Page 10 of Madden

We overhear the sound of voices coming down the hall, and I glance over to see Tysin and Kyla heading down the corridor toward us, with Brix and Trey sauntering behind them.

“Kyla, would you mind showing them to the area we discussed earlier? We’re doing the photo shoot outside. I’ll join you in a few.”

Kyla’s gaze lingers on me for a moment. I wonder if it has anything to do with yesterday's incident or if there’s more behind it. She smiles, shifting from one side to the other, before nodding over her shoulder to follow her.

“Of course,” she croons. “Come with me. I’ll show you the spot, and you can get set up while the guys finish getting ready.”

When I move to pass by Madden, he quickly darts his hand out to stop me. My eyes snap to where his hand grips my wrist and then back to him.

Standing close to him again reminds me of how large and intimidating he can be looming over me. He’s at least a foot taller than me, with broad shoulders and muscular forearms.

I refrain from letting my eyes roam over his body, taking in the scent of his cologne and the curve of his lip when he fights off his smile.

“Brielle, would you mind talking with me for a minute?” He motions across the room, away from where the guys huddle together, shooting curious glances our way.

Davis notices I’m not following him and turns to search for me. He and Kyla pause near the door. I hold my finger up to Davis to signal I’ll be outside in a minute before turning back to Madden.

“Sure thing.” I attempt to paste on a forced smile.

He presses his hand against the small of my back, leading me away from everyone. All the voices in the room suddenly stop, leaving only the sound of my heels clicking on the tile floor, making it painfully obvious they’re watching us.

When we’re away from their curious eyes, Madden turns to me and crosses his arms over his chest before dropping them to his side.

“I want to talk to you again about what happened yesterday,” he starts.

I hold my hand up to stop him.

“Madden, it’s truly okay. You don’t have to explain yourself to me. This is your home. A beautiful home, by the way. Who you’re dating and what you do in privacy is not my business.”

He clenches his jaw and nods. I’ll say whatever I need to say to end this conversation. I don’t want to be reminded of the desire in his eyes when he walked out of the room to find me standing there overhearing what was meant to be kept between them.

As I said, it’s not my business. Even if I kept replaying the deep sound of his voice and the dirty words he said when I was alone in my room last night.

I didn’t, even for one second, think about what it’d be like in her shoes, on the receiving end of them.

“We’re not dating. She isn’t my girlfriend,” he clarifies. “Just a friend, but you’re right.” He narrows his gaze. “I was referring to our conversation after.”

My face is practically on fire from the heat of embarrassment. I admitted to listening to him again, and he wasn’t even talking about that part of the hellish morning.

I want to crawl into a hole and die.

“I’m sorry for what I said after, though. I, uh… I was a jerk, and I know we didn’t start off on the best foot. I hope we use today to start fresh and pretend it never happened.”

“A fresh start.” I nod. “I think a fresh start sounds like a good idea.”

I can’t change the mortification I felt when he caught me, but if he’s going to give me an out, I’ll take it.

He rubs his hand over the back of his neck and glances over my shoulder, shuffling his feet from side to side. I don’t need him to say it, but there’s more to the olive branch, and I’m falling into the bait of waiting for him to spit it out.

“This won’t affect the article you’re writing, will it?”

And there it is.

It makes sense. It’s no secret there have been a lot of eyes on the band over the past year and not exactly for good reasons.

Women still flock to them, and they’re still topping charts. They announced their upcoming tour earlier this year, and the tickets sold out in minutes. Most of the guys are in steady relationships, which you’d think would quiet some of the gossip swirling around them, but it seems to only be heating up.

I don’t doubt he’s worried about their public image. If I had to guess, I bet they’re feeling the heat from their record label.

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