Lost & Found

by E B Brooks

  Maddy bit her bottom lip as she stood, not caring if her ankle protested. She hopped over to him. “Listen, I don’t need your help!”

  He let go of the cart to run his hands through his hair. “I want to help you. That’s all, I swear. My mother raised me to help a lady in distress.”

  He started pulling her cart toward the truck again. Neither of them noticed the police car pulling up beside them.

  “Cody, is everything all right here? Was there an accident?” the police officer asked from the open window of his car.

  Cody swore under his breath as he hung his head. “Sorry, Todd, I was just heading home from the gym when she fell in front of the truck. I’ve been trying to be a good Samaritan and help her get these bags home.”

  He motioned to the cart, glaring at her.

  Officer Todd climbed out of his car and walked around to them. He bent down and grabbed one of her bags, putting it in the back of Cody’s truck. Looking at all her purchases, he glanced back at Maddy. “Just starting college, ma’am?”

  Her mouth went bone dry as she nodded. In her small town, the cops were mean and didn’t like the kids from the group home.

  “I’ve known Cody and his troublesome brother for years. I was their dad’s partner for seven years before I decided I needed something calmer. I didn’t know those two would follow me.” He chuckles. “I can guarantee your safety. Plus, with the way your knee looks, I don’t think you’ll be able to walk far. Not to mention the rain.”

  Before he could say anymore, his walkie went off. “Todd, are you still near Walmart? We have a call about a disturbance inside the store.”

  Todd tilted his head to study Cody. “Is your brother at Walmart?”

  Cody shrugged and grinned. “I’ve been at the gym, remember?”

  “Promise me the next time any of you go to Walmart, you’ll tie your brother down to a chair and leave him at home.” He pressed the button on his walkie-talkie. “Dispatch, I’m still here and will take that call about a disturbance. Clear first incident. It was a communication problem.” He let go of the walkie and stared at Cody. “Behave yourself, Cody, and tell your parents I said hello. Ma’am, it was nice to meet you.”

  Officer Todd slid back into his car, turned around, and headed toward Walmart.

  Feeling embarrassed that the cops were called because of her, Maddy faced Cody. “I’m sorry if I caused you to get in trouble with a family friend. I’m not used to people being nice. If that offer for a ride is still available, that would be great. I got a little too excited that I could go get my own things and didn’t think about how I would get everything home.” Maddy scratched her wet hair and piled more bags into the back of the truck. “I guess I went overboard.”

  Opening the passenger side door, Cody came back around and picked Maddy up. She let out a squeal as he placed her in the passenger seat. A tingle ran through her body, and she let out a gasp.

  Dark-blue eyes settled on her, and she found herself entranced. It took everything in her not to reach out and touch him. She broke the stare by looking out the windshield. He shut her door and finished putting her items in the back of his truck.

  When he got in, he glanced at her. “Where do you live?”

  “The Cascades Apartments.”

  His brows drew together.

  Maddy frowned at him. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “Why aren’t you in the dorms like the rest of the freshman?” Cody inquired.

  Her head snapped back, and she crossed her arms over her body. “I have my reasons.”

  Why did he care where she lived?

  He gripped the wheel tightly. “That area is known for drug transactions and parties. It’s not a very safe place.”

  She knew all about the parties. Drugs? Nothing she hadn’t seen before at the group home. She raised her chin. “I can handle myself.”

  He huffed and didn’t say any more as he pulled out into traffic.

  A few minutes later, they pulled into a parking spot in front of her building.

  He turned off the truck, climbed out, and hurried around to her side. Before she could figure out how to get out of that monster without hurting herself more, he scooped her up like she weighed nothing.

  “Put me down.” She pushed on his chest. “I can walk.”

  “Listen, I understand about being all strong and independent, but if you walk on that foot, it’ll get worse. Trust me, I know.”

  Shit, he was right. And she had to go to work tomorrow.

  Sighing, she told him what apartment she lived in.

