Chapter Fifty #2
By the time Bax finally texts that they’re heading back to Maddie’s apartment, Rayne’s and my bank cards have taken the best beating they’ve ever received.
Not that it matters, since it’s practically pocket change between us.
This is the first time either of us has found an excuse to finally spend some of the money we’ve accumulated over the years, our vacation barely causing a dent in either of our accounts, so it’s left me feeling a little giddy, like I’ve suddenly grown a new addiction to spending money on Maddie.
Pretty sure she’d hate knowing that, though, so I’d best keep it under lock and key.
I should also probably avoid disclosing just how long I’ve spent actually planning her two weeks away from work, because I’m sure my ears would receive a verbal tongue-lashing if Maddie learned how much time and effort was put into this plan.
But I’ll be spanked by the Hulk if it wasn’t worth every second and cent.
When we head to Maddie’s apartment shortly after I close the laptop with a fully planned vacation now waiting for her, the door swings open before we can even knock. Bax walks toward us with wide eyes, shaking his head slowly as he whispers, “Save yourselves.”
“What? Why?” I wonder instead of heeding the warning.
I pay for it no more than five seconds later, because Maddie spots us from the living room and waves limply, looking a little down with one hand propped on her hip. Bax moves aside, muttering, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
The moment his wide frame is out of the way, my eyes bulge, and shock has my mouth parting with a harsh exhale.
On every surface of the living room, there are bags and boxes, enough to fill at least ten stores.
The couch is buried, clothes strewn over the back of the couch and on the footstool, with more boxes littered over the floor like tiny footwear minefields.
I’m pretty sure there’s a men’s shirt draped over the kitchen island.
And in the middle of it all is my Blue.
Blowing out a long breath, I shake my head as I step into the apartment. “What the hell happened in here?”
Maddie looks around at her haul, biting her lip with an adorable shrug. “Retail therapy. Only it stopped being therapeutic after my baby was desecrated.”
“More like fashion warfare,” Ryan jokes, stepping over a pile of bags carefully when he appears from the hallway, stopping in Maddie’s line of sight before turning slowly. “What do you think, trouble?”
Maddie eyes him for a long moment before she nods with approval. “Delicious.”
Ryan chuckles, looking down at himself before he pinches the shirt he’s wearing, rubbing the material with wonder. “I love it, thank you. You really didn’t have to get us anything, Mads.”
She shrugs nonchalantly. “I wanted to.”
Despite the sadness etched on her face, I can see the pride twinkle in her eyes knowing her gift was appreciated, even as she peers around as if she’s looking for something.
She finds it a moment later, tripping over a bag and squeaking as she rights herself.
With a shake of her head, she retrieves a box and gestures for Baxter to come to her.
Bax, who’s finally walked back into the apartment with a pair of scissors, walks by Ryan and cuts the fancy tag off his shirt as he goes.
Depositing the scissors and tag on the kitchen counter, he heads toward Maddie as she holds the box out toward him and says, “For you.”
Bax sends us all a look before he opens the box and finds an expensive pair of boots I know cost a pretty penny. I only know because they’re the brand Baxter likes to buy, and that asshole has low-key expensive taste when it comes to footwear.
Shocked, Bax pulls one of the dark-brown boots out of the box and runs his eyes all over it before looking over at Maddie, who is already on her knees looking through bags like a woman possessed. She only lifts her head when Bax clears his throat and says, “Sunshine.”
Maddie blinks at him. “Hm? Are they okay? Right size? If you don’t like the color or style or whatever, we can take—”
“Sunshine, I love them,” Bax interrupts, and she flashes him a smile before diving back into the fray of fashion.
She emerges a moment later with two different bags and holds them both out to Rayne and me. We share a look, Rayne’s lips twitching with a suppressed smile, and we head over and accept the gifts, Rayne leaning in to press a swift kiss to her lips that melts some of her sadness.
Fucking shit, why didn’t I think to do that first?
Shooting Rayne a glare, I reach out for Maddie and tug her carefully into a tight hug, one she reciprocates without an ounce of hesitation. When I linger a little too long, she pats my ass and demands, “Quit stalling and open it.”
Grinning over at her, I do as I’m told, opening the bag at the same time Rayne opens his.
I spot him pull out a dark-red hoodie I already know will quickly become his favorite article of clothing, and I chuckle before I reach into my own bag.
