I don’t want to be in a relationship with someone who has a hovering concerned brother. I want him to know that I will do anything possible to protect her. I now realise why relationships are so hard. You’re not just with that one person, you are with their whole fucking family.
Chapter Thirty-Six
MADELYN
I wake to find it’s just me in the bed. If I said I wasn’t surprised, I would be lying. I stretch my legs towards the end of the bed, and I relish in the pull of muscles that haven’t seen action like that in a long time. I roll to my side and let my legs drop off the bed. I used the motion of my legs swinging down to right my torso. I stop when I catch my reflection in the window opposite me. Holy sex bed hair. If a bird had shoved a fork in a power socket while sitting in its nest, that’s what my hair resembles.
My scalp prickles as my fingers snag in the knots when I hear laughing from outside my room. I can hear Trent laughing. Trent. Laughing then I hear Reece along with another male and a female. I pull on a bra and my shirt. My jean shorts are next and I flatten my hair the best I can with my hands and tie it back into a low ponytail.
I slip my feet into my flip-flops and open the door. The laughter is instantly louder and constant. I make my way into the living room to find Trent, Reece, the other male voice I recognise from sight is Sean and the female. I have no idea who she is.
“So that’s the plan for today. Part of me wants to walk in taking pictures of his face when he sees us both together.” Reece turns and sees me standing by the door. “Here she is.” Reece gets to his feet and meets me in the middle of the room. I’m thinking he’s going to go into ‘friend’ mode, I’m pleasantly surprised when he pulls me in for a kiss. I was wondering if he was a man for public displays of affection. Another thing learned. “You looked so peaceful sleeping, I didn’t want to wake you. Can I get you a cup of coffee?”
Sean appears next to Reece and tries to jostle him away from me. “Get out of the way man. I need to meet the woman that’s changed Reece Ashton … for the better mind you. Hi, I’m Sean, and this is my wife, Hannah.”
Seeing Hannah smiling, I return her sentiments. I’m stunned to see Reece in the same room as Sean considering their recent history. “Hi. Nice to meet you. I’m Madelyn.”
I try not to stare at the shiner on Sean’s face that looks fresh, and his nose is clearly swollen. “I know. The shiner is from your man.” My man. I like the sound of that. I don’t like the look at the bruise on his face, though. “We got here last night. So tell us more about you. How the hell did you manage to make this jackass not be so much of a jackass?”
“Hey,” Reece says curtly while pulling me closer into his side. “There will be plenty of time for questions. Right now, I need to give Madelyn the run through of what’s going to happen today.”
“What’s happening today?” I look him up and down, and he looks fresh. He even smells clean. His hair is damp, and my hands touch the soft material of his T-shirt. “You smell nice.” Then it hits me. “You’ve done your laundry.”
Reece smiling is something I know I will never get sick of seeing. “I did. And I did it all by myself.”
“You did good, baby.”
Oh shit. And I’m back to making stupid comments before my brain even registers what I’m saying.
“Baby?” Reece asks as he slips around to be in front of me. I don’t dare look up at him. I’m too busy looking around the room for a big black hole to suck me into. Too soon. I’ve made fuck buddy cardinal sin number one, giving your bedfellow a pet name.
“Hey? Don’t run from me. I like that you called me that.” The nervousness slipped away in an instant, and I smile as I look up at him. “Keep calling me that.”
“Okay,” I whisper.
“Come on man, stop hogging her,” Sean says pushing Reece by the arm, trying to gain some space between us. Hannah had joined him at his side.
Hannah held out her hand. “I’m very keen to meet the tamer of this one. I don’t mean any offense by it, it’s clear he’s a changed man.”
I drop from her grip and keep her gaze. “I didn’t know the other Reece. All I know is the man who needed some space and time to find himself. I’m not sure if that needed to be tamed more than encouraged.”
Reece’s fingers dig into my side and thankfully Trent comes in armed with coffees for everyone. I don’t miss the small smile he gives when he sees our arms around each other. He looks like his tune has changed too.
“So what’s today? You said you had some important things to do?” I take a step but don’t let go of Reece and encourage him to come with me. Only when I’m taking the coffees from Trent do I let go of him.
“Today is the day I set things right. I have some housekeeping to get done in the city and then I’ll be back tonight to take you out to dinner. I hear there’s a nice pub somewhere in this town.”
“Hey!” Trent says before breaking into a smile.
“I told you, you’d get along well with Trent,” I say as Reece leans forward and gives me a quick kiss on the lips. “So back to my questions. What’s happening today and whose face are you going to take photos of?”
Reece takes hold of my hand and pulls me gently towards the table. “Sit down, I’ll get you some breakfast. We have a meeting with David today.” And I feel sick. Reece grips my hand tighter. “Seems like the stories aren’t matching up and we want to get some answers. We have an appointment with the tax department before then so I need to get my stuff out of David’s place.” Reece leans down to speak quietly. “Your brother has kindly rented me one of the rooms in the pub there to store my stuff. To use it like an office. You are the only person I trust with my wall. Can you help me come and collect it?”
I nod in stunned silence. “You’re moving in here?”
