“Kinky. Say shit like that to her and you are in, bro.”
“Remind me why I keep you around?”
“Because you love me!”
“Nope, that’s not it.”
“Harsh.”
I snorted again. “Get me a number and I will forgive you.”
“You forgive me? Get me a photo and I will forgive you.”
My lips curled into a smirk. I pulled the phone away from my ear and I stuck my middle finger up and took a photo of it with the ocean view in the background and sent it to him. “There now get me the number of a Jasmine Owens, or I am calling Trigger.” I hung up and shook my head. Hearing my phone beep, I looked down at the text Mario had just sent through. “Lover, lover, you don’t treat me no good no more.” I snorted. That boy needed a damn hobby. Another few minutes later and my phone beeped again with the number that I asked for.
Taking a deep breath, I tapped the number and waited for the call to connect. “Jasmine speaking.”
I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose.
“Jasmine? It’s Tim…”
There was silence on the other end of the phone as I heard a door open and close. “I was wondering if I would hear from you. Maddie alright?”
“She is asleep right now. I’m guessing she hasn’t slept in a few days.”
“Is she with you or Morgan?”
“Me.” I heard her sigh.
“Please don’t hurt her again, Tim. I can’t pick those pieces up again. It broke my heart to see her in that much pain.”
“How bad was it?”
“Are you sure you want to hear this?”
“I have to know…” Moving to sit down, I sat back and waited to hear what Jasmine had to say.
“I’m not gonna lie. It wasn’t good. She was out of school just over a month. Michael and Mum were worried that she would give up. She wouldn’t eat, she refused to see anyone. When Michael got your first letter, Michael and Mum… they argued over whether or not she should get it. Mum was determined to get it to her, but Michael sent it back before she could. After we finally got her out of bed and back out in the real world, she wouldn’t speak. She was just this empty shell. Worse than when her dad died. One day it was just Maddie and me and out of nowhere she just started crying. When she had finished it was like a switch flipped inside of her and she started to become herself somewhat. Not whole but better. Josh wormed his way in, and I started to lose her again. He would manipulate her. Turn her into someone she wasn’t. Someone he wanted her to be. When she found out about him and Ellie sleeping together she wasn’t upset by it. Pissed off, of course, but not upset. It was like she had used up all of her tears trying to move on from you.”
I closed my eyes and let out a breath as all of that sunk in. God, how I hated my father so much more now. He did that. Of course I couldn’t put all of the blame on him, I should have tried harder to get in contact. Tried emailing or even writing to Jasmine. He should have given me an option. My girl never should have gone through any of that.
“Tim?”
“Yeah, Jasmine?”
“If it helps, I don’t think Morgan is right for her. You can be more for her than he can.”
My lips curled up into a smile for a minute. “Thanks, Jazzybell.”
She laughed “Oh, Lord. I haven’t been called that in years!”
I couldn’t not chuckle at that. “You’ll get her back.”
“Anything changed that I need to know about?”
“She fights harder and loves deeper.”
I frowned for a minute before nodding to myself. I knew what it was gonna take to win my girl back, and I wasn’t gonna stop until I did. “Thanks Jaz.”
“Don’t be a stranger.”
“I won’t.” We said our goodbyes and I stood up and moved back inside. Putting my phone on charge, I went to lay down next to Maddie. I just needed to be close to her.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Maddie
The last thing I remember is falling into a dreamless sleep. Hearing someone say my name and gently brushing the hair from my face, I slowly open my eyes and saw Tim lying beside me. “Hey, Sleeping Beauty.”
I closed my eyes again and he chuckled. “Still not a morning person, are we, Snowflake?” I let out a huff and shoved him. I felt his arms wrap around me and he pulled me closer to him. I rested my head against his chest and felt myself relax. “How long have I been asleep?”
“Twelve hours, give or take. I had some pancakes made and brought up. I figured you’d be hungry.” I nodded softly and as tempting as the thought of pancakes were, more sleep sounded better to me. Tim chuckled when I didn’t move. “If you eat something, I’ll let you go back to sleep.”
