Page 37 of Sweet Addiction

Her face turns red, whole body tenses. “How dare you. You think that you knowmydaughter better than me? You’ve only been around her, what? Three months? You don’t know her Knox and you certainly don’t get to talk to me like this. Not when it concerns Madison,” she hisses.

I am just about to respond when out of my peripheral, I see my girl leaving the room. The only reason I am not already following her, is because she is alone and most likely going to use the restroom. Glancing back at Scarlett, I find her watching me with a raised brow, most likely waiting for me to respond to what she just said. Fortunately, a student approaches wanting to speak to her. Which means she will be distracted. Smirking, I saunter away from them and toward the exit. I make sure to pass behind Talan on my way out, slyly shoving him. He goes flying across the floor, landing on his knees. His head jerks around, no doubt to find out who pushed him, but I am out of sight and out of the room before he can pin it on me. It was an asshole move, but I never pretended to be a good person.

Rounding the corner to the restrooms, I nearly run into someone. Noticing the gold dress, I smirk, wrapping my fingers around Madison’s wrist. “Come with me,” I hiss, dragging her down the hall.

She tugs against my hold, but I don’t release her. “Knox, what are you doing?”

Stopping in front of a door, I push it open, grinning when I find it empty. Pulling my dove inside, I press her against the wall and smash my lips to hers. She gasps into my mouth allowing me entrance. Like the selfish bastard I am, I take it. I kiss her with so much intensity, her legs buckle. This isn’t just a kiss; it’s a claiming. After that display with Talan, it’s like I have to prove to her and me that she is mine. I’m a man possessed. A man addicted to his dove. I can’t get enough.

Madison pulls back, breaking the kiss. Her lips are swollen, chest heaving. “What are you doing? Anyone could have seen you drag me down here.”

“I can’t stand watching you with him Dove. It’s killing me. I need you.” My voice is low, almost pleading.

Her eyes soften as she cups my face. “It would look weird if I don’t dance with him, Knox. And anyway, you know nothing is going on between Talan and me.”

“I know but I hate it. I can see in the way he looks at you; that he thinks it’s real. That you are his.” I remove one of her hands from my face, pressing a kiss to each of her fingers.

“Talan can believe what he wants. We know the truth.” She sighs. “I better get back before anyone notices me missing.” She pulls out of my hold, but I stop her by threading our hands together.

“Wait,” I rasp. “Dance with me.”

Her brows furrow but she smiles. “There’s no music.”

Fishing my cell out of my pocket, I pull up my playlist, hitting play on Whiskey Myers,Stonebefore propping my cell on what looks to be a lock box on the wall. Pulling her into my body, she giggles. I wrap my arms around her, my mouth dropping to her neck as I breathe her in. Our bodies sway to the music as we dance in silence. There is something about this moment. Something defining. I can no longer ignore it. Madison Devereux is my everything. And the truth is, I have fallen in love with her. I want to be a better man. For her. I want to be her all and end-all. The one person she tells all her hopes, dreams and fears. I want to be her protector. Her lover. Her best friend. I want to shield her from all the bad things in the world and give her all the good. Because she deserves everything. She is a rare gem in a world full of fakes. And she is mine. I will never let her go.

“What is this song?” she murmurs, breaking me from my thoughts.

“Stoneby Whiskey Myers. They’re a southern rock/country band. Very underrated in my opinion. Do you like this song?”

She glances up at me, her chin resting on my chest and smiles. “I love it. But I didn’t take you for a country music fan.”

“You learn something new every day, huh?” The song comes to an end and my stomach sinks with that so does our time together. Madison chews her lip, guilt now shining in her bright orbs. I smile, brushing my lips against hers. “Thank you. You’ve made my night,” I tell her honestly.

“If I could stay, I would dance with you until we couldn’t dance anymore,” she says, vulnerability dripping in her tone.

“You are the person I want to dance with forever.” Her lips part with a small gasp at my admission. I smile, kissing her forehead. “Now go before I lock you in here with me and fuck you senseless.” She shivers, her eyes flashing with desire. She hesitates and for a second, I think she is going to stay but then she rushes to the door, leaving before I can stop her.

ChapterTwenty-Four

MADISON

After the dance, things changed between Knox and me. We became… more.

He was still doing his weekly dates with Mom, but the pictures of them kissing stopped, being replaced with some strategic handholding. The press was still lapping them up, still pushing them as the new it couple. It kept Mom and their publicist, Clarissa happy. I still hated that Knox had to keep up with the charade, that the world thought he was Mom’s. The only thing that kept me from going off the deep end was I knew for a fact, that nothing intimate was going on between them—no matter how much my mother tried to change that.

The guilt I felt was still consuming me, but I learned to live with it. It was now a part of me, the lying and sneaking around. Though there were many times I wanted to just blurt out the truth, I held back for all our sakes. There was also the fact that the pilot we filmed for our show, had been picked up for ten episodes. The producers had loved the footage they captured of Mom and me meaning it was given the green light. We will begin filming after the holidays. As much as I hated the thought of putting myself out there for the world to see on a reality show, I convinced myself it was the only way to ease all the shame I felt inside of me. It was a stupid way to think, but nonetheless it helped me some.

Knox outright refused to film with us, much to Mom’s and the producer’s annoyance. She couldn’t understand why he didn’t want to be involved. She screamed and shouted at him for days after. Knox didn’t back down though. He said he was a professional athlete, not a performing monkey in a circus. I agreed with him. I loathed the thought of having my private life invaded but one of us had to sacrifice ourselves—that someone was me. After some discussion, it was decided that the show would go ahead without him and would be marketed as a mother and daughter trying to make it in the entertainment business.

My father isn’t happy with my decision. He begged me to spend the holidays in New York with him and Vanessa. I refused his invitation, telling him that I had lots of schoolwork to catch up on. The truth is, I would love to go to New York, but I don’t want to leave Mom with Knox. I trust him and know he wouldn’t let anything happen. Knox has made that clear that he doesn’t see her in a sexual way. It is Mom that I am worried about. She is getting desperate to be with Knox. Not because she loves him but because he is good for her image. For publicity. She genuinely believes that if she keeps pushing him, then he will eventually come around to the idea of a real relationship with her. He won’t. No matter how hard she tries.

It’s not the only reason for me staying in LA. I know that if I had decided to spend the holidays with my dad and stepmother, then Mom would have guilt-tripped me until I changed my mind. My mind was already a mess; I didn’t want to deal with that. It was hard to admit but Mom, very rarely had time for me unless it came to competing with Vanessa. Then she became super mom, crowding me with her overbearing nature. I don’t know why she did it. No matter what Scarlett Grisham would always be my mother. She could never be replaced. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t space for another mother figure in my life. Vanessa was wonderful, supportive, loving and everything I would ever want in a stepmom.

“What are you thinking about?” Knox asks as he runs his finger up and down my arm. We just made love in my bed. I say making love because that is exactly what it was. Unlike our usual fucking, it was slow, tender, different from any other time. We connected in a way that I am sure can only be described as a higher power. Cosmic. The adoration that shone in his eyes as he moved inside me, it had me choking up. No one has ever looked at me the way Knox does.

“My dad and stepmother,” I murmur into his chest.

“Yeah? Tell me about them.” He shifts, gripping my chin so he can look into my eyes.

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