Maddox walked over to Ashley and it was difficult to read his expression. She was taken off guard and not prepared for this meeting. The sight of him in dark jeans and a plain white shirt was enough to set her heart galloping in her chest.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, breathlessly when he reached her.

"I came to check why I didn't get a visit from you yesterday?" He was direct, no beating around the bush.

She shifted uncomfortably under his stare while she tried to come up with an excuse. She couldn't exactly tell him she was jealous of the female company he had yesterday.

"And you didn't call me back or respond to my message?" He raised an eyebrow as he waited for her explanation.

"I was too busy to come by," she mumbled. It was the best she could come up with but it was only when she had said it did she realise how lame it sounded.

He frowned. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," she snapped. There went trying to keep calm and indifferent to him.

"There's something you aren't telling me," he murmured, studying her like he could read the answer from her expression.

She avoided his eyes by dropping her gaze to the ground.

"Did something happen at school?" he asked and she shook her head.

"Then what is it?" he asked and she bit her lip trying to find a way out of this without revealing too much.

She shrugged as she found enough courage to face him again. "I thought you would have all the notes you needed from Macy."

Understanding dawned in his features. "Now I get it." He smirked.

She put her hand on her temple. "What do you get?" Clearly not understanding what he was going on about. She was tired and in no mood for this.

"You're jealous."

His words hit her right in the centre of her chest and it took a moment to breath through it.

"As if." She gave a hollowed laugh and rolled her eyes.

"Deny it all you want. I know you." He was so confident it made her angry.

"You don't know me," she snapped back. "Just because you stumbled across me in a private moment doesn't mean you know me. Let's get that straight."

He cocked his head to the side still with a knowing smile which irritated her. "I'm not here to argue with you."

But she wanted to argue, she wanted to yell and scream. He made her feel so much it was overwhelming. She crossed her arms and glared at him.

"Jasper told me about the notes."

Now her anger was directed at his friend. Traitor. Why did he have to tell him anything? Her life wasn't any of his business.

She gave a one arm shrug. "I didn't get any today."

"That's good." He murmured. She bet he didn't want to have to get into any more fights on her behalf.

"They had something else to talk about." She spoke without even thinking.

"What happened?" He rolled his shoulders slightly and it gave a glimpse of his flat stomach.

She pressed her lips together refusing to answer him. It wasn't like she could keep it from him. All it would take was a call to Jasper for him to know but she was being stubborn.

"Did something else happen to you?" he asked sharply, frowning.

It was his concern that undid her. She shook her head. "Someone did something to Noah's car."

"Really?" His frown eased into a teasing smile. "What did that someone do?"

She blushed. She couldn't help but show a hint of smile. "Wrapped his car in plastic."

He laughed and her smile grew. She liked the sound of his laughter.

"How long did that take you?" he asked.

"A while." She could have denied it but it would have been a waste of time.

"If I had known what I was creating I wouldn't have let you out without a warning." He looked at her with awe that did strange things to her tummy.

"He was being an asshole again and he needed payback." It was that simple. She yawned.

"You didn't get much sleep."

"It was a long night. I only got home at about two."

His face transformed into thunderous anger. "You went out on your own in the middle of night?" Her smile fell.

When she didn't deny it he lost it.

"Are you crazy?" He grabbed her wrist and she pulled it free from him while taking a step away from him.

"I don't answer to you."

"What if something had happened to you? Do you know dangerous that was?"

She was shocked by his outburst. She had never thought about her safety, her sole focus had been on carrying out her plan and not getting caught.

"I didn't think about that." She swallowed, her throat felt so dry. He had a valid point.

"Ash you can't do stupid things like that." he insisted. "Promise me you won't do that again."

He was sending mixed signals and she didn't know what to make of them.

"Why do you care?" she asked. He seemed to care more than any one else in her life at that moment.

"I just do." His eyes glittered as they held hers. They were hypnotising, She had to shake herself mentally to pull away from his magnetism.

"I don't want you to care." Her stubbornness was making a reappearance. "I want you to go back to the way things were before."

He pressed his lips together as he watched her silently.

"I don't need you meddling in my life. I was fine before you came into it and I'll be fine when you leave."

His face was serious as he took in her words.

"You want me to pretend I never found you on the edge of cliff looking for a way to feel alive?"

His words pulled at something inside her that made her want to reach out and anchor herself to him but she didn't give into it. Stubbornly she held firm. This was for the best. He could move on with his Ash free life and she could go back to things before, obviously minus the lying boyfriend.

She nodded. "Yes, that's what I want."

She expected him to agree and walk away but she was quickly learning that Maddox never did what she expected.

"No." His voice was firm.

"You can't just say no," she argued.

"I can and I just did."

She glared at him with her hands on her hips.

"You can't admit that you need me. That's fine." He shrugged. "In time you will."

"I'm not one of those girls who are going to follow you like a love sick puppy." She didn't know why she needed to separate herself for the type of girls he was used to.

"No, you're not." There was a hint of smile on his handsome face.

He was an enigma she couldn't figure out.

"No more pranks in the middle of the night unless I'm with you."

She considered his request with the knowledge she had no other pranks planned for the foreseeable future. "Fine."

He smiled and winked. "Good. I'll see you tomorrow at school."

She was still reeling from the affect of his smile as he strolled back to his car and got in. He gave her one last look before he started it up and left.

She stood there for a few more moments going through the conversation they had just had and trying to figure out why he had such an interest in her.

Her cheeks heated with embarrassment when she remembered him calling her out on her jealousy. She didn't want to feel what she felt for him and she certainly didn't want to be jealous of the girls he associated with. But her feelings and reactions were beyond her control. She hated every moment of it.

She was still so confused. Her thoughts kept her going around in circles as she had a shower and then crawled into her bed.

The tiredness she had fought for most of the day had disappeared so instead of getting some much needed sleep she lay in her bed with the covers over her staring at the ceiling trying to figure out what to do next Maddox Larson.

She could just ignore him and hopefully he would lose interest. That was the thing with guys like Maddox, they didn't tend to stick around. He would soon bore of her and then she would be free from whatever she feelings she was developing for him. She didn't want to think about the way her heart raced when she saw him she didn't want to feel any of it. She wanted to go back to feeling nothing. It was safer.