“Even if that’s not entirely true?” I asked, for her sake as much as my own.

“Yeah, I guess. It’s just more of a feeling of familiarity and comfort.”

“So then, what if all I’m feeling is exactly that and it’s not real? What if I’m just feeling lost in the moment, or all caught up in the sweetness of our innocent past?”

Keri moved her hand and smacked my knee. “Is that what you really think it is?”

I looked away. “Not really.”

“Thank God, ’cause I didn’t want to have to punch you. Stop being dumb and call the guy. Or better yet, invite him over so I can make an ass of myself again.”

Chuckling, I smiled at her. “I told him I’d call him tomorrow.”

“Well, is that him who keeps blowing up your phone?” She looked pointedly at my phone, referring to the few times it had lit up during our conversation.

I reached for the phone and glanced at it. “Text messages.”

Her lips curved into a sly smile. “I’m not going to tell you what to do.”

“Yes, you are.”

“You’re right, I am.” She sucked in a breath. “You better text him back. This is Walker Rhodes we’re talking about. Which, speaking of…” She raised a hand in the air and crinkled her brow. “What about this reputation of his? Please tell me you asked him about it, because I don’t think I could take my roomie being tabloid fodder. And you know you will be. How are you going to handle that?”

“I’ll be fine. I don’t care about the tabloids.” Sitting here in the safety of my living room, imagining potential future tabloid articles didn’t bother me. I figured I could handle anything they dished out, if they dished at all.

“You say that now.”

I nodded in agreement. “I do. So when I start freaking out, remind me that I don’t care.”

She giggled. “Done.”

I filled her in on all the details of Walker’s past and the things he had confessed to me about his friends and his mom. She nodded vigorously, insisting that it all made perfect and total sense. Keri hopped on the Walker train before tickets were even available for purchase. She loved this entire scenario which was now my life, and refused to feel bad about that fact.

“Honestly, Madison, I know you may not see it right now, but this is all pretty amazing. Your story is romantic as hell, and when people find out about it, they’re all going to storm the beaches of Malibu in search of their own summer romances. I couldn’t have scripted anything this perfect if I tried. No one could.”

I closed my eyes and smiled. “Trust me, Ker, I think it’s pretty amazing myself. Part of me still can’t believe it.”

“Well, believe it.”

After giving her a squeeze good night and thanking her for buying dinner, I stretched my arms over my head and sauntered into the kitchen, discarding my trash before heading toward my room.

“Madison?” Keri’s voice made me pause and I angled my head back toward her. “You’ll get another job. I’ll help you look, okay? And I’ll talk to my dad to see if he knows anyone who needs an assistant.”

“Thank you.” I pursed my lips together as I continued down the dimly lit hall, the realization that I could only deal with one thing at a time hitting me square in the face.

“Now go get your man!” Her voice trailed down the hall and I went to my room, slamming the door shut behind me.

Glancing at the clock, I noted the time; a little after ten p.m. It was too late to look for work, but it wasn’t too late to deal with Walker. My heart flipped inside my chest. I could feel it dancing away—probably to one of his songs—as I pressed the buttons to call his number.

He answered on the second ring. “Are you trying to kill me?”

“What are you talking about?” I giggled into the phone.

“I told you that I’d be going nuts until I talked to you. You’re driving me crazy.”

“And I told you I’d call you tomorrow. It’s not even tomorrow yet.”

“It’s almost tomorrow.”

I laughed and glanced at my clock again. “Not even close.”

“You haven’t answered a single text.”

“I was talking to Keri about everything.”

Walker’s tone turned even more serious. “Listen to me, Madison. I can’t have you running away from me. I know you needed some time today to process and work through everything, but don’t push me away. I don’t like it. I want to be the one you run to, not the one you run from.”

My defenses prickled at his bossiness. I didn’t normally like being told what to do, but in this case, I found myself liking his demands. “I’m not running away from you. I just needed a minute to work through my own head.”

“You took hours.”

“You’re being ridiculous.” I closed my eyes and shook my head, secretly enjoying how much he wanted me.

“No. What’s ridiculous is how fucking crazy I am about you still. Even after all these years. The moment I saw you in the dark with that sparkly thing on your head, all of these buried emotions came rushing back. It’s cheesy and I sound like a girl, but it’s the truth. I’ve never once forgotten about you. Not completely.” He blew out a breath. “And now that you’re back in my life, I don’t plan on letting you get away from me again.”

“There’s so much we don’t know about each other,” I admitted, one of my fears working its way to the surface. What if he’s not the same? What if I don’t like who he’s become? What if he doesn’t like me the way he thinks he does?

“That’s true. But I want to get to know every single thing about you, to hear about every moment I’ve missed. I want inside your brain, your thoughts, your heart, your pants.”

A loud laugh ripped from my chest at his last want. “You would.”

“I’m male.”

“I’m aware.”

“So, when can I see you?”

I smiled, my heart skipping a beat with his words. “Tomorrow. I’ll come to you.”

“Tomorrow can’t come soon enough. I’ll call you in the morning.”

Before I could respond, he added, “And Madison, don’t overthink this. Okay? Don’t overthink us or our situation or our past. Just listen to your feelings and don’t try to stop them with logic. Promise me that.”

How the hell could he be so in tune with me already? Maybe he was that good with women in general and I was just overly typical? Whatever it was, he was right on the money.

“I promise.”

“Good. Now go to sleep and then get your sweet ass over here.”

I huffed out, “You sure are bossy. I don’t remember you being so bossy when we were teenagers.”

His voice lowered to practically a growl. “I’m not bossy, I just know what I want. You’re lucky I’m not outside your door right now begging you to let me in. You’re lucky I’m willing to wait until tomorrow to see you.”

“Fame’s changed you,” I said with a laugh.

“No, it hasn’t. Good night, Sparkles.” My phone lit up and I pulled it away from my face to see that he had ended the call.

He acted so sure, so determined, and I’d be damned if I wasn’t completely turned on by it all. Walker was so different from any of the other guys I dated in the past. They all acted like they were trying to be what you wanted them to be, or they put up such a fake front it was almost sickening to be around.

There was nothing fake about Walker Rhodes. The question was, what was I going to do about it?

I woke up bright and early the next morning, my body’s natural alarm clock prodding me awake, used to getting up at this ungodly hour for work. My mind raced with thoughts about how I shouldn’t be heading over to Walker’s house; instead, I should be spending my time looking for a new job.

I sucked in a long, cleansing breath and slowly released it, determined to ignore logic for today. Allowing myself one day of reprieve to spend with Walker before I started hunting for a new job wouldn’t be a bad thing. I could survive that.