  He carried her up the stairs, waited for her to dig out her keys and fumbled the lock open, then strode into her apartment.

  Maddy could tell that he the lack of furniture shocked him, but he just asked where her bathroom was.

  He sat her down on the toilet and searched under the sink, pulling out a white case with a red cross on it. Grabbing a couple of items, he placed them on the sink beside her.

  He grabbed a disinfectant wipe “What’s your name?”

  “I’m Maddy. And you’re Cody, right?”

  “That’s right. Um, Maddy, this is going to hurt.” He stuck the wipe on her cut and a burning sensation hit immediately.

  Maddy hissed and tried to jerk her knee away, but he was too strong. She clenched her eyes closed until she felt a blowing sensation on her knee. Looking down, she saw Cody blowing air across her knee. After a moment, he glanced up with a big smile, and don’t get her started on his eyes. Her brain went all fizzy.

  “Better?”

  “Uh, huh,” she answered with a dopey smile.

  He chuckled as he put back the first aid kit.

  She noticed the water dripping from his hair. They were both soaked. “Sorry, I don’t have a towel for you to dry off on. They’re in one of the bags.”

  “It’s all right, I have to go back out, anyway. Where would you like to sit while I bring in your items?”

  “Um, I guess on the living room floor.”

  He picked her up and carried her to the living room, gently placing her in the middle of the room. He made several trips out to his truck while Maddy sat on the floor separating the items. Finding the bath towels, she dried herself off.

  A couple of times, as he walked around her, buzzing came from his back pocket. She heard it again as he brought in the last bag and accepted the towel she offered him to dry his hair.

  Someone wanted him to answer pretty badly.

  She pointed to his pocket. “Do you need to answer that?”

  “No, it’s just my brother.” He glanced toward the bedrooms. “Is your roommate starting this semester?”

  “Shit no. This was supposed to be a single bedroom, but the landlady screwed up.”

  “That sucks.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I know it’s none of my business, but why don’t you have any furniture?”

  “I just got here two days ago. I worked all day yesterday, so I didn’t really have time.”

  “I can understand that, but have you been sleeping on the floor?” His face scrunched up. “That can’t be too comfortable.”

  “Yeah, it’s not bad. It’s not like I’m used to a normal bed, anyway.”

  “Why’s that?” His forehead creased with worry.

  Not sure she wanted to tell a complete stranger that much information about herself, Maddy fiddled with her wet shirt. There was something about him that made her feel safe, but still, she’d only met him an hour ago.

  Cody put up his hands. “I’m sorry. It’s none of my business.” He looked at his phone and typed something. “Are you going to be okay here? I really need to go pick up my brother.”

  “I’ll be fine. You’ve done enough for me today. It was nice meeting you.” She gave him a lopsided smile. “I hope to see you around campus.”

  “It was nice meeting you. Sorry I almost ran you over.” He chuckled, then his phone dinged again, and he muttered, “I’m going to kill him.”

&nb
sp; “Bye.”

  He walked out the door, leaving Maddy to figure out how she would put all her new shit away.

  5

  Cody

  The minute Cody closed the door behind him, a knot formed in his stomach.

  She was so damn stubborn. No way she’d listen and stay off her feet. She was going to put all that shit she bought away.

  Bzzz, bzzz. Damn his brother for blowing up his phone.

  As Cody jumped into his truck and drove to Walmart, his mind kept returning to the image of Maddy in the middle of the road, arms over her head, waiting to be hit. It did something strange to him. He didn’t remember putting the car in park or jumping out. His only thought was to get to her, to protect her from the cars that weren’t stopping.

  He let out a laugh as he pulled into the Walmart parking lot.

  He’d never met someone more stubborn than he was. The fighter in him loved that she didn’t back down easy.

  God, she was gorgeous with all that red hair and those leaf-green eyes of hers. Those eyes expressed more than what Maddy wanted him to know.

  His passenger side door opened. “Where the hell have you been?”

