/Zane's POV/
I knew Madison's always been bold; I knew she's capable of so many things I haven't even begun to grasp—I just didn't think driving me crazy was one of them.
I'd waited in her room, thinking I'd confront her about sneaking out. She probably thought she had to do it behind my back because she still wasn't that comfortable with me yet.
Her sneaking out like that made me kind of mad, but I wanted her to trust me a little more. I was gonna tell her it's okay to go out as long as she ran it by me first. I just didn't think she'd return home drunk.
I can't even begin to wonder how she made it to the second floor in that state since she clearly didn't use the door.
Madison being mysterious wasn't today's news, but her being crafty is. Once again, it made me wonder who she truly is, and that curiosity was slowly driving me insane.
Learning she was with a friend whose boyfriend died was relieving in a way I'd rather not admit, but learning she'd rather not have a boyfriend strangely didn't feel so good to hear. I kept entertaining the questions for so long I couldn't sleep.
Well, there was another thing that kept me up at night—and that's knowing Madison was attracted to me. That's never occurred to me before, and it made me wonder since when? My pulse spiked as the image of her face plagued me—that one expression she made I couldn't decipher.
That one look I strangely craved to see again: a flushed face, slightly parted lips, anxious eyes tinted with things I couldn't explain. Now it's clear as day—it was lust. She wanted me. The thought both bothered and excited me.
I turned in my bed as Allison slowly encroached on my thoughts until she filled them whole. After the kiss, I'd run out with my tail tucked between my legs, just after dropping her to the floor. Her painful grimace from the aftermath faded alongside the slam of her door.
Did Madison start sneaking out because of her attraction to me? My eyes widened at the realisation. I guess she tried to deal with it the only way she knew how. But still, it's not safe sneaking out like that on her own.
It's not often I come across a problem I have to use all my brainpower to dissect, but this one even stole my sleep, because the next time I looked at my alarm clock, it was four in the morning.
I left my room and headed down to my personal gym for a run and maybe some other exercises to clear my head—but it did no such thing. No matter how much I exhausted myself, I could never bring myself to forget the taste of her lips against mine.
The taste of mine, blended with the aroma of gin—it was intoxicating, and for that split second, I was drunk on the taste of her. I should have left the moment I found out she was drunk, but I held her, let her pull me close until she messed with my head.
I've never been able to say no to that face she wears, and it took all of me not to deepen that kiss and take her right there.
"Fuck!" I stopped the treadmill, got off, and took a seat on the weight-lifting bench, annoyed that the bloody exercise wasn't doing shit to help my thoughts.
"Zane!" I flinched at the distant call of my name that accompanied the growing sound of footsteps approaching the home gym. I glanced down at my watch to realise it was just a little past five, which meant I'd been downstairs for over an hour.
"Maddy." I appeared before her in the sitting room just as she was taking in the place, reminding me she hadn't been downstairs since we started living together.
"Hey." She turned abruptly to face me while I narrowed my eyes at her, wondering what her excuse would be about what happened last night. It was also weird seeing her up so early when she'd often sleep in until around seven in the morning. "Cool place, by the way," she smiled.
I remained silent, waiting for her to explain her presence downstairs and also make an excuse for the previous night.
"Sorry for… cutting into your workout," she said quickly after her eyes did one full sweep of me. I was in my gym shorts and tank top. I realised her eyes lingered a tad longer on my triceps before returning to my face.
"I was raiding your fridge when I thought I heard something downstairs. I had to come check," she explained, and I sighed. I guess she was hungry—she didn't really have dinner or lunch yesterday. "I almost regretted not having been given a tour of the place since I came here. You even have a gym." She walked right past me into my home gym.
"Damn. It's nice to be rich," she said under her breath after walking into the four-cornered room filled with gym equipment, a wide TV, and a massive mirror on the side. But I kept wondering when we were going to address the elephant in the room. I didn't want to be the first to bring it up—not after realising how embarrassing it'd be for her—but Madison Reyes wouldn't mention it.
"D'you mind if I come down here often to use the place? You even have a bar—that's awesome." She paused. "Zane? Is something wrong?" she asked after noticing my silence. Does she not remember everything that happened last night? An uncomfortable feeling slowly filled my chest, leaving a rather bad taste in my mouth.
"If it makes you uncomfortable—"
"Of course not." I cut in sharply. "Feel free to come downstairs anytime you want. I don't want to constrict you, Maddy. I want you to be free with me. You can always come to me in case there's anything you need or if you wanna talk." It was a hint to get her to tell me if something was bothering her, but the innocent look in her eyes confirmed she'd forgotten about last night.
There was no hint of awkwardness in her movements, and her gaze remained steady and unyielding. Unlike before, when she could hardly hold my gaze, I was the one avoiding the fierce look in her eyes that laid bare her excitement—probably over what I'd just said.
"This is great," she beamed, but I didn't want that conversation to die there.
"You could use the bar too—you seem like the type to enjoy a good drink."
"Well, I am a bartender, so I would never turn down a good drink," she replied with a one-sided smile. Was that why you returned home drunk last night? I wanted to ask, but I retained a polite smile as I closed our distance, looking her dead in the eye to spot even the slightest crack.
"Just do it in moderation… I'd prefer it if you didn't wind up drunk." My smile remained.
"But people have told me I'm a good drunk." She smirked.
"I'd rather not find out about your drunken habits, Maddy." I was being serious about that. Last night alone robbed me of my sleep—I'd rather not experience it again.
"What are my sister's drunken habits like?" Her question came at me out of nowhere, reminding me I hadn't thought about Allison much lately. That thought alone made me frown, but realising that I'd never seen Allison drunk in all the time we'd been together made my frown deepen.
"I… she holds her liquor way better than I do, so I conk out first most of the time," I replied, loosening the crease in my brows, though my smile was as awkward as it gets.
"You've never had to pick her up when she's drunk?" Maddy sounded surprised.
"She has a chauffeur and a manager," I reminded.
"Boring," she muttered under her breath before walking over to the tool rack to grab a kettlebell. She did it so effortlessly it rattled me.
"You didn't come out for dinner or lunch yesterday?" I pointed out as I returned to the bench press, changing the topic as the urge to force her to address what happened resurfaced again.
"Yeah, I… was sleeping. Anya mentioned she wouldn't be coming, so I decided to sleep in." I almost scoffed at her response. Does she really not remember? "You weren't looking for me, were you? You must've been worried with my door locked and all. Sorry."
Her words reminded me I wasn't supposed to be in her room when I was.
"So, how was the meeting with your friend? Everything went okay?" she asked as she returned the kettlebell to the rack but almost ended up dismantling the rest. Before I knew it, I was next to her, afraid she'd drop it on herself—but she had such good reflexes we ended up holding it together.
"Careful." Time stretched between us as our hands touched. I recalled how she felt when I held her—rigid and warm, her face flushed from the drink, reminding me of that expression she made. But then it happened again.
Madison breathed shakily after we returned the bell, her eyes pulling away from mine in a hurry, but the blush on her face remained.
This isn't good, I swallowed.
"I need to prepare to leave for work," I managed to say amidst my thoughts spiralling out of control. I headed for the entrance but turned sharply to conclude, "And yeah, the meeting went well. Although I mentioned you can come downstairs anytime you want, I'd still like you to steer clear of the security. Seeing you all hale and hearty could breed suspicion."
I know it's rather cowardly of me to run when it's finally clear what she wants—but how do I tell her to stop, when I clearly don't want to her to.
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