“Not really. I should have known you wouldn’t listen to me. And next time, instead of telling Maddox to make sure the door is locked, I’m going to lock it myself.”
“Okay then…yes…it was hot. But also weird because you’re my friends.”
“I can understand that.”
“And there was one other thing.”
“What’s that?”
“I was jealous. I’ve never had sex like that,” I confessed.
“Never had sex like what?” a deep voice asked from the direction of the sliding doors.
Addison and I both jumped and then turned to see who had snuck into the house without us hearing a single thing.
Tommy and Maddox both stood there with a beer in their hands. I studied their faces to see if I could guess how much they’d heard. I also couldn’t tell which one of them had asked the question. They had surprisingly neutral expressions.
“How long have you been standing there?” I asked.
“How did we not hear you come in?” Addison asked.
The two men looked at each other and clinked their beer bottles together.
“Baby, I’ve told you, we’re SEALs,” Maddox said. He set his beer down on the counter, came up behind Addison, and wrapped his arms around her. “We’re stealthy, and we know how to get into secret places.” He pushed her brown hair off her shoulder and kissed her neck.
There was that feeling of envy again. It was time to go.
Addison laughed and tried to shake him off. “Maddox, I’m busy, talking to my friend.”
I grabbed the dish out of her hand and plopped it into the dishwasher. “That’s okay. I should go and get some sleep anyway.”
She put her head on her husband’s shoulder and looked at him. “You scared away my helper. Now, you have to finish doing the dishes with me.”
He released his wife and stepped back before turning to me. “Don’t go, Olivia. Addison needs your help.”
I shook my head with a laugh. “Too late,” I said as I went and picked up my purse and pulled out my keys.
“I’d better get going, too,” Tommy said. “Olivia and I are going to head out early in the morning.”
Since when? “We are?”
“Yep, we are.”
“Okay.” That was fine by me.
Tommy plucked my keys out of my hand and set them on the counter. “Olivia and I will pick up your SUV and her car tomorrow.”
I made a sound of protest. “Why’d you do that?”
“Because we’ve both been drinking.” He put his hand on my shoulder. “Come on. I’ll walk you home.”
9
Tommy
I directed Olivia out the door, and once it closed behind us, she said, “I can drive. I’m not drunk.”
“It doesn’t mean you’re under the legal limit, and you literally just left the county sheriff’s house. Besides, it’s a beautiful night, and we don’t have that far to walk.”
Now that the sun had set, the temperature was perfect—not too hot and not too cold.
“But what about getting up early? If we drove, we could be in bed sooner.”
I immediately pictured us in bed…together. But that wasn’t what she meant.
“I just said that to get us out of there. You looked uncomfortable around Maddison’s PDA.”
She glanced at me and smiled. “Thanks, but no, I wasn’t uncomfortable. Jealous maybe but not uncomfortable.” She rolled her eyes and laughed. “Sorry. I might not be drunk, but the wine is bringing out the honesty in me tonight.”
“No apologies needed. I think everyone gets lonely sometimes.”
“Even you?”
“Sure, even me.” More so now that I didn’t have my career to keep me busy.
We walked a few minutes, just enjoying the night while I tried not to keep glancing at her. She was cute tonight, all relaxed after an evening with friends. The alcohol probably didn’t hurt either.
“I have a question,” Olivia said.
“Okay.”
“How long were you and Maddox standing there when you came in from the backyard? How much did you hear? Or I guess, how much did Maddox hear? I’m going to be so embarrassed if he knows that I saw him having sex.”
“Only for a few seconds.”
She put her hand to her chest. “Whew.”
“But it doesn’t matter. He already knows.”
Olivia smacked my arm, stopping me. She turned to face me. “How the hell does he know? Did he see me watching?” She slapped her cheeks. “Oh my God, I can never face him again.”
“He didn’t see you.”
She dropped her arms. “Oh, thank God.” Her eyes narrowed at me. “So then, how does he know?”
I brought my hands up in surrender. “I didn’t tell him.”
“Then, he doesn’t know.” She shook her head at me and started walking again.
“You do know he’s married, right? Addison tells him everything.”
She clenched her fists. “Shit. You’re right.” She took a deep breath and exhaled. “I guess that means, tomorrow, I’m driving myself back to Des Moines and never coming back.”
I laughed at her. “It’s not that bad.” I lifted a shoulder. “Besides, I know Maddox, and he’s not going to care if you saw him.”
“You can’t possibly know that,” she said, her voice full of skepticism.
“The dude has had sex while I was in the same room on multiple occasions, and vice versa. He’s even had sex when I was in the same bed.”
Her eyes bugged out at me.
“Not with me. Christ. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. It’s just not Maddox’s jam. Or mine.” I liked women way too much.
“Didn’t that bother you?”
“That he had sex while I was trying to sleep?”
“Yeah.”
“Yes. I was trying to sleep. He kept me up.” I smiled. “Also, he was getting some, and I wasn’t. It didn’t seem fair.”
“Was it…” Olivia cleared her throat. “Was it with Addison?”
I laughed. “No way. Maddox would never do that with Addison. He loves that woman too much and is too possessive.”
“Then, how do you know he won’t be mad that I saw him?”
Olivia had a point, but…
“You’re a woman, and I’m a guy. He doesn’t want other men seeing his wife naked.” Especially since it had already happened once.
The first time I had visited Brook Creek, Addison had been half-asleep when she walked out of Maddox’s room without anything on but her birthday suit. I wasn’t one to ogle another guy’s woman, but let’s just say, I could understand why Maddox was protective.
As we walked, I noticed that Olivia had moved closer to me. We were going past the town’s school, where the streetlights were few and far between. Sometimes, as a big guy with lots of training, I forgot how scared women could get.
My suspicions were confirmed when we heard a noise coming from the field behind the school, and she grabbed on to me and glued herself to my side.