“What?” He half turned toward me, his hand on the doorknob with Ollie nearby.
“Hayley did thaw your heart.”
Ollie snickered as Christian rolled his eyes aggressively. “Fuck off.”
Ollie cackled as he followed him out after giving me a fist bump.
I craned my neck back to the stairs, ready to get back to Madeline.
I heard every last thing Christian and Ollie had said, but none of it really mattered. They didn’t know her like I did.
No one did.
After scooping up Madeline’s clothes and rearranging the pillows on the couch, I went back upstairs to check on her. My bedroom door creaked as I pushed it open. I leaned against the wooden door jamb and locked onto her curled body, tangled in my sheets.
Her hair was cascading in waves all over my pillow, the soft glow of the bedside lamp casting a delicate shadow over her high cheek bone. She’d make an amazing muse for a painter or sculptor with her soft, angelic features. I was almost jealous I couldn’t capture her like this and bottle it up forever.
Was Christian right? Would Madeline end up fucking me over in the end? I gripped her clothes tighter, wondering if I had gotten myself into something too deep. She wasn’t what they said she was. She wasn’t some crazy, fucked-up chick with sharp claws. She was scared, and fragile, albeit distant when it came to others, but I was still swept up in her, wanting to protect her and be there for her.
After laying her folded clothes at the end of the bed, I sat on top of the covers and continued staring down at her face. Her eyes fluttered a few times before relaxing again, her chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm.
The shine of headlights caught my eye from the window, and I left her on the bed alone, wanting to get a better look.
Madeline’s father’s Jaguar whipped into their driveway, parking just behind Madeline’s black BMW. His door swung open, and a tall leg popped out. He wore dark slacks and a crisp white button-down with the first few buttons undone. His light hair was gelled back, his jaw clean shaven. When he went around to the passenger side and opened the door, Madeline’s mom stepped out, and she was slammed against the hood so fast I hardly had time to blink.
My heart ricocheted with rising stress. I didn’t particularly care for Madeline’s mom, and I’d never ever be able to get the visual out of my head of her ass up in the air and my father’s dick buried inside her, but the thought of Madeline’s father using his hands as weapons and his steely gaze as a warning had my entire body shaking.
I kept going back to the night before when Madeline was trembling in my hands. He scared her, and I didn’t take kindly to that at all.
My jaw ground back and forth as he hovered over her mom, assuming the moon and stars were his only witnesses.
I rested my arm along the window, gazing down sternly as he pulled her dress up and wrapped her leg around his backside. Her head was turned as if she were trying to pretend he wasn’t on top of her, fucking her with what seemed to be his hand. My stomach turned when he bent his face down to hers and kissed her. Her back arched up, and he smiled down like the fucking devil.
She was swiftly flipped around with her ass in the air, her dress bundled up to her hips, and he pounded her from behind. I had to turn and stop watching for a moment, because I was sickened by it. What a fucking douche. Could he not see that she wasn’t enjoying herself? Or did he just not care? She wasn’t pushing him away, not physically, but even from where I was standing, I could see that she was just waiting until the moment passed. There was no flick of desire on her features, no opened-mouth orgasm driven from pleasure. Nothing. The only thing I caught a glimpse of was a blank expression and downcast eyes.
After making sure Madeline was still asleep, I looked back through the glass only to see him zipping his pants and smiling like the snake that he was. He turned Madeline’s mom back around and pulled her dress down before slamming his mouth onto hers. Her back was ramrod straight, her limbs stiff like she’d been paralyzed.
He’d mouthed something to her that barely had her mouth lifting to a smile before getting back into his Jaguar and backing down the driveway. She stood and waited, dress half on, until his taillights faded.
Then, she quickly darted for the bushes and bent over at the waist. Her body wracked and heaved. When she stood up, she wiped at her mouth and peered up at Madeline’s window.
I dodged out of the way before she found me lurking like a fucking creep. It was no wonder she slept with my dad or any other men she brought home.
If I had to be with that man, I’d want an escape too.
Still didn’t excuse her sleeping with a married man, but at least now I had a little bit of insight.
My father on the other hand?
He had no excuse.
None at all.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Madeline
I could count on one hand the number of times I’d slept cuddled up to a guy. Once, I’d fallen asleep with Christian, but we weren’t cuddling like long-lost lovers or even like the couple that we both pretended to be. To be honest, Eric had been the only guy I’d ever fallen asleep next to, with our limbs tangled like a knot, our skin brushing against one another like a live wire, ready to burn us alive.