the Officer and his Beauty

Chapter 5

Madison’s pov

I woke up, rotating around the slightest; I was super rested, fluttering my eyes, just stretching in the soft bed and smiling when I saw the unfamiliar room and sat down instantly.

Oh My God!!!

This was not my room or home, which I had believed when I woke up! No, this was Nate's! I remembered everything, the food, the fight, and when he just let me down in here and stared at me, and I didn’t mind it; in fact, I felt safe when I dozed off like I never had before, not even when I was home in my own bed. I was sleeping this nicely…. Oh… this was bad…

I was still in my nightgown, and it was dark outside. Just how long had I been sleeping? My head was heavy, and I just pushed my bare feet on the rug; feeling it between my toes was nice, even if it was ugly. Opening the door, I was almost scared to see Mrs. Jameson and get the wrong idea of what had happened!

I exhaled and followed the sound of the TV inside the small living room. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw the sleeping big guy with an empty plate in his hand, head back, and eyes closed. His mouth partly opened, making me smile; he looked adorable!

I snickered, taking up my phone and taking a snap, not knowing who to even send it to. Maisie? No… no, I didn’t want that. Instead, I was eyeing the seat next to him, coming closer, gently removing the empty plate in his hand, and putting it on the small coffee table.

There was only a tiny spot that wasn’t taken up by him; his firm legs apart made me do a small gulp… he was so muscular everywhere, like he worked out every day, every freaking day!

Sure, I did some yoga, but not like him—my eyes following down his body. Yeah, he was so yummy and hiding here; why didn't he even have an IG to follow? He could have gotten a lot of support from that. I know that businesses contacted me all the time, but I didn't need them, unlike Nate.

I took one step forward, feeling my heart beating harder against my chest; I still remembered how good it felt when he carried me, too good when I was biting my bottom lip and sneaking the last step before sinking down slowly next to him.

Nate grunted the slightest, making me smirk more when I had my phone, scrolling over the feed with the noisy gameshow in the background. It was nice, and before I knew it, I had leaned over more, my head tilted on his chest that was firm and nice, my hand slipping down and dragging my nails softly over his arm that was bigger than my thigh, smirking seeing the goosebumps from my gel nails.

I made a small yelp when he moved his arm in, still asleep, and pulled me onto his chest! I was breathing so fast when my head was entirely on his chest that it was just as muscular as it looked! The shirt was soft against my cheek, and I smiled when he was still asleep. I was lying down, not moving, and just felt… pleased? The feeling confused me; why was I happy being crammed into an old couch with a big guy with his arm around me.

When he didn’t wake up, I started to relax, just taking slow, steady breaths mimicking Nate’s, which was heaving his chest up and down steadily to my yawn, pretending to stare at my phone before fluttering tired.

It was still dark, and the scent of musk cologne and mixed sweat made me take a deep breath. He smelled wonderful, and the right amount of aftershave made me lean in more. My eyes felt heavier, and I felt utterly safe in the arms of a guy I didn’t even know yesterday.

I promised myself five minutes; that was all I would stay before going back to… well, I didn’t even know where to go since it was Nate's bedroom where I had been sleeping.

I was making circular motions with my fingertips on his arm while I was watching the show that was on, some stupid game show. This was just regular TV; they didn’t have streaming. He moved; I stopped, realizing what I was doing when he shifted, like he felt me stop and murmur something I missed, still holding my breath.

I was trying to get his arm off me when he held me tighter and made me panic. Omg, he was so strong! I was trapped! The game show was playing some stupid music that made him start to wake up!

I sighed and stared at his face when he made small, annoyed grunts like he didn’t like to wake up, and neither did I, especially when I was trapped inside his arms with no business being there.

“Hi?” I smiled innocently when he was blinking and just looked down. The slight horror that shifted in his eyes was unmistakable, making my heart sink; whatever I had thought about Nate wanting me was dead wrong.

