24. Maddox
MADDOX
“Ahem.” A throat cleared.
I blinked slowly, my brain dragging itself awake one reluctant inch at a time, fighting against the pull of unconsciousness clinging to the edges of my thoughts.
For a second, nothing made sense. The ceiling above me wasn’t mine.
The sheets smelled different, like lavender and summer breezes.
The mattress underneath me wasn’t as plush as I was used to.
Sunlight filtered through unfamiliar curtains, casting patterns across sage-green-painted walls instead of moody gray.
Shit.
I’m not in my bed.
So whose bed am I sleeping in?
Had I gotten wasted last night?
What the fuck had I done?
A warm body shifted beside me, still half tangled against my chest and soft where it pressed against mine.
Her black hair spilled messily across the white pillow, and my arm was draped around a thin waist, a hand splaying possessively across her hip, and her oversized tee bunched beneath my palm.
My gaze lifted to her face, taking in her features, the full lips, the slim, perky nose, the high cheekbones dusted with freckles, and the long, thick lashes fanning under her closed eyes.
Hales.
The entire night came back to me, but I didn’t get the chance to process how I was still here because I remembered someone standing in the doorway. We weren’t alone, and I was afraid who it might be.
Her mom.
She leaned against the frame, one shoulder propped casually against the wood, staring at us with a curve to her lips that might have been a smirk… Or maybe it was more of an “I’m going to kill you, and I’m looking forward to it” expression.
It was hard to tell.
Either way, not great.
Fucking fantastic.
It was too damn early to deal with the put-out mother of the girl I’d spent the night with. This was why I didn’t do sleepovers. Complications I didn’t fucking need.
The silver lining was thank God, I’d thrown my pants on before passing out last night.
I was shirtless, though, bare chest, muscles, and tattoos on full display, the sheets pooling around my waist, and judging by the way her gaze flicked over the situation, my partial nakedness wasn’t helping my case.
This wasn’t the first time I’d been caught in a girl’s bed.
Not by a long shot, but I’d never stayed the night, and perhaps that was why this felt different.
Felt too fucking much like a relationship, which Hales and I were definitely not in.
I didn’t date and most certainly didn’t do boyfriend status.
There was only one time I considered breaking that rule, and the girl chose someone else. My brother.
Her mom had every right to drill holes through my skull with her eyes.
She probably assumed the worst, and with me in her daughter’s bed, I couldn’t blame her.
Yet, despite how it looked, I hadn’t had sex with her daughter.
I’d wanted to and still wasn’t entirely sure why I hadn’t, why I had kept it to pleasure without penetration.
Hales stirred beside me, coming to faster than I had.
I slipped my hand away from her waist, and her gaze followed mine to the doorway, sensing something was wrong.
Now was not the time to think about how freaking cute she looked all rumpled from sleep, but if her mom hadn’t interrupted, I would have very much liked to pull her into me and continue what we started last night.
And that was a problem.
“Mom?” Mallory murmured sleepily, her voice muffled against my shoulder where her face was still half buried.
God, even her voice was adorable, all soft confusion and gravelly. It stirred something in me that had no business hardening. I nearly groaned. Morning wood wasn’t a problem I freaking needed.
Her mom lifted a brow. “Hopefully, all those talks we had about safe sex weren’t discarded like your clothes.”
“Mom,” she groaned, pushing herself up on the bed. “You got the wrong idea.”
“I think I got a pretty clear picture, Malibu.” Her mom’s tone was dry and unimpressed.
Hales’s hair fell forward around her face in a tangled halo, cheeks still flushed pink from sleep and warmth. The tee slipped farther off one shoulder, exposing the curve of her collarbone, the skin there marked with—
Shit.
With the faint shadow of a bruise I’d definitely put there last night.
I awkwardly sat up, trying not to draw too much attention my way.
“We didn’t have sex, okay, so please don’t go out and start buying pregnancy tests. And I don’t need a lecture about protection. You know I’ve been on the pill since I was fourteen.”
Ms. Hales was dressed in a pair of cutoff shorts and a plain white tee that highlighted her golden skin.
Her face was bare of any makeup, and somehow, she was prettier than she’d been last night.
It was easy to see where Hales got her looks…
except for the eyes. “You can’t be too safe.