“Or you could just let me go back to sleep.”
“Nope. I know you need to eat.”
“You suck; you know that right?” The bastard laughed at me and slid out from under me. Tim pulled back the covers and stood beside my bed.
“Up, or I am getting the water.”
I glared up at him and threw a pillow at him. “Why are you here?”
“You are in my room, Maddie. Up, then you can go back to sleep. I’ll even join you.”
I wrinkled my nose and slid down the bed. Pushing myself up, I stood up. “There. Happy now?” He smirked and I narrowed my eyes again. “You’re an asshole.”
“Love you too, Maddie, now come and eat.” Tim placed his hands on my shoulders and steered me toward the balcony door. Sitting down in the chair he led me too, I pulled my knee up and wrapped my arm around my leg to lock it in place. I raised a brow at the covered pancakes. He lifted the cover off the food and I couldn’t help but smile. He remembered my love for blueberry pancakes with strawberries on top. He handed me a fork and sat down beside me. He put a glass of strawberry milk beside my plate. I looked over at him as he sipped his coffee.
“Have you been talking to Jasmine?” Tim raised a brow.
“Why?” “There is no way you could remember that I only eat blueberry pancakes with strawberries on the side and strawberry milk.”
“Maddison, there isn’t a thing about you that I don’t remember. I may not have seen you in years, but things like that don’t tend to change.”
I stared at him and his eyes bore into mine. I remember everything about the man sitting beside me. So why didn’t I think that he would too? I looked away and mumbled “thank you” before starting to eat my pancakes.
With the first bite, I fought back a groan. They were made just the way I liked them. Swallowing my mouthful, I looked to Tim. “Did you by any chance go down to the kitchen and bribe someone to let you in so you could cook these? They taste exactly like the ones you used to make me…”
With a cheeky grin, he nodded and filled his mouth with pancakes so that he couldn’t say anything else. I moved my hand to squeeze his leg before leaving it there. Tim laced his fingers with mine and gave my hand a squeeze. Putting my leg down, I continued eating my breakfast. As much as I hated to admit it, Tim was right. I was starving. I would never admit that to him, though. His smug ass probably already knew and was quietly doing the “I told you so” dance in his head.
Pushing my now empty plate away, I leaned back and closed my eyes. Tim just chuckled and I lifted my hand to slam his hand into his leg. “Not a word mister.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it, Snowflake.” Letting go of his hand, I lifted my legs and let the rest over his. I cuddled into his side and rested my head on his shoulder.
“Do you want to go back to bed, Maddie?” I shook my head and kept my eyes closed. Tim wrapped his arms back around me and rested his head against mine. I let out a relaxed sigh. I know I should go back to my room and go and see Morgan, but I just couldn’t seem to move from here. Something was holding me here other than Tim. Despite being so far away from it, I felt like I was home. Just having him near brought it all back.
“Well, isn’t this cozy.” I pulled away from Tim, which was made harder due
to the fact that his arms were wrapped around me, and looked up to see a very unhappy looking Morgan.
“I came to check that you were okay, but now I see there is something more important here.” Tim let me go and stood up.
“I have only just woken her. It was hard enough to do that long enough to get her to eat, let alone come find you.”
“How convenient.” Tim took a step forward and I moved in front of him.
“Morgan, it’s not what it looks like.”
“Real original, Maddie.” I elbowed Tim hard in the stomach and moved toward Morgan.
“I was going to come and find you after I ate and had a shower so I could explain what happened.” I moved closer to Morgan and looked up at him. I got caught up in my old feelings for Tim and was close to making a mistake. Sure, I could go back to Tim but who's to say that it would be any different this time around. He would just up and leave again. He clearly wasn’t the type to settle down, so why would I be the one to change that? I wasn’t. If I didn’t see where things with Morgan went, though, I would always wonder what if. Taking hold of Morgan’s hand, I ignored Tim saying my name and lead Morgan through the room and out the door. I had to walk away from Tim now, or I would never be strong enough too.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Ghost
Watching Maddie walk out of that door was one of the most painful things I have ever experienced. It fucking sucked to be honest. Seeing the woman, I loved walking hand in hand with another guy was like a knife to the chest. Especially when said guy had been caught a few hours earlier doing just what he was accusing us of doing. I wanted to grab him and beat the living shit out of him. Sadly, though, I had Maddie in mind. Learning this news like that wasn’t how she should find out. It was bad enough I was going to hurt her when I told her, but I had to tell her. Didn’t I?
