Page 104 of You Broke Me First

"What are you doing, Addison?" I scolded myself again. Blowing out a heavy sigh, I sank onto his bed when something caught my eye, hanging off the edge of his bed that was coming from under his pillow. Lifting his pillow, I sucked in a sharp breath as my gaze landed on my old ratty sweatshirt from high school. He'd given me his jacket, and I'd given him my sweatshirt. He still had it. My chest swelled as my eyes filled with tears. He slept with it.

Everything changed in that moment; any anger or sadness I'd harbored dissipated. Any doubts I had that he wasn't in this were gone, along with all doubts about my own self-worth.

His past was his past, but his future was with me. I had to stop doubting that; I had to stop doubting him.

Grabbing the shirt, I closed up his room and strolled out to the patio, where I sat watching the moonlight dance across the water for the next hour for him to come home.

If I hadn't been listening so hard, the sound of the sliding glass door opening would have been masked by the waves crashing against the sea wall, but I'd been waiting an hour for this moment.

"Hey," Maddox said, stepping out onto the patio and sinking on the patio chair beside me. His tone was laced with sorrow, wrapped tightly with fear.

"Hey." I forced a smile, trying to ease his fear.

"You want to talk?" I shook my head. He didn't owe me an explanation. "Are you still angry?" I wasn't.

"Do you love me, Maddox? I mean, are you still in love with me?"

"Yes," he breathed. "I never stopped loving you, never."

"Then I don't care what happened before me," I said. "But Casey deserves to hear the truth from you."

"So, you're not leaving?" His brows furrowed, and I shook my head. His eyes closed as he blew out a sigh of relief. "Thank god."

"I need to confess something," I said before biting my lip.

"I don't want to know."

"No, I need to tell you." He froze. I swallowed hard as my chest tightened. I wasn't sure how angry he would be that I snooped through his things. "I kind of went snooping in your room." He blew out a heavy sigh followed by a laugh. "That's it? That's what you needed to tell me?" I nodded. "Addison, what's mine is yours. I was actually hoping you would stay in my room." I ignored his question for a moment because I wasn't finished with my confession.

"I found this," I said, pulling the old ratty sweatshirt up. His gaze flicked to the sweatshirt as his lips curled into a smile. "You kept it."

"I did." He sighed. "Other than pictures, it was all I had." He pushed to his full height, and I copied his movements. He stepped forward into my space. "Addison, you may have loved me since the first grade, but I have been in love with you since our first kiss. I was too stupid to realize it, but I'm not now, and I do not want to lose you again."

"What happens after our six weeks are up?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know. We still have several more to go, so how about we figure that out later?"

He cupped my face, dropping his lips to mine.

"Take me to bed," I breathed, pulling out of the kiss. His lips curled into a smirk as he leaned forward, scooping me into his arms.

"My bed?" he asked. I nodded, wrapping my arms around his neck. "Good, because I have plans to worship every inch of your perfect body tonight."

SEVENTY-EIGHT

MADDOX

Standing behind Addison with my front flush against her back, one hand wrapped around her throat and the other flat against her lower stomach, just below her belly button, I held her tight against me. I brushed her long dark hair off her neck and over her shoulder, letting the light touch of my fingertips tease the skin of her shoulder and the back of her neck. Her head tilted, moving with my touch, giving me better access to her neck.

The room was dark except for the moonlight shining in from the large bay window overlooking the ocean, where we stood almost completely naked.

My hand left her throat, sliding down and cupping her breast. A whimper pushed past Addison's pretty lips as I ran my tongue over the spot just below her ear on her throat before sucking the sensitive flesh into my mouth. At the same time, my fingers slid underneath the lace of her panties. Heat pulled at my groin as my fingers slipped through her slick flesh, coating them with her arousal. She was already soaking wet for me.

"Maddox," she breathed in a breathy moan as I teased her clit. I wanted to taste her.

"Put your palms flat on the window for me, baby," I ordered, my tone low and raspy as I placed my palm flat between her shoulder blades, shoving her forward. Her palms smacked against the glass.

Hooking my fingers into the sides of her panties, I dropped to my knees as I tore them down her legs, and she stepped out before I discarded them.

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