“Madison!?” Nate sounded like he was going to start to panic when he suddenly realized that he had his arm around my waist and let me go like I had burned him, making me even angrier and hurt; what the hell was that all about? I wasn’t dirty! Why did he stare at me like I was just trash!?

“Yes, present.” I sounded just as sarcastic as last night to the old man who kicked me out of my home and leaned back, sitting on the sofa beside him.

Nate got up fast and looked like he was freaking out; seeing his handsome scowling face that didn’t know what was going on made me smirk more; so stupid! Like he wasn’t the one that had pulled me closer, made me rest on him, not wanting to let go!

“What the hell was that?!” Nate was pointing at the couch when I just shrugged; I was not going to answer that, not when he acted like this was all my fault; it wasn’t!

“Don’t just shrug at me; why the hell were you and I …. snuggling?” He said the last word, beaten down like he was ashamed. I just made my eyes bigger, trying not to start to laugh at his uncomfortable shift in the big body; oh, he was so cute, that was for sure.

“I have no idea what you are talking about?” I just stared at him; my face was blank when he stopped shifting and frowned at my answer, which seemed to piss him off; good! He was stupid if he believed I was ever admitted to coming over to him and cuddling uninvited; not happening!

“What the f**k is that supposed to mean?! You know what I am talking about!? This right here, you and me… oh f**k!” he was having his hand over his mouth like he was thinking about how much he wanted to throw up when I frowned too, that i***t! I was leaving this place; the first chance I got was when he was still moaning like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Big dumb guy!

“Like I said. No idea.” He looked down at me, sitting defensively with my arms crossed over my chest, and just stared back, scowling. I would not admit to anything; that was the first rule of lying: never giving in, no matter how blatant the lie, and it worked with my dad!

“You are the most stubborn, stupidest girl I have ever met!” I smirked when he got angrier; so what? He hated me!? Everyone was doing that these days! Did he think I cared what he thought about me!? I didn't!

I ignored the harsh feeling in my chest that was hurting more than I would admit. I saw him just staring at me like dirt under his feet, something he just wanted to get rid of right now…. I blinked.

No. No crying, no crying! I was clenching my jaw hard and tightening my arms around myself when he stopped cursing and ruffling his blonde hair; yes, he was a blonde just like me, only he was darker, and mine was fake. I was a brunette, but that was not publicly known and never would be!

“Why are you lying to me!? Do you think this is funny? I can go to f*****g jail!" I made a weird face at his statement. Jail? For what?! I leaned forward, just staring back, trying to ignore that I was getting anxious, seeing that my dad had been arrested from nowhere. Nate was talking about jail; why did that scare me?!

“Why would you go to jail? Did you do something illegal, Nate?!” I hated that I sounded worried; he was stupid, this was stupid, and I wished I never had come out here! Giving in to the ridiculous temptations of being close to him when he clearly didn’t want me!

Nate just gave me a look that he didn’t even want to talk about it anymore. I stared back at him, worried that if he had done something terrible, he could tell me; I mean, it wasn’t like I was any better these days, having a father that was arrested and the laughingstock of the whole world…

“Listen, let’s just keep apart… I don’t want to get closer, okay?” I blinked when he gazed at me sadly and sighed, holding his fingers over the bridge of his nose, taking deep breaths, and trying to calm down. I just nodded to his apparent distaste for me. Sure, let’s keep it apart… I didn’t like him anyway…...

“Okay….” I made a slight sniffle that I swallowed right away and wiped my arm over my face before he even looked up; I would not cry because of some giant gorilla that was rejecting me; I was better than that.

“Good. Tell Nana when she gets back that I’m staying at Hayden’s place.” He was not even looking at me when I stared at the floor, both of us ignoring the other, trying so hard not to give into the hard cry clawing my chest.

Whatever I had thought about him, trusting him immediately, that was so stupid! I would keep my distance, and I was getting out of here, one way or another! No way I was staying here in this dump alone with Mrs. Jameson; I didn’t even know her more than that she had worked in the kitchen for ages, far longer than I was born.

I started to cry when he closed the front door, leaving me alone in this tiny house; I hated my life!