She grimaces. “I heard it went…well.”
“Have you ever seen a dumpster fire?”
“Plenty,” she snorts.
“Mhm,” I hum as Maddox catches my eye from the threshold of my house. Before he steps beyond the door, he lifts the fingers that were just pressed intimately to me and shoves them past his lips while making dead eye contact with me.
My mouth falls open as my features pinch with rage while he licks my juices from his digits. His lips pull up into a shit-eating smirk before he winks and closes the door behind him.
That fucker!
He was awake!
“What’s got your panties in a twist?” Charlie muses, making me sputter around my coffee.
Heat spreads down my neck as I cough. “What? Nothing!”
She lifts a brow. “Okay…”
I sigh, linking my elbow with hers before leading her up the steps. “It’s just been a long day.”
“I heard that,” my best friend smiles as we step into the foyer. “Today is the first day since Piper was born that I don’t smell like spit up.”
I bounce with excitement as I lead her to the living room. “Show me pictures! I need to see my godchild.”
Charlie flicks through the photos, showing off Piper’s little chunky arms and cheeks. “You FaceTime every day. It isn’t like you haven’t seen her.”
I take her phone, melting into the sofa as I stare at beautiful, big brown eyes and tiny fingers. “How’s Eve?”
Charlie gets a fond smile on her face. “She’s doing amazing. Motherhood looks perfect on her. She’s just got this glow now. I can’t explain it.”
Their love story is one for the books. They met in our second year of college and have been inseparable since. I always said I wanted a connection as deep and natural as theirs, and I’ll hold out hope for that until my day comes.
It isn’t that I haven’t tried to date. The scene in Los Angeles just isn’t my thing. For being a pop star, I don’t thrill over long nights in clubs or going to the next big grand opening of some overpriced restaurant. I want something real and genuine, like what Charlie and her wife have.
“Sooo,” Charlie says before tucking a leg under her. “I was thinking about the tour—”
I tilt my head, my lips thinning disapprovingly. “You’re on maternity leave. You shouldn’t be thinking about work.”
She fans her hands, rolling her eyes. “I know, but I haven’t been out of the game this long since before your first album. I can’t get rusty.”
I deadpan. “You’re not going to get rusty. You’re a workaholic. No more talking about this. Tell me how mommy life is treating you.”
She groans before snatching her phone back, but as she sees the pictures of Piper, that frustration seems to melt away in an instant. We spend the next two hours discussing diaper changes and feeding routines until our coffees are watered down and the condensation has dripped onto my coffee table. It’s good to get this reprieve from the men haunting my home. It makes me realize just how much I’m missing Charlie whileshe’s away.
Late afternoon rolls around, and my best friend sits up when she notices the time. “Dammit. Piper is doing tummy time right now, and I wanted to video it for you.”
I usher her out the door, hugging her tightly. “Get lots of pictures and give her a kiss for me.”
Charlie squeezes me to her. “Will do. We’ll be over for a visit soon. Hopefully, your dogs will be well trained by then.”
I snort before letting her go. I wave to her as she drives down the cobblestone path, and I’m left feeling a little empty. I rub my hands over my biceps before my stomach rumbles in protest, and I begin to get the shakes. I head to the kitchen to start making dinner before my blood sugar drops.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Roman
I stare at my laptop’s screen, a hollow pit forming in my stomach at the information I just dug up on Rosalie’s past. Every medical record I click through is like a slap to the face.