  Cody rolled his eyes. “So sorry I wasn’t here to pick you up right when you were ready to leave. Something came up, and I needed to take care of that first.”

  “What happened? Are you all right?” Skylar scanned Cody, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

  “I’m fine, but I almost hit a girl.” He gripped the steering wheel so hard he was afraid it might bend.

  “What do you mean you almost hit a girl?” Skylar’s eyebrows arched.

  He glanced over at his little brother, who sits back in the seat, waiting for Cody to explain. Skylar looked like him. They both got their mom’s hair color, but Skylar got their father’s curls. Their blue eyes came from their mother.

  “She was walking from Walmart to the Cascad—”

  “She lives at the Cascade?” Skylar interrupts.

  “Yeah, I know, I don’t think she realizes how dangerous that place is. She looks like she can handle herself, but that place is crazy. Anyway, like a typical girl, she bought too much and was dragging the whole cart home with her. I guess she lost control and fell in the middle of the road. She twisted her ankle and cut her knee up good. I couldn’t leave her on the side of the road. I drove her home and carried her and all the shit she bought up to her apartment. I also ran into Todd. He got a call from dispatch saying there was trouble at Walmart. Please tell me it wasn’t you?”

  Skylar sank down in his seat, looking everywhere expect at Cody.

  “What’s up with you two knuckleheads? Ryder comes home with a black eye and you get the cops called on you, again. You’ll be banned from Walmart one of these days, and Todd won’t be able to help you.”

  Talking about Maddy had Cody thinking about the redhead again. The knot in his stomach hadn’t gone away. If anything, it grew worse.

  He needed to go back. Shit, he bet she didn’t even have an ice bag to put on her ankle.

  Some of her comments bothered him, too. She was used to sleeping on something worse than the floor? And she wasn’t used to people being nice? Where the hell did she grow up?

  Rubbing his chin, Cody glanced at his brother. “Do you remember when I sprained my ankle last summer? I had to use those crutches.”

  Skylar laughed. “What brought that up, bro?”

  “I was just helping someone. Now, do you remember or not?”

  “Yeah, yeah. They’re downstairs in the storage.”

  “What about those camping chairs we bought the last time we went camping?”

  “Same place, bro,” Skylar said, obviously getting a kick out of the way Cody was acting. Cody was usually the cool, quiet one of their group.

  They pulled up to their place, which they shared with two other friends, and climbed out of the truck.

  Inside, they walked into the kitchen to find their friends there having a snack.

  “What took you so long?” Jace narrowed his eyes at Skylar. “Please don’t tell me you’re in trouble again, Skylar.”

  Skylar’s mouth fell open. “Why do you all think I’m going to get into some kind of trouble?”

  “This is you we’re talking about,” Ryder snickered.

  “You have no room to talk. At least I didn’t come home with a black eye. And it’s called mischief, not trouble. But that’s not why we’re late. Big brother here almost ran over a girl.”

  “What? Are you okay? Is she okay?” Jace’s eyes widened with every question.

  Cody mumbled something before ran through the house, searching for things that would be useful.

  He gathered a small pile in the living room, which was connected to the kitchen.

  The others watched with varying degrees of confusion.

  Ryder laughed as he leaned back against the counter. “What the hell did he take?”

  “Nothing,” Skylar sighed. “I think he found someone he really likes.”

  Cody came back to the kitchen and grabbed two ice packs. “I don’t like her; I’m concerned about her. She’s all alone in that apartment and has no one to help her put away all that shit. I’ll be back later.”

  He grabbed everything he collected, and headed back over to Maddy’s, making a quick stop at a fast-food drive-thru on his way.

  Their conversation kept playing through his mind on a loop.

  She didn’t care about her lack of furniture. He’d never met a girl who didn’t seem to care about material things. She’d been sleeping on the damn floor. What the hell did she mean when she said, it’s not like I’m used to a normal bed, anyway. What had she been sleeping on before? She also froze when Todd showed up like she was afraid of him.

