Page 78 of Playing Dirty

I don’t know how he’s managed it, but I’m hard as a rock again, even with how infuriating he is. But with the picture he’s painting for me right now, I can’t help it. Despite how dangerous it would be—succumbing to this dark desire when the worst possible people could find us—it only makes me want him more.

Madden’s seduction is an art form; one proving nearly impossible to resist.

To the point where I consider it, if only for a moment.

“Fuck,” he curses, the sound coming out with a bit of grit and growl. “The way you look at me…”

“You’re one to talk,” I counter.

He hums, scraping his teeth over his bottom lip before shaking his head. “You’re in so much trouble the next time I get my hands on you. I hope you know that.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

My eyes lock with his, those two, tiny mirrors reflecting every bit of the longing and desire I know I’m projecting.

I’m fully aware I’m goading him at this point, pushing his buttons along with that iron-clad composure of his. But there’s something addictive about seeing that spark ignite in his eyes, quickly turning into a burning flame he can’t control.

I’ve got him right there, on the edge of it now.

His fingers dig into my skin as he squeezes my waist, barely hanging on to the last threads of his willpower. But just when I think he’s going to cave, he pushes off the wall and releases me.

“Get out of here, Theo. Before I change my mind and push you to your knees, consequences be damned.”

It takes me a moment to peel myself from where I’ve melted into the wall and do as he says, quickly grabbing my flashlight from the floor andbooking it down the hall. I can feel his gaze as I head toward the staircase to find Cooper, and the second I hit the bottom stair, I can’t stop myself from turning around.

He’s still there, in the same spot I’d left him. Watching me.

But then, like a bandit in the night, he disappears into the shadows.

Swallowing down the lump in my throat, I take the stairs two at a time, only to run directly into Cooper on the second-floor landing.

He lets out a soft yelp when he sees me, slamming his hand to his chest.

“There you are. I thought you were meeting me on two?”

“Took longer downstairs than I thought,” I whisper back just in time for Phoenix and Sawyer to join us in the stairwell too.

“Why weren’t you answering your texts?” Phoenix hisses, keeping his voice low.

Shit.

Sure enough, when I pull my phone out, there are seven missed texts in a new group chat between the four of us—three of which are asking me for an update or my location.

“My bad, guys. I didn’t feel it vibrate.”

Probably because I was too busy trying not to fold like a cheap lawn chair beneath Madden’s seduction, though I keep that part to myself for obvious reasons.

“Guess the walkies aren’t such a bad idea after all,” Sawyer supplies, already starting down the stairs. “All our floors were clear, so we can head out.”

With our group reunited, the four of us slip out of the building and head back in the direction of the vehicles. Two cars are already gone when we get there, their groups having already searched their buildings and calling in that they came up empty-handed as well.

“Wyatt’s gonna be pissed if we went to all this effort and still don’t findthe damn thing tonight,” Phoenix mutters as we all pile into his vehicle.

We head back to Leighton, a defeated silence blanketing the vehicle’s interior, where it remains well after Phoenix drops off Coop and Sawyer at their cars. I hardly notice, though. My mind is still back in that hallway, pressed between Madden and the wall, replaying every illicit moment on repeat.

And it’s not until Phoenix and I pull up to the townhouse that I realize…Madden never said how he knew where to find me.

Twenty-One