pointing and calling him names, which he wasn’t surprised about, and next thing he knew he was making his way through his backyard and into Madison’s.

She smiled and waved “Hey you okay?”

He sat down on the chair next to her “Fine why?”

She raised an eyebrow and he sighed “You know that girl? Meghan that I was hanging out with?”

“Mhm.” She curled a leg underneath her and pushed a strand of hair from her forehead.

“She-I blew her off to hang out with you guys last night-“

“Seth why would-“

“And she told me that if I wanna date her I can’t be friends with you anymore.”

Maddie looked alarmed and her lips parted “Wow. That escalated uh-fast. So what did you say?”

He gave her a long look “You’ve been a great friend so it sucks that we have to stop being friends this way -“ but he couldn’t even get the words out before he started laughing.

A smile broke out across her face “You douche.”

“I’m kidding. I told her that I didn’t think it was gonna work. I’m not going to give up my friends.”

“I get it but still. That’s not fair of her to ask in my opinion and for her to think we’re hooking up is crazy.”

He chuckled and leaned back arms crossed “Not really. She thought I was hooking up with Harper too.”

“WHAT.”

A splash from next door interrupted his thoughts and he pushed himself up into a kneeling position on his bed. From his room he could see clear into both the Alexander’s back yard, Maddie’s room and part of the kitchen. It had made for one hell of a vantage point for years of hide and seek.

But what surprised him even more was that the splash from the pool was not only Harper, but Svech as well. A bold move he thought to himself with a smile and a chuckle.

Oh he was so getting in on this.

**********

It was late afternoon when Maddie returned home, now noting that all the cars, except her dads cruiser, were accounted for in both driveways, and that Seth and Andrei were both out front.

Fuck.

She hadn’t talked to him all day, assuming he too was deep in thought about what had happened the night before or he was avoiding her. She’d also been a little worried that maybe he hadn’t been thinking about her at all. Maybe it was just another kiss with another girl and things would go back to normal. Either way, she wasn't about to reach out first. She didn’t even know what to say to him.

By the time she got out of the car Andrei had all but disappeared and Seth was making his way over looking at her apprehensively and smiled “Hi.”

She felt her knees get weak and sucked in a breath “Hi.”

She shut her car door and made her way to the front meeting him in the middle. He looked nervous, and she reached forward grabbing his hand and motioned towards her house with a smile “Come on.”

Harper wasn’t in the lower half of the house, and was presumably unpacking in her basement apartment. Seth followed her up the stairs and into her bedroom, which he’d been in before but that was before he’d kissed her in the backyard.

She shut the door behind her and turned to him, brushing past him and sitting on her bed. She patted the space next to her motioning for him to sit. He felt nervous and sweaty and he had no clue what was going on with him. He never got nervous to talk to girls but kissing her last night had rattled him.

Maddie was different. But thinking back he realized she’d always been different to him.

He cleared his throat “So about last night. Should we talk about it?” His arm brushed hers and sent goosebumps across it and despite the warm weather she gave a little shiver.

Maddie looked at her legs dangling off the bed and smiled “Probably..” she had her hands resting on her knees and tentatively he reached out to hold one, resting it there a second before he spoke.

“You know I really care about you right?”

She nodded, her thumb sweeping across the skin of his hand “Yes.”

“And I would never jeopardize our friendship if I didn’t think that maybe we were more than that?…Are we more than that?”

“I think we could be. If you want that is.” She smiled at him, hair spilling over her shoulder as she turned her head to the side. If she hadn’t been holding his hand he would have thought this was a dream. She’d smiled at him more times than he could count, but never like this. It made his stomach churn, and his heart start to pound.

“More than you know. So does that mean I can kiss you again?”

She smiled and nodded, meeting him halfway fingers still intertwined with his. He kissed her very slowly and sweetly, the hand that wasn’t holding hers came up to slide up her neck and rest on her cheek.

It did not last.

Years of feelings and sexual tension began to bubble over like water on a stove. She gave him a little tug and they moved over the bed, her underneath him as he slotted himself between her legs and a hand tangled in her hair. She lost track of what she was doing and let out a breath when he ground his pelvis into hers.

“Is your dad home?” He murmured against her mouth, breath coming out in gasps.

