Tina stares at me. “It’s that boy that you brought home for Thanksgiving a few years ago, isn’t it? I knew he wasn’t a good one. He felt… slimy.”
I can’t help it when I brush my hand over my cheek, the memory of the other night filling me with dread. “A little worse than slimy,” I mutter. “He’s the one trying to expose Maddox.”
Tina’s brows raise. “That guy? He’s the one on the council trying to take Maddox’s safety away from him?”
Anger slides over her face, the very mention of someone hurting one of her boys putting her in ‘mama bear’ mode within a blink.
“What did Maddox ever do to him?” Tina asks. “Why would he want to hurt him?”
“It’s my fault,” I admit. “All of it. If I hadn’t brought Adam home that Thanksgiving, if he’d never met Maddox, none of this would have happened. The other night at the bar, Adam recognized Maddox. They were protesting the concerts before, but once Adam realized who Maddox was, it just… It ignited the entire thing.”
“None of this is on you,” Tina says. “Adam is probably angry that he let you slip away.”
Kamden and Koen come around the corner then, both of them groaning and appearing as if they’ve been run over by trucks in their sleep. I’m grateful for the smile it puts on my lips, and Tina shakes her head at her sons.
“Mom, we’re starving,” Koen says. “What do you have to eat?”
Tina glances back at me. “It doesn’t matter how old they get. They’re still children when they come home for the weekend,” she says as she stands again. She squeezes my hand one more time, and with one look at her, I’m glad I said something.
“Are you hungry, Andi?” Tina asks.
I slide off of my own stool. “I’m okay. I need to check and see if Maddox needs me to do anything to help him get ready for tonight. I helped Reed with his hair last night, so—”
“What did he do to his beautiful hair?” Tina asks.
I smirk. “Oh… well… it’s just green.”
“Green?!”
A chuckle leaves me. “Don’t worry. I cleaned up the bathroom.”
Tina sighs in relief. “Oh, thank you,” she says. “I don’t care about the color. I was more concerned about the countertops.”
As I laugh, I reach for the second cup of coffee I had made for myself. “I’m taking this to Maddox,” I say before leaving through the sliding door.
The smell of birch and falling leaves fills my nose as I step out into the cool midday of Halloween. A deep, crisp breath fills my lungs when I look around at the changing leaves that have fallen overnight on the deck. I kick one and smile at the ground upon reaching the pool house door, though I don’t bother knocking before going inside.
I’ve barely closed the door when I realize Maddox is standing behind the corner of the couch, hands in the pockets of his sweatpants and watching me as if he’d been waiting on me there.
I eye the way he’s staring. “What?” I ask.
“You were smiling the entire walk over,” he says.
“No, I wasn’t,” I say quickly.
His lips quirk up at the corners. “You were,” he argues. “Did something happen, or are you just excited to see me?”
I sit the cup on the counter and give him a dull stare. “Don’t do this,” I say, though it’s hard not to smile at him.
“Do what?”
“Turn me into one of those giddy girls.”
His brows raise. “Giddy girls?” He slides his arms around my waist when he reaches me, causing my entire body to feel like he’s lit it on fire. His lips land fleetingly on mine, and he hums a quiet noise of satisfaction. “I like my sad girl,” he says. “But that’s purely for the satisfaction of knowing that when you smile, it’s because of me.”
I slink my arms around his neck. “How very possessive of you.”
“Tell me you hate it,” he asks, staring at my lips.
