25. Miles
Maddie’s words are echoing loud in my head and I don’t know how to respond.
She’s watching me, waiting for me to give her an answer, but I can’t.
I know I’m just going to disappoint her.
My hands start to shake and I can feel my palms getting sweaty.
I have to be honest with her, but what if she leaves me? I can’t lose her too.
I swallow nervously before answering her. “It’s nothing, Princess. Just pain medication.”
Pain medication? What the fuck would I need pain medication for? That’s honestly the best answer I could come up with?
She doesn’t believe me. I can see it in her eyes. She’s not saying anything, just staring at me like she’s waiting for me to stop lying to her and tell her the fucking truth. And yet, all I can do is stand here like a fucking coward and stand ten toes down on what I’ve said.
Finally she says something, and it’s exactly what I was expecting.
“I saw you with Chase. Whatever you’re doing, it needs to stop. I’ll help you if you need me to, but you can’t kill yourself on prescription drugs, Miles. I need you here. Completely here.”
She’s right, I know she’s right, but I don’t know how to stop. I started them when she left me the first time. Messed around with coke for a little bit because nothing else could drown out the silence she left behind.
Now I don’t take them to feel less, I take them so I don't go through withdrawals. So that nobody notices how badly I’ve fucked myself up. The worst part? The same drugs that helped me survive losing her are probably going to be the reason I lose her again.
“I know. I-I’m sorry. I’ll stop. I can fix it.”
I never imagined my life turning into this. Her father has always been the reason for her pain, and now I am. I can’t be the reason she suffers.
“I believe you, and I’m here for you,” she says firmly. “Whatever you need. But I need you to do something for me, okay?”
Doesn’t she know I would do anything for her? She’s literally the reason I continue to breathe. Without her, I’m just a fucking mess of a man.
“Whatever you need, Princess. I'll do anything.”
“I want you to train me. I want to learn how to fight.”
Is she fucking serious? How have I not thought of this before? She should know how to protect herself in case me or any of the others aren't around to protect her ourselves. The idea of Maddie fighting and beating the absolute shit out of her stalker turns me the fuck on, and it probably shouldn't.
God, I fucking love her.
I smile down at her before answering. “Of course I'll train you. That's such a great idea, baby.”
She smiles at me and tries to hide her excitement, but I know my girl.
She's practically jumping for joy on the inside.
I can see the fireworks flair up in her eyes—she's ecstatic.
In the short months that I've known Maddie, I've learned so much about her life.
I can understand why it means as much to her as it does for me to train her to defend herself.
Her whole life she's been this small helpless girl. Now she's a grown woman, and she's about to be a fucking bad ass. After everything she's been through, she deserves it.
Maddie and I have spent the last hour and a half training.
We started with about thirty minutes of weight training and cardio to get her heart rate up and moving.
She absolutely hated doing cardio. The first two minutes on the treadmill she was already begging me to get off, but I somehow managed to have her slowly jog for another three minutes.
The death glare she gave me after that was so fucking hot, I had to start thinking of mutilated unicorns just to get my boner to calm the fuck down.
However, she loved weight training. She smiled almost the entire time she lifted weights. I could tell this was going to be our new daily routine.
She couldn't lift much, having never lifted weights before in her life, but she'll get there. She pushed herself hard, and seeing her so determined to accomplish the goals she set out for herself was so rewarding to watch. I'm so fucking proud of her.
Now that we finished weight training, we’ve been spending the last hour teaching her self defense moves.
Every position I put her in has me rock fucking hard, and the ache only gets worse with every passing second.
She’s been laughing menacingly and I’ve been trying to hide my smile, but I can’t help it when it comes to her.
She’s got me wrapped around that pretty little finger of hers.
She’s attempted to tease me a few times already, rubbing her ass up against my cock and grinding up on me. I haven’t been wanting to admit it to her and just play it cool, but fuck is it working. If I don’t fuck her soon, my painfully blue as fuck balls are going to explode.
Maddie is standing faced away from me on the mat, waiting for me to attack her from behind. It’s one of the many things we’ve been working on for the last hour. I glance down at her plump ass in those tiny little gym shorts she has on and feel my cock strain achingly against my boxers in my shorts.
