I held up my hand. “We’ll go. We’ll take care of it.”
“Thank you,” Maddox whispered.
“Go,” I said.
He cupped his hands on my cheeks and kissed me, so carefully and so slowly.
It was everything.
* * *
“Watch out,there’s glass on the floor,” Mel said as I walked toward the kitchen.
The glass carafe was shattered, and there was an exploded bag of coffee along the one wall. It wasn’t too bad, and it didn’t seem like it would take long to clean up.
Mel found a broom in the closet and started on the floor. I unplugged the coffee pot and took it over to the trash.
“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that,” Mel said.
“No, you’re right. But now there are a few things that are going to remind him of this mess.”
“Oh. You’re right. But to throw it out?”
I put the coffee pot on the table instead. “We’ll take this to the thrift store. I’ll order a new one for same day delivery.”
“Why don’t you go strip the bed and clean the bedroom?” Mel said. “Order a new set of sheets. Wash those and take them to the thrift store as well.”
“Good call,” I said, and opened the closet where he found the broom. “You want to handle this and I’ll handle that?”
“Yup.” He nodded. “Hey. Aaron. Are you okay?”
I let out a breath. “Yeah. Well, I will be soon enough. When we get the chance to talk, I think this will all be behind us.”
“I am sorry I punched him.” His voice was small.
“Dude, you were protecting me. You’re a hockey enforcer. He understands. There was no other way this could play out. What was I supposed to think when I saw her lips around his dick?”
Mel nodded. “I was so scared you got played.”
“I haven’t been played.” I studied my nails for a moment. “It was the phone and the way I could see the tears in his eyes. He was scared, and he was honestly disgusted that someone had touched him like that.”
“I like waking up David that way…”
“And you have permission to touch him like that. He revoked her permission.”
Mel nodded, then put the broom against the wall and walked over to me. “You okay?”
“I will be,” I answered.
I found myself in a massive bear hug from my best friend. “He loves you, you know that. I could hear it in his voice when you were in Milan. I could hear it in his voice twenty minutes ago.”
“I know,” I whispered. “Let’s get this place cleaned up. I want to make sure he’s taken care of.”
“That’s my job,” came a voice from the door.
I turned and found the black-haired woman from earlier standing there, looking pissed. She walked in and looked around, and I saw Mel cringing as her heels dug into the wood.
“Where is my boyfriend?”
