Chapter Forty-Eight
Maddie
That night, Rayne comes home quietly. Not that he usually comes home with the same vibrance as Caiden. It’s normal for him. Everything about him is quiet. His footsteps, his breathing, simply everything. Even his observation, the way he always notices things nobody else catches.
So when the apartment door closes softly behind him and silence settles between us for a beat too long, I look up from where I’m sitting on the kitchen counter.
I’m barefoot, wearing leggings and a loose shirt I’m pretty sure belongs to Ryan, and my blue hair is tied in a towel on top of my head after I spent the last two hours bleaching and redyeing it.
I’ve spent the last ten minutes reading comments on my social media, enjoying the new community I’ve accidentally formed, and my hands are clutching a mug of hot cocoa.
I must look like a mess, but I’m at peace with it, especially knowing all four of my men have seen me at my worst already.
Makeup-free and in comfy clothing won’t chase them off now.
Looking for Rayne, I thought I’d find him nearing the kitchen. Only, when my eyes finally land on him, I find him frozen in the living room. He’s just standing there, staring at the new wall of photos Bax helped me fill earlier, eyes trailing over the framed photos of us all.
Smiling, I eye them myself, loving each one.
It showcases our relationship to perfection, each photo filled with warmth, happiness, and dare I say, love.
There’s the silent intensity from Rayne, the gentle affection from Ryan, the daring fun from Caid, and the soft care from Bax, every single photo displaying all of our personalities as they meld together in a collage of something beautiful, raw, and real.
When I gaze back at Rayne, I find a soft expression on his face, and it does something criminal to my chest. It softens my heart in ways only the guys know how to accomplish, and it only doubles when it suddenly looks like every tucked-away feeling he’s had comes to the surface.
That look has the power to take my knees right from under me, so it’s a good thing I’m already seated.
There’s no doubt I’d be sprawled on the floor by now if I were doing something as stupid as standing.
“You hung them up,” he says, finally turning and walking to the kitchen.
I smile softly at him. “Mhm. Figured the apartment was one candle away from looking haunted, so I got Bax to help me add a little life to the living room. This way, I get to see all of your handsome faces every single day.”
Rayne huffs a small laugh, one that still makes me feel victorious, and walks toward me slowly. Almost deliberately. And with every step, the air shifts around us, the atmosphere morphing into something less playful and more intense.
By the time he reaches the kitchen island, my heart has crawled halfway to my throat and my pulse is skittering rapidly.
There’s something in his eyes that makes me shiver, and not in a bad way.
That look alone lights me up from the inside out, and I swallow hard before I ask, “You okay, Rayne Cloud?”
Apparently, my words are a detonation device for an explosive in Rayne’s mind, because he rounds the island suddenly and braces both hands on either side of my hips until I’m trapped between him and the cool marble that’s grown warm beneath my ass.
My breath catches instantly, still not used to the effect these guys have on my mind and body.
I hope that never changes, because I love the way my body reacts when they’re near.
I love how I melt just as much as I tense in anticipation, I love how easily I fold for these guys, because they’ve shown me over and over how much I can rely on them. How much I can trust them.
With those thoughts running through my mind, I slowly wrap my arms around his shoulders and prod, “Rayne?”
He does nothing but stare down at me for one long moment, like he’s trying to decide what to say or do and whether or not it’ll ruin his life.
I’m not sure what thoughts are running through his mind, only that I watch several strong emotions flicker through his eyes before he quietly whispers in Korean, “???.”
I freeze.
I blink.
I swallow hard.
And then Rayne freezes. He also blinks. And then he swallows hard, because it would seem my little Rayne Cloud has forgotten how clinically obsessed I am with K-dramas and has just been viciously reminded when my mouth parts in shock.
I’ve watched enough shows to understand the words that just delicately left the sweetness of his tongue, and if I wasn’t already obsessed with him, the words he just gifted me with surely would have sealed the deal.
Warmth floods my body so fast it makes me light-headed, and his pale-blue eyes drop to my mouth when a slow, steady smile forms on my face.
“You love me?” I ask gently, almost cautiously, even though there’s literally no reason to tiptoe around this man. Not when he just confessed that he loves me in a language he didn’t think I’d understand. Who knew my little broody Rayne Cloud was such a romantic?
