FOUR
MADDIE HAD NEVER SPENT SUBSTANTIAL TIME in New York.
With her film career rooted in the studios of LA and her entire family living just miles away, she’d never had a reason to be anywhere but California.
She was now starting to realize, though, that the few quick promotional trips she had taken to New York throughout the years barely scratched the surface of the metropolis.
The city that never sleeps.
Maddie thought she would hate the constant noise and congestion, but instead, she found it soothing to be surrounded by so much life. The East Coast was growing on her. She decided then that she’d visit Gemma and Caitlin more often, maybe even for the holidays. They could make it a tradition.
Don’t get too carried away, she cautioned herself, recalling the pictures she’d seen of the city blanketed in white in December.
Her West Coast blood had yet to experience a winter tundra.
Maddie had been greeted every morning with only the finest summer weather that the city had to offer, and even that left much to be desired.
The thick, sticky humidity was beginning to test her patience. She wasn’t used to air that was so wet.
One point for California, she thought, curling her nose.
Her favorite part about New York, though, was being able to walk everywhere. In LA, she couldn’t go anywhere without getting stuck in traffic, and road rage had gotten the best of her more than once.
Okay, one point for New York.
From the day she had landed in the city, Maddie began swiping on her dating apps, eager to dive headfirst into a new pool of sapphics.
Thirty years of living in LA hadn’t revealed Maddie’s soulmate.
She was sure of it. So she thought that maybe her one true love had been on the East Coast all this time, waiting for their paths to cross, just as she had been.
Either way, dating in New York was giving her an excuse to get out of the house. Caitlin and Gemma were gracious hosts, but Maddie remembered what it was like to have a roommate, even temporarily. She knew she was encroaching on their time alone.
Over the past week, Maddie had gone out on a few first dates. One night, she even spent hours barhopping around the area by herself, just to see if the love of her life might be waiting for her in a corner of Cubbyhole at two a.m., nursing a drink. But no one had been there.
Aside from, well, Megan Fox, Maddie didn’t have much of a type.
It was so easy for her to find something to love within every person she met.
She’d gone on a date with a wild-eyed, blue-haired artist whose tattoos were scattered on every limb.
The woman showed up to the restaurant with a purse full of crystals, a move Maddie was on board with until she started “purifying” them in Maddie’s glass of sparkling water, hastily mixed with table salt.
She’d gone on another date with a bleach-blonde soap opera star who ended up being a bit too theatrical, even for Maddie.
When the waiter asked how they were doing, she launched into a full, trembling soliloquy about “learning to love again after the betrayal,” complete with a solemn gaze out the window.
Hayley would hate this, she mused, suppressing a smile.
If Hayley thought Maddie was dramatic, this woman would have sent Hayley running for the hills before appetizers. Maddie was so entertained by the idea that the rest of the date ended up being half-decent.
Then there had been the tall, stoic WNBA player.
Her confidence was sexy—Maddie had to admit.
She was attentive, chivalrous, and even initiated a gentle kiss at the end of the night.
But as Maddie was stretching up on her tiptoes, the other woman bending in half to meet her lips, she knew it couldn’t work.
It would be impossible to sixty-nine, she had thought with a long, heavy sigh.
Her most recent date had been with an accountant she met, as Maddie liked to say, in the wild.
She always held the highest hopes for those dates—the ones planned the old-fashioned way, without the apps.
The woman herself was classically gorgeous, with a lightning-quick wit that drew Maddie in immediately.
After a delightful hour of flirty banter, Maddie had pondered whether it would be rude to invite the woman back to Caitlin’s house to continue the night.
But then her date spent ten full minutes calculating the exact inflation-adjusted cost of everything on the bill, and the evening took a turn.
When Maddie asked what she was doing, she mumbled something about “reconciling recent data” and “performing a reasonableness check,” while Maddie slowly lost her buzz.
By the time her date reached the decimal point, the spark was gone.
Each woman had been beautiful in her own way, yet Maddie still left every date feeling nothing. There was no electricity, no longing, no real connection. And for some reason, she couldn’t help but compare them all to Hayley.
Hayley would never do something so unsanitary.
I bet Hayley doesn’t even know who Susan Lucci is.
Hayley’s eyes don’t wander like that.
