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“Today. This afternoon when the sun is in a good spot.” Maddox was already moving toward the exit again.
He was still pushing. Not stopping. Not slowing down.
I hoped a couple of hours of focusing on the contest and photos would help him sort out his thoughts.
Maddox set up for the shoot at Aubrey’s quickly. He wasted few words, and his approach from behind the camera was night and day compared to when we’d done the Alice in Wonderland themed shoot. It was probably a good thing I needed to look something between stoic and startled for The Motels cover, because there was no way my smile would look natural right now.
His attitude was the same at Ravyn’s. Not rude, but focused. Direct. Very little conversation. He took his photos and wrapped up everything quickly.
We were at Onyx’s again halfway through the afternoon.
“I’m going to develop the black and white rolls,” Maddox said the instant we walked in the house.
“We’ll go get food,” Onyx said.
Maddox shrugged. “Whatever.”
I grabbed his arm.
Maddox’s sigh was weighted down, and he met my gaze. “This isn’t something anyone can fix. It’s my dad being himself. I’ll be okay, but give me a little time.”
“All right.” I would try.
“Thank you.” He brushed lips over mine, and headed toward the dark room.
Onyx and I climbed into his car instead, and headed the few blocks to town.
“What was that?” Onyx asked as he drove.
I stared at him, confused. “What was what?”
“Casual kisses with Maddox.”
Of all the things he could choose to pick up on…
“I… Something changed last night. The kisses felt right today.” I didn’t even consider it was odd when Maddox did it, but now I was thinking about it… That had never been us before, and I wanted it to be going forward.
“Are you two together?” Onyx asked.
I hadn’t thought of it in those terms, but why not? The phrase was scary, especially with thoughts of Don so close to the surface. Together. Like dating. Last night’s kisses were incredible, though. And with promises of I’ll never leave you…
That felt pretty long term.
“I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe.”
Onyx clenched his jaw, but didn’t reply. A short while later, he parked at Gage’s. As we were walking inside, we passed Travis. He was one of the people on the city council who had been working hard to upgrade the street. Unfortunately, upgrade in his world meant pushing the current owners out, and turning the place into high end condos and the kind of small offices that wouldn’t be useful to anyone who lived here.
He was on the phone with his back to us, and I was happy to pass by him without more than a glance.
“Total bitch.” His voice stopped me. “What Alys did to you… They’re both ignorant little sluts and they deserve whatever—” Travis stopped talking when he turned and found me watching him.
Onyx was already stepping between us. Like he always did.
I was grateful, but today I didn’t want him to protect us. And this was about Evie as much as me. I grabbed Onyx’s hand and stopped him.
“You asinine little toad.” I directed my anger at Travis. I might be pushing this too far, but it had been a long day, I was still worried about Maddox, and I didn’t have the emotional bandwidth for Travis talking to Don about me. “Do you have any fucking idea what you’re talking about? You know what he told you, I’m sure. But the truth?”
My laugh was short. “Not that you know what truth is. Or what a good orgasm is. Or what a petty, pathetic man you are.”