“No.” She pulled the back of his shirt up, tugging it over his head and tossing it down on the floor. She unbuttoned the tank top she was wearing as he sprung the zipper on her shorts and pulled them down her legs, leaning forward to kiss her again as she pulled at the waistband of his shorts. Her heart was beating so loud it was drowning out the hearing in her ears but not enough that they didn’t hear the front door slam from downstairs startling them apart.

“Girls! You home?” Her dad called. She heard his footsteps start to come up the steps and Seth jumped off of her, looking around in a panic. She jumped up nearly falling over as she yanked her shorts up and threw on his shirt, shoving him inside her closet just as her dad knocked on the door. She took a deep breath and opened it.

“Oh hey dad-what uhm. What’s up?” She was breathing heavy and leaned against the door.

He was frowning at her “Are you okay?”

“Yeah why wouldn’t I be okay?” She chuckled a little.

He looked past her into her room and then down at her clothes “Who’s shirt is that?”

“Oh it’s-mine, it’s mine. I found it in my closet.” She was a terrible liar and she could see her dad didn’t believe a word she said.

He nodded slowly eyebrows raised “Right. Is your sister home?”

“I think she’s in the basement.”

“Okay are you staying in for the rest of the day?”

She glanced at the closet “Mhm.”

“Great. I’m going to go talk to Harper and then get some sleep.”

“Okay sounds good. Get some rest big guy, you deserve it. Love you.” She called leaning out the doorway with a big smile.

He chuckled “Love you too Mads.”

She closed the door casually and locked it, letting out the breath she’d been holding and creeping across the floor to open the closet. Seth was crying with laughter inside the closet, hand over his mouth as he leaned on the wall and whispered “He definitely knew I was in here. He’s gonna kill me I-“

“He’s definitely going to kill you if he hears you in here now shh!” Madison shushed him with a giggle and made her way across the room to close her curtains, and flipped her tv on, leaving them in partial darkness. She pulled Seth’s shirt over her head and handed it to him, reaching for her own shirt on the end of the bed.

He sat on her bed and shrugged it back on “This looks better on you.” He watched her with admiration as she pulled the tank top back on over her shoulders and buttoned it, pushing her hair over her shoulder.

She smiled at him and turned the volume on the tv up enough that they could talk undetected and seated herself next to him, getting as close as she possibly could. Though this was the first time she’d ever laid next to him in bed in a romantic way, it felt so natural. Like they’d been doing this since forever, almost as if it was meant to be. He ran a hand up her arm to her shoulder, turning slightly so he could lean down to kiss her again, but she pulled away, instead running her lips over his jaw, tongue sliding across his neck.

She could feel him squirming around and smiled a little.

“Stop.” He pulled her mouth off his neck, holding her face in his hands.

“Stop what?”

“You know what. If you keep doing that I’m gonna start yelling. And then you know what’ll happen.”

“My dad finding you in my room half dressed? He’d probably shoot you.”

“Your dad loves me.” he ran a hand up the side of her neck.

“Not that much.” She sucked in a breath as he leaned down to kiss her again, hand brushing up under her shirt. As his fingers moved across her waist, goosebumps bloomed across her skin and she gave a shiver. She wanted to so bad, but her sisters room was directly under hers and her dad was just down the hall.

He pulled back to look at her, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek “You know we can’t do this right?” He said quietly with a small frown “Not with an audience. And I wanna do this right.”

She nodded and sighed “I know. Where though?” She added with a chuckle.

He laughed and ran his fingers through her hair “We’re in our 20s. It’s supposed to be easier to find places to hook up, not harder.”

She chuckled and sighed “I know. But I live with Elliot Stabler and the genius who’s spiraling in the basement and these walls are paper thin. How do you think Harper knows about all the bad shit we did growing up.”

He laughed and ran a finger across her collarbone “True. My house is out of the question too, between my parents and Svechy. Hey we-“

“Absolutely not.” She said putting a hand up.

“You don’t even-“

“The Tiguan is out of the question Seth.”

His mouth fell open and he deflated a little “Okay okay. Just a suggestion sheesh….but out of curiosity why not? Is there something wrong with my Tiguan?”

“That thing is one hopped curb short of being held together by duct tape. Too much movement and it’s falling apart.”

“You have a lot of confidence in my abilities.”

