Chapter Five
Maddox
I woke up groaning, a headache splitting my brain open. Bright light sliced through the blinds, and my mouth was cotton-dry.
“What the fuck,” I muttered, rubbing my forehead.
“Morning, sunshine,” Declan growled from beside on the bed.
I startled, jolting up and staring at him. His naked body was spread out on the mattress, and with Declan lying face-down, there wasn’t more than a corner of the sheet covering his muscled ass.
“Hold the fuck on,” I muttered. “We didn’t…”
He barked a laugh, turning on his side without bothering to cover himself properly with the sheet.
I guess some things never change…
“Absolutely fucking not,” he answered, scratching his balls. “But Princess Maddox over here said the couch was uncomfortable.”
I squinted my eyes and rubbed my thumbs against my temples. “With how much tequila you convinced me to swallow, I’m surprised I noticed.”
“To be fair, it’s a pretty shitty couch,” he said.
I chuckled, then noticed the glass of water by the bed and bolted it. “The last thing I remember is you egging me on at the blackjack table.” I kept squinting. “And maybe there was someone dressed as a gladiator there, too. Is that right?”
“You came out a couple of hundred dollars ahead,” Declan answered. “I’m just surprised you didn’t fuck the gladiator.”
“Why was he—”
“Vegas, man,” Declan said, cutting me off. “You learn to just roll with it.”
“What happened after that?”
“Not much. I dragged you around the casino a little more and tried you to get you onto the dance floor at the club my buddy runs. Then we came home and finished off the tequila and traded stories about Seattle until you were ready to pass out.”
“I would have enjoyed that part,” I said, swinging my legs off the bed. My boxers were bunched up sideways, and I saw in the mirror that my hair was sticking out at every angle. “I never see anyone from the old life these days.”
Declan stood up, his cock swinging back and forth as he walked over to his dresser and tugged on a pair of boxer briefs. “One day you’re the hottest top in Seattle. The next you’re telling stories on the couch. I’m just sad I couldn’t convince you to stick around a little longer.”
“Not this time, man.”
“Is it a house you’re rushing to get back to or a monastery?” he asked, walking toward the kitchen.
I followed, eager to pour some coffee down my throat. “It’s the same place you remember,” I said. “Except that I added a welding studio in the back.”
Declan grabbed a carton of eggs on the fridge and flicked on the stove. “Tell me this, though. When’s the last time you brought a guy home to that place?”
I thought about it carefully. “Longer than I’ll admit to.”
“When’s the last time you tied anyone up or got your kinky kicks on?”
The eggs sizzled when he cracked them into the pan. “Same answer,” I finally said. “But having my ex-boyfriend lecture me about it isn’t going to change the situation.”
Declan leaned back against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest. “Man, when you moved into that house, I thought you were going to have guys coming and going every damn night.” He frowned, staring me up and down. “You sure you’re getting what you need up there, Maddox?”
I remembered the dreams we used to have for that house. My family had held the property for years, but when I turned eighteen, my father decided to put it in my name to avoid some taxes. It was a luxury cabin, tucked up in the mountains outside of the city, and located within a sprawling gated community. Every property there was used as a vacation home by wealthy people living in Seattle, which meant the mountain tended to be deserted unless it was a summer weekend.
I didn’t spend much time there when I was still connected to my family, but when my father finally disowned me altogether after a particularly destructive streak, it became my home base. I kept running amok for a few years after that, but soon enough, the last job I ran with Declan jolted me to my senses. These days, the welding studio let me pull in a little money, and I spent my days playing around with my machines and making metal sculptures that filled my backyard.
