“Sir, Lila’s happiness means as much to me as it does to you. I know you know that. You raised her and took care of her when she needed you the most. Now, it’s my turn,” he said.
My chest fluttered, and my womb tingled with fuzzy warmth, as the same feeling spread throughout my whole body. I made a sound in the back of my throat, both happy and in warning. “Um, excuse me. I can take care of myself, thank you very much.”
Pops let out a small laugh, and my chest expanded with emotions I couldn’t place. “Good luck, Son. This one is very feisty, just like her grandma.”
Gran blushed, and Maddox chuckled. “Don’t worry. I can handle her.”
The worry I felt before melted away, as we turned to our food. The rest of the dinner was just like any other Thanksgiving. If I had thought announcing our relationship would change anything, I was mistaken.
This was my family.
Three hours later, Maddox and I found ourselves in my room. He was supposed to be sleeping on the couch, but we sneaked him upstairs, after my grandparents went to bed.
“I’m so full, I feel like I’m going to burst.” I patted my stomach, feeling my food baby. I probably gained five pounds from tonight’s dinner. And there was Maddox, still looking fresh and sinfully handsome, like he had just walked out of a Vogue magazine.
I settled on my bed, bouncing on the mattress, as I watched him pull off his shirt in one swift move. He dropped the shirt on the floor and stood there for a second, letting me enjoy the very distracting view.
I took my time to admire him, to truly look at him. His abs clenched as he sauntered over to me. His nipple piercings got my attention next, and I licked my lips, remembering how the silver rods felt on my tongue. My gaze moved up to his wide shoulders that were twice the size of mine and then his face. Sharp jawline that you could probably cut your finger with, full lips, a strong nose with a slight crook – he told me he broke it when he was thirteen years old. Hooded blue eyes, thick eyebrows, with a scar on the left one – he was injured two years ago during a football game.
When he grinned, his dimple popped in his right cheek, a deep indent. His smile was wolfish, looking hungry, as he stood in front of me.
He bent forward, placing his arms on either side of my thighs on the mattress. “Admiring the view, Babe?”
His hot breath caressed my cheek. I had been admiring the view, but I also came to a conclusion.
Maddox wasn't beautiful by definition. Sure, he was hot and sexy...but he was an imperfect canvas, riddled with invisible scars and flaws no one else could see, except me.
That made him imperfectly beautiful.
My hand came up, and I traced a finger around his left pectoral. Maddox tensed as my touch brushed across his nipples. I knew all of his sensitive spots. He loved his throat – especially his prominent Adam’s apple, to be kissed and sucked on. It got him rock hard when I’d scrape my teeth over his nipples.
“Careful, Garcia,” he groaned. “I might be too hot for you to touch, you might end up with a nasty burn.”
I rolled my eyes. “That was extremely cheesy, Coulter. It’s almost nauseating.”
Maddox pushed me onto my back and crawled over me. “What? You prefer my asshole side to my cheesy, romantic side?”
I liked all of his sides. The asshole Maddox; the furious and ugly side of him; the pretty cocky side; and especially, his romantic side. But I wasn’t about to tell him that.
Maddox rolled over and took me with him. I settled against his side, burying my head in the crook of his neck. His thumb circled over the flesh of my hips, where my shirt had ridden up and around the waistband of my jeans. We cuddled for what felt like hours and hours. I listened to his breathing and watched his chest rise and fall with every breath.
“Are you ready for your driving test tomorrow?” Maddox finally broke the silence.
My chest squeezed, and it felt like the flesh around my scars had tightened. There was a dull, uncomfortable ache around them – the pain, a ghostly echo. I rubbed a hand over my chest, but my skin was on fire.
I took in a shuddering breath and closed my eyes. “I’m ready.”
“Are you sure about this, Lila?” Maddox asked softly. I knew he was worried, but he was also the same person who stood by me as I struggled to get into the driver’s seat for the last six months.
He was relentlessly patient with me, as I suffered panic attack after panic attack. It took me a month to finally get myself in the driver’s seat and then another three months for Maddox to teach me how to drive.
I told myself I could do it. as long as he was beside me.
I wanted to conquer my fears, wanted to leave my past behind. Truly and fully move on…
My scars throbbed harder, and I squeezed my eyes shut.
His hands smoothed up and down my back, ever so supportive and gentle. “Yeah, I’m ready. I’m going to pass this test.”
“I don’t doubt that for a second, little dragon.”
Little dragon…
Only Maddox could handle my fire... my scars... my pain... He was the mirror to my soul.
My lips twitched with a smile, and the fire burning in my chest slowly dissipated.
Maddox
I never understood why they invited me for dinner when it was going to be like this. Icy cold silence… and they didn’t even acknowledge their son was sitting right there.
Father Dearest sat at the head of the table, while Mommy Dearest and I sat across from each other. She could barely meet my eyes, her focus on her plate, as she very primly cut her steak into little bites.
Brad, my father, didn’t even breathe in my direction. The only sound echoing around the frigid walls of the dining room was our cutlery against our fancy as fuck plates.
My throat closed, and it felt…suffocating.
The difference between my Thanksgiving dinner with Lila’s family and tonight with my own was vast.
I didn’t know why I still fucking tried. I hated this place. Loathed the idea of our ‘perfect family’ to the outside world, while it was anything but. I long gave up on the idea of us being even slightly happy.
My parents’ marriage was probably anything but happy, too. I wouldn’t be surprised if I found out they weren’t even sleeping in the same room.
With a mansion as big as this one, the distance between us grew even bigger. When I used to live here, I was an outsider and a burden.
Now that I had left for Harvard, I was still an outsider. To my parents, I barely existed… except, I was their heir and their legacy to the Coulter’s name and empire. That was probably the only reason why Brad hadn’t disowned me yet.
Yeah, fuck them.
I shoveled my food in my mouth, barely chewing. Swallowing it down with water, I finished my plate, before they were even halfway through theirs.
I pushed my chair out and stood up without a word. My mother’s head snapped up, and her eyes flared in surprise. “You’re leaving?” she stuttered, looking warily between my father and I.
Oh, for fuck’s sake, where was her goddamn backbone?
“Maddox,” she started, but then trailed off. She was looking at me like a sad, lost puppy.
My jaw hardened, and I clenched my teeth. “What?”
“Why don’t you stay for a little while longer? Your father and I–”