She rolled her eyes and gave the skin on his waist a squeeze “Guess that means you’ll have to really wow me.”

“Oh I’ll wow you.” He said leaning down to kiss her.

Hours later, she’d managed to sneak Seth out undetected and sent him back to his house with another quick kiss and a wave and she was now lying across her bed fighting the urge to kick and squeal because her dad was still asleep down the hall.

She felt her phone buzz and picked it up to see a message from Seth.

What are the odds you can sneak out later?

She smiled and glanced up through the curtains at his window Not so great. That’s the trouble living with a trained investigator.

Damn. Guess I’ll just have to visualize. So what’re you wearing?

Madison giggled and put a hand over her mouth eyes swiveling to the ceiling An oversized shirt and socks.

That’s it? Nothing else?

Like what?

Nothing underneath?

Maddie grinned evily Why would there be? I don’t wear underwear

Across the yard, in Seth’s room a phone slipped from his hand and fell to the floor. He let his head fall back and huffed.

She was killing him.

He’d kissed her on two occasions and she had him wrapped, but before he could have any more thoughts about Madison, or her underwear or anything, Svech burst through the door to his bedroom startling him.

“Do they not practice KNOCKING in Russia Jesus Christ.” He said grabbing the spot over his heart.

“What are you smiling about? And where you been all afternoon?” Andrei asked him sitting at the end of his bed.

“None of your business nosey. How goes the plan to get Harper to acknowledge your existence? Or are you still invisible?”

“Ha ha.” He said squinting at him “We’re not talking about me.”

Seth laughed and shrugged “I’m just having a good day is all.”

“And does that good day have a name? Madison maybe?”

Seth kicked at him “Never you mind about my good day. What’s the next step in your master scheme? You’ve tried stalking, complimenting-“

“I did not stalk her-“

“You.” Seth said sitting up pointing at him “Showed up at her job to go running when she didn’t want you there. I don’t know what they call that in Russia but here that’s stalking my guy.”

“And you.” Andre said pointing at him “Went with me so that makes you an accomplice. And I did it at the suggestion of your good day.”

“My good day never explicitly told you-“

“Aha! So she is your good day.” Andrei said slapping him on the shin and grinning.

Seth sputtered at him for a second before he broke out into a smile “Fuck off.”

“Joking, I’m joking. Is that what Harper meant by “Being good to my sister? Or whatever she said.”

“I think so. Maddie must have said something, I don’t know. Harper knows everything about everyone so maybe she just guessed. She’s smart.” He tapped his temple and Andrei rolled his eyes.

“So tell me.”

“Tell you what?”

“Don’t be an idiot okay?”

Seth was laughing and shrugged “It’s been nice. We gotta get you your own Alexander sister buddy.” He slapped him on the back and stood “Come on, can we go eat I’m starving. We can hatch a plan to make Harper fall in love with you before the summers over.”

Andrei watched as Seth stood and cleared his throat “So you think she might like me a little bit? Maybe?”

Seth grinned “ She will if I have anything to do with it.”

**************

Maddie made her way through the house looking for Harper. She couldn’t talk with her dad about it, and her friends had been too wrapped up with their stuff to pay Maddie and her summer dramas any mind. In fact it had been over a week since she’d even seen or spoken to them. While Harper gave great advice, she was also uniquely qualified to speak about her and Seth because she’d basically raised both of them. Harper wouldn’t steer her wrong.

But really Maddie just wanted to talk. As a teen, before Harper moved out, they’d spent many nights talking and giggling together until their dad finally had to enforce curfew because they were keeping him up at night.

But as Maddie opened the basement door to descend the steps, she heard Harper crying. She paused and stood at the top of the stairs for second before she backed up and shut the door quietly. She wouldn’t bother Harper with this. As she made her way through the kitchen she spotted Seth and Andrei making their way though the driveway to Seth’s car talking and laughing. Seth spotted her through the large kitchen window and smiled and waved at her, which she returned before she made to turn and ran smack into her dad.

“Jesus dad I-“

“You going out with them?” He nodded to the Jarvis’s driveway.

“Me? No im going to sketch a while. Why would I be going out with them?”

“Did you or did you not go golfing with them yesterday?”

She chuckled “How did-Yeah but what’s that have to do with anything?”

