Chapter 33 Annalise
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
annalise
“Hey, Mazi!” Waddling toward her, I grab her bag and pull her in for a hug. “How was Colorado?”
“It was so beautiful!” she gushes. “It was my first time shooting a wedding in the snow. The shots came out phenomenal!” Pulling out her camera, she shows me some of the pictures she took over the weekend.
“Did you go on a date this weekend?” She nods toward the vase of flowers in the center of our breakfast table.
“Oh, no! I saw those when I went to the store and thought they were super pretty.” I’ve bought flowers before, just because I love having fresh flowers in the house. But the bouquet Maddox got me isn’t something you can find in a grocery store—nor would I ever spend that kind of money on flowers.
“Are you hungry? I’m about to make bourbon chicken and lo mein,” I say, walking back to the kitchen.
“Yes, I’m starving. Are you okay? You’re walking kinda funny.” Mazi eyes me suspiciously.
My cheeks flame with heat. I’m still quite sore from the activities Maddox and I had over the weekend. Heat pools between my legs as I think about the way he made my body feel. The way he ravished me on his kitchen counter has been replaying in my mind all day.
He said he leaves tomorrow for Chicago and will be on the road for the rest of the week, so I’ll have to suffer during those days. I’d forgotten how much I missed sex. It’s probably because I haven’t had sex like that in years.
“The elevator was down yesterday so I had to take the stairs. You know how out of shape I am.”
Mazi gives me a look that tells me she doesn’t buy any of my bullshit, but doesn’t prod any further. “I’m gonna go shower.”
Once she’s in her room, I pull out my phone and shoot Maddox a text.
Mazi is suspicious.
Maddox
What gave it away?
The extravagant yet lovely bouquet you gave me. And the way I’m walking. It’s all your fault.
Maddox
You act like you don’t enjoy feeling the soreness between your legs. It serves as a reminder that I was inside of you.
Fuck. My core pulses with need and my panties start to dampen. Thank goodness Mazi isn’t around or the look on my face would be a dead giveaway.
I change the subject to prevent myself from getting even more turned on.
How’s Chandler? Is he okay?
Maddox
His car is totaled, and he has a few broken ribs and fractured his clavicle. But he’s stable.
Oh God! That’s a huge blessing. Hope he recovers soon.
Maddox
Looks like he’ll be out for the season, though. It was a hit-and-run.
Ugh. People are so irresponsible. Hopefully the police can pull the footage from cameras.
Maddox
Yeah, hopefully.
Btw Elijah found your gold hoop earring in my car. I tried to lie and say it was my sister’s, but he didn’t believe me.
Damn it. I was wondering where it fell out.
Maddox
I grabbed lunch with the boys after we visited Chandler and they all interrogated me.
Damn. So they all know now?
Maddox
Yeah. Sorry. They were ruthless.
So much for keeping it a secret . I guess I should tell Mazi soon.
Maddox
Sending prayers your way. And don’t tell her where I live because she might come and murder me in my sleep .
Thanks. I’m gonna need it. And lol, I won’t.
Setting my phone down, I pull the marinated chicken out of the fridge and place it into the frying pan. While the chicken is cooking, I add sauces to the lo mein in another pan and stir it up.
“Mmm, that smells so good.” Mazi comes out of the room with pajamas on and a towel wrapped around her head. “I’m so lucky to have a best friend who cooks for me.”
I turn my head and smile at her. “It should be ready in a few.” Hopefully being nicely fed will put her in a good mood so she doesn’t go ballistic when I drop the bomb about Maddox.
Both of our phones buzz with a new text alert. We check and see a new text from Serena in our group chat.
Serena
What are y’all doing? I was supposed to go on a date with Randall but we got into a huge fight
Mazi
Let me guess. It was over some bullshit, as always
Serena
I was studying with my friends, and he got mad at me because a guy was there too.
What a dumbass ! Do you wanna come over? I’m cooking dinner. We can have a girls’ night.
Mazi
Yes! Come over, please. We can watch Beauty Within, the new romcom that just came out on Netflix!
Serena
Okay! I’ll be there soon.
“I can’t get over how good that bourbon chicken was,” Serena says.
