Liam & Maddie Duet

Chapter 1-2

It takes me thirty minutes to drive over due to all the holiday traffic, and he’s beaming when I arrive. I’m a man of my word, if not anything else. We chat and catch up as we eat turkey with all the fixings until our stomachs hurt and finish off with pumpkin pie.

After thanking my stepmother for a delicious meal, I come home and watch football with the guys. Maddie shoots me smoldering looks from across the room, but I try to ignore her, regardless of how damn pretty and tempting she is. Lennon and Sophie chat about work, not paying attention to the TV.

My phone goes off with a few last-minute job offers from a bonds company, but I decided to take the rest of the weekend off since I’m swamped next week. After the game ends, Hunter and Lennon take Maddie home, leaving just the three of us.

Sophie and Mason stand and yawn. “You two have fun this weekend,” I tell them. I try not to make eye contact with Mason, though I pop an eyebrow at Sophie.

“Oh, we’re going to have all the fun,” she says with a snicker.

“That’s code for tons of s*x, right?” I chuckle, and she rolls her eyes.

“Good night, Liam,” Sophie singsongs, and Mason shoots me a wink before taking her hand and leading her upstairs. I turn off all the lights, then go to my room and lie in bed.

Before I fall asleep, all I can think about is heading back to Vegas and playing poker. Since I have the next few days off and more frequent flier miles than I know what to do with, I consider booking a flight. Before I even look at prices, considering it’s a holiday weekend, I know it’s a bad idea. The airports will be more crowded than usual, which I hate, but damn, I love the bright lights of the city. There’s something about the thrill of winning that gets me every time. Playing gives me an adrenaline rush like bounty hunting but without all the life-threatening danger.

By Friday, I’m bored as hell being home alone, so I decide to look up flights and see if it’s possible to book one without selling my kidney or using all my banked miles. Just as I find an airline that has one seat available for later tonight, I remember I told Maddie I was on call this weekend. s**t.

Maddie might text Sophie just to pry, and I don’t doubt she’d text Mason if she didn’t get an answer. I can ask her all day not to do something, but she doesn’t listen to anyone, especially not me. And I wonder if she’s suspicious. Apparently, she’s been sending Mason pictures of wedding rings she thinks Sophie would like for the past few months to help speed up the process a bit. She’s the annoying little sister whose approval of them getting married has been laid on real thick. It’s obvious how much Mason and Sophie are meant for each other. It took Mason years to find someone after losing his girlfriend, but the moment he met Sophie, everything changed. So I get it. But Maddie’s relentless. And Mason found it helpful because he had tons of ideas for a ring thanks to her.

A month ago, Mason told me what his plans were for Thanksgiving weekend, and I swore on my life I wouldn’t say a word. He didn’t want to tell her sisters in case they got too excited and ruined the surprise. Hunter doesn’t know either because Lennon has him by the balls, and he can’t keep anything from her. The only person to worry about is Maddie because she has no filter whatsoever, and she’s not stupid. Considering she’s blatantly told him to propose already, I don’t think she’d be too surprised, but still.

Knowing I can’t go to Vegas now, I decide to get out of the house instead of being lazy all day. I change into workout clothes and drive to the gym. My back hurts from lounging, and I need to get my blood pumping. I stretch before deciding to lift some weight. Just as I finish my reps, I get a phone call from Maddie, and I wonder if she’s just trying to get a rise out of me since Sophie and Mason are already on their way to Tahoe City. I’m half-tempted to give her a few choice words, especially if she’s just calling to agitate me. I decide to answer it anyway.

“Liam?” She sounds as if she’s been crying, which causes me to pause and change my attitude.

“I’m here. Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

“I’m fine, just a little shaken up. The apartment next to mine caught on fire, and I had just enough time to pack a bag before I was evacuated. We don’t know when we’ll be allowed back in. Liam, I don’t know what to do. Soph’s out of town, and I don’t want to bug Lennon because she doesn’t have room.”

I go into full-on protection mode. “Where are you now?”

“Standing outside my building with a hundred other students. Fire trucks are everywhere, and the roads are blocked off.”

“I’ll be there as fast as I can.” The call ends, and I hurry and drive toward the university. When I get close, I see people everywhere as well as paramedics and the fire department, just as she said. Forced to park five blocks away, I make my way through the crowd until I finally find her chatting with someone. Maddie’s wearing her dance tights, and her hair is in a tight bun on top of her head. She has her backpack on and a duffel bag beside her. Though she sounded worried as hell on the phone, she wears a smile as she talks. When she spots me, her eyes light up, but she continues with her conversation.

“Yeah, I just finished rehearsing in the studio and was in my room when the fire alarms went off. I grabbed clothes, my laptop, and books before rushing out.” She turns and loops her arm through mine. “There you are, Hulk. Shelby, this is my future husband.”