He crossed his arms and peered down at her “And which one was in your room when I came home?”

Maddie wanted to shrivel up and die right there on the hallway rug as she looked up at her dad. Though historically he wasn’t a yeller, she and Harper had never really tested his patience. Maddie had always been more trouble prone than her sister but having a boy into her bedroom closet was a new one. They’d always followed the house rules, and their dad was laid back for the most part.

But he didn’t seem angry. He stood staring at her eyebrows raised “Hmm?”

Maddie felt her face get red and cleared her throat, straightening up and looking her dad in the eye “Seth.”

Surprise registered across his face and his mouth opened “Really?”

She hoped that because her dad loved Seth and had watched him grow up that he wouldn’t be as upset about it if it had been Andrei, a guy who had just shown up a week ago. She cleared her throat, crossing her fingers behind her back and smiled hopefully at her dad “So how much trouble am I in?”

He shrugged “Why would you be in trouble?”

“Because I lied. I had a boy in my bedroom….i lied? Really nothing?”

He frowned but looked amused “Do you want to be in trouble?”

She shook her head “No.”

“Okay then. But don’t do it again.” He warned pointing a finger at her.

“Yessir.” She said with a salute and a stifled giggle as she moved past her dad and up the steps pulling out her phone to text Seth with a small smile.

M: My dad knows you were in my closet. He said he’s looking for you.

S: WHAT.

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hockeyboysimagines · 1 month

Text

I’ve loved you three

Summers

Chapter 2

Warnings: Language, mild angst, fluff, kissing

Here’s chapter two, and the link to @cellythefloshie chapter 3!

Enjoy!!

Harper came flying into the kitchen like the house was on fire the next morning startling Madison at the island while she was eating a bowl full of watermelon. She watched, amused as Harper stumbled around the kitchen attempting to make an iced coffee, spilling it twice and dropping ice on the floor.

She blew her hair out of her face and turned to her “I won’t be home till after dinner, running club tonight so don’t worry about me-“ she caught her in a hug before hurrying out the door.

Madison chuckled and yelled goodbye as she heard the door slam and her sisters footsteps descend the front stairs. The house was quiet and Madison stretched as she stepped off the stool, moving to put the bowl in the dishwasher when she spotted Harper’s coffee on the counter.

“Shit.” She hissed and snatched it, hurrying out of the kitchen to the door, and then down the front steps, to find that Harper was still in the driveway and she was not alone.

Seth and his teammate, Anthony or something like that, were in the driveway with her sister who looked more than annoyed.

Madison stopped and looked down, suddenly self conscious about the fact that she had a pair of tiny sleep shorts, no shoes and a tshirt on, and turned to hand her sister the coffee clearing her throat awkwardly, but Harper seemed not to notice and smiled with relief “You’re a lifesaver, Mads” she sighed and took the coffee before turning to Seth and whatever his name was in the driveway, to continue what she had been saying.

“I work today, but Maddie here, she’s free all day.” She moved to get into the front seat of her car, but paused “By the way Maddie, this is Seth’s friend. Andrew”

”Andrei” He corrected, and Maddie shared a glance with Seth stifling a giggle, knowing that her sister had 100% done that on purpose. She crossed one leg over the other and tugged her T-shirt down attempting to cover herself a little and turned as Harper continued ”Right. You three, should do something-” her sister suggested and put on her sunglasses before offering them a wave and leaving the three of them in the driveway.

Maddie was grinning as she watched her sister zoom down the street before she turned to them.

“She’s sweeter than she seems trust me.”

Seth laughed and turned to Andrei “This is Madison, Harper’s sister. Mads, this is Andrei.” She shook his extended hand and he gave her what she assumed was his best smile. A smile that got him anything he wanted, but it wasn’t working on her.

“Nice to meet you. Your sister is very beautiful, and now I see it runs in the family.”

Maddie chuckled and crossed her arms “Your very smooth Andrei. But your right. My sister is very beautiful, kind…and single.” She said quietly, turning to Seth and waggling her eyebrows.

“Remind me of her job again? She’s a-?” Andrei asked, glancing at the U-Haul still in the driveway.