I pull out a pair of gray sweatpants that are soft to the touch, the label screaming high-end, and whistle low under my breath.
“Damn, Blue,” I mutter, appreciation burning through me, even though something rubs me the wrong way knowing how much Maddie has spent on us today. Which is weird, given how much Rayne and I have spent on a vacation for her. I mean, I never claimed to be the logical one of the group.
“What?” she murmurs, kneeling once more before she starts rummaging through her bags and pulling out accessories and stuff I know isn’t meant for her.
I spy a set of black stud earrings I know are for Rayne, cufflinks for Ryan, a belt for Bax, and I’m pretty sure the gold chain she’s currently fiddling with is intended for me.
“This is too much,” I breathe, folding my new pants, depositing them on the couch, before dropping to the floor behind her. My legs frame her thighs, and I lean in close enough that my chest rests gently against her back.
She melts into me, deliberately turning and placing the chain around my neck, right before she gives me the smile that screws with my heart every single time.
With a sweet smile, she tugs on the chain and admits, “I just wanted to spoil you guys a little. You always seem to manage to spoil me with dinners and movies and stuff, so I wanted to do something nice, too.”
This fucking woman.
Heart growing until it’s damn near bursting, I rub a hand over my chest before leaning in to press a kiss to Maddie’s lips.
She accepts the affection, humming under her breath as she kisses me back.
When I pull back, her smile has softened and she whispers, “If that’s the thanks I’m going to get when I bring home goodies, then I’m going to have to go shopping more often. ”
Chuckling, I cup the back of her neck and draw her close enough to rub my nose against hers. Quietly, I mutter, “Thank you, Blue.”
“You’re welcome,” she whispers, pressing another kiss to my lips before pulling back. Then, louder, for everyone else to hear, she admits, “It was purely selfish, anyway. I bought you clothes I could stare at you in. Method in my madness, you know?”
Bax, Ryan, and I start laughing, Rayne wiping his smile away with his hand, and I press my forehead to her back, loving the chaos this woman brings to our lives.
There’s nothing like it, and I wonder, not for the first time, how we survived such a boring existence before our woman came into our lives.
“I have no idea what the hell I’m meant to do with all of this, though,” she says, gesturing to the rest of her shopping spree. Bax and Ryan are already moving, gathering bags and boxes by the armful before taking them to Maddie’s room.
“Oh. Okay then. Thank you,” she calls after them, slightly amused as she starts gathering things herself.
She then follows after the other two, all three of them moving the haul from one room to the other.
Rayne joins in after switching his hoodie for his new one, kissing Maddie as they pass by one another in the hallway.
I can’t seem to do anything but watch the domestic display playing out in front of me, and I thank the universe for the hundredth time for bringing us our neighbor. Because she’s the best damned thing to happen to us.
By the time they’re done, Maddie looks tired, so I climb onto the couch and hold my arms out for her.
She falls into them with a soft groan and a long exhale against my chest. The others gather around us, Rayne reaching for the remote as he always does, and it’s only when he switches on a movie that I ask, “You okay, Blue?”
“Better now,” she assures, soothing the anger in my chest every time I think of that dickhole making her life hell.
Kissing the top of her head, the action automatic, I settle us both against the couch. Hugging her body to mine and enjoying the feel and heat of her against me, I run my fingers over her spine and smile as her body gradually melts against me like a candy bar stuck in the sun.
The moment she falls asleep, her head tucked beneath my chin and her cheek resting on my chest, I press my lips to her head and, keeping my voice quiet enough that it can’t be heard over the movie playing, I whisper, “Love you, Blue.”
“Hm,” my woman hums, right before she slays me when she whispers back, “Love you, muscles.”
I guess she wasn’t as asleep as I thought, and my heart fucking explodes right there in my chest. Pretty sure I’m blushing fifty shades of red, too, but I don’t even care.
Because Maddie just sleepily told me she loves me, and I’m clinging to those words as I wrap her up in my arms and cuddle her through the entire movie.
I’m still clinging to them when I carry her to bed and climb in behind her, completely uncaring when the others join us, a habit we’ve all accidentally formed with Maddie.
Not that I mind, a certain kind of peace filling me as I fall asleep with the woman I love in my arms and the guys I consider brothers drifting off as though it’s the most natural thing in the world.