Page 55 of Madden

Chapter Sixteen

Brielle

Madden stands at the foot of the stairs waiting when I finish getting ready. He doesn’t notice me at first, with his eyes focused on his phone. When he hears my heels clicking on the hardwood floor, his gaze darts to meet mine, and his face lights up when he sees me.

“Jesus Christ,” he mutters. “On second thought, we can skip the party instead. It’s not that important. I’m sure the guys have it covered without me.”

I snicker. “It’s your album drop party. Plus, aren’t you supposed to perform tonight too?” I smirk, taking the final stair, and he quickly snatches me into his arms.

“I doubt they’d even realize I’m gone,” he points out, running his nose along my cheek.

“You’re right. Who needs the drummer anyway?”

His face falls, tightening his arm around my waist.

“I know someone who should,” he suggests. “I could make her need me all night long if she keeps it up.”

“Whoever she is, she’s a lucky girl.”

“Damn right, she is.”

I push off him and roll my eyes. “Smug bastard.”

He barks out a laugh and reaches for my hand, lacing our fingers together.

His eyes continue to roam over my face, down to the blue cocktail dress I picked out when shopping at Nordstrom earlier this week. It plunges low in the front, and even though I’m nervous about how revealing it is, it’s worth every second to see the look on Madden’s face.

“Fine, we’ll go, but when we get home, I’ll remind you how badly I needed to get you out of this dress. It’ll be torturing me all damn night.”

“You deserve to be teased for a change,” I retort, pushing off him to walk out the door.

He growls when I pass by him, and he gets a glimpse of the back of my dress. It’s held together with a few strings of jewels, dipping low and not leaving much to the imagination.

It’s one of the sexiest dresses I’ve ever worn by far, and I may have picked it exactly for that reason.

Madden leads me to his car outside. It’s a short drive to Whiskey Barrel, and the crowd is already forming, with cars overflowing out of the parking lot.

He pulls into the spots reserved for the band in the back and puts the car in park, leaning over across the center console to kiss me.

“We could probably have a quickie out here. I doubt anyone would even notice.”

I smirk and shake my head. “Not gonna happen. This dress is hanging on by a thread. The last thing I need is to ruin it before I make it inside.”

“You’re right.” He nods. “We’ll plan for after instead.”

He winks, reaching for the door handle.

I don’t know what I expected, but I hardly recognize the place when we walk inside.

The lights are dim with neon rope lights strung overhead. They’ve added additional high-top tables throughout, leaving space for people to gather near the stage.

Some of their earlier music plays through the speakers. Madden spots the guys huddled in a group across the bar, standing with Kyla, Ivy, and Layken.

He glances down at me, linking our fingers together, and lifts our hands to his lips.

“I wanted to get this out of my system while I have the chance.” His gaze softens, and he brushes his thumb over the back of my hand before releasing it.

My chest aches, wishing it didn’t have to be this way. I try not to let myself calculate how long we reasonably have before we can dip out. I want to enjoy and celebrate their big night even though I’m dying for him to make good on his word.

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