Two matching grins, a dark stare, and a confused expression answer me, and I clap again, shaking my head in disbelief. “Truly, I have never seen anything more poetic. You guys have no idea how beautiful that performance was. I’d rate you all a ten out of ten. I should submit a review somewhere.”
Caiden recovers first, laughing loudly before waltzing into my apartment without shame. I mean, I feel like we’re already past that at this rate, so I say nothing as he walks straight to my kitchen island and deposits a plastic bag I didn’t even realize he’d been carrying onto the surface.
As he’s pulling out cardboard containers labeled with my favorite Chinese takeout’s logo on them, he says, “So, that’s Tobe the Chode, huh? Not what I expected him to look like.”
“Oh, yeah,” I snort. “Don’t let the exterior fool you. That guy is the biggest tool in the box.”
“We gathered that much,” Ryan quips, stepping around Baxter and Rayne, heading straight for my couch where he drops gracefully beside me. “What the hell was that even about, anyway?”
Turning and slouching in my own seat, I retrieve the remote and hand it to Ry, explaining, “Honestly, I don’t even know. He isn’t supposed to know I live here, not after I sold the house after the breakup. I’m going to have to hire security at the door and let Casey know not to let him up.”
“You think he’ll be back?” Baxter queries, entering the apartment with a quiet and serious Rayne following after him.
Rayne shuts the door, and I hear the lock slide into place, something I should have done before they even arrived, and I curse Toby for stealing that sense of security from me. Frowning, I cross my arms over my chest and grumble, “I’m going to have to start locking my door now. What an asshole.”
“You should be doing that anyway,” Rayne volleys, and I ignore him and his apparent bad attitude. I’m not letting anyone steal my happy thunder right now, because seeing that particular shade of red on Toby is a memory I will cherish until my dying breath.
“The only reason I haven’t been locking the door is because Toby didn’t know I lived here. I’m actually surprised he didn’t try the door when he got here,” I note, definitely making plans to hire security.
Silence answers me, and I look up from where I’ve been staring at my coffee table, finding four frozen men as they stare at me in horror.
“You’re telling me that ’roid-stunted fuck-knuckle would have come in here without your consent if I hadn’t shown up?” Caid asks, alarmingly quiet and serious.
It’s then I actually read the room, realizing I should be careful with my next words. “Well, not necessarily. Didn’t you see his little puzzle book? It looked like he was getting ready to camp out there.”
“That’s not a better outcome, Mads,” Ryan informs, as though I’m an idiot who should know better. I mean, I do know better, but out of him sitting there waiting versus waltzing into my apartment like he owns the place, I consider him sitting at my door the better of two evils.
I shrug, opting for nonchalance. I mean, if I downplay the situation, maybe I won’t have to deal with four annoyed fellas I’ve only known for a day. “Obviously, I’m not saying it’s the best option. But I’ll take it over him helping himself to my apartment.”
I’m greeted by silence once more, the air turning awkward, before Baxter finally breaks the tension and asks, “So, why was he here, anyway?”
My mouth opens on reflex, my inhale at the ready, before I counter, “Why are you guys here? Not that you’re not welcome after you got rid of the bane of my existence. Beautiful timing with that entrance, by the way.”
“Caid had the food, and we knew he came up here with it, so when it took him too long to come and get you, we came to get him instead,” Baxter answers, gathering plates from the same cabinet he found them in this morning.
That’s a weird thought. This morning. After all that’s happened today, it doesn’t feel like it was only this morning that our paths crossed. In fact, I’ve only ever felt this comfortable around my best friends, and they haven’t even seen me after a failed attempt at masturbating.
Scrapping those thoughts, I wonder, “Okay, but why was Caiden here with food?”
The man in question snorts, and I eye him carefully as he starts dishing food onto five separate plates. “Pretty sure I could hear your stomach rumble from our apartment. You haven’t eaten since we had pancakes this morning, so I was trying to be nice. Wasn’t expecting you to have company, though.”
“You and me both,” I mumble under my breath, crossing my arms over my chest as the residual anger from Toby’s mere presence continues to linger like a rancid fart in a stuffy room. But he’s gone now, the air cleared and safe to breathe, so I clear my throat and offer my gratitude. “Thanks for bringing dinner.”
And, like my stomach was waiting to be acknowledged, an ungodly gurgle rumbles through my living room, and all four men turn to look at me in shock.
Throwing my arms up in indignation, I huff, “What? Pancakes were literal hours ago, and I’ve only been fed suckers and whiskey since. You can’t judge the decibel of my hunger.”
“No judgment here,” Baxter snickers, before he carries two plates filled to the brim with noodles, rice, and other tasty-looking things that have my belly screaming out in yearning. Passing over one plate filled with so much food it looks like a little mountain, Bax smirks and says, “Here. Get that down you.”
Sighing wistfully as I accept the goodness that wafts beneath my nose, I breathe, “Thanks. I suppose you guys can stay.”
Caiden laughs as though I said something funny, but I’m dead serious. I’m like a stray cat. If you feed me well enough, I’ll stick around. Pancakes and Chinese takeout in one day? Hell, I’ll stay forever if they’re not sick of me already.
Chapter Fourteen
Maddie
Thankfully, the guys all eat in silence, leaving me to my TV show and food in peace. It’s the first time today that I don’t feel like I’m going insane, the brief trip to the rink doing very little to soothe all my woes. In fact, I’m pretty sure it only made things worse. If anything, it definitely made me realize I shouldn’t have crawled my sorry ass out of bed this morning. I should have had a lazy day in bed, blissfully unaware of all things frosty and eyebrow-splitting. It certainly would have been safer for every single one of my body parts, that’s for damn sure.