Sitting back down in the chair, I ran my hands over my face. I wasn’t going to give her up without a fight. There was no way that I was letting him get my girl. I had to remember though, I was here for work. A bad reference from someone like Morgan Young could do my firm more harm than good. Oh, who was I kidding? I’d fucked that up the second he saw me defend Maddie down in the gym. Letting out a sigh, I pushed myself back to my feet and moved into the room again. Pulling my shirt over my head, I threw it in my open suitcase and stripped down to nothing.
Entering the bathroom, I turned on the hot water and stepped in underneath it. The hot water would help me think. Resting my head against the cool tiles, I let the hot water wash over me and try to work out the knots in my shoulders. Closing my eyes, my mind drifted to Maddie, and how much I would love for her hands to be running over my back and shoulders. Her delicate fingers working out the knots for me before I showed her just how much I missed her.
Running my own fingers over my neck, I dug them into my shoulder and squeezed and kneaded the muscles. I could call Jasmine back. Maybe she could talk some sense into Maddie for me. She was the only one Maddie would ever listen to about this kind of thing, and she clearly didn’t want them together any more than I did.
Michael would be no help to me. He would rather see her alone than with me. Hannah, on the other hand, was another one I could call and talk too. I would have to get her number off Jas, though. No one from my side would be any good. I barely spoke to Ma and the Ass. I had no idea where my brother was stationed these days. My sister was travelling Europe and had changed all her numbers again. Much like me, she basically cut all ties with Ma and the Ass when we were old enough, and we have been doing our own thing. Matty was always the ass kiss though and just want to please Daddy. Dad was too busy busting my balls to care what Matt was doing. Thinking about it now though, I am surprised that Matt turned out as normal as he did. He could have rebelled and gone off the rails, but he proved his worth and was now closing in on dad’s rank.
Shaking my head from thoughts of my family, I thought about my best mates, Gunner and Trigger. Both names they’d been given in the Army while we were all stationed in Afghanistan. Trigger, or Blake as he is more commonly known as, was the first person I met. A fellow Army brat who had to follow after his dad until we were shipped off to boarding school and out of the way. Unlike me though, Trigger actually wanted to do it. His dad had died a couple of years before I’d met him, and in a way, he wanted to continue what he started. Gunner, though, was the craziest motherfucker on this planet. How he passed his psychological evaluations, I will never know. Although, it may also be why he was no longer enlisted. Pulling back from the wall, I took my washer and poured some body wash into it. I slowly ran it over my skin and kept working through my list of people.
Hearing a knock on my hotel room door, I ignored it for now. Lucas knew to call me if he needed me, and so far my phone was silent, so whoever it was could wait. Or so I thought. Hearing the knocking again, only louder this time, I shut off the water and grabbed my towel. Wrapping it around my waist, I checked my phone real quick just to make sure I wasn’t opening the door to a pissed off Lucas. Well, he could still very well be but for a different reason. I moved to open the door and raised a brow with an unimpressed look on my face.
Seeing Jasmine standing there, I dropped the look. “Jazzybell?”
“We going to get you your girl back, or what?” She gave me a shit eatin’ grin and moved past me.
“How the hell?”
“Timmy, Timmy, Timmy. I know my girl. She is going to do what she thinks is right just to make everyone else happy, despite the fact that she is miserable. She may say she wants Morgan, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that is just because she doesn’t want to hurt him. There is no future there. We are going to see that this little thing between them ends sooner rather than later.”