So how exactly did he end up in your bed? ”
She rolled her eyes. “I got scared last night and didn’t want to be alone. That’s it.”
Little liar.
She was smooth about it, though. I’d give her that. The words came out naturally as if she believed them, and it was partially true. She had been scared, rightly so. Did her mom know about her stalker?
“What happened?” her mom asked immediately, her voice shifting into concern and protective mode. “Why were you scared?”
Hales hesitated, her teeth catching her bottom lip. “Can we talk about this later?”
Her mom studied her for a long moment, eyes moving over her daughter’s face, searching for answers. “Yeah,” she said finally. “As soon as you get dressed and meet me downstairs.”
Not a request.
Ms. Hales turned to leave, her hand already dropping from the door frame, then paused. She stopped midstep and glanced back over her shoulder at me, her eyes finding mine. “Maddox, is it?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Since you’re sleeping under my roof, Mara is fine. You should probably go.” Her tone was pleasant enough, but there was steel underneath. “I’m sure your parents are worried.”
“Doubtful,” I muttered under my breath, scrubbing a hand through my hair.
Her eyes narrowed just slightly. “In that case, did you want to stay for breakfast? It’s the least I can do for keeping my daughter…comforted.”
Every instinct inside me was screaming at me to get out as quickly as possible. “I appreciate the offer,” I said, “but you’re right, I should go.”
Mara nodded before disappearing down the hall, the sound of her bare feet against the hardwood fading.
Hales collapsed back into the pillows with a groan that came from somewhere deep in her chest. “Well,” she said into the mattress, her voice muffled by fabric. “That wasn’t embarrassing at all.”
I sat up fully, the bed shifting beneath us as I searched the floor for my shirt. Or was it downstairs? Shit. “Your mom wants to murder me.”
“She wants to murder most people,” she replied dryly, sitting up too and pulling her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. “You’re not special.”
I snorted softly despite everything.
But the truth was, I was still thinking about last night. Not about the parts where my hands had been on her skin or her mouth had been on mine, though those played on repeat in the back of my mind. But about the knife and the threatening note accompanying it.
Hales went still for half a beat, her gaze snagging on the muscle ticking in my jaw. “What’s that look for?” she asked quietly.
I stood, giving up on finding my shirt. I didn’t need it. I had plenty more hanging up in my closet at home. “Why haven’t you told your mom?”
She climbed out of bed. “About my stalker? She has enough on her plate, and honestly, until last night, I hadn’t taken him seriously.”
“Don’t make that mistake again. You probably shouldn’t be home alone until this creep is caught.” I followed her out of her room.
She stayed half a step ahead of me, her fingers brushing the wooden railing as we descended the stairs. “My mom works from home. Until we moved here, I was rarely home alone. She recently started dating,” she explained.
“Call me if she goes out again.” Why the fuck had I said that?
Why was I offering her protection? I could BS myself into believing it was so I passed biology, but I wasn’t sure that was entirely the reason.
I mean, I hadn’t nearly slept with her to get an A.
I was attracted to her, that much I was certain of. The rest…
At the bottom of the stairs, Hales turned toward me, her back to the hallway leading to the kitchen. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, a nervous gesture, fingers lingering against her temple for a second longer than necessary. “So,” she said, a weirdness hovering between us.
“So,” I echoed, shoving my hands into the pockets of my sweatpants because I didn’t know what else to do with them.
Another pause.
“Didn’t you have a shirt?” she asked, realizing I was still half naked.
I grinned. “Keep it.”
She shifted from one foot to the other, suddenly looking a little unsure of herself. “We still need to actually work on our project.”
“Probably,” I agreed, fighting the urge to reach out and touch her, to pull her against me the way I had last night.
I opened the front door instead, needing the distraction and something to do with my hands.
The cool morning air rushed in, crisp and clean, carrying the smell of dew-wet grass and the distant promise of fall.
“I’ll see you in class,” I said, stepping toward the threshold.
She blinked, her eyes widening as realization dawned across her features. “Holy shit.” She sighed, one hand coming up to press against her forehead. “I forgot we have to go to school.”
I laughed under my breath. “Yeah. That’s usually how weekdays work.”
She groaned. “I need caffeine. Like…an IV of it.”
I stepped out onto the porch. “See you later, Hales.”
She leaned against the door frame, watching me. “Later,” she said softly.