I can’t seem to do anything but watch the domestic display playing out in front of me, and I thank the universe for the hundredth time for bringing us our neighbor. Because she’s the best damned thing to happen to us.
By the time they’re done, Maddie looks tired, so I climb onto the couch and hold my arms out for her. She falls into them with a soft groan and a long exhale against my chest. The others gather around us, Rayne reaching for the remote as he always does, and it’s only when he switches on a movie that I ask, “You okay, Blue?”
“Better now,” she assures, soothing the anger in my chest every time I think of that dickhole making her life hell.
Kissing the top of her head, the action automatic, I settle us both against the couch. Hugging her body to mine and enjoying the feel and heat of her against me, I run my fingers over her spine and smile as her body gradually melts against me like a candy bar stuck in the sun.
The moment she falls asleep, her head tucked beneath my chin and her cheek resting on my chest, I press my lips to her head and, keeping my voice quiet enough that it can’t be heard over the movie playing, I whisper, “Love you, Blue.”
“Hm,” my woman hums, right before she slays me when she whispers back, “Love you, muscles.”
I guess she wasn’t as asleep as I thought, and my heart fucking explodes right there in my chest. Pretty sure I’m blushing fifty shades of red, too, but I don’t even care. Because Maddie just sleepily told me she loves me, and I’m clinging to those words as I wrap her up in my arms and cuddle her through the entire movie.
I’m still clinging to them when I carry her to bed and climb in behind her, completely uncaring when the others join us, a habit we’ve all accidentally formed with Maddie. Not that I mind, a certain kind of peace filling me as I fall asleep with the woman I love in my arms and the guys I consider brothers drifting off as though it’s the most natural thing in the world.
Chapter Fifty-One
Maddie
Two weeks after my car is vandalized, my fridge officially gives up on life. It doesn’t die, but it might as well pack it in, because it’s as barren as a wasteland, with only a single bottle of half-drunk water, three sad little pickles floating in half a jar of juice, and several condiments I don’t even like. I’m pretty sure those belong to the guys, meaning my fridge situation is actually sadder than I originally thought.
I stare at the shelves in silence, then close the door slowly, keeping my shame tucked away next to the pickles.
“Mayhem?” Rayne calls from the couch, peering over the back of it to search for me.
Cringing, I lean against the fridge and grumble, “I think we accidentally became raccoons.”
“That bad?” he asks, lips twitching, because I’m confident he knows it’s that bad. We’ve been living on takeout for the past two weeks, and I can actually feel the desperation of my fridge that yearns to be filled. If I listen closely enough, I can hear it screaming, “Fill me! I beg of you!”
Nodding with a childish snort, my mind turning straight to the gutter, I drum my fingers against the fridge and mutter, “It possesses nothing more than questionable condiments and half a jar of emotional support pickles. We need to go grocery shopping, babe. Like, before we waste away to nothing but skin and bone.”
Rayne snorts from the living room just as Bax appears beside me like a fucking ghoul, scaring the crap out of me just before he opens the fridge and witnesses the barren land that my fridge has become. “Jesus.”
“Don’t bring him into this. He’s not the one who ate everything,” I argue playfully, one hand going to my chest while the other shoves my tatted hunk. I snicker when he playfully glares at me over the fridge door with those sparkling ocean-blue eyes. What is with these guys and their stunning irises that make me want to fold like a deck chair every single time? It’s so unfair. There are four of them and only one of me, damn it.
“We only have mustard and Marmite,” Bax mutters, shutting the door much like I did. “Who even eats mustard or Marmite?”
Oh. Guess the condiments aren’t his.
“Don’t disrespect the M&M’s, Wobbles. They’re all we have left,” I sigh pitifully, making him laugh and groan simultaneously.
Reaching out for my shirt, Bax tugs me toward him, wrapping his arms around me the moment my front is pressed against his. “How about we go to the store and pick up a few things to cook tonight? I’m pretty sure Caid is getting fat. We can’t keep doing the takeout, or else he’ll start struggling to fit through the doorway.”
“It’s all pure muscle, you sassy bitch. And the scales told me themselves that I don’t weigh any differently since last week, so suck my ass with your jealousy,” Caid calls from somewhere in the apartment, and I shove my face into Baxter’s chest as I laugh.
I nod in agreement. “Sounds good to me. Anyone else want to come?”
Rayne throws his hand up, heaving himself from the couch and disappearing into my room, likely to retrieve a hoodie from a selection that has appeared in my closet. And his clothes aren’t the only ones that have appeared in my closet. Or the bath products that have found a home in my bathroom cabinets.Or the little knickknacks that make a house a home that have started appearing all throughout my apartment.
I love every second of it. I love seeing their things mingled with mine, seeing them all comfortable enough to consider my place theirs. We’ve barely spent any time at their apartment, and I’ve soaked in every second like a water-deprived sponge.
Ten minutes later, we’re heading out the door, leaving Ryan and Caiden to argue about whether or not Caiden could live off the excessive amounts of protein bars I now house in one of my cabinets.
“You can’t go without chicken for a single day, and you’re trying to tell me you could survive on those shitty bars? I don’t believe you,” Ryan debates just as we leave.
“I would literally survive and thrive,” Caiden argues with a huff.
“You’d barely survive without a protein shake, you buffoon. I’m pretty sure you almost passed out trying to tie your shoelaces last week, and that was only after missing lunch. There’s no way you’re thriving on protein bars. You’re as delusional as Maddie is when she tries to cut down her caffeine intake,” Ry volleys.
