“Yes, ma’am.” He salutes before sauntering into the kitchen. He whistles lazily, and I roll my eyes as I head back to my room to get my bag ready.
As I pack an outfit to change into after practice, my temple throbs again, and I stop as I lift a hand to my head. “What the fuck…”
I grab my glucose monitor out of my bedside table before sitting down and pricking my finger. I wait for my reading, my head beginning to feel a little fuzzy. When the number ninety-two blinks across the screen, I toss it into my bag.
It’s normal.
I think I’m stressed…
That would explain my mood swings and irritability. I could also be getting close to my cycle. I’m supposed to start in a few days.
I shrug it off before changing into some navy bike shorts and a cropped, long-sleeve compression shirt. I pull my hair up into a high ponytail before grabbing my bag and shoving a glucose pen past the zipper. I slip on my white sneakers before heading back downstairs.
Roman is already at the door, dressed in his usual jeans and a dark t-shirt as he checks the time on his watch. His inked arms are on display, and my mind circles back to last night.
The way he held me, and how those fingers stretched me to capacity. The stinging slap he delivered over my ass before diving into my pussy like he was starving…
And then the kiss—something I haven’t been able to stop thinking about. Whatever weird hold he has on me is beginning to mess with my head.
I shouldn’t be thinking about this right now.
Maddox comes out of the kitchen, serving as a distraction, but a horrible one as he bites into a fresh peach and juice drips down his chin and onto his shirt. His lips glisten with the nectar, and my mouth waters against my better judgment.
“We can’t take you anywhere without you ruining your clothes,” Kairo scolds his friend as he pushes past him with a breakfast sandwich in his hands. He holds the toasted bread and cheesy egg concoction out to me in an offering. “Bite?”
It looks so good, but I shake my head. Having bread first thing in the morning is a sure way to throw my blood sugar off, and I don’t want to blank out with them watching me.
“Did you eat breakfast?” Roman asks, sounding a little snippy.
I roll my eyes. “Yes,daddy. I had a smoothie.”
His head whips up to me, his eyes a little wide as something heated passes behind them.
Was it something I said?
Kairo chokes on his sandwich, slapping a hand over his chest. “Oh, fuck. Don’t say that, Thorn. You’re gonna get him going at seven in the morning.”
Embarrassment punches through me, my words stammering. “I-I wasn’t meaning it like that!” I push past Roman, my head tucked as I stare at the ground. I can’t even meet his eyes as I trudge out to the SUV.
Hands grab the bag’s strap over my shoulder, and I lookup to see Maddox taking it gingerly from me as he shoulders it.
I get perfect flashes of last night—the way Maddox cupped my cheek softly and the desire in his eyes. It all comes rushing back, and I feel nerves circling my stomach.
This is going to be a long day.
“Thanks,” I mumble sheepishly before we all pile into the car and head for the studio.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Maddox
“I need a coffee,” Kairo says beside me as we watch the studio full of backup dancers mingle. Charlie is seated next to me, typing away on her phone as she waits for rehearsals to start.
“I made coffee this morning,” Roman says, his arms crossed over his chest as he rests his head back against the wall.
Kairo’s face twists. “Yeah, but I don’t drink mine black like you do. All I could find in the cabinets was Splenda, and I hate that shit.”
Charlie stops typing, and her eyes flicker to Kairo before she goes back to her device. The interaction isn’t strange, but it is eyebrow-raising.
