Page 63 of Between Secrets and Obsession

Scoffing, I dig through my gigantic pile and notice he’s mixed his clothes with mine again. “That bastard!”

“I think he needs his ass kicked for that.” She chuckles, grabbing one of his T-shirts.

“Agreed,” I say, separating his stuff from mine. “Has he said anything to you, Soph? Mentioned anything about Vegas or gambling?”

“No. I thought maybe he gave you a little hint or something.”

“Nope. Not a damn peep. Mason heard anything?” If anyone knows, hopefully, it’d be his best friend.

“Mason has no idea. We’ll get to the bottom of it. The Corrigan sisters have a mystery to solve.”

I snicker, knowing how relentless Sophie can be.

“So what’re your plans this summer?” she asks.

“Getting Liam to finally admit he’s madly in love with me, pierce my nipples, and save up for a car.”

“Madelyn!” She laughs, grabbing socks and pairing them.

“What? Well, I’ve done one of those things already…” I lower my gaze because she’s about to scold me.

“You. Did. Not.”

Bringing my eyes to hers, I shrug. “Wanna see?”

Sophie snorts. “Surprised I can’t see them through your tops now.”

“Well, I’m wearing padding so they can heal. They said it can take six months for some, but others say only a month, so I’m hoping it’s the latter.”

I got them done after my recital, and they’re healing fairly quickly.

“Why? So you can flaunt them around Liam?”

“Obviously,” I quip. “One of these days he’ll crack.”

“Alright, so you’ve done one out of three so far,” Sophie says. “You wanna buy a car?”

“Yeah, I can’t rely on you guys all the time, so I might teach more classes to earn some extra money,” I admit, hating that I have to bum a ride anytime I need to go somewhere.

It’s almost as bad as living back in Utah and having my parents take me everywhere.

“The owner told me they were looking for someone to teach the extra baby ballet and tap dance classes over the summer when I mentioned possibly searching for another job. I might take her up on it.” I grab some hangers from the closet and hand them to Sophie.

“Teaching more classes instead of having to find something else would be nice. The kids adore you and you’re so good with them. Plus, you can dance in your sleep.”

“Yep. Work smarter, not harder. Since I’ll be busy, maybe it’ll at least keep my mind off Liam.”

Her laughter is contagious, and soon, I’m laughing too. “I don’t think anything will be able to do that.”

“I can try, though.” I grin, walking out of my room with Liam’s shit in tow. He’s crazy if he thought I was going to fold them too.

“You should put on some clothes,” Liam tells me while he eats cereal at the kitchen table.

I’ve caught him staring at my breasts several times since I got them pierced. They’re healed enough now that I don’t have to wear the padding, and the outline of the barbells show through.

The first time he noticed, he nearly choked to death on his beer. Sophie laughed so hard she fell off the couch. It’s a moment I’ll never forget because it solidified that he’s still attracted to me and is fighting it for whatever reason. It was one hundred percent worth the pain of getting them done.

“It’s late June and it’s hot as hell outside. Sports bras and booty shorts are my summer attire. Should be used to it by now, Hulk.”