“Just temporary. The money situation should be sorted out today and then … who knows. But I know for sure, I want to be here. With you.”
I lean forward and press my lips to his. “Of course, I will help you. What time are you going to go?”
Reece drops his head to look at his watch. “Well, it’s seven thirty now, I reckon we can have it done in an hour with all hands on deck and then we are heading into the city.”
“Great. Let me go and change my shoes and we can get going.”
Moving out of my seat and push past Reece, who says, “We have some time to get some breakfast.”
“I’m okay, I had a big dinner.”
“No you didn’t,” Trent says moving to my side and lowers his voice. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing. I just have a big day of studying to do so if now’s a good time to get Reece’s things, I can do it now.” I hate lying to Trent, but this one is only through omission.
“Okay then.” Trent seems to buy my reasoning. I don’t dare tell him about dad’s impending arrival. He always manages to find something that needs to take him away from actually meeting up with dad, and I have to face him alone. I’ll tell him when dad’s in the room. Yeah, he’ll be pissing, but it shits me how I’m always lumped with the uncomfortable meetup.
Borrowing Trent’s Jeep, we are driving to David’s house when Reece asks to make a detour.
“What do you need from the shop?” I ask as I park and he takes off his seatbelt.
“I just need a little something of you to take with me. Come on.”
Reece joins me at my door and offers me his hand to get out before he plants a kiss on my lips. “Mmm-hmm. I think someone wants a belly full of sugar for the road.” He wraps his hand tight around mine and pulls me into the store. Ol’ man Clementine is behind the till and smiles at me before narrowing his eyes at Reece. “Hi,” I say as I’m dragged to the aisle. I see Reece reach into his pocket to pull out his phone. “Need you to take a selfie while I hold these.” He dips down to grab two tins of peas. “Quick.” I hold the camera out and snap a picture of his goofy grin as he lines up a tin on either side of his face.
I laugh at his expressio
n and take three quick photos. “The peas, eh?”
“Not so fast. What I really want is a picture with you.” My heart jumps into my throat, and I quickly swallow it. “Don't worry. It’s just for me and me only.” Reece replaces the tins on the shelf before gently taking the camera from my hands and wraps an arm around my waist. His hold is reassuring as he turns the camera around and I see myself on the screen. I can’t even think of the last time I’d had my photo taken willingly.
Reece nuzzles into my neck. “You’re beautiful.” I close my eyes and smile. I hear the camera click, and my eyes fly open just in time to see the photo flash on the screen. “Can I take another one?” He pulls back and slides his hand to the back of my neck and lands a hot kiss. I was about to say yes when his lips hit, and his tongue pushed into mine. My hand cups his jaw, and I match the intensity of his kiss. I hear the clatter of plastic hitting the floor just as I feel his other arm wrap around me.
Only a not-so-subtle cough from Clementine makes us stop.
“Geez, if that’s all due to peas.”
Reece and I both pull back and look at each other.
“Madelyn.” I’m sure my face says all the things I’m desperate to say. “You do things to me I only thought possible for others.”
The feeling’s so mutual. I just nod, and I miss the feel of his strong arms holding me as he turns to pick up his phone. He swipes the front and goes straight to the photos to show me. Even from the amateur way they were taken, the photos are great. The last one makes me laugh as it’s just a blur.
“Got distracted on that last one.” The sound of Reece laughing is music to my ears. “You are beautiful, though. Inside and out.”
“You gonna buy those peas?” Mr Clementine asks.
Reece bends at the waist to replace the fallen tins. “No. Leave them there for the next love story.”
Of course, he takes the way out that goes via the candy aisle. When he has enough to rot every tooth in his head, we get back into the car and within a few minutes, we are back on the doorstep while Reece unlocks the door. “I’ll start on the clothes if you can start in that room?”
I’d unpacked my bags to reuse, and Trent loaned Reece a suitcase for his paperwork. Reece drops his backpack full of candy by the door before heading up the stairs. I head into the front room and grab a pen and his post it. I write the note quickly and then tiptoe over to his backpack and put it a couple of layers deep.
Tiptoeing away from the bag and begin carefully unpinning the drawing pins and roll the paper before using a small amount of sticky tape to hold it secure. My hands reach up to pull the drawing pin of his list of things he wanted to achieve while being here.
He can scratch the first one off – he’s found Sean or Sean found him. Learn to drive – the more he does, the better he will be. Solo album. From all the pages I’m packing away, he’s well on his way to achieving this goal. Learn to cook and cook decently. I’ll certainly line up to try more of his cooking. I can’t help but laugh at the washing machine. He will conquer it yet. I smile widely that the Kiss Madelyn comment hasn’t been scratched off, it’s up there like he still has to achieve it. My smile remains when I see the next comment. “Show Madelyn that I’m not a shallow celebrity.”
I reach into the suitcase and take out one of the pens I’d just packed. I pull the pen lid off with my teeth and write a small note next to it. I’m replacing the lid when Reece comes through the door.
“How’s it all going in here?”
I pull down the cardboard and start to roll it, even though I have the pen hanging from my mouth. “Mmm-hmm. You?”