I couldn’t help the smirk that crossed my face. See, this was why I loved this girl. She was an evil genius, but she was going to get me my girl back. “So where do we start?”
“You need to get dressed. Lucas will be here in a minute, then we have some work to do.”
I gave her a nod and moved to my suitcase. Pulling out jeans and a clean shirt, I got dressed in the bathroom and moved back into the room just as the door opened and Lucas walked in.
“A good day to break up a relationship…that isn’t technically a relationship.” I couldn’t help the snort. Let’s do this.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Maddie
After leaving Tim’s room, Morgan and I went back to my room so that I could shower and change before we went to explore the Gold Coast for the day. As we were leaving the hotel, I could have sworn that I saw Jasmine in the lobby. When I frowned, Morgan asked me if I was okay. Shaking it off, I nodded and kept heading for the car. Daniel was on duty today, and I couldn’t help but feel a little relieved by that. I wasn’t sure that I was ready to see Tim just yet.
“Morgan?”
“Hmm?”
“Is the offer to send Tim away still open?”
“Nothing would give me more pleasure. Is it what you really want, though?”
I shrugged my shoulders and looked out the window. “I don’t know. Not sure I can see him right now.”
“And you won’t, Angel. I will make it so that Daniel or Lucas has watch until you tell me with one-hundred percent certainty that you want him gone. I don’t want to share you with anyone, Maddie, and I won’t, but if you decide that this isn’t what you want then you need to be sure. I really like you, and can see myself falling for you, but I won’t open myself up to be hurt. Even if they do make the best country songs.” He chuckled softly and I gave him a small smile.
I chewed on my lip when his hand moved to squeeze my knee softly. I couldn’t help but look down at his hand. I should feel something, shouldn’t I? A spark? Butterflies? Anything… I felt nothing though. I looked up at Morgan, who was watching me, and gave him another small smile. “I will let you know when I do, babe.”
Morgan and I spent the day at a water park and loved every minute of letting our hair down. Water slide races, goofi
ng off in the pools. I really think it’s what we needed. We got dropped off back at the hotel and headed back upstairs.
“You need to go get dressed and ready for dinner.” I turned in the elevator to look at him.
“Where are we going?”
“That’s for me to know and you to find out.”
“How will I know what to wear, then?”
“I’m sure you’ll find something, Angel.”
We stepped out of the elevator and Morgan swatted my ass playfully. Turning and narrowing my eyes, he chuckled. Opening my room door, I left him on the other side of it and headed to the bedroom, where I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw a box on the bed. I slowly walked over to it and lifted the lid off. Slowly peeling back the paper in the box, my eyes went wide seeing the most gorgeous dress sitting inside of it. It was black and white and sat across my chest with thick straps over the shoulder. I couldn’t help but smile. Laying it down on the bed, I noticed a small Tiffany Blue box in the corner. “No!” I pulled out the box. Every girl in the world knew what that little blue box was. I couldn’t help the squeal as I opened it and saw the most perfect Tiffany and Co. bracelet with a small diamond M hanging next to the heart. I wasn’t materialistic, but come on, it was Tiffany and Co.! Setting it down on the dress, I blew out a breath and tried to ignore the, “how did he know?” thought that was circling round my head.
Moving towards the bathroom, I pulled my hair down from it’s ponytail and turned the hot water on. Stripping down out of my clothes, I stepped in under the water. Running my fingers through my hair, I wrinkled my nose at how gross it felt after being in the chlorine all day. Taking my shampoo, I put a coin size amount in the palm of my hand and massaged it into my hair before washing it out after a few minutes. Repeating with the conditioner, I closed my eyes and let the water wash over me. I had to try and figure out how I felt about Morgan. He was such a sweetheart, and I wasn’t about to spend this trip leading him on. I would always love Tim, but it was time to try again to make room for someone else in my life. I also needed to remember to call Jasmine tomorrow to check in properly. For tonight though, I was all Morgan’s. I owed him that much at least.
Hell On An Angel (Fated Love Book 2) Page 5