I slowly prowl my way over to her and watch as she prepares herself for me. Her breathing is heavy from all the hard work we’ve put in and with the way she has her hair tied up, I can spot the sweat dripping down the back of her neck.
I focus in on the little droplet of sweat as it cascades down her spine until finally it vanishes beneath her tank top. Looking at her, even in the state that she’s in, drives me wild.
She is utterly delicious, and I am just a famished man that is ready to devour.
I glide my finger tip from the base of her neck down the center of her spine and watch as the goosebumps rise along her skin.
I chuckle, completely amused by the sight of her crumbling beneath me. She’s right where I want her.
I begin to slide my hand down the front of her top from where I stand behind her when she grabs my arm and uses her body weight to fling me around, pinning me down on the mat.
“Ah fuck, Mads!” I growl, and she laughs so fucking hard, her face turns the brightest shade of red.
She can hardly breathe, she's laughing so damn much. She thinks that’s funny? I’ll show her what’s fucking funny.
With careful force, I lift my knees to push her knees out from under her, flipping her onto her back. She squeals and lands with a thump and then immediately starts laughing again.
I have her wrists pinned down with both hands and I smile down at her because fuck, how could one person be so goddamn perfect? If perfection doesn’t exist, Maddie is the closest thing to it.
I caress the side of her face and she looks up at me with love in her eyes.
How the fuck did I get this damn lucky?
“I love you, Madelyn.” I whisper, leaning down to kiss her.
She wraps her legs around my waist and I let go of one of them to run my hand up her thigh. Her skin feels like the finest silk that was made especially for me.
We break the kiss and she whispers back, “I love you too, Miles.”
We’ve been training Maddie for a week now between classes and her shifts at the coffee shop. She hasn’t received any other texts from her stalker since the last one that sent her into a spiral. We also haven’t seen anything unusual on the cameras around the house that has raised any alarms, either.
Morgan has been an immense help with teaching Maddie as many self defense moves as she can while the guys and I spend several hours at the shooting range. I plan to bring Maddie and Morgan with us the next time we go, so they can also get some practice in.
Maddie’s confidence and self esteem since she started training has skyrocketed and I fucking love watching her glow. The fear she’s been carrying on her shoulders for months is slowly dissipating, and I plan to get rid of it completely.
Neither of us have been to our own places since we started staying at the safe house, and we haven’t seen anyone else outside of who all stays at here. She has been bugging me to go back to her own place to at least get more clothes and see Kaitlin.
She may have not received any messages from her stalker, but she’s received a fuck ton from Kaitlin who has been constantly trying to figure out where she’s been staying, which I find fucking weird.
I don’t see how Maddie doesn’t find it odd as hell that Kaitlin is bugging so damn much, but I guess it’s just a girl thing. I wouldn’t know shit about it, so I just leave it alone.
I mentioned to Maddie she could go get some more of her things today as long as Morgan accompanies her, and she agreed. I’ve noticed she and Morgan have been sort of becoming friends and I think that’s great for both of them. They could really use a solid friendship.
I decided since Maddie will be gone all day with Morgan, I would go to my apartment and see if the cameras have caught anything since I’ve been gone.
Hudson and Nate have been tagging along with me anywhere I go, and I’m grateful for it.
They’ve been helping me keep my mind off the pills I’ve been slowly trying to wean off of, and they don’t even know it.
They’re like the two brothers I’ve always wanted but never had.
We pull up to the garage of my apartment complex and scope it out, checking to see if anything seems unusual before continuing into the elevator.
Once we get to the main floor of my apartment, I immediately notice the light from outside creeping into the hallway from the cracked front door.
Motherfucker.
Hudson and Nate finally notice what I see and curse under their breaths.
“He might still be here. Let us check it out before you go in there.” Hudson whispers quietly, but I’m not about to wait outside like some little bitch.
If he’s still in there, then it’s going to be me he sees coming at him first.
I shoot my arm out to stop him and whisper back, “Nah, fuck that. I’m going. You guys follow.”