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Chapter twenty-six

Maddox

A loud banging knock on my door makes me jump. It’s after eight o’clock, and I’m just wrapping up some small work projects while I wait for Level-Up-Dom to get online and play. I’m still floating somewhere between cloud nine and full-blown anxiety over his sudden agreement to meet me. Except now I’m having a mini panic attack because there’s someone at my door —and in the thirty seconds since I heard the knock, I’ve already played out three different scenarios in my head where I end up dead if I answer it.

Most home invasion crimes happen after dark, I remind myself, opening an incognito screen.

My fingers whiz over the keys as I log in to pull up my doorbell camera. It’s so weird they didn’t use the doorbell. I hold down the microphone button.

“Can I help you?” I ask, unable to see anything but a black object blocking the camera.

My heart beats faster as I wait for a reply.

“Maddox.” The voice sounds familiar, but it echoes under my porch. “It’s Colt. I’m sorry for just showing up here like this, but do you think–” His voice trails off and I watch him shift. “Do you think we can talk about what happened a few months ago? I owe you an apology, and I bet you won’t want the neighbor to overhear this.”

I clasp my hand over my mouth, stifling a giggle. He’s right, I don’t want the neighbor to hear. I glance down at what I’m wearing: a thin pair of black cotton sleep joggers and an oversized sweatshirt. Not exactly a winning outfit, but then again, I’m not sure I even want to talk to him. Although... I could see what he wants, cashing in on the perfect opportunity to confess who I really am, depending on how things go. Thunder rumbles in the distance over the camera and the wind blows.

“I’m not entirely sure I want to hear what you have to say, Colt. Why are you here?”

“I told you. I owe you an apology, Maddox. But I promise I can explain if you give me a chance. It doesn’t excuse my behavior, but it might make a difference.”

“Make a difference in what, Colt? You already got what you wanted. Showing up here two months later is asinine. Are you drunk?” I demand, ignoring the way my heart is fluttering, threatening to burst free from my chest.

“I promise, I’m sober. Please, just talk to me, Maddox. Let me explain. I don’t want to leave things like this. In fact, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important to me.”

Another rumble of thunder carries through the camera as lightning flashes across the window.

“Look, it’s going to start dumping rain, and I rode my bike over here. Do you mind if I bring it up under the porch so we can talk? Please, Maddox.” Every note in his voice sounds sincere. It’s melting away my restraint.

“Fine,” I sigh, relenting.

What harm can one tiny conversation do? I lock my desktop down, taking a few extra seconds to make sure all the screens are off before stepping through the office door. I pull it closed behind me, head past the kitchen to the living room, then watch through the peephole as he wheels a fucking motorcycle up under my porch. That was not the kind of bike I thought he meant.

Colt parks it off to the side, setting a big black helmet on the seat. I swing the door open while his back is turned, so when he spins around, he sees me leaning in the door frame, arms crossed and one foot behind the door, barring him from entering. I do my best to scowl at him even though my brain is currently marveling at how goddamn handsome he looks in a pair of black motorcycle pants and a thick jacket. My panties are wet already and he hasn’t said a single word since laying eyes on me. His muscular body fills out the jacket perfectly, stretching the material across his broad shoulders and over bulging arms.

Another loud crack of thunder, followed by flashes in the sky—and then it opens up. Water comes pouring down in heavy sheets, it’s a full-blown spring storm hammering the porch.

“So,” he shouts over the rain.

“So,” I parrot, running my eyes up and down his body.

“Do you think I can come inside?” he asks.

“Why should I let you come in? It’s been two months, Colt, and then you show up on my doorstep. How the fuck do you even know where I live? Or did you ask your uncle to find out for you?” My words are venomous, filled with hurt. He rejected me, my heart reminds me as my eyes sting with tears.

His lip turns up into the dreamy half-smile that has my pulse racing. “I didn’t need to ask my uncle. Please let me come inside and explain.” He says, his tone turning serious.

Silence stretches between us ominously as I consider inviting him in, torn between reason and want. Annoyed by my lack of response, he sighs. “Look, Maddox, if you don’t let me come in, I’m going to pull you out into the rain.”

I blink at him. “Why?”

“Because then you’ll be soaking wet and so cold you’re forced to let me in to talk. I only want to talk, I promise.”

God, he’s impossible. “Fine,” I cave, stepping aside for him to enter. “But don’t get any wrong ideas.”

“Wouldn’t think of it,” he replies, stepping into my foyer and closing the door behind him.

“Can we sit?” he asks, motioning to my living room.

“Sure, sit.” I say.

Colt sits on the edge of one of my oversized wingback chairs. He leans back into it, his legs falling open to reveal the faint outline of his dick against the material of his pants. He looks relaxed as he takes in my living space.

“What do you want to talk about, Colt?” I ask, trying my best not to sound annoyed. After all, I’m head over heels in love with this man.

“Sit with me, Maddox.” he demands.

As much as I don’t want to give him the satisfaction of doing what he wants, I do because I want to hurry and get this over with. I sit on the far side of the loveseat away from him, arms still crossed.

“No more bullshit,” I say, putting up a wall of defense. “I let you come inside. Answer my question, Colt. How do you know where I live?”

He exhales slowly, his hesitation clear. “That’s part of why I owe you an apology. I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you. If you let me explain everything, I promise I’ll answer you.”

“I’m listening. Start explaining.”

Outside, the sound of the rain smashing into the concrete mirrors the turmoil building in my body as anger floods my system. He’s hiding things, and there’s nothing I hate more than charming liars. Glaring at him, like a snake in the garden I wait for an explanation. Colt squirms uncomfortably in his chair, and I don’t feel the least bit bad for him as another deep rumble of thunder shakes the walls of the house.

“Maddox, can you make me one promise first?” he asks.

“It depends.” My tone is irritable.

“Promise to listen to the whole story before you kick me out. Even if some of the things I tell you are really upsetting. Will you promise me that much?” His eyes search mine for a hint of compassion, but he’s coming up empty. I don’t soften, I can’t, because I have no compassion for him.

Do I want to hear him out, fall into those delicious arms and melt? Absofuckinglutely—but I’m not an idiot. The fact that he knows where I live is highly concerning. What else has he found out about me, and how is he acquiring this information? I guess I don’t have much of a choice but to hear him out, especially if I still want to make Colt fall in love with HexXdoll.

My eyes dart over his face, trying to get a better read on him and this situation. “Fine,” I mutter, my voice flat. “I promise, but don’t waste my fucking time.”

Relief floods his face, leaving me to wonder how alarming this little confession is going to be. If this man didn’t have my heart in an absolute chokehold, we wouldn’t be here. But unfortunately, both sides of me—the real one and the online one—fell hard and fast for him, completely tangled in the web he spun so effortlessly around my heart.

“Thank you for giving me a chance,” he says, his voice low.

He clears his throat to begin, and I lean back into the stabilizing embrace of the sofa, waiting to hear whatever epic excuse he’s about to give after disappearing for two months.