14. MADDOX
MADDOX
T he text comes through while I’m trying to convince Smooch that my socks are not chew toys. The last time he swallowed one of those, I had him at the vet and was put on poop patrol, and watching a hundred pound dog take a shit isn’t nearly as fun as it sounds.
Hunter: Need help.
Need help? What the fuck is that supposed to mean? As a general rule, Hunter Cole is the help. He’s the one I call whenever I’m in trouble, and with a charming personality like mine, trouble finds me often. But for him to text asking for help, that means he’s already well and truly fucked.
Shit. The apocalypse could come and he’d text me asking about spare batteries before ever asking for help, and that right there has more than piqued my interest.
It’s a nice change of pace having that big bastard needing my assistance. I wonder how soon it’d be before I can start rubbing this one in his face. Though I’m damn sure he had to swallow a lot of pride just to type out those letters.
Maddox: You dying?
Hunter: Just get over here.
“Shit,” I mutter, jamming my phone straight back into my pocket before reaching for my helmet and quickly wrestling the sock out of Smooch’s mouth, much to his dismay.
I kiss the fucker on the head and promise to make it up to him before hightailing it out of my home and onto my bike, kicking it over almost in the same second.
I take off at the speed of light, reaching Hunter’s apartment complex in just minutes, driving up onto the sidewalk and cutting the engine right by the main entrance before flying through the door, not even giving myself a moment to take off my helmet.
If this asshole really is in trouble, then I need to move my ass.
Who knows what kind of bullshit could have found its way to his doorstep.
A million different scenarios race through my head as I forgo the elevator to run up the stairs, taking them two at a time until I reach the fourth floor.
I peer up ahead, and my breath catches when I see his door open. Hunter would never leave his door open like that. It leaves him vulnerable, and that’s the one thing he would never allow.
Picking up my pace, I storm down the hall, and as I pass Lyra’s door, I’m not too ashamed to say that for just a moment, the thought crosses my mind that Hunter could wait just a few minutes while I nail this feisty little thing against the back of her door, but she’s likely still at the bar for the night, and that very thought keeps me moving.
I take the few extra steps down the hall, and the second I step into Hunter’s open doorway, I come to a screeching halt.
Uhhhh . . . okay. Not exactly what I was expecting, but I can work with this.
Finding my best friend strapped down to one of his dining chairs in the middle of the living room with his cock hanging loose puts me on edge.
I do a quick sweep, checking him from head to toe, making sure he’s not about to bleed out, and once I determine that he’s physically okay, my gaze shoots around the room, searching for the threat I must have missed, because how else would he have gotten into this situation?
Quickly determining that we’re alone, I focus my attention back on Hunter, a slow smile beginning to spread across my lips.
“Don’t fucking start,” Hunter warns and shakes his head, not looking impressed. “Cut me loose.”
I’m already reaching for my phone, unable to contain my excitement. “Oh, hell no,” I say, searching through my music and hitting play on “Womanizer” by the one and only Britney Spears. “I’ve been waiting my whole life for this moment.”
“Maddox.”
My hips start to move, and I begin dancing, rolling my body like a stripper.
“I always knew you wanted all this,” I tell him, giving a hundred and ten percent to the cause while pretending to lick my thumb and roll it down my body, though the lick is all messed up with my helmet on.
But damn, I’m glad I stuck with the decision to wear a muscle tee this morning.
One should never underestimate the power of a little man-side-pec.
Personally, if Hunter swung that way, I know he’d be an arms man.
My dance moves bring me closer, and he clenches his jaw. “Don’t even fucking think about it.”
I pull out my best hip action, just two seconds from dropping to my knees and crawling like the woman in the clubs, not that I’ve ever experienced that . . . much. “This is the best day of my life.”
Hunter glares at me and looks as though he’s about to commit a felony, but while Britney sings, there’s nothing he can do but wait it out. He huffs and looks away, but I grab his chin and force his stare back to me, a grin cutting across my lips. “Uh-huh, eyes on me, baby.”
I laugh to myself, and when the chorus hits, I point toward him, moving in backward before rolling my body over him, my helmeted face hovering just an inch away from him. “I’m really going to kill you,” he grunts as I have the time of my life.
“You could try, but you don’t got it in ya to pull the trigger,” I say as he has no choice but to sit back and enjoy the show. “Besides, who’s gonna give you hot lap dances if I’m not around?”
“There ain’t nothing hot about your belt grinding against my cock.”
I burst out laughing and give the guy a break. “Fine,” I chuckle, getting to my feet and taking the few short steps toward the couch and grabbing a cushion. I toss it at him and it smacks him directly in the chest before falling to his hips and covering his cock. “You never let me have any fun.”
“You call lap dancing for another man fun?”
“Fuck no,” I sputter, scooping up the discarded knife.
“But knowing how uncomfortable you are, knowing there’s not a damn thing you can do about it, has me thinking there might just be a god after all.
Besides, what are bros for? Unless you actually want to smash.
I’ll take one for the team, but I’m gonna need some time to mentally prepare. ”
Hunter groans and shakes his head. “Just cut me loose already.”
