My eyes shut of their own free will, because I did forget. The moment I caught Maddie sneaking away, everything else inmy head swam away like my thoughts were being chased by a shark the size of three whales.
“What gives, asshole? Am I meant to be planning this thing completely solo? You fuckheads said you’d help,” Caid grouches, and I feel bad. I really do. But if given the same opportunity, I know for a fact that he would have done the exact same thing. Actually, I’m pretty sure the blond-headed bastard would have told us straight to our faces that he was going to follow Maddie out of the door and ignore any and all plans he made for the day just so he could watch her body move like it does on the ice.
So, deciding to alleviate my guilt a little, I announce, “I’m at the rink.”
There’s a pause.
“With Maddie?” he then asks, and I wince again.
“Not exactly,” I answer, and I already know he’s going to piece that little puzzle together before I can-
“You fucking followed her, you cheeky bastard,” he accuses, sounding both amused and appalled, almost like he’s pissed he didn’t think to do that before me. I wouldn’t be surprised, since he’s stuck at home alone and I’m not.
I can do nothing but chuckle lowly, hanging my head forward, because I feel a whole lot stupider for my actions now that Caiden finds them funny, and mutter, “My feet moved before my brain. Don’t judge me.”
“No judgment here, but you could have taken me with you, you selfish bitch,” he tosses, and I snort loudly just as the music stops and Maddie leans against the barrier of the rink with one hand on her hip, a raised brow, and an adorably questioning look on that gorgeous face that trips my pulse and batters my heart.
A little distracted by the way Maddie’s body bends, her hip jutted out with a sass that boils my blood in the bestway possible and her figure outlined in nothing more than the tightest leggings known to man and a shirt tighter than any of the ones Caid owns, it takes me a second to respond to the guy. “Wasn’t really thinking straight, brother.”
Caiden replies, his voice ringing through the phone, but I can’t hear the words when Maddie points at me and then crooks her finger. The little minx smirks, silently demanding that I join her, and I’m like a sailor on a ship surrounded by sirens. Only, there’s one siren and she has me by the damned balls, because I’m out of my seat before my brain can catch up with me.
“Caid, I have to go. I’ve been spotted and summoned,” I mutter through the phone, distracted by the way Maddie gestures for me to come to the ice.
“Spotted? You were hiding from her? Oh my God, who even are you?” Caid damn near shouts down the phone, but I pull it away from my ear and hang up before I can respond.
I don’t even know how I would respond, because I don’t know who the hell I am anymore. That week away from Maddie really screwed with me, way more than I thought it would. It messed with all of us, putting her presence in our lives into perspective. We want her, badly, and there’s no way we’re going to be able to let her go.
Those thoughts cling to me as I head down the steps and walk toward the center of my thoughts, flashing her what I think is a sheepish grin. When I’m close enough, I ask, “You wouldn’t have had a clue I was here if Caid hadn’t called me, would you?”
She shakes her head with a funny little grin. “Nope. Which leads me to ask, is there a reason you’re creeping in the stands? Not that I mind, because it’s you, but do I need to be worried about another stalker?”
I shake my head, only to stop and tilt it, squinting my eyes as if I’m actually thinking it over, and Maddie laughs loud enough that it suckers me right in the goddamn chest.
“So, what are you up to?” she asks, still leaning on the barrier.
Doing the same, I rest my forearms beside her and admit, “Honestly? I don’t know. Guess I just wanted to be near you.”
It almost looks like she melts, her skates slipping a little and her body dipping low enough that I reach out to catch her at the same time she slaps her hands against the barrier with a panicked laugh.
Clearing her throat, she says, “Well, that was a cuter reason than I was expecting, you adorable creep.”
Giving her a bland look, rolling my eyes when all she does is laugh, I mutter, “Be lucky it was me and not Caid. That guy is damn near crawling out of his skin.”
A slow smile appears on her gorgeous face, and my heart thunders at the sight of it, right before it drops to my ass when she demands, “Grab some skates. If you’re going to follow me here, you can show me what you’ve got on the ice.”
Everything in me stills, because that is the worst idea I’ve ever heard. I’m shaking my head before she’s even finished her sentence, a flat-out refusal on my tongue, when the devil pouts. Her full lip juts out, and those pretty pale-blue irises fill with a puppy-dog pleading that actually works on me, because I fold faster than she did when we first met her.
Groaning, I rub my hand over my beard and confess, “Snow or icy things don’t agree with me.”
As if that excites her, Maddie’s smile grows and she teases, “You’re going to have to prove it, I’m afraid. It’s a new rule I’ve implemented just today. Those who creep must pay the price on the ice.”
I stare at her for a long moment before I sigh, because there’s no way I’m getting out of it. And if the look on her face is anything to go by, I’m screwed, and not in the fun way.
This is going to be my very own version of hell.
Fuck my life.
Without further prompting, Maddie skates to the opening in the barrier and hops out as though she’s not flouncing around on blades, heading directly toward the wall of skates. She calls over her shoulder, “What size are you?”
