I have to swallow as he hovers there.
“I don’t know what happened between you two, but the anger and fear in your eyes when I saw you arguing with him made my entire body go cold,” he rasps. “Fuck exposing me. He’s lucky he isn’t splattered on the floor of that club for making you feel that way.”
My heart seems to skip, though before I can reply, the door opens to reveal Reed. He looks at Maddox first, then at me.
“Is she okay—are you okay?” Reed asks.
“Yeah,” I reply as I start back inside. “I think I’m ready to go home, though.”
“James has the car ready,” Reed says. “Bonnie and Zeb are going to stay. Avie is already on the phone. I told him we’d call on the way back. You ready to leave?”
“No arguments here,” Maddox says.
My lashes lift to Maddox one more time to see him push the mask up over his face again, and he discreetly squeezes the back of my arm when Reed goes back inside.
And for whatever reason, all I can think about is how much I want that squeeze around my entire body, how much I’m craving his embrace and comforting touch.
Fuck, I need to go to bed.
CHAPTER SIX - MADDOX
THE COMFORT ZONE
There’s a scary movie playing on the large television. I’m staring at it, yet I have no clue what’s happening or even the name of it.
My mind is back at that club, fantasies running through me about what might have happened if I’d gone off on Adam like I should have. I should have thrown him over the side of the balcony or down the stairs.
The entire ride home consisted of phone calls with our manager and the PR firm, along with Reed’s outbursts about the ordeal. I barely remember what was said.
The threat of Adam going to the press with my real name lingers. It has my skin crawling with a restless itch that I can’t seem to get rid of. Not because of anything I’ve ever done. Even still, if people knew what my father had done, if they realized the kind of person I’d spawned from…
I pop another gummy into my mouth and sip my beer. It’s only my third drink and probably my last. I need the edge off. I need to get rid of this irritation scratching beneath my skin.
As much as I know I shouldn’t be stressing over it, it’s all I can do to get the look on Andi’s face out of my head. She’d been so quiet on the way back, shrank into the darkness with her head lying on the cold glass window, occasionally opening up her phone to text her boss about what happened.
I flop back onto the couch, shove the pillow over my head, and shout into it.
So fuckingfucked.
When I sit back up, I see a shadow move before the double doors.
I swear if that bastard followed us back here—
It isn’t Adam moving around the deck.
Andi is standing on the other side of the glass, her hand pressed against it as if she doesn’t know whether to knock.
I launch to my feet without thinking twice and jump over the coffee table to get to the door, terrified that something is wrong, and when I throw the door open, I forget how to speak.
She’s wearing an oversized hoodie and those tights, short character socks on her feet. She quickly crosses her arms over her chest and hugs herself like she’s suddenly freezing, and the look in her eyes…
“What’s wrong?” I ask, fear rushing through me as I look past her into the darkness.
“I can’t sleep,” she admits. “I saw your light on. I thought… fuck, I don’t know what I thought.” She threads her fingers into her hair and pulls the roots out of frustration. “I feel fucking stupid. Never mind, Maddox. It’s fine. I don’t know what I’m looking for—”
“Hey—” I take her wrist when she turns away and draw her back.
An agonizing fright stretches in her eyes when our gazes meet. I feel my jaw twitch when I see it.