Rayne looks genuinely stunned, unable to answer, so I do the only thing I can think to do. With careful Korean that is definitely not as perfect as his but good enough to make his entire expression fall apart, I whisper, “?? ???.”
I love you, too.
We’re back to blinking at one another, Rayne with a deep level of shock and awe, me with a heavy dose of amusement and the heart-filling love I feel for him.
Hell, a love that I feel for all four of them.
There’s simply no use in denying or hiding it anymore, not with my very obvious obsession now pinned to the once-bare brick wall.
Shaking his head like he’s trying to clear it, he blurts, “You understood that?”
Laughing, I hug him a little tighter, sinking one of my hands into his glossy dark hair before reminding him, “Baby, I’ve binge-watched over thirty K-dramas since the start of the year.
Just last night, I flew through a twelve-episode show about an idol who’s framed for the murder of his best friend and bandmate, and his saving grace is a lawyer who’s also his biggest fan.
I’ve picked up a few words here and there. ”
His eyes flare dangerously at the term of endearment, and I store that away in my brain while I watch Rayne drop his head like he can’t handle this conversation and mutter, “You’re insane.”
“You’re insane,” I counter, snickering as I continue to scratch through his hair. “It was you who accidentally confessed in another language you didn’t think I’d understand like we were in a Hallmark movie or something. Who’s really the crazy one here?”
Rayne laughs only once, a breathless sound, right before he kisses me so I stop talking. I chuckle against his mouth, right before I moan at the feel of his lips molding against mine and his taste bursting over my tongue.
There’s a difference in this kiss that I notice immediately. There’s less hesitance, less caution, and I welcome the change. Especially when Rayne pulls me closer to his body, his own hand sinking into my hair and gripping with enough force to direct me where he wants me without hurting me.
Moaning against his mouth, I hook my legs around him, my thighs squeezing his waist as I push myself impossibly closer.
The heat of his body seeps into mine, warming me on the inside and outside, and I feel the thundering of his heart against my chest as I press mine to his.
My own heart is going crazy, even more when he slides a hand to my waist and yanks me against him so we’re flush, unable to slide a single piece of paper between us.
Smiling helplessly against his mouth, I pull back only enough to murmur against him, “You love me.”
“I already regret telling you,” he counters, and I catch the flicker of amusement mingling with the now very obvious love I see filling his eyes the longer he looks at me.
I nip his lower lip before whispering, “Liar.”
He chuckles again, and my entire body tingles, a shiver racing down my spine while my legs tighten around him.
With a soft smile fixed on his face, he quietly tells me, “I think I fell in love with you the moment I saw you in that stupid tub, folded in half like a wet piece of paper. I don’t think I was willing to admit it until I saw those photos, though. ”
Well, hell, I think I’ve died and gone to heaven.
Because as far as confessions go, that’s the best one I’ve ever received in my life.
Which almost makes me feel guilty, since there are three other guys I’ve fallen in love with who now have to compete with making my heart swoon as dangerously as Rayne has.
“They’re just photos. I only framed them,” I shrug, trying to downplay the importance of printing, framing, and hanging photos of all of us in my home.
He shakes his head slowly, blue eyes positively burning, and he disagrees. “You did more than that, mayhem. You made this place feel more like our home than just yours.”
The sincerity in his voice sends a bolt of lightning through me, and words fail me entirely. Instead, I kiss him again. I kiss him slowly, pouring all of my emotion into it. My fingers tighten around his hair, while his clench on my waist, and suddenly I’m all too aware of how alone we are.
It must hit Rayne at the same time, because the handsome devil pulls back with darkened eyes, a dangerous expression on his face as he growls, “Mayhem.”
“Mhm?” I answer like I’m in a fucking trance or something, my gaze dropping to his smiling lips for a long moment before returning to Rayne’s beautiful eyes.
“You have no idea what you do to me,” he utters quietly.
Nodding mindlessly, I whisper, “I’m pretty sure I have some ideas.”
That gets me firmly pinned to the counter, and I laugh breathlessly as his mouth leaves a trail of kisses along my jaw, his warm hands sliding under the hem of my shirt just enough to short-circuit my brain.