Hayley would have just paid in cash.
All Maddie could think about was Hayley, Hayley, Hayley.
Hayley Maddox was volatile and temperamental, perched on her high horse inside a club so exclusive that apparently only Gemma had ever been allowed past the gates.
And still, Maddie couldn’t stop thinking about her.
Yes, Hayley was all of those irritating things and more.
But she was also brilliant, self-assured, alluring, and fiercely steadfast. Maddie wanted to be let inside the club, wanted to know how it would feel to have someone like Hayley on her side for once.
Maddie suspected there was something deeper beneath Hayley’s prickly exterior, a reason she’d grown those thorns in the first place.
Even Caitlin didn’t seem to know exactly why Hayley was the way she was, but Maddie became determined to find out.
The challenge intrigued her far more than anyone else she’d met during her time in New York.
After a week of failed dates, Maddie opted for a quiet night in with Caitlin and Gemma.
The three of them ordered Thai takeout, curled up on the couch, and let a movie play while they melted into one another.
Looking at Caitlin and Gemma, Maddie was reminded of her parents and of what she thought a home should be—a place for snuggling under shared blankets, laughing or crying together into a bowl of warm, buttery popcorn, and stealing soft kisses.
That was what she wanted.
Her friends were nestled together on the long side of the L-shaped couch, a tangle of limbs and hushed whispers, while Maddie sat a few cushions away under a blanket meant for one.
She stretched her legs out across the ottoman, watching them.
Gemma held Caitlin close, and Caitlin turned away from the screen just long enough to press a gentle kiss to her fiancée’s cheek before settling back against her chest. Their easy, genuine affection made Maddie’s heart squeeze.
A vibration came from the sofa next to her. She ignored it, her attention fixed on the movie. But seconds later, her phone buzzed again. And again. With a sigh of irritation, Maddie finally reached for it and opened the text.
Kim: Miss me?
Beneath the two words were several thumbnail photos.
Maddie tapped on the first one and saw Kim’s teeth sucking on her bottom lip, her dark hair splayed across a pewter pillow.
Black lace barely covered her curves. She swiped to the next photo.
There was Kim, lying on her stomach, one finger hooked inside her mouth, and the camera angled down at her full chest as it spilled from the lace.
She swiped again. Kim standing in front of a wide, full-length mirror.
The bra was gone now, replaced by Kim’s forearm, leaving the rest of her bare body on display.
Jesus.
Heat flared deep in Maddie’s belly. She crossed her legs, squeezing her thighs together.
Damn, that woman really knows how to take a photo, she thought, staring at the screen. It was like looking at art.
“Whatever’s on that phone must be really good.”
Caitlin’s voice startled Maddie, and she spluttered as she dropped her phone into her lap.
The couple sat less than five feet away, a fact that suddenly made Maddie mortified to remember. She didn’t know how long Caitlin had been watching her, but the look on her face told Maddie she’d seen enough.
Feeling heat rush into her cheeks, she threw off her blanket and wordlessly retreated into the privacy of her temporary bedroom.
What was Kim doing? Maddie thought she had been clear before she left—it was never going to work between them.
Unless…
Unless Kim had actually thought about what Maddie said. Maybe she was ready to be exclusive now, and she’d chosen their shared language to reconnect. It couldn’t hurt to just see where Kim’s head was at.
She mentally thanked her past self for tossing her vibrator into her suitcase at the last minute before leaving LA. Maddie hesitated, debating for the briefest moment whether it would be too weird to use it while her friends were just down the hallway.
Desperate times, she thought, shrugging to the empty room.
She rushed into the walk-in closet, digging through her suitcase for the smooth circle of red plastic.
“Yes,” she whispered, holding up the toy in triumph.
Maddie flipped off the lights, leaving only the soft glow of the city to bathe the room. She tossed her baggy T-shirt and sweatpants onto the floor, and with nothing between her bare skin and the sateen sheets, she slid into the bed, holding the silicone U-shaped toy in her hand.
She opened the camera on her phone. Two could play at that game.
Sent. She smirked.
Kim: Fuck. Don't do this to me.
Before Maddie could reply, her phone started ringing.
“At least let me watch if you’re going to tease me like that,” Kim breathed as her face filled the screen, leaving Maddie with no choice but to grin.