“Physiotherapist.” Madison said with a small smile “She’ll be there all day, and then she’s going running after work…it’s like a club…” she smiled and turned to walk into the house before she called over her shoulder “That you have to sign up for online. Have fun!” She made a move to walk into the house but Andrei saw a window of opportunity closing fast. Her tagging along with them had two benefits. One for Seth and one for himself.

“Hey!” She turned, hair spilling over her shoulder “You should come golfing with us.”

She raised an eyebrow and looked at Seth “I don’t golf.”

“Come on!” He said slapping Seth on the chest “It’ll be fun. Right?”

Seth was looking at him puzzled before he turned to her “Definitely. You should come.” Seth’s brows were pulled low over his forehead and he had his lips pursed.

She thought it over for a second and took a step up on to her porch, foot braced on the step “I need like 20 minutes.”

She disappeared inside and Seth turned to him frowning “Svech I-“ but he waved his hand to stop him “Relax buddy. I invited her for you not me. I like the other one.”

Seth rolled his eyes and shoved him “Shutup.” He mumbled. He wouldn’t admit it, but Andrei had heard the disappointment in his voice yesterday when he asked about her sudden absence in the driveway, and he’d seen him inadvertently straighten up when she’d come out the front door. Since he was apparently too scared to do it on his own, Andrei would do it for him. Plus he figured it wouldn’t hurt to get some more details on her sister.

40 minutes later they were out on the golf course. Andrei was sure Seth was going to throw up when Maddie descended her front steps in a short black skirt and a white polo, long hair hanging loose asking if it was golf appropriate, and he stumbled over his words for a second before Andrei saved him.

“You look great. So good Seth’s speechless.”

Seth glared at him as she chuckled and slid into the backseat of Seth’s car and they backed out of the driveway and made their way to the golf course.

The sun was shining down on them as Seth attempted to show her how to hit a golf ball correctly. She was looking at him like he was speaking another language, leaning on a golf club with one hand and holding a drink full of pink liquid in the other.

“Get it?” Seth asked.

“No. But let’s try it anyway.” She downed the rest of her drink and set the cup on the fender of the golf cart.

Andrei watched as she made her way to the ball, and shook her hair out. She was beautiful, and he should have been into her. She should have been enough of a distraction for him but she wasn’t.

Now Seth on the other hand.

Seth had it bad. He hadn’t said it out loud but he didn’t have to. It was all over his face as he watched her hit the ball, eyes moving up her legs more than once. They were cute, and he liked seeing Seth so happy, but it made him realize he was third wheeling.

While she was focused mostly on Seth and keeping things as natural and normal as they typically were with him, she was more than curious about Andrei.

Who was he? Why was he here? Why did her sister seem to hate him so much?

Madison knew why. The smile on his face when she’d seen him fawning over Harper in the driveway told the story of why her sister was being uncharacteristically rude to him. He seemed nice enough, oozed charm and was exactly the type of guy who would send Harper running for the hills.

She watched as he fiddled around on his phone apparently deep in thought until Seth tapped her shoe with the golf club.

“Are you paying attention? I’m trying to teach you something here.”

She shook her head “I wasn’t really.”

She noticed a ghost of a frown cross his face as he looked at her and then Andrei behind her and before he could say anything else she cut him off “No I wasn’t if that’s what you were thinking.”

He shrugged “I wasn’t gonna-“

“You were. But it’s not like that. Trust me.”

Seth didn’t say anything but Maddie knew where his mind was. Even if she had an interest in Andrei she’d be barking up the wrong tree. He had practically flooded the driveway with drool this morning over Harper and Madison would never compete with her sister and she didn’t want to. It was nice actually that Andrei didn’t look at her like she was a piece of meat like most the guys she’d dated or hung out with. He just looked at her like she was a living breathing human being who had thoughts, and feelings. Like Seth always had. Normally it would have annoyed her that he even said anything, but this time it gave her some hope. If he cared, that she was interested in Andrei maybe it meant he liked her. He’d never said a word about any guy before. Maybe that walk last night had been good for them.

She was jarred from her thoughts however when she heard Andrei behind her “So, your sister, she doesn’t like me. Yes?”

Maddie turned and looked at him evenly but she had a small smile on her face “Now why would you think that.” She turned her head to the side, eyes twinkling mischievously.

Andre scoffed “She knew my name wasn’t Andrew.”

