Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Maddie
I wake up to the smell of bacon. It means either I’m dreaming, or someone broke into my apartment. Given my life, it could go either way.
I pull myself out of bed, squinting at my phone. It’s barely nine in the morning, which is an early start for me after two weeks on tour.
I grab the first shirt I find—Rhodes’s black T-shirt that is now mine. It’s enormous. It hangs off one shoulder, but barely covers my ass, which I don’t realize until I’m already in my kitchen doorway. The sight that greets me stops me in my tracks.
Ace is at my stove, spatula in hand, with an apron wrapped around his body. Rhodes is leaning against the counter with a coffee cup, while Vander is sitting at my kitchen table. At the sight of me, they all freeze.
“Good morning,” I say, stretching. “Is that for me?”
Rhodes’s coffee cup pauses halfway to his lips. “You’re going to kill us.”
“What?” I ask, walking across the kitchen to grab a mug.
“That shirt,” Rhodes says with a groan as if he is in pain.
“It’s comfortable,” I say, pouring myself coffee. “Besides, you’re all here uninvited at nine in the morning. You get what you get.”
Vander makes a sound that might be a laugh or could be him dying internally. I’m not sure.
“This is pure torture,” Rhodes says with a smile.
“Good,” I say, turning to face them with my mug. “Consider it payment for breaking into my apartment.”
“You know we have a key for emergencies,” Ace says, flipping the bacon.
“Which this is not,” I point out, moving closer to the stove. The shirt rides up again, and I catch Rhodes’s sharp intake of breath. “That key is for emergencies only. Breakfast is not an emergency.”
“We wanted to surprise you,” Rhodes says. He is definitely struggling with the fact that I’m standing in his shirt with bare legs. “We made your favorite. And we have plans for today.”
“Plans?” I move to the stove and peek at what Ace is cooking. Bacon, eggs, and toast.
“Plans,” Ace confirms. “But first, breakfast. And you might want to put pants on before I lose my mind.”
“Why would I do that?” I ask, genuinely curious.
Rhodes groans and drops his head back against the cupboard. “Like I said, torture.”
“Good torture or bad torture?” I ask, definitely playing with them now.
“Depends on how much self-control you think I have,” Rhodes says, lifting his head to look at me. “Because, spoiler alert, it’s not a lot right now.”
Vander stands up and walks over to the stove. “Eat, then get dressed.”
“You’re no fun,” I say to Vander, but I smile so he knows I’m teasing him.
“I’m a lot of fun,” Vander replies. “You’ll see.”
We eat breakfast together at my kitchen table. They ask about the tour, I ask about what they’ve been doing, and there’s easy banter between us that doesn’t feel weighed down by everything.
After breakfast, Rhodes leans back in his chair with a dimpled smile on his handsome face. “So, the plans. We need your camera.”
“My camera?” I ask, already suspicious. “What kind of plans are these?”
“It’s a surprise,” Ace says.
“I hate surprises,” I say with a pout.
“We know.” Rhodes grins. “But go get dressed, bring your camera, and wear something comfortable.”
Twenty minutes later, I’m in jeans and a crop top, my camera bag slung across my body, and I’m sitting on my couch with all three of them standing in front of me.
“Okay, what’s going on?” I ask. “Why do you all look like you’re about to ask me to prom?”
Rhodes laughs and offers me his hand, helping me to my feet. “All in good time. Let’s go.”
I complain all the way down to the basement and as we get into the SUV.
“So are you going to tell me where we’re going?” I ask, looking between all three of them as Ace pulls out of the parking garage. Rhodes grins at me from the passenger seat, refusing to answer.
We drive through the city for about twenty minutes, taking turns I don’t recognize, heading away from downtown and toward the industrial section. The anticipation is killing me.
“Seriously, guys, someone tell me where we are going.”
Ace takes another turn, and suddenly we’re pulling up to a massive, deteriorating building. The abandoned mall. I’ve been wanting to photograph this place for months—the broken windows, the decay, the way nature is reclaiming the space.
“Oh my god!” I’m giddy, already unbuckling my seatbelt. “How did you know?” I turn to look at them and find all three already watching me.
“Ace knows a guy who knows a guy,” Rhodes says. “We have the place to ourselves for the day.”
I grab my camera bag, my mind already spinning with ideas.
They lead me through the gates that section off the building from the outside world, and it’s even better in here than I imagined.
“We thought,” Ace says, “that maybe we could give you something. A new memory.”
Rhodes pulls out the masks.
I stare at them for a moment, processing. They brought the masks.
“Is it okay?” Rhodes asks, and I can hear the vulnerability in his voice. “We thought maybe you might want to take some pictures of us.”
“This is the best surprise ever,” I say, lifting my camera. “Put on the masks and take off your shirts.”
They pull off their shirts, and suddenly going slow seems pointless. I want them, and they want me. How we got here is irrelevant. I could stay mad at them and miss out on getting to know these men, or I could take the bull by the horns—so to speak—and live out my fantasies the right way this time.
I move around them, photographing different angles, different perspectives.
They stay still, letting me direct them and control their every move.
After what feels like hours, I lower my camera.
“I want another shot,” I say. “Vander, come here.”
He steps forward, and I guide him to stand near a window—the light for this shot is perfect.
“Rhodes,” I call out. “I need you to take the camera.”
Rhodes moves to me, taking the camera with gentle hands. “What do you want?”
“I want a picture of Vander with his hand around my throat,” I say, and all three of them go completely still.
“Maddie,” Ace warns.
“It’s okay,” I say. “I want it. Can you take the picture, Rhodes?”
Rhodes looks at Ace, who nods slowly. Then he looks at Vander, who’s already moving toward me.
Vander raises his hand and wraps his fingers around my throat.
I tilt my head back slightly, so the light hits my face perfectly. “Take the picture.”
The camera clicks.
I look up at Vander as he pulls his hand away.
He leans down, his masked face close to mine. “Good girl,” Vander murmurs, and it’s nice to hear his real voice and not one that’s distorted. “Now you’ll remember who had his hand around your neck first.”
He steps back, and I clear my throat. Is it hot in here, or is it just me? Damn, the number of times I conjured up moments like this in my head . . . but none compare to how I feel right now.
I take the camera back from Rhodes with trembling hands and check the image.
It’s perfect. Vander’s masked face, his hand gripping my throat, the light streaming through the window playing across us both.
The vulnerability in my expression contrasts with the strength in his towering physique.
It’s intimate and powerful, and it’s exactly what I wanted.
“Thank you,” I say, looking at all of them.
“For what?” Rhodes asks.
“For doing this my way.”
I take in the three men in front of me, and smile.
“Count to ten,” I say. “Then come find me.”
I hear Rhodes laugh behind me.
“One,” Ace says, but I don’t stick around. I spin on my heel and run.