Leo Maddox by Sarah Darlington Read Free Book Online Page B

decide because then she said, “I saw some empty tables in the back. Come with me.”
    Like I would turn down that request? Without a single thought, I nodded and then followed her deeper into the bar. We entered a mostly empty room with a pool table. Clara, even though she was wearing a leather jacket, shivered as the air conditioning was stronger back here. If I’d worn a suit, I could have helped her, but as it happened, I only had on a t-shirt.
    She sat down at a table. Knowing I needed some distance, I sat in the chair across from her. For a moment I studied her. I mean really studied her. Between her purple, long wavy hair and the studded leather jacket she wore—she was seriously badass. In a rock star fantasy kind of way. Like something out of one of my wildest dreams. And despite the cool temperature of the room, my body was burning up.
    “So,” I said, clearing my throat. I reached out, fingering a strand of her hair for a second before pulling my hand back. I couldn’t resist. I had to touch her hair. “Purple…interesting.”
    “Fine, let's hear it,” she groaned. She flipped that long hair over her shoulder and crossed her arms over her chest. “Whatever carefully constructed cut-down you have for me, just say it now and get it over with.”
    Did she truly expect so little from me? I needed to start changing her opinion. Immediately. “I don't have anything to say. Not this time.”
    Her arms unfolded. “Well, that's a first.”
    Just then Clara’s friend Stephany approached the table. I sat back in my seat. Was this how tonight was going to go? Everyone interrupting us? But I decided right then and there that it didn’t matter. Even having the asshole bartender bother us—none of it mattered. All that mattered was that I was here with Clara. So that already made this better than any other damn day in my life.
    Stephany had a full tray of drinks, which she balanced on her shoulder. She smiled eagerly at me—like she was excited to see me. What had Clara told her about me? I smiled politely back at the girl.
    “Leo, this is Stephany,” Clara said, introducing her friend. “Steph, Leonardo Mad—”
    “Leonardo is my grandfather's name,” I interrupted, realizing Clara thought I didn’t know Stephany. “Nobody calls me Leonardo. Besides, I've already met Stephany….twice. Once, freshman year. And she came with you to the Masters Tournament, April before last. Your memory worries me.”
    “No,” Clara argued. “You didn't even go with us to the Masters that year.” Realization came to her face. Yes, I’d been at the Masters Tournament this past year. Yes, she was remembering me there. Honestly, I swear. Reed was like family to me too. Of course I would have been there supporting him.
    “Okay,” she decided. “Maybe you were at the Masters. But when did you meet freshman year?”
    It hurt a little that Clara could have forgotten this moment in our past. It was the moment I gave up cigarettes, gave up screwing random women, gave up my excessive drinking, and all around started to change my life for the better. “We ran into each other at an apartment party in The Village,” I said, completely forgetting about Stephany standing next to us. I needed Clara to remember this. “You must remember. I certainly haven’t forgotten the time I nearly fell to my death.”
    She remembered. I could see it her eyes.
    The night I was speaking of happened two and half years ago. It was January and our freshman year of college. After a fan-fucking-tastic phone conversation with my father earlier that day, where he basically demanded I quit school and start working for him, I’d spent the rest of the day getting positively fucked up. I was so shitty that I could barely remember my own name. Somehow I’d ended up at a random party, sitting alone in the cold, on the railing of a balcony.
    So many damn stars. I stared up at the night sky, with a bunch of hateful thoughts floating around in my head, and