Chapter 50
50
MADDIE
“ A re you sure this isn’t a sex thing?” Rhys asks as I tie the blindfold around his head.
“For the seventh time, yes.”
“Because it feels like a sex thing.”
“If you guys are gonna do sex things, don’t do it in the hallway!” Sebastian yells from downstairs.
“It’s not a sex thing!” I yell down the stairway.
We’re at Rhys’s house, standing outside his door in the second-floor hallway. Earlier today, when he was on campus for classes, the guys let me into his room so I could bring over his Christmas present to surprise him. It’s the second to last week of the semester, so it’s going to be an early present, but I really wanted him to see it for the first time hung up in his room.
“Alright, forward,” I say, pushing Rhys towards his door.
“Yes, ma’am,” he answers in a gravelly purr as if this were a sex thing.
I roll my eyes, open the door, and guide him into his room with my palm pressed on his back.
I close the door behind us and guide him so that his back is turned to my gift. I want him to have to look around a little bit before he spots it.
“Alright, the blindfold’s coming off. Stay right there.”
“Already?” he asks.
I tug at the large knot behind his head and pull the fabric away.
“Uh, what am I supposed to be seeing?” he asks.
I take a step back and sit on his bed. “Just look around. Tell me if you notice anything.”
Nerves gather in my stomach while he sweeps his gaze in front of him before turning around. I really want him to like this present. I mean, I know no matter what, he’ll act like he does, but I want to be able to tell that he really likes it.
He turns around. “What am I—” then, he stops, his eyes suddenly latched onto where I hung it up on the wall.
His expression is blank with surprise for a moment. But then his lips curl into a smile, and his complexion turns bright. Warmth rushes through me. He does like it.
“Maddie. Holy shit.”
“Like it?”
He walks slowly, almost reverently, toward it, his eyes still glued. “I fucking love it.”
A while ago, when we were studying in the library, he mentioned that I should paint a picture of us together. Well, ever since then, I’ve been working on one, and I finally finished it the other day. I got it framed and snuck into his room to hang it on his wall as an early Christmas present.
“Did you start working on this after that time in the library?”
My stomach flips at his question. He not only likes it, he actually remembers the conversation we had that spurred me to paint it.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Rhys has demonstrated time and time again that he doesn’t forget anything when it comes to us. Still, it makes a sappy warmth swim through my blood.
I nod.
“I really, really love it,” he repeats, standing close and taking in the painting with his eyes. “And …”
I squeal as he suddenly jolts toward me, blanketing me with his body and pushing my back onto his mattress. I giggle against his lips as he feathers a kiss onto me. “I love you, too,” he finishes.
“I love you, too, too,” I answer, my lips pulling wide with a smile as I look into his appreciative eyes.
“Now, where’d that blindfold go?” he asks with a wiggle in his brow.
I laugh, swatting at his chest. “That blindfold gave you a lot of ideas, didn’t it?”
He presses his lips to my ear, and sparks dance over my skin as he whispers in a hot rumble, “A lot of ideas.”
I push him off. “Well, they’ll have to wait, because we’re going to study, remember?”
He groans. “Come on, we can put it off for a little bit.”
I shake my head, pushing up from his bed. “Now that I’ve given you ideas with that damn blindfold, if I give in, we won’t make it to the library at all today.”
He stoops down to pick up the blindfold and sighs while looking longingly at it. “You’re not wrong.”
Heat pools between my legs. Maybe it wouldn’t be the worst idea to …
No, I tell myself resolutely. We both agreed that we have to buckle down and study these last two weeks to do well on our finals.
Frankly, some of our coursework has slipped since we got back from Thanksgiving break. Rhys and I have been so wrapped up in finally being able to be together, out in the open, that it’s pulled our attention from our studies.
Not catastrophically so, but enough to make our finals even more important if we’re going to close out the semester with the kind of grades we want.
“Come on, get your books,” I command, stepping to his door.
“Fine,” he whines, before adding deviously, “You know, I like it when you’re bossy.”
I’m cozy in the nook of his arm while we walk to the library. As I look around campus, I’m struck by how different everything is compared to one year ago.
I’m studying something I love, living with my best friend, and dating the love of my life. One year ago, I couldn’t have even imagined how good things would be right now.
I look up at Rhys, and a heady feeling of expectation fills me to the brim.
I know that as the years pass, and Rhys is by my side, things are only going to get even better.