Maddie giggled and watched Seth switch clubs before turning back to him “You caught that? It’s not that she doesn’t like you, Harper’s just been through a lot.”

“Like?” He wanted to know more, everything he could about her. Her favorite things, music, hobbies, thoughts ideas all of it. But Madison shook her head.

“I’d love to fill you in, but that’s Harper’s story to tell. For context her ex is an asshole and she just moved back home. She’s still a little fragile right now, so if she comes across a being rude it’s because she’s still hurting.”

“Who’s an asshole?” Seth asked as he made his way over. He leaned around Madison to check his phone and Andrei didn’t miss how he went out of his way to brush against her, one hand on her arm.

“Darren. Your friend here has a thing for my sister.” She patted Andrei on the arm and moved past him towards the cart with a smile, and Andrei saw a flash of Harper for a second, and hoped he would be able to see a real genuine smile from her one day.

Seth shrugged “Not surprising. Everyone’s had a thing for your sister.”

She paused and half turned eyebrows raised, as he quickly corrected himself “Not me though. I’ve never liked your sister. That would be, uh- weird.”

“Yeah cuz she’s the wrong sister.” Svech said lowly from behind him.

Seth aimed a backwards punch at him as Madison leaned against the cart, arms folded, crossing her legs at the ankle “Harper can be complicated, but she’s worth it. She’s got a lot going on, but these last few days I’ve started to see the old Harper more and more. She’s healing, and faster than I think anyone expected. She’ll come around. You just have to get to know her.”

“I want to but she’s making it really difficult.”

Madison laughed and looked at Seth “Guess that means you have your work cut out for you. Now who’s taking me for a ride.” She glanced between them jingling the keys in her hand.

**********

Maddie had just gotten out of the shower when she heard her phone buzzing.

She’d gotten home only a half an hour before and felt like she’d been out in the heat for three years. Whether she was sweaty from that or Seth she wasn’t sure but either way a shower had been in order.

She glanced at the phone to find a message from her sister and smiled

H:Sorry I threw you to the wolves earlier

M:Haha it’s okay. I get it. Besides, it gave me an excuse to spend some time with Seth.

H:Are you at least having a good day?

M:It’s okay. It wasn’t bad. He’s a nice guy, and he sure likes you.

H:Kid got to spend the whole day with you and he still asked about me? I don't get why.

Maddie rolled her eyes. Andrei had exactly zero sexual or romantic interest in her and either Harper didn’t notice or was being purposely ignorant.

M:I think “kid” likes his women a little older, and is smart enough to know I’m not interested. Or maybe my charm isn’t what it used to be. Either way he asked lots of questions. He must have a cougar complex. And he looked really good in that golf shirt. Just sayin. And don’t pretend you didn’t notice.

H:Don't encourage it, okay? Nice or not, he’s not my type.

M:If that’s your story.

H:Besides, I don't think I'm ready for anything with anyone right now. Today's been tough.

M:You know what they say Harper. To get over someone, get under someone else.

She could practically see Harper’s face on the other end of the phone and started laughing.

H:Mads! That's horrible. I'm going to pretend I didn't just read that. Love you lots. Have to get back to work.

M:Hahahahha. Don’t act like it didn’t make you smile. Have a good day. Don’t think about Andrei too much. Love you!

Curiosity it seemed had gotten the better of her big sister. Maddie giggled and grabbed the phone, wrapped her towel around herself and headed to her room. She sat on her bed and took a deep breath. She was exhausted from the golfing, even though she gave up around the 9th hole and mostly watched.

She glanced up and froze.

From her window she could see clear into Seth’s room, and was both surprised and delighted to find him shirtless, rummaging through a drawer. She stayed there, not wanting to move so he didn’t notice she was looking, and felt her face and body burn up as she watched him find whatever he was looking for. He left his room, presumably to go shower himself and Madison let out a long breath.

She was going to need another shower.

**********

“So Madison?” Andrei asked later on when it was just them.

“What about her?” Seth said offhandedly. They’d dropped Madison off a while ago, having spent the afternoon with her. He liked her a lot, and he could see why Seth did as well. She was easy to talk to and seemed like a fun time, and by the end of the afternoon she and him were like old friends talking and laughing like they’d known each other for years. She’d left them with a wave and smile, and Seth had been avoiding talking about her since then no matter how many times Andrei brought her up. And it had been a lot.. Andrei could tell he was a little apprehensive probably because Madison wasn’t just any girl. She was a girl who had been a pretty prominent figure in his life for the duration of it. Things could get tricky for all involved.

