Page 28 of Mad for Madison

The snow under my boots turned to slush as I slowed my pace. Maybe I wasn’t damaged goods, but I sure as hell wasn’t the picture of stability either.

I stopped at the edge of the park, heart pounding, and stared at my reflection in a frozen puddle. The polished exterior Lane had commented on earlier was still there, but underneath, I was cracking.

Bradley and Lily deserved someone good, someone unblemished by past mistakes and bad decisions.

Maybe meeting her wasn’t a step forward at all. Maybe it was the first step toward ruining everything.

A fake name only got you so far. I had no doubt that anyone who wanted to find out more about me could easily discover the truth. And I didn’t care. I didn’t care what people thought of me. As if I hadn’t been called every nasty thing in the book long before I’d ever made my first video. I was used to getting punched. Words hardly bothered me at all.

And Bradley thought he didn’t mind it. He thought it didn’t matter. How could I drag him into this and let him face the judgment and the embarrassment that would inevitably come out of it?

But then I saw them.

A man with dark curls and a calm, unbothered expression pushed a stroller through the snow. Beside him, a woman laughed, her scarf whipping in the winter wind as she tried to keep up with the toddler wobbling ahead. The little boy tripped, falling into the slush, but instead of tears, there was only laughter. The woman scooped him up, kissed his rosy cheek, and set him back on his feet. The man crouched down, brushing snow off the boy’s coat with a gentleness that made my throat tighten.

It was a scene I’d seen a hundred times before in real life, on TV, in books. It was everything I used to tell myself I didn’t want because wanting it meant admitting I couldn’t have it.

But here’s the thing about lies: sometimes, you forget to stop believing them.

My phone buzzed in my pocket again. I pulled it out, and there it was—a simple message from Bradley.

Bradley: Lily’s been asking about you all morning. We can’t wait to see you. You coming?

I stared at the screen, the edges of my vision blurring. Another message followed.

Bradley: I got the tickets already. Just let me know when you’re close.

Those words undid me. They were so unassuming, so ordinary, and yet they carried a weight that pressed against my chest. He wanted me there. Not Nico Hart, not the polished, fake version of me. Madison. Me. The real me—the one who was still figuring out how to exist in a world that hadn’t been kind.

I looked up again at the family in the park. They had moved on, but their laughter lingered in the air like a ghost. I could still see the way the man looked at his son, the way the woman’s eyes crinkled with unrestrained joy.

And I thought about Bradley. About the way his voice softened when he talked about Lily. He didn’t just love her—he adored her.

That kind of love didn’t scare me anymore. What scared me was the thought of missing it.

I didn’t want to live in a world where I didn’t get to see Bradley’s quiet smiles. I didn’t want to stay on the outside, pretending that what we had wasn’t real just because I was too much of a coward to try.

I typed out a reply.

Me: I’m on my way. Meet inside? Can’t wait to see you too.

This time, I didn’t overthink it. I hit Send before I could talk myself out of it.

Dane’s words still lingered in the back of my mind, but they didn’t matter. Not now. Not when I could picture Bradley’s grin when he saw me.

I started walking again, my steps faster this time, more determined.

Whatever came next, I’d face it. For them. For us. For a chance that there might beus.

I crossed the street to the museum and bought myself a ticket, then passed through and held my breath.

Bradley thought he was plain and unremarkable, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. He was the most beautiful person I had ever seen. Time after time, I had passed by Neon Nights and cast my gaze his way in hopes of catching his attention. Like a dog chasing a car, I had simply done it without thinking what would come after. And now, in the crowd of small in the museum, Bradley was unmistakable. His shaggy lightbrown hair, the cowlick he couldn’t fight, the broad shoulders that begged to have my hands resting there, and the adorable little girl holding his hand, dragging him to move faster.

Bradley looked back over his shoulder, skipping a step to catch up with Lily, and his gaze locked onto my eyes. The smile that broke over his face was so honest and warm that my heart thundered in my chest.

I forgot all that had been holding me back. I forgot all about Dane, all about the work I did and the work I was still under contract to do, and I exhaled. My breath was shaky, my fingers trembling, and my eyes stung from the sudden warmth of stepping inside. I realized I was biting my lip hard, but Bradley waved, and I nodded, and the world blurred for a moment before I moved again and picked up my pace.

Bradley took Lily to the side, letting the people flow past them, and pushed himself to the tips of his toes before returning down. He packed up whatever nervousness had been there and tucked it away. He let go of it for the sake of his daughter, and I let go of mine.

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