"The words to this song are completely out of sync with the mood of the music. Do you want me to change it?" Brooke shifted herself to get up.

Madelyn shook her head, "No, leave it. They have a lot of contradictory tunes, 'Hi-Line' is definitely one of them, but I like it."

"I suppose under the circumstances, The Heartless Bastards are an appropriate band to listen to."

"Oh, Nani! That was bad," Becca squinted her eyes as if in pain.

"What do you think will happen?" Brooke asked quietly.

"I honestly don't know." Madelyn's voice had taken on a steely edge. "Becca obviously thinks he isn't planning to throw in the towel, and he did make an attempt to reach out, even if the way he did it wasn't very impressive. Either he wants this relationship badly enough to fight for it, or he doesn't."

"He does, he definitely does," Becca piped up.

"I still feel a kind of betrayal and that makes me angry, but my resistance is low tonight," Madelyn laughed. "If he were here, I wouldn't be able to think straight anyway, and we definitely need to have a sensible conversation. I'm not putting up with this beyond tomorrow. If he hasn't pulled his head out of his arse, I'll do it for him."

"Yes, you go girl! Resist until your demands are met!"

"Brooke, sit your ass down," Nani was trying to catch their pixie friend by the wrist and drag her back to the sofa. The endeavor took multiple tries as Brooke had easily drunk the most wine and was now cheering as if she had pom-poms in her hands.

"There is no way she is driving tonight,"

"Don't worry, Becca, I'll drive," Nani shrugged. "Now about this low resistance you mentioned, Madelyn, what was that all about?"

"Ugh... I am missing him regardless, but I think we just have some crazy chemistry. That or I must be ovulating early. I feel like a mess of hormones that are also missing him. It's actually been a couple of days of feeling like this and it isn't letting up!"

"This is great! The always calm, cool and collected Professor Conroy is horny!"

"Oh shut up, Brooke," Madelyn gave her friend the stink eye.

"Come on Madelyn, is he any good?" Nani pried.

Becca's hand shot into the air like a bolt of lightning, "I can answer that!"

"Um, excuse me?"

"Oh for the love of God, Madelyn, anyone who was in the building that one morning knows he's got to be a hell of a lot more than 'good.' I'm pretty sure the walls shook and the ceiling light fixtures were swinging."

Becca tried to duck, but a pink-cheeked Madelyn successfully bounced a pillow off the top of her head. "That's bullshit and you know it!"

"Okay, that part may be a slight exaggeration, but the noise coming from upstairs left no doubt that the man got the job well and thoroughly completed."

"Sooo... how's he hung?"

The room erupted in laughter and Nani tried ineffectively to slap her hand over Brooke's mouth.

"Ha! I can say this now, because he isn't my employee anymore, wait until you see him. The man wears these jeans that leave so beautifully little to the imagination."

"You're all horrible! But, yes... he is incredible. He has the best equipment and he most definitely knows how to put it to excellent use." Madelyn hoped no one noticed her deep breath and slight squirming in her seat.

The second bottle of wine disappeared over the next hour, Brooke having consumed far more than her share. Thankfully, that meant Becca and Nani were fine to drive by the time they cleared away the leftover debris of snacks and cake. Becca's phone vibrated in her pocket as she rinsed the glasses. She read the text message and glanced toward the living room where Madelyn was banking the fire for the night.

"Madelyn, you know when you said you were still a bit angry with Harry, but your resistance was low, so maybe it was a good thing you weren't seeing him right this minute?"

"Yeah. Definitely still angry, or something. I don't know," she dropped her shoulders, sighing mightily.

"Honey, do you think maybe you feel more hurt than angry and that if you didn't love him so much none of this would have mattered?"

"Maybe. Yes. I don't know! Is it normal to want to punch a man and have him make you scream in pleasure at the same time? Oh damn, I'm a mess. This is why I need to get my act together before I see him."

"How fast do you think you could do that?"

As if on cue the motion-sensing lights outside flooded the upper windows of the living room and the security monitor captured a flash of headlights.

"Please don't be mad at me, but you were so sad and he is hardly functioning without you. I sort of called Murphy a bit ago. He just texted to tell me he told Harry to take off because he can't focus because his mind is on you."

On the screen, they watched Harry bounding up the steps. Then the pounding began.

Brooke and Nani returned to the living room, flanking Madelyn and Becca.

"Becca! Is Madelyn okay? Open the door."

Guiltily, Becca met Madelyn's icy emerald glare. "I'm sorry?"

