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"I need a shower," I said, throwing my towel over my shoulder. "And we need to get packed. We need to leave here by 11:30."
"Why don't you shower, and I'll put something together for breakfast since I'm already packed?"
"Sounds delicious," I said, following her into the main house. It felt so right being here with her like this.
Addison pushed open the door to the kitchen and stopped so quickly that I slammed into the back of her.
"What the…" I muttered, wrapping an arm around her waist to keep her from falling. At the same time, I steadied myself, and that was when I saw her.
Casey Davis.
"What are you doing here?" I snapped.
"I saw the live." She forced a sarcastic smile. "It was cute." She crossed her arms over her chest. "You guys have no idea what you're doing, do you?"
My gaze flashed from Casey to Addison, who stood beside me, before flashing back to Casey.
"What are you talking about?"
"This little all about Maddox Parker exclusive." She sneered, waving her perfectly manicured hands around. "Just turned into an Addison and Maddox special." My brows pinched. I had no idea what that meant. "The public doesn't give a rat's ass about you and your career. They want to see how you and little miss-sport-gossip-girls relationship unfolds."
"No." Addison scowled, shaking her head. "That's not what this is."
"Yeah," Casey frowned. "The whole world saw how he looked at you during your live last night. The whole world saw how he touched you today. Whether it actually meant what it looked like is irrelevant to the public. Do you know what's going to happen in six weeks when you go back to New York and Maddox stays here and the public doesn't get their conclusion to the Addison and Maddox show?" Addison shook her head. "Let's just hope it doesn't destroy your career."
"Okay, Casey," I snapped. "If that's the case, we'll give them the conclusion they want. We'll figure it out." What I meant by that was I hoped Addison wouldn't be returning to New York; hopefully, she'd be moving her stuff into my bedroom by the end of the six weeks.
SEVENTY-ONE
ADDISON
The day had gone from good to hectic quickly once we reached the airport. I did a lot of traveling in my career, but it never consisted of traveling with so many men pumped for a game. Between the long plane ride, the bus ride to the hotel, and getting checked in, I was exhausted, and I still needed to upload the photos of my trip to my socials and see if Maddox's was up for a short live before bed.
All of their rooms were booked well in advance of the season. Maddox tried to get us a joining room or even rooms that were close, but unfortunately, there was a convention, and they were already overbooked. So, we would share this trip.
I followed Maddox into the room; pulling my stuff behind me, I let the door slam. We both froze when we saw the king bed in the middle of the room. Maddox asked for two beds. I guess she didn't hear him.
Maddox pulled his luggage to the opposite side of the room, setting it in a corner.
"You can take the bed, and I'll take the floor," Maddox said, jerking a pillow off the bed and tossing it to the floor. Annoyance coloring his tone.
"Don't be ridiculous." I forced a smile, pulling my suitcase to the opposite corner. "I'll take the floor."
"Don't insult my manhood." He groaned. "The discussion is over. I'll take the floor."
"Maddox, you have to be up early tomorrow," I snapped, and he shrugged me off. "Fine, we can share the bed. It's not like we haven't shared a bed before." His gaze snapped up, meeting mine. Anger illuminated his face.
"I'm not sharing a bed with you," he hissed. Every ounce of air exhaled from my lungs like he'd just sucker-punched me in the gut. I wished he had; it would have been less painful. He hated me so much that he wouldn't even sleep in the same bed as me. "I'm getting a shower." He disappeared into the bathroom, and I felt like the walls were closing in on me.
I needed air. Pushing through the hotel door into the hallway, I ran to the elevator and rode it down to the first floor, bolting towards the pool exit. Pushing through the door and into the cool air, I sucked in a deep breath as I fought the tears stinging my eyes. I knew this would be hard, but I didn't think it would be this hard. I never expected him to harbor so much hate for me, and I never expected that it would cut so deep.
I strolled around the pool deck, pulling in long, slow breaths when something in my peripheral view moved. My gaze snapped over, and I caught the first flashing light of a paparazzi camera. Shit.
I twisted to head back towards the exit, but I underestimated their need for a story because I was swarmed before I had two full steps as they threw questions at me.
"Are you dating Maddox Parker?"
"How long have you known Maddox Parker?"
