33. Braydon
Madison is sitting across from me at her kitchen counter, Iris is upstairs sleeping in her bed, and I have never felt more at home in my entire life. this is what I always dreamed my life would look like. after Madison left, I never thought I would get the chance to see it. but here I am. I swear I keep pinching myself to make sure that this isn”t just a dream.
“What kind of pizza do you want?”
Madison has been trying to order pizza for the last thirty minutes, but she can”t decide what she wants. She keeps blaming it on me.
“I don”t care, Boots. Just pick some stuff.”
“I kind of want Hawaiian pizza.”
“So, get that.”
“But I also want meat lovers.”
“Mads, just get both.”
She pulls her lower lip between her teeth and begins to abuse it. I want to pull her lip free and kiss away the pain that she inflicted on it. but I refrain because I know that when she is hungry, she gets a little hangry. and I know better than to mess with her when she is hangry.
“Can you go pick it up please?”
Madison looks at me with begging eyes, and there is no possible way that I could say no to her. her and I both know that.
“Of course.”
I push my stool back as I stand. Madison pulls me into her arms before I can leave. although now that I am in her arms, I am not sure I want to leave.
“Drive safe, cowboy. So, you can come home to me.”
Madison loops her fingers through my belt loops and pulls me into her. My heart rate picks up as Madison leans her head up to place a kiss on my chin.
“I”ll always come home to you, Boots.”
It”s a promise I intend to keep for the rest of my life. I lean down and kiss her gently. Her arms wrap around my waist, and I kiss her with more need. More desire. She meets me stroke for stroke, as my hands roam over her soft curves.
“Now go get my pizza, please,” Madison says, breaking our kiss.
I don”t miss the way her voice is a little breathless.
“Yes ma’am.”
I tip my head and head out to my truck.
It doesn”t take long to pick up the pizza, then I am in my truck with the smell of pineapple and sauce headed back home to my girls.
The TV is on in the living room, so I follow the noise and find Madison curled up on the couch asleep. Psych is playing on the TV, and I smile knowing that this is the same comfort show that Madison would always watch in high school. Leaning down, I brush a soft kiss against her forehead.
“Boots, I got your pizza.”
Her eyes open, and she perks up at the promise of food. Sitting up on the couch she makes grabby hands at the two boxes of pizza. I hand it over to her, and head into the kitchen to grab plates. I plop down on the couch next to Mads, pulling her feet into my lap.
“Thanks for going to pick it up,” Mads says around a mouthful of pizza.
“You are welcome. You weren”t supposed to fall asleep though.”
“I just couldn”t help it. The house was so quiet.”
“You been sleeping ok at night?” I ask, taking a bite out of my slice of pizza.
In high school she would go through phases where she wouldn”t be able to sleep at night.
“Not really,” a blush creeps over Madison”s face at the confession.
“Boots, why didn”t you tell me?”
“Because you can”t do anything about it.”
“I could always seem to fix it in high school.”
When she went through these phases I would sleep on the floor in her bedroom, and it always seemed to help.
“Well, I didn”t know if you would want to do that now.”
“Of course, Boots. I am here to stay. And I will do anything for you.”
She shoves the last bite of crust into her mouth.
“Ok. Maybe I will let you sleep on my floor tonight.”
”Or I can sleep in your bed.” I shoot her a mischievous smile.
”That is also an acceptable option.”
On the inside, I do a silent victory dance. Madison is slowly but surely letting me back in. Which scares the hell out of me, but it also excites me. We both turn back to the show and finish our pizza. Madison puts away significantly more pizza than me, which was always something that I loved about her. Pulling her feet out of my lap, Madison sets our plates on her coffee table. She replaces her feet with her head, and I stroke her long brown hair.
“I have a better idea.” I whisper against Madison”s hair.
I pull her into my lap, and bring us both down into a lying position. Wrapping my arms around her, I settle myself behind her.
“Can I tell you something, Bray?”
“Of course, Boots.”
She looks at me over her shoulder, brushing a soft kiss against my chin.
“Your arms feel like home, and I could live here forever.”
“That”s good news. Because I don”t intend to be leaving anytime soon.”
I listen to Madison”s breathing, inhaling her scent, and feeling her soft curves. All of my senses are suddenly filled with her, and it is the best kind of overwhelming.
“You know, Boots, I still plan on putting a ring on that pretty finger of yours.” it”s a whispered promise against her hair, as she drifts off to sleep in my arms.
I bring her hand up and pretend to examine her ring finger. I picture the diamond that is sitting in my sock drawer. it is going to look perfect on her pretty finger. my eyelids started to drift close, and I let sleep overtake me knowing that both of my girls are safe here with me.