“You know what.”

Seth smiled and gave a little chuckle “She’s my neighbor. We grew up together. Her sister was my babysitter.”

“What does any of that have to do with anything? I know you like her.”

Seth shrugged “Of course I do. She’s my friend.”

“Yeah that’s not what I meant.” Andrei said shaking his head. There was no such thing as having an argument with Seth. He’d learned long ago that trying to get him to admit something he didn’t want to would be impossible, even if it was already known, and Seth wasn’t giving this up too easy. Andrei had only heard Madison mentioned now and again in passing and now he could understand why Seth didn’t bring her up very often. There was some underlying tension that Andrei knew nothing about. But he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to find out.

Seth rolled his eyes “Even if hypothetically I did like her, I don’t think she feels the same.”

“Why? You two spent the day attached at the hip. And she laughed at all your dumb jokes. She wouldn’t do that if she didn’t like you.”

“First of all.” Seth said pointing at him “You can fuck right off. My jokes are hilarious. And second of all you laughed at them too so what’s that say about you?”

Andrei chuckled to himself but continued “So never anything between you two?” He’d never been so invested in someone else's non relationship, relationship but he had never seen Seth so worked up and he needed to know more. He had friends who were girls, but never a girl friend that close or one who he had feelings buried under the surface for. Plus it was a welcome distraction from his constant thoughts about Harper.

“I mean I kissed her once.” Seth said casually, glancing down as he pulled at a hangnail.

Andrei whipped around mouth falling open “When?!”

“6th grade spin the bottle.” Seth was smiling but Andrei was looking at him puzzled “You know spin the-No? Everyone sits in a circle and spins a bottle and whoever it-You know what. Never mind. It was a stupid 6th grade thing.” He said waving him off.

“How stupid can it be if you remember it still.”

He looked at the ceiling in thought “True I guess. I don’t know things seem weird with her lately.”

“What do you mean?”

Seth paused a second before he spoke. Andrei was seeing a different side of Seth that he’d never seen before. The Seth he knew was wild and fun, and rarely took life or himself too seriously, but this Seth seemed hesitant and serious. Andrei suspected Madison knew both sides, and she was the only one to bring this one out of its shell.

Seth cleared his throat and chose his words carefully “Last summer right before I left we got in a…it wasn’t a fight, but an argument I guess and then I didn’t really talk with her like I usually do when I’m gone. And now it’s just different. Like the vibe is off if you know what I mean? I’ve never felt weird around her but now it seems like things have changed.”

“Changed how?”

Seth looked at the ceiling in thought “Uhm I don’t know. I mean it was weird when she left the driveway yesterday right?”

Andrei shrugged. He’d been so entranced by Harper he had almost forgotten about Maddie’s mysterious disappearance from the driveway the day prior. But now that Seth had mentioned it, it was definitely weird.

He shrugged “Sure. Did you ask her about it?”

Seth shook his head “No. I’m kind of afraid to ask.”

Andrei stuffed his feet in his shoes “Maybe you should talk to her.”

“I’ll talk to her when you talk to Harper.” Seth was grinning ear to ear. He thought it was both hilarious and unexpected that Svech had fully committed to pursue Harper, who should be getting ready to get married, and Seth was secretly pining over Madison his lifelong friend and Harper’s younger sister. The summer had barely started and it was already full of surprises.

Andrei scowled and pointed at the clock “What do you think we’re going to do? After that it’s your turn.”

Seth rolled his eyes and stood, grabbing his keys and made his way outside “Come on creepy. Let’s go stalk my neighbor.”

***********

“Do you remember spin the bottle? 6th grade?”

Maddie and Seth were sitting by the pool in the dark sometime later. She’d seen Harper in passing when she got home from running club, both surprised and not surprised that Seth and Andrei had actually shown up, and she’d been in her room since then. Harper called it decompression time and Maddie found herself making her way out to the pool to do some decompression and thinking of her own. A short while later she felt someone looking at her and turned to see Seth at his window. She waved him down and now they had been sitting in comfortable silence together for a bit.

