Leighanne pulled her into a tight hug. “Hi, Mattie.”
“Brad, this is my brother’s fiancée, Leighanne. Leigh, meet my boyfriend, Brad.” Brad shyly shook her hand and smiled.
They drove home, and to Madeleine’s relief, Leighanne didn’t say anything about Nick. When they got there, though, Nick and Brian were playing basketball in the driveway. “Uh…do you wanna go around the back?” Leighanne asked.
“No. I wanna see my brother,” Madeleine replied firmly. She got out of the car, her boyfriend close behind. “Hey, guys!” she exclaimed, a grin spreading across her face.
“Mattie!” Nick and Brian exclaimed at the same time.
She gave them both hugs, and then shot her boyfriend a reassuring look. “Guys, this is my boyfriend, Brad. Brad, this is my brother, Brian, and our friend, Nick.”
Nick tried to conceal his surprise. Apparently, no one had told him Brad was coming. “It’s nice to meet you,” he said politely.
After a few minutes of awkward small talk, Madeleine and Brad managed to escape into the house. “I’m sorry about that,” she said softly.
“It’s okay. It’s not your fault. It’s just strange to know that this is the guy you used to love,” he replied, pulling her close and kissing her on the forehead.
“Well, don’t worry, because you’re the guy I love now,” she said.
The girls left shortly after, and Brian sat in the living room with Brad and Nick. The tension in this room was driving him up a wall. He had to go to the bathroom, but he was afraid that when he came back, one or both of the guys in there would be dead. Oh, well. “I’ll be right back.”
A minute of silence passed after Brian left. Finally, Nick spoke. “Please take good care of her, man. Don’t do something stupid like I did. She doesn’t deserve to be hurt anymore.”
“She’s really something, isn’t she?” Brad replied.
“She certainly is.”