"You are SO on my shit list."

"Mads, answer the door or I'm coming in anyway. We need to talk!"

A heavy slam from the other side shook the solid wood door in the frame. The four women took a collective step backward, Nani looking particularly apprehensive.

"You said he doesn't get like Jack, right?"

It was Becca that reassured her, "Harry is nothing like Jack. He isn't angry, he's worried. This is my fault, I called Murph and told him Madelyn was crying. I may have also indicated that he was responsible for upsetting her and..."

Suddenly the door crashed open, slamming into the wall behind it.

"The fucking door wasn't even locked! Are you all crazy?" Harry was truly in a state as he ploughed into the room. Immediately he went to Madelyn, taking her face in his hands. "Madelyn, baby, I am so sorry. Are you all alright? You have to keep the doors locked and the alarms on. Please."

His hands were batted away. "Don't."

A look of pain flashed in his eyes as he let his hands fall and stepped back.

"Ladies, I apologize for interrupting girls night. I'm Harry," he held his hand out in Brooke's direction.

"Yes you are, aren't you?" Brooke accepted his outstretched hand, pulling it away from his body so she could have a better look. "Nice jeans," she leered.

"Pardon her. Brooke drank away her filter this evening. I'm Nani."

"Um, it's really nice to meet you both. Any friends of Madelyn's, you know." Nervousness showing, Harry shoved his hands in his back pockets. Nani's eyes popped involuntarily.

In spite of herself, Madelyn smirked at her friend's reactions to this man that she wanted to claim and clobber, simultaneously.

In a moment of realization, Harry whipped his hands out of his pockets, tapped the toe of his boot on the floor and smiled as he looked down.

'Oh he knows,' Madelyn thought.

"Alrighty then girls, let's call it a night and let these two have some priva... space," Becca took Brooke's hand and helped Nani get a coat on her.

"Do you need me to help?" Harry looked to Becca.

"Yes! Definitely, yes," Brooke nearly shouted.

The other three women shared a communal eyeroll. Served Harry right, as far as Madelyn was concerned. He had crashed the party so he could help sweep up the drunk girl.

Once Harry had safely bundled Brooke into Nani's car, he exchanged a brief goodbye with Becca. Her reassurances that he was on the correct track gave him a modicum of relief; but based on Madelyn's cool response to his arrival, he clearly had his work cut out for him.

As the cars rumbled out of the driveway, Harry turned to the spot where Madelyn had been standing.

"Mads, I owe you another apology," She wasn't there. "Fucking hell," he muttered, taking off in a dead run.

Having slipped quietly toward the front door, Madelyn began sprinting when Harry addressed her. Nearly losing her balance on the melting snow and ice, gave her pursuer the second he needed to catch up and throw a boot into the door just before she slammed it closed.

"Madelyn, we need to talk! I understand you're pissed off with me. I deserve that much for not thinking about how affected you would be when I kept Katelyn's bullshit from you," he pushed his palms gently against the door without removing his foot. "Baby, can you please open up so we can do this face to face?"

"No! I don't want to be alone with you right now. I'm afraid."

Immediately, Harry stopped pressing the door forward.

"Madelyn, please, talk to me. I love you and I will never hurt you. I promise with my entire being that you have no reason to fear me. I'll talk through this door all night if that's easier for you."

He could hear the heaviness of her breathing, punctuated by little sighs and huffs of frustration. Then a sniffle that was so quiet he wasn't certain he'd heard it at all until there was a second, and a third.

"Please, don't cry, I know I'm an ass. I'll go. I just need you to know that I only want to protect you. I never intended to cause you to be afraid."

Harry reluctantly wiggled his boot out of the door. He backed away but kept his eyes trained on the solid wood that interestingly, had not crashed closed.

"I'm not afraid of you. I'm afraid of me," Madelyn whispered into the cold as she pulled the door open.

Author's Note:

Everyone still alive out there? The last couple weeks have been loaded with excitement! New music, live appearances and there is so much more to come! I don't know about you, but I'm loving the playlist for DELIVERY! Thank you to the readers who pushed for that, it's as if I'm re-reading every time I listen.

News Flash: you're going to see a new book cover go up on my profile! My goal is to have this new project cover loaded by Friday and updating DAILY by Saturday. Kind of holding my breath here because this is very different stuff for me.

Hope you are all well and getting a taste of spring weather. Come fool around on Twitter, and if you're into it, I've recently set up an Instagram for DELIVERY. As always, you can find me everywhere @dirtyyarn.

Em/Dirty

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