Page 55 of Mad Rivals
The thought sends a searing pulse of need straight through me, and as much as I want him to take me right out here on this balcony, I’m too scared for that to happen tonight. I’m not closing the door on the possibility of it forever, though.
I reach down and squeeze his ass, too, and holyhellis it firm. This man is just firmeverywhere, and I’ve never been with someone so fit. He’s a professional athlete, so I get it, but hot damn. I’m not sure I can keep up with this.
He stops the kiss first, and he pulls back, not moving his arm from around me. His eyes focus on mine for a beat before he moves away, and it’s almost as if he’s double-checking that he’s not offending me. “I don’t want you to be uncomfortable out here, so let’s go inside,” he suggests.
I melt. It’s hot and heavy out here, and yet hestoppedit because he was worried I might be nervous out on this balcony.
I am. But in his arms, I feel safe.
And that’s a wholly unexpected feeling.
I nod, and I bolt inside first. He chuckles as he grabs my wineglass and his beer bottle, and he follows me inside. He fills my wineglass without me asking, and he tosses his beer bottle into a bin in his pantry and grabs himself another.
I take this moment to explore a bit. His layout is interesting, with a huge family room on one side, the balcony doors in the middle, and a living room space on the other side that appearsto have been converted into an office-slash-game room. It has a poker table in the middle and a desk along one of the windows looking out over the view. The entire place is encased in glass, an acrophobic’s worst nightmare, but somehow being here with Madden makes it seem not as terrifying.
And really, the view is lovely. I bet it’s even prettier in the daytime when he can actually see out over Lake Michigan. He can sit on his balcony and watch the boats in the summer, or keep an eye on the Ferris wheel, or watch the traffic with all its mesmerizing red taillights.
It’s neat, I notice only now. The family room side has a couch with several comfortable-looking chairs around a coffee table, all pointed at a television mounted on the wall with a fireplace beneath it. The couch is white, and the accent pillows and throw blankets are gray and black. The coffee table is black with some small silver decorations sitting on top of it.
There isn’t a cup out of place or a magazine to make it look lived in. Instead, it looks like some sort of model home.
He returns and presses the wineglass back into my hand, now filled, and I hold it up and tap it to his beer bottle before I take a sip.
“Do you actually live here? Or is this some staged model you bring all the girls to?” I ask.
He chuckles. “Come here,” he says, and I follow him through the kitchen and into one of the bedrooms. “This is where I work out.” I glance at the equipment, and it looks standard enough, but it’s the stuff hanging on the wall that tells me this does, in fact, belong to Madden.
Framed photos of John Madden are on one wall, mostly of his college playing years, along with what must be a very rare signed jersey. There’s also a huge framed blow-up of a video game cover with what looks like a screenshot from the game and a guy that looks like a video game version of Madden in his Bears jersey with Bradley 80 on the back.
“Okay, this is more what I was expecting. But, like…do you use this room? Because it smells good in here, and there’s not even a towel out of place.”
“Yes, I use it,” he protests. “Daily. Usually multiple times a day. And I confess, I’m a self-diagnosed neat freak.”
I laugh. “I wouldn’t have expected that from you.”
“I’m full of surprises,” he says with a wink.
“Show me the rest of your place.”
He glances at my wine.
I hold up a hand as I giggle. “I promise I won’t spill.”
He seems to really think it over before he nods, and I probably shouldn’t make promises I’m not totally sure I can keep since I’m not exactly the most graceful person to ever exist, but I take a long, healthy sip so there’s less to spill should that happen.
He takes me through the two guest bedrooms that look mostly unused, and then he shows me the primary bedroom.
It’s simply breathtaking. It’s in the corner of the penthouse with wraparound windows. One side looks out over the lake, and the other shows some of the city. A gray couch sits along the windows across from the bed, and the bed itself looks plush and inviting with about a thousand pillows and the softest-looking gray blanket I’ve ever seen draped across the foot of the white comforter.
My brain immediately goes to sex. Sex on that couch. Sex on the little ottoman that’s used as a decoration beside the couch. Sex on the bed. Sex up against the windows because if he’s inside me, I don’t think I’ll be worried about the heights thing.
He shows me his bathroom, and yep. Sex in that tub for sure. And in the glass-encased shower with multiple shower heads and a bench.
Yeah…this place is sexy.
Madden Bradley is sexy.
“Wow, Madden. This place is amazing.”