“Finished upstairs, I’ll load this in the car.” Both Reece and I are thankful to Trent for loaning us his car. Part of me felt bad for making sure he was stranded with dad when he gets there, but I’ve done enough solo visits. Time to start sharing the pain. I make quick work of the rest of the stationary into the case before zipping it up.
I wheel it over to the door when Reece comes back inside. “There’s your washing too, don’t forget.”
“I’ll go get it if you want to put that case in the car. What about the stuff in the fridge?”
“We’re taking it all. The bags for the groceries are in the third drawer.”
I set to pulling things out of the fridge, out of the cupboards and packing away the dishwasher.
How the hell did his sock get in the dishwasher? I think as I toss it onto the basket of my washing. I pack the remaining dirty stuff into the dishwasher and get it going while Reece comes out of the laundry with some very smelly clothes.
“Don’t ask. It’s on my list of things.”
Just as we load the last of the bags and baskets into the car. Sean and Hannah pull up behind Trent’s car.
“We have to get hitting the road, man. Will take us three hours to get back there and we have an appointment at eleven thirty.”
I look to Reece, who appears to be flustered. “It’s okay. You go. Have you got the keys to the house? I can go through one more time to make sure things are neat and tidy. Make sure you haven’t left anything behind that can be sold on eBay.”
“Oh shit. Didn’t think of that. Better grab the bed sheets then,” he says in a low voice. That voice sends all sorts of delicious shivers through my body.
“Have a safe trip and let me know how you go. All the best.” I rise up on my tippy-toes to give him a deep kiss.
“Geez, we’re newlyweds and you don’t kiss me like that,” Hannah laughed.
“Come over here then, woman,” Sean scolds her, but she waves him off.
“I’ll ring you when I’m finished with the tax department and before we go in and see David.”
“So you’re not sure of when you’re going to be coming back?”
“All depends on how it goes with the tax department, I’m sure it will be fine. I’m not going to be sticking around. I want to get back here to you as soon as possible.” Reece kisses me quickly one more time before releasing me from his arms. “I’ll talk to you a bit later, okay?”
“K. Drive safe. Nice to meet you, Sean and Hannah. Congratulations again.”
I wait and wave them off. Reece turns in the back seat and looks at me out of the rear windscreen. He blows me a kiss and gives a two-fingered wave as they turn the corner. I wait for a beat and then turn on my heel to go back inside the house, making sure both the car and front door are locked. Bounding up the stairs to the bedroom and I do as he asks. The bedding, the towels. I also grab the toothbrush and hairbrush. The half used shampoo and conditioner come with me too.
I take it all. Turns out James was planning to sell certain pieces from my underwear collection online when I left my drawer of clothing at his place, but thankfully the lawyers put a stop to that, so I’m not taking any chances for Reece.
I’ve not seen a dime from that lawsuit. By the time it was actually sorted, all the money was chewed up in legal fees. To be honest, it was never about the money, it was about stopping him from making my life worse. He made massive dents in it, but he didn’t quite finish me off. I look around the bathroom and bedroom to make sure I got everything before heading downstairs.
After one more walkthrough of the lower floor, I pull the door shut behind me. The last of the things are thrown in the car and pull my phone out to look at the messages that I know are from Trent. I’ve ignored the last two that popped up on my phone.
Where are you?
The next one reads:
Umm, did you forget to tell me we were having a visitor today?
It was cruel to laugh when the phone sounded again at another message. I’m dreading facing what awaits me when I get back to Trent’s.
Answer your phone. PS - UR dead to me.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
REECE
Watching out of the rear window even though we’ve rounded the corner and are heading out of town for the city. I finally turn around and sit properly in my seat. I pull out my phone and go through the photos of us a
nd make one of them my background before sending her a copy. I hope we kiss like that every time. I wouldn’t mind the full-on lip locking kiss, but the intensity is what I hope for.
Despite getting a lot of things off our chest the night before, the air in the car was noticeably tense. As much as I need this sorted, and it will be great to have it finished, I just truly want to stay near Madelyn. Even having her close by, I felt content.
The more distance that comes between us, the more agitated I feel. I have to get my head in the game. Tax department should be relatively easy. David is the one I need to be prepared for. As much as he’s made out that he’s been on my side, I have seen him tie even the most knowledgeable person up in knots.
“So what’s the game plan?” I ask and finally turn around. “Hope you’ve got one, ‘cause I sure as fuck don’t.”
Sean glances over at Hannah, who turns in her seat to speak to both of us.
“I have spent hours going over the contract. It’s pretty standard. There are a few loopholes, if he goes the way he’s going to go, he’ll make it hard for you.” Hannah turns around and leans into the footwell, and I can hear paper rustling. “Pretty standard. If you work together again, you have to go under his management. If the band breaks up, you are without a contract, and you will pay damages.”
“What?” He never mentioned this when it all came to light. All he mentioned was I’m now without a contract. “What kind of damages?”
Hannah looks back down at the page before speaking again. “It says damages to cover any costs the business might have incurred, and given you were about to embark on a world tour, the amount would be well in the millions, if not the hundreds of millions.”
Stop the car. I want to get out.
“So, even if we do get our money back, it’s going to go to him anyway.”
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