Page 79 of False Start

“The groom really wants to get his ass handed to him on his big day?” I clicked my tongue. “Masochist.”

Holden laughed a little on the other end. “See you downstairs.”

When we hung up, I tossed my phone on the bed, hands resting on Madelyn’s hips again. The comforter was bunched between us, and I hoped it was thick enough to hide the fact that I was rock hard and aching to fill her.

Not that I was embarrassed by that fact — quite the opposite, actually.

But thirty minutes wasn’t enough time for me to take her the way I wanted to, not after all these years.

“You better get going,” Madelyn said when I didn’t attempt to move her off me.

I sighed. “You’ll be alright without me?”

At that, she cocked a brow on a short laugh. “I’ve managed to survive this long.”

She climbed off my lap long before I wanted her to, but before she could go far, I grabbed her wrist, standing and pulling her into me. My hands slid back into her hair, angling her face up to look at me before I bent and pressed a long, slow kiss against her lips.

I sucked in a breath when our mouths met, one she echoed as her fingers curled around my wrists.

“I want to talk later,” I said when I pulled back, my forehead against hers.

She nodded, and I noted how her throat constricted with a thick swallow.

Reluctantly, I released her, internally cursing my former teammate as I hustled through a shower and hastily got dressed. It was his wedding day. I would do whatever he wanted me to.

But it was going to be torture waiting until tonight to talk to Madelyn about what was happening between us.

When I was ready, I slid my wallet into my pocket and grabbed my cell phone. I was halfway over to where Madelyn was writing at the desk again whenherphone rang.

One glance at the screen had her dropping her pen immediately, and she propped the phone in front of her, smiling widely when the call connected.

“There’s my favorite boy,” she answered, and I stopped in my tracks, knowing it was Sebastian on the other end.

“Hi, Mommy!”

Her eyes watered at his little voice, and my heart seized in my chest.

I took a step, wanting to say hello, but when her gaze flicked to me, she went ashen.

And she held up a hand out of frame to stop me.

I swallowed, nodding and trying to force a smile as I gave her a pathetic two-finger wave to let her know I was heading out. She nodded, turning her smile back to the camera as Sebastian started chattering away.

Then, I heard another voice.

Her mother’s.

She asked about where to find something, but I didn’t catch what it was. I just grabbed my room key and slid out the door with my throat closing in.

Madelyn didn’t want her mother to know she was with me.

That told me louder than words that she was still holding on to our past.

And when I shut the door behind me and made my way to the elevators, I couldn’t escape the anger and hurt that gripped me by the throat.

Madelyn

My eyes were glued to the door once Kyle pushed through it, and I flinched a bit when it latched closed.