“Madelyn, come on! You’re killing me, baby.”

I frown at Holden’s hassled tone and pop my head out from the behind the closet door. “Did you just call me by my full name?”

“I got your attention, didn’t I?” He smirks, spinning the keys around his index finger. He’s leaning against the doorframe of my dorm room looking all kinds of delicious…until he taps his watch. “Hurry up. We’re going to be late.”

I huff and rush to finish getting dressed.

I don’t know what his problem is today. Geez!

Pulling on my sundress, I wriggle my hips and tug the sides until it’s sitting right. This bodice hugs me like a glove. It’s hard to get on, but so worth the effort.

I smile at my reflection, then glance at my watch. “We’re not going to be late. We’ve done this trip a hundred times. It takes two hours twenty-five minutes.” I slip my shoes on. “And that’s allowing for traffic.”

Grabbing my overstuffed bag, I hoist it onto the bed and then scan my closet one last time to make sure I’m not forgetting anything. I’ve been packing all week, ready to head back to Armitage for a chunk of the summer. We’ll pop back here a couple of times to check on Holden’s mom, of course. He lives with her, about a ten-minute drive from campus. She’s doing so much better since she came out of rehab, but she’s still kind of fragile and Holden likes to keep an eye on her.

My boyfriend tips his head, his eyes running over me with an appreciative smile. I love the way my skin tingles when he looks at me like that.

He inches into my room, clicking the door shut behind him.

My roommate, Joanne, has already left for the summer so we had the place to ourselves last night. He stayed pretty late and I concluded that sleep would be impossible the way my body was feeling. I had a really long shower and read until I fell asleep around three.

My lips curl at the corners in spite of my tiredness. Holden Carter is my happy place and I swear I’ve fallen more in love with him this year. Being at college together is all kinds of amazing. I love the studying, the social life, the freedom of being treated like an adult. I’ve never been so happy and content before, and this guy in front of me is a huge reason why.

“You’re not allowing for make-out time.” His eyes glimmer.

“Make-out time?”

“Yeah, you know the ‘Oh look, we’re ready five minutes early, let’s make out while we’re waiting.’”

I laugh. “You are unbelievable. How is it that we’ve been going to college together and practically living in each other’s pockets for a year now, and I’ve never heard of you allowing for make-out time?”

“It’s just something new I came up with.” He rounds the bed and steps into my space.

Crossing my arms, I try to suppress my giggle. “I thought you would have had enough of me last night.”

“Baby, there is no such thing as having enough of you.” Placing his hands on my hips, he pulls me close and murmurs against my mouth. “You’re looking so freaking hot today.”

Unable to resist, I thread my arms around his neck and melt against him. Who cares if we’re a little late, right?

* * *

With one hand on the wheel and my other resting on Maddie’s thigh, I’m the luckiest guy in the world right now. Her blonde hair dances in the wind. She catches a few stray hairs and tucks them behind her ear. They’ll fly free again soon, but it’s too nice a day not to have the top down.

The sky is blue, the sun is hot.

We made it. Our first year in college is done and now we can look forward to some time in Armitage and a camping trip that Vincent wants to surprise Chloe with. The six of us are going to head to Utah after the Fourth of July weekend. Apparently Chloe’s been wanting to hike around some of the national parks, and Vincent wants to make it happen for her before college begins.

“I can’t believe my little sister’s graduating tomorrow,” Maddie murmurs, resting her elbow on the window ledge and smiling up at the sky.

“You look like a proud mama.”

“I kind of am. I mean, I’ve been such a huge part of her life, and living away from her and Max has been so weird.”

“Good weird?”

“A mix weird. Like sometimes I love that I don’t have to be responsible for anyone other than myself.” Her nose wrinkles. “But other times I miss them. They’ve been living without me and I can’t help feeling left out sometimes.”

“After this summer, all three of you will be spread.”

“Not really. With Vincent and Chloe both getting into San Jose, they’ll be super close to Cairo and Max.”

“And not too far from us.” I wink, trying to make her feel better.

She grins and bobs her head. “You’re right, and at least she’ll have Vincent to look out for her.”

“I’m pretty sure they’ll look out for each other. And not to sound overly female, but they are seriously a cute couple. I’m so glad Vincent got that scholarship in the end.”

“Yeah, I didn’t think it’d come through. Man, I would’ve loved to have seen his face when he got that letter.”

“I’m pretty sure Chloe screaming excitedly into the phone captured it.”

Maddie giggles. “I swear my ear was ringing for the rest of the day.”

“I was on the other side of the room and I heard her.” I snicker and put my blinker on, cruising into the other lane so I can overtake the pickup truck.

Thanks to a little make-out time, we are running late now, and I want to check in on Grandpa before we head to the Barlow house.

Chloe and Mrs. Hale have been helping me out, being my points of contact with anything Grandpa related. It makes me wish I hadn’t kept him a secret for so long because those two have been awesome. Even Vincent’s gone along to help out with Bingo nights occasionally, although I think he finds it kind of awkward.

He’d do anything for Chloe though.

I glance to my right, knowing exactly how he feels.

Being in love with Maddie Barlow has changed me. And I really like the change. I cringe to think about who I could have become if she hadn’t stepped up and challenged me.

