Caiden snorts, confusion turning into disbelief, and I nod in tandem to his headshake, both of us focusing back on the delusional mess that is infecting my cell phone.
It’s nothing more than poor reminders of a relationship I wish to forget, Toby making them into something they weren’t. What reminders and memories he’s sent me are all attached to something low about our relationship, and I realize then just how deep his delusion runs.
By the time we’re done looking everything over, curious enough to go through everything, all that’s left is a single message.
UNKNOWN:I’ll get you back, Madison. We were too good together to leave it all behind. I’ll be ready to talk when you are. Love you.
“Ew,” I grouch, sneering at the message, right before I take a screenshot of everything and place it into a neat folder the police can go through without trouble. Because there’s absolutely no way I’m not handing all of this in to add to my report.
“Was that guy in the same relationship you were in?” Caid wonders, no judgment in his voice, but a genuine wonder that makes my lips twitch, because I’ve begun to question it myself.
Shrugging a shoulder and locking my cell, I reply, “I don’t even know anymore. I have a feeling he’s grasping at straws, because these are the very bare minimum of what happened when we were together.”
Caid nods, hugging my knees to his chest as he says, “Seems to me like he’s trying anything and everything to get you back.”
“Seems that way,” I agree, followed by a sigh. “He needs to accept that I’ve passed the point of being done. I want nothing to do with him. Plus, I’ve found four very handsome guys who are more than willing to cope with my chaos. I don’t need him, I don’t want him, and I’ll be glad when he finally sees that and moves the hell on.”
Caid smiles then, that gorgeous smile that melts my insides and warms my chest and cheeks simultaneously. He drops his chin to my knees, and he looks so freaking adorable that my heart skips several beats and I wonder, not for the first time, how the hell I got this lucky. Apparently, this is the universe finally apologizing for the shit I went through with Toby, and I can’t say I’m not absolutely thrilled at the results.
“Can I tell you something? You have to promise not to get weird about it, though,” Caid asks, voice low as though he’s about to tell me a juicy secret.
Narrowing my eyes on him, I nod cautiously, holding my pinky out in a promise. He wraps his around mine, and the promise is sealed, offering him the comfort to confess, “I’ve had a crush on you for the past two years. I didn’t have a clue you were even in a relationship at that time, I just knew that you were the most beautiful creature I’d ever seen. I’ve been nagging my assistant to book a photo shoot with you since I saw your magazine spread for Angelo D’Arci and the new line of gyms he launched, and then I saw your face when I googled the photographer, and honestly? I’ve been sunk ever since.”
My smile is so ridiculous that I hide it behind my hand, the giddiest joy spreading through my body from head to toe, and I can’t even put into words how deliriously happy it makes me to hear that.
“The reason I’m telling you that is because I want you to know that I’m really fucking happy that you’re taking a chance on us, Blue,” he adds, those pretty pale-green eyes nothing but genuine, the thundering of his heartbeat against my legs a clear sign that there isn’t an ounce of deception in him. Not that I believed there was, but there’s something real and raw about hearing the words and witnessing their truth.
So, offering him the same vulnerability, I tell him, “I’m pretty sure I’ve been crushing on you guys since you stepped into my apartment and witnessed me at my lowest and didn’t walk away terrified. I’m still not convinced I’m not dreaming, so believe me when I say I’m just as happy as you, only times four.”
Caiden laughs at my joke, and he points at my phone. “We’ll take those to the police in the morning, okay?”
“Deal,” I agree easily, a trip to the station already planned. “For now, how about we go to sleep? You look like you’re ready to drop now that the excitement is over.”
Caid pouts, and he shakes his head slowly, dropping his head to the back of the couch while he continues to hug my knees to his chest. “I don’t want to go home yet. Can I sleep here?”
Smiling, I reach out and finally run my hand through his sandy-blond hair, the strands just as soft as they appear. It almost distracts me from the conversation at hand, but I shake myself out of it and reply, “I didn’t say you had to leave. Let’s go to bed. I’m sure Bax won’t mind an extra snuggle buddy.”
Caid looks both excited and horrified. “You’re taking the middle spot. If anyone is the snuggle buddy, it’s you. If that man so much as slings an arm around me, I’m kicking him off the bed. I don’t even care if he’s naked.”
My laugh is sudden and loud, and I have to slap a hand over my mouth before I wake Bax. When I can speak properly, I mutter, “That’s fine by me. Let’s go to sleep.”
Caiden needs no more prompting, and he’s off the couch, carrying our empty plates to the dishwasher, before he snags my hand in his and hurries me straight to bed, where Baxter still sleeps soundly.
Forcing me to climb into the bed first, Caid removes his shirt and climbs into the bed after me, wasting no time in bundling me to his chest and sighing like he’s been waiting to do just that for too long.
It’s exactly how I fall asleep, my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat as it steadies when sleep finally drags him under. I follow pretty soon after, vaguely feeling Bax roll over and warm my back, and it’s quite possibly another winner in the “best sleep of my life” category.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Maddie
When I wake next, I almost expect things to feel a little awkward, having dragged another man to bed when there was already one naked and sound asleep between the sheets.
Thankfully, things couldn’t have been farther from awkward. The moment my eyes opened, I was deliciously assaulted by one tatted man with wild jungle-man hair and a desperate need for morning kisses while I was cuddled from behind by a koala who kept trying to push Baxter’s face away from mine every time he got close.
It’s safe to say the guys really are okay with this whole sharing business, because the entire routine was nothing but funny, playful, and lighthearted. That lasted all the way through the morning, when Rayne and Ryan came over with breakfast, the former dragging me into his embrace as he sat on a stool.
Slotted between Rayne’s legs, one of his arms wound loosely around my middle while he continues to eat, I finish explaining the events of last night’s new stalking development. “So, I screenshotted everything, and I’m heading straight to the police station as soon as I get ready.”
