“That was one time,” I argue.
Even so, his smile is enough to lift some of the heaviness from my heart.
There’s so much slime and dead foliage on my clothes that I feel horrible about the trail I’m about to leave in the pool house, though the floor is easy to clean for a reason, and luckily, the bathroom is only a few steps from the door.
As I turn on the shower, I get a text on my phone.
Let’s jump on a Zoom today, Cynda says.Do you have a minute?
I groan inwardly. I hate work video calls.
Yeah. Give me a half hour.
Call me when you’re ready.
I drag my wet clothes off and pile them in a heap atop one of the oversized towels so all I have to do is gather the edges once I’m clean.
I try not to allow the thoughts of Alice back into my mind and instead push more recent, positive reflections through me to try and put a band-aid over those open scars.
I get another glimpse of a hickey on my boob as I wrap the towel around me and quickly exit to go to Maddox’s room.
I don’t even notice that he’s rummaging through one of his bags until I turn to close the door.
I jump and clench my chest, the towel falling halfway off. “Fucking hell, Maddox,” I manage breathlessly.
A quirk of that lopsided smile shows itself as he pulls a sweatshirt from his bag, his gaze wandering over me in a manner that makes me think he’s seriously considering taking my towel off and clothing me himself.
“I told them I was coming to make sure you didn’t take my concert underwear,” he says. “Of course, then Tina gave me these.”
He extends his arm, holding a pair of warm leggings from the dryer, and I smile.
“Why doesn’t it surprise me that she’s been up there looking for dirty laundry,” I say as I move behind the door and drop the towel to put the clothes on.
“Mom of four boys,” he replies. “She’s used to cleaning up our messes.”
Because he’s as much a part of this family as I am.
I turn my back as the towel falls to the ground, only because I know if I can see him staring at me the way that he does, there’s no way either of us are walking out of this room without a quick fuck against the wall. I tug my damp hair out of the sweatshirt and adjust the oversized sleeves as I face him again.
His gaze is dilated. The sage appears crystallized in the morning sun coming through the front windows. He strides toward me, then pauses to look over his shoulder as if he knows we’re being watched.
“We’re heading out to meet Bonnie and Zeb for tattoos in a few. Reed booked them the entire day and gave them tickets to the show on Saturday. Do you want to ride with?”
“Ah, I think I’ll just catch up,” I reply. “My boss texted me. I need to hop on a face call with her.”
“There’s the most terrifying sentence in existence,” he says, and I huff amusedly.
“Seriously. Like, couldn’t this have been an email?”
Maddox chuckles at the joke, and I can tell by the stretch of his fingers that it’s taking everything in him not to touch me in some way.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
I glance toward the ground and coerce a full breath into my lungs. “Yeah,” I tell him. “Yeah. Nothing a little tattoo therapy can’t fix.”
The smile he meets me with sinks its way into my knotted stomach. “I need you to do something for me,” he says, and my eyes narrow when he reaches into his pocket and pulls lipstick from it, along with a piece of paper. “Kiss this.”
I’m so confused. “What?”
