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“So that I can look at you before I go to bed every fucking night, Braxton. You’re not simply pretty. You’re the most beautiful girl in the world. Never think otherwise.”
The compliment is so honest. So raw. “You look at this every night?”
A rumble grows in his chest as he snatches the frame back and sets it back on the table. In one lightning-quick move, he has my back pinned to the headboard and himself settled between my knees. Our hands are still linked, and our close proximity screams trouble. We don’t get this close to one another—not on purpose.
I fight to keep my expression casual, unbothered. His eyes flare. “It’s the picture, or I piss off your father and force you to live in this house with me so I can have the real thing instead.”
A shiver racks through me, and he must notice because he smirks, the sight of it way too damn attractive.
His voice drops, becoming a deep rasp. “I know which I would prefer, but I’m nothing if not respectful.”
Holding eye contact with Maddox is easy, but looking away is a mission I always fail. There’s something about the pure possession and control in his gaze that turns you spineless. I don’t fight the transfer of power. I hand myself over to him with my hands out and don’t regret a damn thing.
“You look like you’re feeling better,” I squeak.
He drops his chin and laughs deeply. Giving my hand a final squeeze, he slides his fingers free. “Let’s watch a movie.”
“A movie?”
“Yes, sweetheart. A movie.”
Another one of his damn pet names. Everyone knows I’m nowhere close to sweet.
“Get back under the covers, and I’ll get it ready,” I say.
“You got it, boss.” He flops over onto his back and shoves his legs under the blanket before pulling it up and over him.
I scurry off the bed and take my time grabbing the TV remote from his dresser. Maddox is my best friend, but everyone seems to think he wants to be more than that. I don’t even remember a time when he wasn’t flirting with me or scaring off any guy who showed even the slightest bit of interest in me. But that’s just how Maddox is. He’s protective and flirty. He wants the best for me, and I trust him completely when it comes to making sure I don’t wind up with someone who doesn’t treat me how I deserve.
Regardless of the feelings I have for him, I won’t risk our friendship on a silly crush. We wouldn’t work in a romantic setting, anyway. He’s Maddox Hutton, and I’m just me.
Whatever schoolgirl crush I have on him will eventually wash away as easily as a drawing in the sand on a seashore.
But our friendship? That’s going to last until the end of time.
11
BRAXTON
PRESENT
I shootup in bed and run trembling hands over my hair and face. My fingertips touch the drool on my chin and swipe it away. The late-afternoon sun shines through the open window as a warm breeze makes the sheer curtains dance. A car horn blares somewhere in the distance, and I grab onto the noise, using it to ground me.
It was a memory. It wasn’t real. I’m twenty-six, not sixteen. My blankets are white, not black. I’m alone. He’s not here.
The reminder isn’t comforting. No, instead, it makes me feel . . . empty? I sigh, pressing my palms into my eyes and rubbing the sleep away.
It’s been over a week since I was at Maddox’s penthouse, and in that time, all I’ve managed to think about is how far in over my head I really am.
We’ve texted a couple of times, mostly after his conversation with Dougie, where they discussed what our next move should be and how we were to act at our first public appearance, but other than that, it’s been silence. It would be too easy to simply move on from the past and start fresh, so awkward tension is what we’re left with.
Today the Vancouver Warriors play Colorado on home ice, and I get to make my official debut as Maddox Hutton’s girlfriend. To add even more pressure to the situation, my seat tonight is right beside his family.
Talk about jumping in with both feet.
Nerves flutter beneath my skin as I push out of bed and head to my closet to get dressed. I left work early today after spending hours unable to concentrate on anything but the ulcer I was growing in my stomach. I came right home to shower the smell of animal off me and then take a nap. From the time on my alarm clock, I woke up earlier than I planned to.
My walk-in closet is incredibly underwhelming. With one half filled with nothing but matching scrub pants and tops and a mostly empty other half with dressier outfits and jeans, it’s obvious how often I actually leave my house for anything other than work.