Thoughts of Dad flash through my mind. I still haven’t visited him and I know this is something I will have to face eventually, but I’m trying to get to a point of forgiveness first. I want to be able to look him in the face and tell him that I’m over it. But I’m still fluctuating between “he’ll always be my father and I’ll definitely forgive him” to “that two-faced asshole can rot in jail, and I hope he never gets out on parole.”

My knuckles turn white as I grip the wheel.

At this stage, I’m pretty ashamed that the guy’s my father.

Mom tells me the sooner I forgive him, the better I’ll feel. I know she’s right. But it’s really hard. How do you forgive a murdering cheater who framed an innocent guy…and then nearly shot Chloe?

The family counselor Mom and I have been seeing tells me these things take time to process. It’s been over a year and she’s now got me practicing saying the words “Dad, I forgive you.”

Maddie said she’ll come with me if I find the courage to say it to his face this summer. Man, I don’t know if I can. A big part of me wants to dig my heels in, but there’s a small voice inside warning me that if I don’t forgive the guy soon, my anger will fester and rot until it owns me. The best way to free myself is to just do it.

I swallow, shoving the thought from my mind and focusing on the road ahead. A road that leads to people I love.

* * *

Visiting Grandpa John is always so much fun. Even though he doesn’t remember us, he’s still a sweet man, and watching Holden with him makes my insides all warm and fuzzy.

I love the way he holds his hand and rubs his thumb over delicate knuckles. John’s skin is like tissue paper now, wrinkled and spotted brown. We’re not sure how much longer he has, which is why we make him our first visit every time we arrive in Armitage.

Glancing at my watch, I can’t help a rush of jitters. I’m about to catch up with my family. It’s been close to two months since I’ve seen my sisters and I can’t wait for hugs and catch-up time.

Chloe’s pretty good at staying in touch, but Max is useless. It’s not that she doesn’t care, she just gets so busy living life that she forgets about how much a text, email, or phone call can mean. At least she’s always pleased to hear from me when I initiate.

Man, I wonder if I’ll see her at all when she moves to Berkeley.

She got in on a partial scholarship, and between selling a bulk of her baseball card collection and Mom and Dad’s penny-pinching, they’ve managed to put together enough money for tuition fees.

Chloe won a scholarship too, which has really helped. The fact that she’s attending the same school as her boyfriend is like the icing on the cake for her.

Vincent’s older brother, Nick, has found work as a mechanic in San Jose, and Vincent will be moving in with him. It’s great that he doesn’t have to scrounge up money for an apartment or move in with people he doesn’t know.

Tapping my watch, I catch Holden’s eye and he nods.

“Okay, John, we better get going.”

“Nice to see you, my boy.” He pats Holden’s hand, obviously in a good mood today. It’s such a relief when he is.

I rise from the bed, then lean down to kiss him.

He chuckles. “You take care, pretty lady.”

“We’ll come back and see you again for Bingo night.” I crouch beside his chair with a grin.

“Bingo night?” His eyebrows pop high. “They do that here, do they?”

“Oh yeah, and I’ll be here to make sure you get the perfect card with no tens.”

He shakes his head. “I don’t like the number ten.”

“I know.” I wink and give him another quick kiss on the cheek before taking Holden’s hand.

“See you again soon, John.”

“Bye-bye now.” He waves at us but is already looking at the painting on the wall, his scrambled brain no doubt trying to figure out who we are.

Holden drapes his arm over my shoulders with a sigh.

“That went well.” I wrap my arm around his waist. “He was happy.”

“Yeah,” Holden murmurs.

“Hey.” I squeeze his side until he’s looking at me. “Leaving him here was the right thing to do. He needs the routine and familiarity of this place. Moving him to LA would have been too disruptive. He’s happy. That’s what matters.”

Holden’s smile is sweet as he leans down to kiss me. I meet him halfway, pouring as much love into the moment as I can. I just want to bathe him in it. The poor guy’s had a rough time with his dad and everything. I want to be a pillar he can lean on, just like he is when I’m stressed about studying or missing my sisters.

I can’t believe how good we are together.

Considering how we first met and started, it’s almost comical.

That feels like an eternity ago sometimes. I can’t imagine him not being a part of my life.

Resting my head back in the car seat, I slide on my shades and grin the whole way home. By the time we pull up outside our house, my insides are bubbling with excitement. The yellow Camry is in the driveway, which means at least one of my sisters is home.

“I can’t believe Vince still owns that blue piece of crap,” Holden mutters as we park behind it.

“I can’t believe it still works.” I laugh, jumping out of the car and rushing up the path.

If Vincent’s car is here, Chloe must definitely be home.

Holden chases me and I’m about to open the door when it pulls back before I can.

“Hey.” I smile at Max as she jolts to a stop in front of us.

Her face lights with a grin as she grabs me into a quick hug. “Hey! So good to see you, sis.” She pulls back and kisses my cheek. “I gotta go.”

“What? Where?”

“Cairo just got back,” Chloe answers from the hallway while Max rushes out the door, waving us a haphazard goodbye.

“See you soon!” she yells before tearing out of the driveway.

Her tires squeal as she takes off down the road.

“Don’t speed!” Mom yells from the kitchen window, then gives up with a sigh.

Holden and I glance at each other and crack up laughing as we step into the house and are soon enveloped by my family.