“Right? It’s way better than what they have at the food courts in the mall. You would put them out of business,” Mazi agrees.
A smile pulls on my lips. “Glad you ladies liked it.”
We’re sitting in the living room with face masks on, sipping on wine. Mazi and I are already almost done with our second glass, but Serena has barely put a dent in her first.
“This movie is kinda boring.” Mazi groans.
“Yeah, I’m not feeling it either,” I agree. “The love interest isn’t doing it for me.”
“Right? He’s so cringey,” Serena says, wrinkling her nose at the screen. “I brought this new card game I got the other day! Do y’all wanna play it?” Reaching in her bag, she pulls out a box that says Unhinged. It has a pink lip-bite icon on it and an 18+ sticker at the bottom.
“Ooh, this looks juicy!” Mazi guzzles down the last drops of her wine and sets her glass on the table.
“So we each pull out a card, and we all have to go around and answer. It’s just a fun way to get to know each other,” Serena says. “Do you wanna pull the first card?” She opens the box and hands it to Mazi.
“Yes, please!” she says, pulling a card from the middle. My muscles tense and my heart hammers in my chest. “What is your current body count?” Mazi reads from the card.
Okay, that one’s not so bad. My pulse slows to a normal rhythm and I sink back on the couch, relaxing a bit.
“Geez, I’m too drunk to think right now. Twenty? Maybe thirty? Who knows?” Mazi says, laughing.
“I’ve only been with two,” Serena says. “But I don’t know if I count the first guy because he was really small and I could barely feel it.”
“How small was it?” I ask.
She holds her two pointer fingers a couple of inches apart to show us. Mazi and I burst out laughing.
“Oh, babe, I’m so sorry you lost your virginity to a guy that had a dick the size of a peanut.” Mazi pours more wine in her glass. I lift my glass to her, and she fills it up too.
“Did he at least go down on you?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “No. And Randall barely goes down on me, either. When he does, it’s for five seconds, and then he wants to stick it in.”
“What the fuck!” Mazi gasps. “So you’ve never orgasmed by getting eaten out? You are missing out!”
“I’ve never orgasmed. Period. At least not from a man…” Serena looks away and takes a sip from her glass.
Mazi and I both have the same expression, eyes wide and mouths hanging open.
“You’ve gotta be joking,” I say, shaking my head.
“I wish I was,” she sighs.
“It’s time for you to get a new man.” Mazi shakes her head.
Serena doesn’t say anything and turns her attention to me. “What’s your body count, Annalise?”
“Seven.” But only one of them has the ability to make me see stars when I orgasm. “I went through a phase where I was on dating apps. It didn’t make me feel too good after, so I stopped.”
“We all need a hoe phase sometimes,” Mazi says, raising her glass.
Serena pulls out the next card and reads it. “When was the last time you had sex, and where?”
Damn it. This was not how I wanted to tell Mazi. Maybe I can skip my turn without them noticing.
“I had sex two days ago. It was in his room. Nothing special.” Serena shrugs.
A mischievous smile flickers across Mazi’s lips. “I had sex yesterday. I hooked up with one of the bridesmaids in the limo.”
“Ooh, scandalous!” I reach for a card in the box and pull it out. “What is your number-one sexual fantasy?”
“Wait, you didn’t answer the question,” Serena says.
Damn it.
Mazi and I are both drunk, so maybe I should just tell her now. I might not have the courage to do it tomorrow, and I’d hate for her to find out from someone else.
I take a big gulp from my glass. “I had sex yesterday… on the kitchen counter.”
She scrunches her nose. “On ours? I hope you wiped it with bleach.”
“No. On his…”
“I knew you were on a fucking date!” Mazi shouts, slapping her thigh. “I was waiting for you to tell me. So, who was it?”
Goosebumps rise my skin and I feel the contents of tonight’s dinner trying to resurface. “It was…”
Their eyes are on me, waiting for me to answer.
I gnaw on fingernails, averting their gaze. “It was Maddox.”
The room is so quiet that you could probably hear a pin drop.
Mazi's lips are pressed together in a tight line, and she has a death grip on her wine glass—she’s probably imagining it’s Maddox’s neck instead.
