Best Man by Christine Zolendz Page A

standing just on the other side of that door was a man with a gun and a fucked up vendetta against me. “Get down flat,” I hissed as I threw myself toward her.
    Before I could reach her, I watched as the door splintered open with one strong kick. It swung inward and slammed against the wall at the same time Maddie swung the lamp directly into Paulie Galutto’s face. Slow motion blood splattered out of his nose, and the sound of crushed cartilage and bone slammed into my ears. He dropped to the floor instantly, and the gun he was holding clunked down next to him.
    “Sheriff’s Department! Open up!”
    Maddie bent down and grabbed the gun before I could. She held it in front of her like she knew how to use it.
    The front door exploded open and deputies piled in, yelling for Cardarrio to freeze. I slumped back against the wall with relief as Maddie looked back over her shoulder at me. She was pretty badass for a bartender.

    M ADDIE WAS SWINGING her legs over the back on the ambulance. They wrapped a blanket around her and bandaged her head as I sat on the porch steps and went over all I knew with the sheriff.
    “Looks like they had her tied to the radiator for a while,” the deputy was explaining.
    I nodded my head and zoned in on the fresh gauze wrapped around her wrists. “Think I can go to her now?” I said.
    “You bet, son.”
    As soon as he said it, I crossed the distance between us in three long strides.
    “Hey,” she smiled at me.
    I said nothing. I just grabbed her in my arms and crushed my mouth down on hers. People around us went silent at her gasp, but her arms swung up and around me instantly. Heat spiraled like a tornado through my insides, and all I could think of was taking my complete fill of her right there in front of everybody.
    “How drunk am I? Is he really kissing my sister?” Travis asked somewhere behind us.
    “That looks like way more than kissing,” Ava laughed.
    I pulled my lips off hers and sank my hands in her hair. Her lips glistened in the moonlight and her breathing was hard and erratic. “I don’t know what I would have done if you’d been hurt.”
    One of the deputies sauntered up next to us and laughed. “Yes sir. Usually, it’s her we’re putting in the back of the squad car.”
    “Har, har, har, very funny, Lambert,” she said. “You just remember who got the bad guys, got it? Me. You just got here in time to handcuff them.”
    “That we did,” he laughed.
    “I still can’t believe Luke kissed my sister,” Travis said, shaking his head. “That’s gross.”

CHAPTER 18
    MADELINE
    “ Y  our CT scan was great. Just a mild concussion,” the doctor said, shinning a penlight into my eyes. “Look up for me and follow the light with your eyes.” He moved the little flashlight back and forth in front of me, and my eyes obediently followed along.
    I sighed heavily and wrapped the hospital dressing gown tighter around my body. I already missed Luke. I went to the hospital, and he went with the sheriff. I didn’t want to be separated from him any longer. It didn’t feel right in the pit of my belly.
    “For the next twenty-four hours, I want you to be careful. If you sleep, I’m going to need someone to wake you up every two to three hours, just to make sure there are no problems,” the doctor said, then turned to face Travis and Casey, who had stayed with me throughout the night. “Please make sure someone is with her to do this.”
    Casey’s eyes bulged, and her face blanched. “Oh my God,” she said, clasping her hand to her chest. “I’m…I’m supposed to be getting married in less than twenty-four hours.” She looked down at her watch and slapped her palm against it a few times. Her eyes shot back up to me. “Correction, I’m getting married in five freaking hours.”
    The doctor smiled tightly in her direction. “That’s nice,” he said.
    Her eyebrows shot up past her hairline. “I’m getting married in five hours,” she whispered.
    The