Borrowed Warmth

Maddox's POV

The drive toward the party simmered with a suffocating, tense silence. I kept both hands gripped firmly on the steering wheel, staring straight ahead at the dark road. I had some indie rock playlist playing quietly through the speakers, but it did nothing to drown out the hostile energy radiating from the passenger seat. Hadley sat as far away from me as physically possible. She kept her arms crossed tight against her chest, her gaze locked out the side window like the passing streetlights were her mortal enemies. The silence in the confined space of my car felt heavy, thick with the aftermath of our argument at her front door.

I eased my foot onto the brake as we approached a red traffic light. The car rolled to a smooth stop. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a sudden movement. Hadley shivered. The night air creeping into the cabin was sharp and biting, and she was wearing that ridiculous floral dress. It had tiny, useless straps that left her shoulders and arms exposed to the chill. She was far too stubborn to admit she was cold, let alone ask me to turn on the heat.

I did not mean to look at her. I really didn't. But the silence made me hyper-aware of every breath she took, and my gaze drifted over. My eyes dragged down her neck and stopped at her chest. The cold air had clearly gotten to her. Her hardened nipples pressed visibly through the thin fabric of her dress. She was not wearing a bra.

My jaw locked. A rigid tension shot straight down my spine. I snapped my focus back to the windshield, staring at the red traffic light until it blurred. Without asking for permission, I reached over, yanked my own jacket off the center console, and threw it directly onto her lap.

"I am fine." She snapped the words out instantly, picking up the fabric by her fingertips.

"You are practically shivering, Vance. Wear the damn jacket." I gave the command with a clipped tone, leaving no room for debate.

She scoffed loud enough to rival the car stereo, but she did not throw it back at me. She pulled the oversized hoodie over her head. The heavy material swallowed her frame, dropping past her wrists, but she finally stopped shivering. I reached out and cranked the car heater dial all the way up. The vents blasted warm air into the cabin, filling the space with the faint smell of dust and heat. I kept my eyes pinned to the road and refused to look in her direction for the rest of the drive.

We finally pulled up to the curb outside the house. The pulsing, rhythmic thump of the bass vibrated against the floorboards before I even shifted the car into park. The front lawn was already a chaotic mess of teenagers and plastic cups. Hadley unbuckled her seatbelt the second the car stopped moving. She turned to me, her green eyes flashing with that familiar, annoyed fire.

"Do not bother looking for me later. I will be going home with Nadia and Trev."

"I was not planning on babysitting you anyway." I shot the response back, matching her coldness.

She rolled her eyes, stepped out into the night, and slammed the car door shut with unnecessary force. I watched through the windshield as she marched across the grass. Nadia and Trevor intercepted her immediately, pulling her into the crowded chaos of the party. I gripped the leather steering wheel. I told her I wasn't babysitting, but the truth gnawed at my ribs. I had zero intention of letting Trevor take her home drunk tonight, no matter how much she hated me for intervening. I killed the engine and stepped out of the car.

The inside of the house was a sticky, suffocating trap of grinding bodies, loud voices, and spilled alcohol. I barely made it through the front door before Tate yelled my name from the living room. He tossed a fresh can of beer straight at my chest. I caught it mid-air and shoved it right back into his hands. I told him I was driving tonight and headed straight for the kitchen. I grabbed a cold, unopened soda from the fridge and retreated to a quiet spot near the hallway, leaning my shoulders back against the drywall to observe the room.

That was when a brunette named Kara stepped into my personal space. She had a confident smirk and immediately launched into a flirting routine. She talked about college applications, my hockey season, and asked if I was single. I nodded blindly and offered vague agreements. My eyes were already scanning the dense crowd, searching until they locked onto Hadley.

She was dancing near the center of the living room. Her cheeks were flushed red, and she looked noticeably loose, swaying with a red plastic cup in her hand. The alcohol was clearly hitting her system. Then Trevor stepped into the frame. He moved up right behind her, his hands clamping directly onto her waist. He pulled her hips back, pressing her flush against his front. Hadley tilted her head back and smiled up at her boyfriend, laughing at something he whispered in her ear.

A sharp, burning irritation flared in my chest. I forced my gaze away to break my own torture and looked back at Kara.

Kara took a slow sip from her plastic cup, stepping closer to my space. "I heard your parents are dating. It would be so epic if you guys became siblings."

"Yeah. Whatever." I muttered the response, my voice tight with distraction.

I tried to focus on Kara's next sentence, but my instincts dragged my attention right back to the dance floor. I checked the spot where Hadley had just been standing. The space was empty. I scanned the immediate crowd, searching the faces moving to the music. Nothing. Trevor and Hadley were gone.

A heavy, suffocating weight of dread plummeted straight to the bottom of my gut.

"I need to go." I cut Kara off mid-sentence and pushed off the wall.

I marched through the crowded living room, shoving shoulders and elbows out of my way until I reached Tate. He was standing near the kitchen island, trying to stack empty plastic cups into a pyramid.

"Where did Trevor and Hadley go?" I demanded, stepping into his space.

Before Tate could open his mouth, Dallas stumbled up beside us. He reeked of cheap liquor and sweat, his eyes glazed over. He let out a loud, crude laugh that grated against my eardrums.

"Trevor is probably fucking Hadley right now. He has been talking non-stop about it all week." Dallas slurred the words, a disgusting grin plastered on his face.

Tate shoved Dallas hard in the chest to shut him up. But the damage was already done. Something dark, sharp, and violent snapped right under my skin. The thumping bass of the party faded into a distant, static hum. My vision narrowed, and my knuckles turned stark white at my sides.

"Where is he?" I asked.

My voice dropped low, ringing with a dangerous, terrifying calm. I stared down the dark hallway leading toward the back bedrooms. The protective fury boiling in my blood blocked out everything else in the room. I made a silent vow to myself right then and there. If Trevor had her alone behind one of those closed doors and laid a single wrong finger on her, I was going to meticulously break every damn one of his fingers.