Her hazel eyes are filled with a fire so intense that it could incinerate me within seconds.
“Please tell me you were with someone else named Maddox, and not your ex who broke your fucking heart.”
I chew on my bottom lip so hard, the taste of copper fills my mouth. “It was him.” My voice comes out as a squeak.
A heavy sigh leaves her lips. “Annalise, why would you get back together with him? After everything he put you through?”
Noting the tension in the room, Serena sets her wine glass on the table and gets up from the couch. “I need to use the bathroom.”
I chew on my bottom lip. “We’re not officially back together. We’re just giving it another shot and seeing where it goes.”
I wasn’t exactly lying. Maddox and I haven’t put a label on our relationship, but we both know what we mean to each other. I’m not planning on seeing anyone else, and neither is he.
“Annalise, I know he was your first love, but he cheated on you,” Mazi says, shaking her head. “That’s unforgivable. You said so yourself, that you would never get back together with him. So what the hell changed?”
“Since he came back into my life, he’s really been there for me. And I honestly don’t believe he ever cheated on me.”
Mazi sits up straight. “But you saw Charlotte come out of his bedroom!”
“I was so angry with him, I never gave him a chance to tell me his side of the story. We finally talked about it, and I have a feeling Charlotte wasn’t telling the truth.”
I fill Mazi in on everything Maddox told me about that night. I also tell her about all the things he’s done for me that made me fall for him all over again—about him professing his love to me, and about our first date.
“I spent all those years trying to convince myself that I hated him. But when I saw him again, all the feelings I kept buried away resurfaced.” Reaching over, I squeeze her hand.
“I haven’t been this happy in a long time.
I’m sorry I kept this from you. But I know you have your reservations toward him.
I was waiting for the right time to tell you. ”
Mazi squeezes my hand back, her face softening. “You really love him, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I do.” My heart clenches, warmth flowing through me like honey. It’s the first time I’ve admitted it out loud. I am so deeply in love with Maddox Masashi Kamado. I always have been.
“If you’re happy, then I’m happy too. I love you, Annalise Rose Monroe. You deserve all the happiness in the world, and I hope Maddox treats you like the queen you are.”
The nerves in my stomach settle. I was expecting Mazi to scold me and unleash hell. But she took it a lot better than I thought she would.
“I love you too, Mazikeen Francesca Rivera.” We pull each other into an embrace.
“But if he breaks your fucking heart again, I will castrate him. I don’t care if I end up in prison.”
I burst into a fit of giggles, even though Mazi is probably being dead serious.
“You can come out now, Serena!” Mazi calls out.
Serena comes out of the room and rejoins us on the couch. “We don’t have to play anymore if y’all don’t want to.”
“Oh, no, we are still playing,” I say, sitting up straight. I pick up the card I pulled out earlier, “So, Serena, what is your number-one sexual fantasy?”
“That’s an easy one,” she says, a wicked smile playing on her lips. “To join the mile-high club.”
“That’s my number-one, too,” I say.
“I’m sure Maddox can help you fulfill it,” Mazi says with a wink. “I’ve been a member of the mile-high club for a while now. It’s exhilarating as hell, but not exactly comfortable. Maybe one day I’ll get to do it in first class or on a private jet.”
“I hope I can experience that one day. But Randall is such a prude, he would probably never go for it,” Serena sighs.
“Honey, what do you even see in him?” Mazi asks.
“Honestly, I don’t know anymore.” Serena shakes her head. “Anyways, what’s your number-one, Mazi?”
“With how kinky she is, she probably already fulfilled it.” I snort.
“I haven’t, actually. My number-one is to have sex while skydiving.”
My face scrunches in confusion. “Huh? How would you even do that?”
She pulls a blanket over her lap and shrugs. “I’ll figure out a way.”
My phone dings with a text from Maddox.
Maddox
So is Mazi on her way to murder me now?
No . She took it surprisingly well. We’re having a girls’ night and playing a card game. We just discussed our number-one sexual fantasy.
Maddox
Oh? So what’s yours?
To join the mile-high club
Maddox
I can make that happen