  He found a parking spot in front of her complex and turned off his truck.

  Running his fingers through his hair, he looked up at her apartment building. Was he was losing his mind?

  He grabbed the bag of food he got for them, along with a couple of the items he brought from home before jumping out of his truck.

  When he knocked on her door, a loud crash sounded, followed by Maddy swearing.

  Panic made his heart pound. Praying the door was unlocked, he grabbed the knob. It turned, and not wanting to scare her, he yelled, “Maddy, it’s Cody from earlier! I’m coming in!”

  He found her in the kitchen, a broken cup on the floor next to her bare feet.

  He dropped his items on the floor and tossed the food on the counter. “Are you all right? Did you get cut?”

  She hopped around. “No, I don’t think so.”

  “Stop hopping or you’ll get a sliver in your foot. Don’t move, I’ll get you.” He quickly set up the camping chair he brought from home, then rounded the counter and picked her up.

  “I’m f—”

  “I swear, if you say you’re fucking fine, I will take you over my knee and spank you, because I can clearly see that you’re not.” His nostrils flared in anger.

  She was in his arms with her mouth hanging open. It took everything inside Cody not to shut her sinful lips with a harsh kiss.

  Instead, he gently placed her in the chair. “Did you at least get a broom?”

  “Yeah, it’s in the corner. I was using it as a crutch. But don’t worry about it. It’s my mess, I can clean it up.”

  He glared daggers at her.

  “Okay, fine,” she huffed. “You can clean it up.”

  Cody found the broom and got to work, making sure he got all the little pieces off the floor.

  When he finished, he headed for the door. “I have more stuff in the truck. I’ll be right back.”

  After he carried up the rest of the items he brought from home, he stored the ice packs in the freezer and put away some of the items she’d bought that hadn’t found a home yet.

  The whole time, Maddy sat there with her mouth hanging open, watching his every move.

  At last, he sat down with his back toward the kitchen and
handed Maddy the bag of food. Her stomach let out a groan at the wonderful smell of fries and burgers.

  “What’s this?” She stared at the bag like it would bite her.

  He tried hard not to laugh at her. “It’s called food. You do know what food is?”

  She gave him that look. “Yes, I know what food is.” She opened the bag and peered inside. “You didn’t seriously think I could eat all this?”

  “No, most of it’s mine. I’m training, so I use up a lot of carbs. I got you a burger, fries, and drink.”

  Maddy took her share out of the bag and passed the rest to him.

  Cody grabbed one of the burgers and ate it in two bites. When he looked over at Maddy, she hadn’t even opened hers.

  His eyebrows came together. “Is there something wrong with the burger?”

  Maybe she was a vegetarian?

  “Why did you come back and bring all this stuff?” Her arm swept to indicate the things he’d brought as she frowned.

  He shrugged, pulled out a second burger, and took a bite. He needed time to think. He couldn’t tell her the truth. ‘Well, you see, Maddy, the second I saw you, my dick got rock hard. A feeling I’ve never felt before took over, and my mind has been mush ever since.’

  That wouldn’t go over well.

  He settled for, “It bothered me that you’re hurt and have no one here to help you. We just had this stuff sitting around, and you need them, so I brought them over. It’s no big deal, really.”

  “You feel sorry for me?” Anger sliced through her green eyes.

  Cody saw red warning lights going off everywhere and swallowed. “Yes, and no. I know you can take care of yourself. That radiates off you. But I felt bad because you didn’t have the right tools to help. Does that make sense?”

  “Yeah, that makes sense. Sorry, I don’t sound appreciative of everything you’ve done. From where I come from, it’s hard to trust someone. If they’re being nice to you, then that usually means they want something.”

  “I understand.” He nodded and took another bite of burger.

  “Thank you for the burger.” She picked at the wrapper. “The only easy food I have in the house is powder sugar donuts and oranges. Everything else needs to be cooked, and I can’t do that today.”