“Good night, Maddox Walsh.”
“It was,” I agree, laughing when she rolls her eyes at my corniness. “Now scoot before I conjure up a way to make it even better.”
Her hesitation thickens my cock. It’s got nothing on the smile she flashes my way before she darts through the front entry door of her building, though. It’s the smile a man would go to the ends of the earth to see day in and day out. A smile I’d kill for to keep it on her face.
I’ve schmoozed thousands of people in my lifetime, gained the respect of almost just as many, but nothing compares to the number of times I made Demi smile tonight. There are billions of smiles in the world, but hers are the hardest to earn, and by far, my most favorite.
5
Demi
“Whoa… shit… dammit.”
As my hands shoot up to cover my eyes, my cheeks turn the color of beets. I guess this is what Maddox meant when he said Sloane wouldn’t be waiting for me to arrive with an angry scowl and the expectance of a bag full of sugar. She’s mad, all right, but it has nothing to do with me ditching her at my uncle’s gym yesterday afternoon.
She’s pissed I walked in on her and Saint getting freaky in the kitchen.
The kitchen of all places!
I eat in there.
“I’ll… umm… go… ah… to my room.”
Why do I sound like I’m twelve? I’ve seen women naked before—many of them thanks to the ones forced to prance around my uncle’s house like his wrinkled face doesn’t make them want to barf. I’ve just never faced the jungle-like vine Saint is swinging around like Tarzan.
Don’t read that the wrong way. I’ve seen penises before, nearly as many as I have vaginas. They just weren’t as long as Saint’s and nowhere near as handsome.
Wind it back in, Demi, you’re getting off track.
The size of the guy’s penis I lost my virginity to made it seem as if I didn’t lose my virginity. The one man I’ve been with since could have fixed the injustice if he had come after removing his penis from his trunks.
There, now you know all my sexual history.
I bet you’re feeling sorry for me, aren’t you?
It’s okay. I’d rather your pity than share a story similar to how many women in my uncle’s industry lose their virginities. My sexual escapades have been via my choice. Many others, including my mother’s, were not. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather face a dud in the bedroom than a man who paid for the privilege.
I’ve barely released a frustrated sob into my pillow when the patter of tiny feet filters into my ears. I’m not angry about Sloane’s adventurous locations to have sex. I’m annoyed that the first thought that popped into my head when I stumbled onto their antics was that I could have been doing that with Maddox right now if I weren’t such a chicken. I’ve never wanted something more in my life, yet I left him standing on the footpath like a loser.
I’d hate myself if my dislike of my uncle left any room for self-loathing.
Mistaking my sob as annoyance about her sexual exploits, Sloane asks, “Exactly how much did you see?”
When I sling my eyes to my door, she props her shoulder on the doorjamb. She’s wearing more clothes than she was moments ago, but nowhere near enough to be classed as decent.
A grin tugs my lips higher when my stink eye causes her to forcefully swallow. “That much?”
I prop myself onto my elbows before increasing my glare. It’s all an act, but I’m happy for her to think otherwise. “Let me be clear. I’m. Never. Eating. Cucumber. Again.”
“With your mouth or other parts of your body?” Her last five words fly out of her kiss-swollen lips with a girlie, high-pitched laugh.
When I gag, she pushes off her feet and races my way. The smell of sweat-slicked hair and skin teems into my nose when she swan dives onto my mattress like she’s diving into the pool at her family mansion. “Saint is—”
“Inventive with salad, pegs, and… was that your nanna’s scarf I saw?”
Sloane barges me with her shoulder. “It was.” After waggling her brows long enough to award herself a brand-new wrinkle, she asks, “So how about you? How was Maddox?”
I stiffen like a board. “Umm...”
In less than a nanosecond, her face goes from playful to stern. “Don’t play Ms. Innocent Act with me, missy. Everyone was talking about how he raced out after you. I wouldn’t be surprised if your cousins in New York have heard about it by now.”
She’s being playful.
Unfortunately, I’m not close to laughing.
“Everyone saw me with Maddox?”
Her anger is pushed aside for fret, the panic in my voice the sole cause of her worry. “Not everyone. They just heard him call your name.” Her eyes bounce between mine. They’re full of panic. “Why would it matter if anyone saw you with him?”
I swallow to soothe my burning throat before replying, “It wouldn’t. I just don’t want to get a name, that’s all.”
Sloane’s brow gets lost in her curly blonde hair. “A name for bedding one of the most eligible bachelors this side of the country? Girl, that’s a badge you should wear with honor.”
I agree with her, but not only do I like to argue, she has it all wrong. “We didn’t do anything.” I internally battle myself for nearly twenty seconds before blurting out, “I kind of ditched him on the sidewalk.”
“He came all the way here, and you didn’t invite him in?” When I nod, Sloane slaps me up the back of the head. “Demi!”
“I know,” I say with a groan. “I suck.”
I whack her in the arm when she gabbles out, “If you did, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” After joining me lying on my bed, she peers up at the ceiling then asks, “You’ve had a crush on Maddox since the fifth grade, so why did you bolt as soon as the fireworks started?”
She’s a little off with her dates, but since that’s more my fault than hers, I let it slide.
“It’s complicated,” I murmur, incapable of lying to my best friend.
She rolls onto her side before hooking an arm around my waist. “Too complicated to halve the burden with your best friend?”
My sigh is packed with so much disappointment, it rustles one of her springy curls. That’s rare. They’re so thick and dense that usually nothing unkinks them. “Unfortunately, yes.”
I’ve kept her off my family’s radar as much as I can. She’s never invited to family functions, the only place her contact details are stored are in my head, and even with her paying half the rent on our apartment, her name isn’t on the lease.
If my uncle can’t threaten me to do what he wants, he will shift his focus to those around me. Sloane is all I have. I can’t bear the thought of losing her.
The abovementioned exposes how foolish I was to invite Maddox to Petretti’s for brunch tomorrow. My uncle has been conducting business in Italy the past two months, so I’m confident his flight won’t land until well after midday, and Petretti’s is the only establishment he owns that doesn’t have surveillance cameras, but still, I’m taking risks that could end fatally.