She turned and smiled, half of her face in shadow “Of course I remember. Why?”

He shrugged “Just curious. I remember I was so psyched about kissing you.”

“What? Stop it.” She waved a hand and rolled her eyes. She did remember it, like it was yesterday and she was surprised he did too. It had been so long ago now she was sure that it was buried amongst all the other girls he’d kissed since then.

He looked offended that she waved him off “No I was. You were like the most popular girl in school then, and well for the rest of the time we were in school after that, and I got to kiss you. Top ten coolest things that have ever happened.”

“Got to kiss me first.” She corrected.

“Wait what.” He turned to her fully “What do you mean?””

She was smiling as she watched the water cast reflections across the pool. She was beautifully illuminated by the blue light from the water as she turned to him and spoke “You were my first kiss.”

His mouth fell open and he let out a breath “Are you kidding.”

“Is that surprising?”

“Of course it is. Guys have always been crazy about you, even in 6th grade.”

She shrugged “ I don’t know about that.” He nudged her “Come on.You know it’s true. You’ve always been smart funny and from my recollection you were always the prettiest, most popular girl at school.”

She felt her face get red and giggled “You have such a way with words.”

“It’s true. And those aren’t my words, I’m just repeating what every friend I’ve ever had has said to me. Everyone I’ve ever known.”

“That can’t be true. If it was I’d have a lot more boyfriends than I did.”

“Not a single one of them were ever good enough. And dating is overrated anyways. That’s why I ended things with Kristen-“

“Who?” She asked cutting him off, she was looking at him blankly.

“This girl I dated in North Carolina off and on, she-“

Something he wasn’t familiar with flickered across Madison’s face and he could tell she was immediately uncomfortable and he stopped talking “What?” She asked quietly. She wasn’t looking at him, but rather staring across the darkest part of her backyard.

“What?” He leaned forward looking at her questioningly.

She chuckled and pursed her lips “Okay.” She pulled herself angrily to her feet and turned to walk away from him.

“Woah wait. What’s the-“

“Save it Seth.” She snapped turning to face him “You can’t do that okay?”

“Do what?” He was so confused about why she was so upset.

“You can’t sit here and tell me about being psyched about kissing me, and that I’m pretty and then turn around and tell me about a girl you dated in North Carolina.”

“Madison-“

“It’s not fair to me.” She was getting dangerously close to professing her feelings to him right there in the backyard but she didn’t care. She wasn’t going to put herself through this for the whole summer. It was barely even June she still had two and a half months of this left.

“I didn’t know it would upset you-I just-I don’t know why it is even upsetting you?”

Madison felt tears prick at her eyes and she let her head fall backwards “Really Seth? You don’t. If you don’t know why I’m upset then I guess you don’t really know me as well as you thought you did.” He continued to stare at her blankly until she spoke again “I’m jealous okay? Jealous of the girl in North Carolina, jealous of that girl last summer. Can you not see that?” She just didn’t care anymore. She couldn’t keep it to herself any longer. It was better to be honest and risk whatever was about to happen than run the risk of having to watch him meet someone. At least if it blew up in her face she wouldn’t have to see that.

“I had no idea-How was I supposed to know that?”

Madison crossed her arms and looked at him sadly “You just are.”

She turned to walk away but he caught her by the elbow spinning her around “Wait I-“ He leaned forward a little.

“Don’t.” She leaned away from him “Don’t just kiss me because I said all that, I don’t need a pity kiss I-”

Seth moved right in not bothering to go slow and pressed his lips against hers. She kissed him back, hands coming up to grip his shirt and pull him closer as they stood kissing in the backyard between their two houses. A yard they’d spent their whole lives in.

He pulled away and came back in at a new angle, sweeping his tongue across her lower lip, and she opened her mouth. This was way better than in the 6th grade. Had it not been for the grip on his shirt and his hands on her waist she would have passed out and fallen over, but he held her in place. Her heart was beating so loud it was drowning out everything else as they stood kissing under the stars. It was everything she’d been dreaming for the 10 months. When he pulled away they stood staring at each other.

“Are you still jealous?” He asked quietly giving her waist a squeeze.

“Do you still wanna date Kristen?”

“Who?” He asked with a smile “All I know is I wanna kiss you again.”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

Cool for the Summer: Chapter 3

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