“What’s the rush? You ready to smash now?”
I laugh to myself as I stride back toward him and slice through the excessive amount of tape holding him down.
There’s nothing I love more than fucking with Hunter Cole, and the fact that he had to call for help for this particular situation just makes it that much better.
He’s never going to live this down, and he knows it.
After getting through one side and freeing a hand, Hunter immediately folds his dick back into his pants as I get to work on the other side.
“You never told me how it went with that chick?” I ask, grunting as I hack through the tape.
Whoever the fuck did this made sure he wasn’t getting free easily. “You ever work things out with her?”
Hunter scoffs and indicates his current situation. “How the fuck do you think it’s going? That little spitfire is the one who did this to me.”
I step back and look at him in a new light. Tied down with his cock out. Sounds like my kind of party. “Kinky. I like it.”
He lets out a sigh, telling me he’s done with my bullshit, and I finish cutting him loose before dropping onto the couch and watching him get to his feet. He rubs his wrists. “About this girl,” he says, eyeing me with caution.
Fuck. I know that tone. It’s the one he uses right before he’s about to ruin my day by shitting all over it. I’m immediately on edge, narrowing my stare on the bastard. “What about her?”
He takes a deep breath, watching me through a calculated stare, almost as though he’s waiting for me to attack. “She seems to know you.”
My face immediately scrunches up, before horror sets in. “Ahh shit. Don’t tell me I’ve already nailed your new girlfriend.”
He scoffs. “You have, but that’s not the problem.”
“The fuck is going on?” My mind starts reeling through the endless possibilities, making a list and crossing out the ones that won’t fit with the typical girl Hunter would fall at the knees for, and honestly, it narrows it right down to zero.
He hits me with silence. A lot of fucking silence, and then he takes another breath. “That girl you fucked out in the alley the other night, the one you said you’re head over dick in love with, she lives in this building, right?”
My brows pinch with unease. “Yeah. What about her?”
“Just across the hall?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s her name?”
I shake my head, starting to put all the pieces together, and honestly, I don’t like what I’m seeing. “No. There’s no fucking way,” I tell him. “Do not tell me it’s the same girl.”
“What’s her name?” he pushes.
Fuck.
I swallow my pride and fix him with a hard stare. “Lyra.”
“What are the chances there are two Lyras living on this floor?”
I shake my head again, unable to stop at this point. “Nope. No fucking way. This isn’t happening.”
“Oh, it’s happening,” he mutters, looking just as sick at the thought. “You got a picture of your girl?”
I nod, already digging my phone out of my pocket before scrolling through my gallery and finding the picture I’d taken right after fucking her raw in the alley.
Passing my phone to Hunter, I find myself holding my breath, waiting for his response.
He lets out a sigh. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. ”
“Shit.”
I drop heavily back to the couch, feeling dejected.
But I try to put everything together. The night I met her out in the street, she was worked up and annoyed because some asshole had left her high and dry.
And now looking at Hunter, it suddenly makes sense.
She’s the girl he bailed on half way through their date. How the fuck didn’t I see that earlier?
“Break up with her,” I tell him straight.
“Fuck no,” he throws back. “I saw her first.”
“She’s not a fucking toy. You bailed on her and fucked it up, and now that I know exactly what kind of woman you bailed on, there’s no denying that there’s something seriously wrong with your head.
Besides, she doesn’t even like you,” I remind him.
“Take one for the team. Bow out. She’s into me now. ”
Hunter scoffs. “Not possible. She likes me, she just doesn’t know it yet.”
I feel like an ass, but there’s no backing down this time.
Hunter has always come first for me. He’s my boy.
My best friend. I have always had his back.
I want him to find the one. A girl he can have a life with.
Someone who balances out his darkness. He needs that more than he will ever know, and that girl is out there somewhere, but it’s not Lyra.
I’m not about to let this one slip through my fingers.
I scoff right back. “Hate to break it to you, man. She fucking despises you,” I tell him, rubbing salt in the wound, because why the hell not?
“I should be thanking you. You’re the only reason she was so worked up that night.
If it weren’t for you majorly dropping the ball, she never would have given me a chance. ”
His stare narrows. “We’re not going to fight over a girl.”
“Hate to break it to ya, but this one is kinda worth it.”
“Fuck,” he grunts falling to the couch beside me. “She really is.”
“So what now?”
He grunts with amusement. “It’s pretty fucking simple. You stop seeing her.”
“Ain’t gonna happen.”
My best friend glances at me. “You really like her that much?”
I nod, more than ready to lay my cards out on the table. “I ain’t gonna lie,” I tell him, getting more vulnerable than I’ve ever been. “I’ve got it bad, and judging by the fact that you haven’t even attempted to step back, you do too.”
“Well,” he says, dragging a hand down his face. “Fuck.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
I lean back and exhale. This isn’t exactly the way I thought my night was going to go, but now that we’re here, there’s not a lot either of us can do about it. Though there is one thing we can do, something tells me it’s not going to end well for either of us.