I couldn’t stop thinking about her.

She had been avoiding me for two weeks, and it was driving me insane.

Every time Madison walked by, I compared how she looked to Livy.

Every time she spoke, I thought about how much more Livy and I had in common.

It was shitty. I knew that, but I couldn’t stop.

And I tried, believe me, I tried everything.

I thought that maybe I could fuck her out of my mind.

When Madison wouldn’t stop talking about some girl she hated, I just kissed the shit out of her to get her to shut up. But instead of thinking about her lips against mine, I imagined they were Livy’s. Madison’s lips tasted like strawberries and were sticky from some crap she put on them. I imagined that Livy’s were soft and smooth.

When I grabbed Madison’s hips, I thought of the curvier ones that belonged to Livy.

It worked for a while. Replacing Madison in my mind with the one I really wanted. I knew what kind of dirt bag that made me, but I couldn’t help it.

Madison was into it too. At least, she was into me. Because it was the most I had ever been into her.

She clung to me like she never wanted to let me go, and when I thought about Livy doing the same, I had never been so turned on in my life.

But that all went downhill.

Because Madison ruined it. Fuck. I ruined it.

With just three little words. Words that typically meant nothing when you’re nineteen-years-old, but as soon as the words left her lips, I knew I couldn’t go any further. I may not have loved Madison, but she didn’t deserve what I was doing to her. She didn’t deserve to be replaced with someone else in my mind.

So instead of repeating her breathless words back to her, I gripped her arms softly and pushed her off me. I could see the rejection in her eyes staring back at me, and it hurt, but not as much as when I saw it from Livy.

When Livy jumped out of my truck after our almost kiss, it gutted me.

I didn’t even feel a fraction of that for Madison, and that’s how I knew that I couldn’t continue this any longer.

“What’s wrong?” Her words were broken, and I hated that I was hurting her.

“I can’t do this anymore, Madison.”

“Is it because I said I love you? I can take it back. I didn’t even mean it.” She was scrambling to save what we had, and I could see the desperation in her eyes.

“It’s not that. I just can’t do this anymore.” I rubbed my hand over the back of my neck and tried to avoid looking at her, like a coward.

“This is about her. Isn’t it?” Her voice was no longer soft and broken but full of fire and venom.

“Who?” As soon as the word left my mouth, I knew it was a mistake. Both of us knew exactly who she was talking about.

“What are you going to do, Parker?” She paced in front of me, venom spilling from her lips, the real Madison making an appearance. “Ruin your lifelong friendship over some piece of ass.”

“She’s not some piece of ass, Madison,” I sighed. “I’m sorry. Okay? I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“No. It’s not okay.” She pointed her perfectly manicured finger at me. “You will fucking regret this, Parker. I promise you.” And with that she stormed out of my room and out of my house.

When I emerged from my bedroom, my mother was sitting on the couch with a book in her hand. She had a sly smile on her face, and I could only imagine what was coming next.

She set her book down softly in her lap and pushed her dark brown hair out of her face. When her green eyes that perfectly matched mine looked up at me, I could see that she was trying her hardest not to give herself away.

“Let’s hear it, Mom.” I plopped down in the chair across from her.

“What do you mean?” She placed her hand on her chest in mock innocence. “I was just going to ask you why Madison ran out of here crying. What did you do to that poor girl?”

“I broke up with her.”

And just like that, my mom’s face lit up.

“Oh, thank God.” She slumped her shoulders. “I didn’t know if I could fake being nice to her for one more day.”

“Mom!” I laughed.

“What? It’s the truth. All that fake laughing and fake tan. A mother can only take so much.”

“Mom, you get spray tans too.” I pointed out stupidly.

“Yes, but I have a wonderful soft glow about me.” She ran her hand down her arms like she was modeling gloves. “That girl is orange.”

She stood from the couch to walk to the kitchen and I followed her. The smell of vanilla invaded me as she passed by me, and it was one of my favorite smells in the world. It smelled like home.

“Why didn’t you tell me how much you hated her?” I sat down at the bar as she started pulling pans out from the cabinets.

“Hate is a strong word. I would go with…” She tapped her finger against the counter. “Major dislike. Plus, you’re still young. I know that you’re still playing the field as you kids like to say.” She wagged her eyebrows at me and I died a little inside.

“Mom.” I chuckled.

“If you married her, I would have just disowned you. At least until you had kids because they would definitely need their Nana. Can you imagine what your kids would have looked like?” My mom shuddered. “They probably would have popped out with orange skin, platinum blonde hair, and a French manicure.”

“You could never disown me. I’m your baby boy.” I leaned back in my chair and grinned at her.

“That’s true, but I would try to beat some sense into you.” She waved her spatula in the air in my direction. “Or get Livy to help me.”

“How could Livy help you?” I leaned forward resting my chin in my hand.

“That girl has you wrapped around her little finger. You just haven’t figured it out yet.”

But I was all too aware of the effect Livy had on me. I just didn’t know what I was going to do about it.