AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Maddox: Addy? Where are you?
I left him on read and went to bed.
FIVE
MADDOX
Sitting on Asher's pool patio in the shade, I was still hungover from the night before. Rapidly bouncing my leg, I flipped my phone open, looking through my text messages for a reply from Addy for the 400th time in the last twenty minutes. Nothing. I slammed my phone face down on my leg, clenching my jaw. She'd left my first fifteen messages on read, but she hadn't even bothered to open my last fifteen. I wasn't sure which was worst, being left on read or being completely ignored.
I'd been texting her all day, and now it was close to sunset, and she still hadn't answered.
"Maddox," Maddy called from the other side of Asher's pool deck. "Come do a TikTok with us." I ignored her, flipping my phone open again. Nothing. Fuck!
Slouching forward in the lawn chair, I rested my elbows on my knees and placed my face in my hands. I fucked up big time.
Typically, I wouldn't care, but I needed Addy for more than one reason. If I didn't pass these tests in two days and keep my grade up, I would be permanently benched, plus the whole bet thing. I wasn't going to blow my chances of playing college ball. No girl was worth that.
"We need to talk about homecoming," Maddy said, standing directly in front of me. I leaned back, looking up at her. She was all legs and tits in her tiny fluorescent orange string bikini. Normally, that would do something for me, but I was in panic mode right now. "If we are going to win, king and queen, we need to come up with a plan."
"Not now, Maddy," I groaned, flipping open my phone again. Nothing. The last thing I was worried about right now was homecoming. I wasn't even sure I wanted to go at all.
"Who has your panties in a bunch?" Maddy whined, leaning over to see my phone screen.
"Yeah, Maddox," Asher teased, sitting on the pool's edge with his feet in the water. "Who has your panties in a bunch?"
"No one," I snapped, realizing Addy had left me on read again. Jumping to my feet, I growled, chucking my phone across the yard. Fuck. It was worse to be left on read. Asher's chuckles only added to my anger, and I wanted to punch him in the throat.
"Is she still not answering, bro?" Asher laughed.
"Who?" Maddy asked, grabbing a towel off the table beside me.
"Addy," Asher said at the same time I said, "No one."
"What does that loser have to do with anything?" Maddy asked, her face pinched.
"Without her, Maddox can't play ball," Bentley answered for Asher, who was too busy taunting me.
"I have to go," I said, storming out to find my phone and pushing Asher into the water with my foot as I passed.
I needed to find Addy and talk to her face-to-face.
* * *
FiguringI had about a 95 percent chance that Addy was at either the diner or the old train yard, I parked my truck in the diner's parking lot and watched through the window for Addy. After fifteen minutes of no sign of her, I figured it was a safe bet she wasn't working tonight, so I walked the short distance to the train yard.
I watched her from the shadows. The gust of air echoed through the silent night from the paint spray cans as she blew the colors across the train car. My gaze raked over all her curves, and standing off in the distance, this was the first time I could see her in her element without her knowing anyone could see her. She was hot. She hid it behind oversized glasses, messy hair, and enormous clothing. But right now, hidden in the darkness with a small amount of light from the streetlights, she felt confident enough to remove what she hid behind.
Addy stretched to her full height, which wasn't very tall, to paint as high up as she could. Her light-colored tank top rode up her back, revealing more of her tattoo, and when my gaze moved down to her short cutoff shorts, my dick twitched against the denim of my pants.
My eyes shot to the ground as I tried to shake the image out of my head. I needed to get my head in the game. Addy was different, and I would have to take a different approach to get her to forgive me. I would have to do something I hated doing and open up to her.
"Addy," I said, stepping out of the shadows. She froze briefly, gripping the spray can tighter before she started painting again. "Addy, I know you don't owe me anything, but please, if you could just give me two minutes." When she didn't say 'fuck off,' I took that as permission to continue. I shoved my hand through my tousled hair. "Look, I don't really share personal stuff about my family, so this isn't easy for me."
That got her attention. She stopped, her arm dropping to her side. She turned, her big green eyes locking on mine.
"I didn't expect yesterday to hit me like it did." I sighed. "Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of my sister's death." Her eyes softened, and I could see the pity covering her facial features. Pity I didn't want. "After her death, my family fell apart, and my dad announced yesterday morning that his new girlfriend is pregnant." I paused, briefly shaking my head. "She's three years older than me." I took a step forward. "Between the anniversary and the announcement, I kind of lost it. I was only going to have one drink and..." I trailed off.
"And a blow job." She smirked.
