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Shit! I'd forgotten about the team dinner. I was planning on going, hoping to get another opportunity to talk to Chance since I'd given up trying to contact him by phone.
"I brought you some food." Maddox smiled, holding up the plastic bag. "You still like wings?" My heart squeezed. He remembered my favorite food. I nodded with a smile. Chance still didn't know my favorite food because we never went out. We couldn't. If we got caught, he could lose everything.
"We should probably get started," I suggested. "So, you can get a good night's sleep before the game tomorrow."
"Eat," he said, setting my food on the table. "I'm gonna go change, and I'll be right back."
By the time he returned, I was done eating and had everything set up, ready to work. Maddox took longer than a girl to get changed.
He slid into the seat beside me, and I breathed in his manly scent. A scent that sent me straight to the past. I mentally reminded myself that Maddox wasn't my friend and that I had a boyfriend.
"We'll start with Chemistry," I scanned his syllabus to see what would be covered on his midterm. "We'll start at the beginning and see how far we make it." He nodded, sliding his chair closer to see the book. His leg brushed against mine, and even that tiny contact made my heart flutter.
* * *
In just under an hour,we'd managed to comb through all the material for one of his mid-terms. Maddox worked hard when he wanted to, and tonight was a good night. He'd been flirty, and for some reason, I didn't stop it. I didn't know why; maybe I was starved for that kind of attention because I'd rarely gotten it from Chance, but whatever the reason, I knew it had to stop. It was wrong. Right?
"I think we have enough time to at least start on math tonight," I stated, twisting away from him and leaning down to dig the textbook out of my bag. Jerking the book out, I leaned up. "I'm not..." My words were cut short when I twisted back, and Maddox's lips claimed mine.
Every part of me wanted to melt into him, but I immediately jerked away instead. Flashbacks of high school flashed through my head. NO! I was not doing this with him again. NO!
"Maddox." I scowled. "No." I shoved out of the chair, standing up.
"Okay," he mumbled. "I completely misread that."
"Yes," I hissed. "You can't do that. I have a boyfriend." Not to mention, it confused all of my senses. Even in that short moment, I felt it. I felt that chemistry that I longed for.
He sighed heavily, leaning back in his chair. "Do you actually have a boyfriend?" he questioned. His facial expression and tone said he didn't believe me. "Your phone hasn't gone off once in the entire hour we've been sitting here, and on the bus, I was two rows back directly across from you. No one texted or called." My mouth fell open. "So either you really don't have a boyfriend, or he's here with you, and I would know if it was someone on the team."
"How would you know?" I scowled, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Guys talk." He shrugged, cocking his head to the side.
"Not all guys," I corrected him.
"All guys," he stated. "They either talk about their girl or talk about fucking a girl. Either way, they all talk."
"Boys talk." I sneered. "Not men." He barked out a laugh.
"That's not true." He laughed. "But even if it were, no guy in his right mind would let me share a living space with his girl." He was right, and I hated it. I hated that Chance was practically throwing me to Maddox. "So, if you actually have a boyfriend, you deserve better."
"Like you?" I scoffed.
"No," his tone turned serious. "You deserved way better than me." His eyes locked on mine. "Or at least that version of me."
"I'm going to bed," I snapped. I couldn't do this with him. "You should get some sleep."
"Sweet dreams, Addy," he whispered, and I froze in the doorway, squeezing my eyes shut, thankful I was out of sight. Why did he affect me like this? My body reacted to him in ways it shouldn't because I hated him, yet I had to keep reminding myself of that.
THIRTY-FIVE
ADDISON
Sitting on the window seat in the living room, staring aimlessly out the window, I was lost in the beauty of the flickering city lights—my mind racing with so many thoughts that I couldn't sleep. Maddox was right. I didn't have a boyfriend. I had a booty call, or that's what it had become over the years; I just hadn't seen it until now. I could blame it all on Chance and being unable to go public with our relationship, but that would just be an easy out.
The truth was that a lot of it was because of me and the fact that I still longed to feel the way I did the first time Maddox kissed me, and that wasn't realistic. Maddox and I were just stupid teenagers. He was my first crush, my first kiss, my first boyfriend. What Maddox and I had wasn't real, but I couldn't convince my heart of that. My body and soul still desired to feel the way Maddox made me think I felt.
"What are you doing up?" My gaze turned to see Maddox standing in the darkness. I'd been so lost in my thoughts that I hadn't heard him come in.