Groaning, I pull my arm away, then look at Shelby, who’s giving me heart eyes. “No, I’m not. I’m her sister’s roommate.”

Maddie continues, “He’s just playing hard to get. We’ll see. Keep an eye out for the ‘save the date’ card.”

Shelby giggles, and they say their goodbyes. Maddie looks at me with a mischievous grin on her tempting red lips. “Loosen up. You’re tighter than a virgin right now.”

I glare and shake my head at her. “Let’s go,” I say harshly, grabbing her bag and leading us toward my truck. She follows, staying in step with my fast pace.

After I unlock the doors, we climb inside, and she meets my eyes as I crank the engine and start driving. “What crawled up your a*s and died?”

“I was worried about you,” I snap. “And you’re too busy making jokes.”

She gives me a lazy smirk. “Oh, I wasn’t joking. The quicker you jump on board, the better. So tired of this pesky V-card and—”

“Maddie! Just stop,” I bark, not wanting her to go any further.

She shrugs, not giving two f***s about it. Instantly, she changes the subject.

“So you wanna tell me what’s really going on with my sister and Mason this weekend?” She lifts her eyebrows at me and waits impatiently.

“Nothing is going on.” I press on the gas, zooming onto the interstate.

She scoffs. “Oh my God. You are so lying right now.”

“Just let it go,” I say, but Maddie picks up her phone and holds it up, showing off Sophie’s contact.

“All it’ll take is one press of a button. I’ll call her and ask her what’s going on and find out why you’re being so damn weird.” Her finger inches toward the call icon, but right before she touches it, I tell her to stop.

“Something’s going on.” Maddie narrows her eyes, continuing to play on her phone. “So shall I call Mason, instead? Okay.”

She goes to Mason’s contact and doesn’t even hesitate before pressing it.

“Holy f**k. He’s going to propose. There, are you happy?”

She ends the call and laughs. “What? Are you serious?” she squeals. “He’s finally going to propose to my sister?” With a genuine smile on her face, she claps her hands together, and it’s the happiest I’ve seen her in weeks, maybe ever.

Her phone rings a minute later, and I see it’s Mason calling. She answers it nonchalantly, saying a friend picked her up, and ends the call with an I love you.

“What the hell?” I ask.

“It was my mom. I changed her contact to say Mason’s name, you big a*s sucker.”

My jaw nearly falls to the floorboard, and I shake my head. “You played me, you little shit.”

“Like a fiddle.” She chuckles.

“That’s it. You’re f*****g grounded when we get home,” I say, somewhat shocked that she outsmarted me like that.

Maddie snorts and rolls her eyes. “So I’m on house arrest? Think you can handle me alone for that long?” she teases, and I groan, already regretting this whole damn day. I should’ve gone to Vegas when I had the chance.

“Change of plans,” I deadpan. “You stay home; I leave.”

She frowns and narrows her eyes. “They said they don’t know how long it’ll take to restore everything from the smoke damage. All the extra housing on campus is full, so a large group of us is s**t out of luck, essentially. One person said they’d send us to a motel temporarily, but even then, we’d be on our own getting to and from campus.”

“You’re not s**t out of luck,” I tell her, meaning every word.

She beams. “Why? Because I have you?”

I roll my eyes but find myself grinning at her eager tone. “I’m always here for you if you need anything. You should know that by now.” Considering Maddie’s my kryptonite, I’m tempted to break all my damn rules for her. She definitely plays to my weaknesses.

“Really?” She tilts her head at me. “Anything?”

We pull into the driveway of the house, and I turn to look at her. Sparkling blue eyes peer up at me, and for a second, I get lost in them but pull myself out of her dangerous trance. “Don’t start,” I warn.

She bites her bottom lip, then bursts into laughter. “I’ll give you a free pass because you picked me up and saved the day, but next time…” She taunts me further by waggling her brows, and I groan as the sudden image of her underneath me flashes into my mind.

“Get the hell out of the truck,” I demand with a grin. Maddie flutters on her toes as she follows me toward the front door.

“I’m so excited I get to spend the rest of the weekend with you,” she admits as I unlock the house. “All alone,” she exaggerates further, and I try to ignore her, though it seems impossible.

Walking in, I chuckle at her attempts to spike my blood pressure even though I’d never admit it’s working. “There’s food in the fridge, and you can sleep in Sophie’s room for now.” I walk toward the kitchen, needing a beer to numb the inappropriate thoughts that come with her being here with me all weekend. “Also, Maddie…I’m not babysitting your a*s while Sophie’s gone, so stay outta trouble. Okay?”

She shoots me a wink and plops down on the couch. Crossing her ankles on the coffee table and relaxing, Maddie looks right at home. “We’ll see about that, Hulk. We will see.”