Maddox:
The house was quiet when we got back.
Cassie was still humming the stupid song she always played when she was in a good mood—some pop anthem she had on repeat—but I wasn’t really hearing it. Not fully. Not since I saw Jules.
“I’m wiped,” I said, voice low as I kicked off my shoes by the door.
“You sure that’s all it is?” Cassie’s voice had that teasing lilt again, but I didn’t answer. I just offered her a tired half-smile and started down the hall.
“Maddie,” she called after me. “You really did fumble. Doesn’t mean you can’t still fix it.”
I paused at the threshold of my room, but didn’t look back.
Not tonight.
“Goodnight, Cass.”
“Night, brooding boy.”
I closed the door softly behind me, slipped my shirt over my head, and sank into bed, the mattress creaking under my weig
