Chapter Twenty-Three
Max
A few days had passed since the incident at the café, and I was still feeling nervous about it all. I hadn’t wanted to admit to anyone how worried I was, but I couldn’t help but worry that the boss was going to find a way to walk out. Madison must’ve seen the concern on my face because she took my hand and squeezed it. The two of us were sitting on the sofa, watching a movie, but for a while, I’d just been staring at the screen without watching. I hadn’t thought she had noticed.
“You okay?” she asked. She reached for the remote and switched off the TV and turned to look at me. “You’re a million miles away.”
I sighed. “I’m okay. I’m just worried.”
“About the boss?”
“Yeah. I mean, he’s got a lot of connections. A lot! And I’ve seen things like this happen before, where guys walk away despite being in the wrong. If he knows the right people, he will easily walk away. And then what? Then I’m going to be watching my back for the rest of my life.”
“No, we can’t let that happen.”
“I know. We need to get to that courtroom soon. The quicker it happens, the less chance he has of gathering up people to help him. I’m sure he has tons of people on the outside rallying together as we speak.”
“I hate that we have to just sit here and wait. It’s the worst. I know the chief keeps saying we must use this as vacation time, but it’s not the easiest thing to do. It’s not like we can just relax. There’s way too much going on in my mind to fully relax.”
I nodded. That was exactly the way I was feeling. The whole week we had tried to enjoy ourselves, but it was clear that neither of us knew what to do. We’d skirted around the various issues at hand. We had no idea what was going on between the two of us, we had no idea what was happening in the outside world, and we didn’t know how to handle it. I was glad to know that I wasn’t the only one going through it, though. It was good to have Madison with me.
“I’m just glad I’m not here alone,” I said.
Madison grinned. “Oh yeah? You think I’m better company than no company?”
“Let’s just put it this way: I’d rather look at you all day than look at myself in a mirror,” I said and smiled at her.
“I look a mess,” she said, and her hands flew automatically to her head.
I laughed. “You could never look a mess. Honestly, Madi, if it wasn’t for you, I’m not sure what I would’ve done. I would’ve literally gone out of my mind.” I looked at her. She was still holding my hand, and her thumb was brushing against my hand. I felt my body begin to react to her touch. I’d been avoiding touching her all week because I wasn’t sure what she wanted to happen between us. But she was touching me now and looking at me, and there was no way I could pull away. I was just about to pull closer when my phone rang I jumped up in surprise.
“Damn,” I said as I reached for my phone in my jeans. Madison had pulled her hand away the moment the phone rang, and I felt sad that it wasn’t there anymore. I saw that it was the chief and quickly answered it. I probably would’ve let the phone just ring if it was anyone else, but I couldn’t not answer a call from the chief. “Everything okay?” I asked.
“Hi, Max. I’m just phoning to let you know that I’m on my way. I’m coming over to talk. I’ll be there soon.”
I put the phone down and sighed heavily. I wished I had asked the chief what he meant by soon because I wanted desperately to reach over and kiss Madison. Although it was probably a good thing I had answered, and he hadn’t just arrived unannounced.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I have no idea. The chief is on his way. It didn’t sound like anything was happening, though. Maybe he just wanted to check that we weren’t out gallivanting again; who knows. But I’m glad he called and didn’t just arrive without telling us.”
“So, he’ll be here soon?” she asked. She seemed disappointed, which made me glad.
“Yeah. I think so. He didn’t say.”
“Okay,” she said and looked down at her hand.
We sat in silence for a while, neither of us knowing what to do. For the first time since we had arrived, I felt uncomfortable. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I desperately wanted to go back to what was happening before the chief had called. I reached out for her hand, and she jumped.
“Sorry,” I said. “I just wanted to hold your hand. It was nice when you were holding it before.”
She smiled. “Yeah, it was. I don’t know why I jumped there.”
“It must be because you find me so sexy,” I teased.
“It must be.”
“What? You’re actually agreeing with me for a change? This is not something I’m used to you saying.”
She laughed. “Oh, I’m definitely agreeing with you. Max, kiss me,” she said.
Just hearing her say the words turned me on and I leaned in and kissed her. Her mouth was soft, and her tongue was eager, and as we kissed, she rubbed her hands up and down my jeans. I let out a long, low growl—a primal sound expressing a primal need—as her hand reached in between my legs. I quickly pulled away.
“No, wait, we can’t do this,” I said.
“Why not? Don’t you want to?” she asked. She seemed hurt that I had stopped it.
I chuckled. “Oh, trust me, Madi. There’s nothing I want more in the world than to be with you right now. But the last thing I want is the chief walking in on us.”
“What if he’s still an hour away?” she said. “I mean, I can think of a whole bunch of things that we can do in an hour.”
“Oh, Madi, don’t tempt me. What if he’s a minute away?” I couldn’t imagine anything worse than starting something with Madison and having to stop because of the chief. That would be torture. I’d much rather wait and have all the time in the world with her.
She laughed. “You have a point. That could be super embarrassing. I really don’t need the chief to see me naked. Why do you have to be so right all the time?”
“It’s one of my greatest talents,” I said. I leaned in and kissed her quickly on the mouth. I almost gave in all over again but quickly pulled away. “Okay, I need to stand up and calm down. I am in no state to see the chief right now. No state at all.”
She chuckled as I paced the room up and down. I looked at her and shook my head. “You’re such a tease,” I said. “How did I stay away from you all this time?”
But before she had a chance to answer, the chief arrived. I looked at her and chuckled. “Thank goodness we stopped in time,” I said, and we both tried to stop ourselves from laughing. “We were very close to the chief seeing much more of us than we would’ve liked.”
“Okay, I’m going to listen to you from now on. I would’ve died. It’s taken me years to be seen as just one of the guys. But I think my breasts would give me away,” she said, and I tried not to think about her breasts while I went to open the door for the chief.
“Come in, come in,” I said to the chief. “Checking up on us, are you?” I teased. I wouldn’t be surprised after what we had already put him through. If the roles were reversed, I would definitely do impromptu visits. I wouldn’t have even called. It’s not like he would ever think that he would be interrupting anything. In his eyes, we were nothing more than partners who got along well as friends.
He laughed. “No, I trust the two of you. I just thought it would be better to talk in person. And anyway, I needed to be in the area today. It’s nothing serious. I just thought we could touch base.”
“Coffee?” Madison asked. “I’m making anyway.”
“Yes please, that would be great,” the chief said and smiled gratefully at her. I noticed how harried he looked. He was pale, and he looked like he hadn’t slept in days. Even his clothes looked creased. I quickly looked away in case he saw me looking. We were obviously getting a lot more sleep than he was, and a part of me felt guilty for that. I was the one that had caused all the stress in the first place. I knew I should be the one with dark bags under my eyes, not him. But the chief had always taken his job very seriously. It was something I remembered clearly, and which Madison had confirmed for me. She said it was one of the reasons why we all got along so well.
“Max?” Madison asked.
“Yes please.”
Madison brought a tray of coffee and cookies to the living room, and we all sat together to discuss what had transpired. According to the chief, they were trying to fast-track the court case so that they could get the boss in jail before he had the chance to do any damage.
“That’s just what Madi and I were talking about today. We were both saying how the longer he was out, the more nervous we were getting. We’re just worried that he’s going to get away with it.”
The chief shook his head. “No, we can’t let that happen. I’ve got my best men on the case. And we’re stacking up as much evidence as we can. We’re going to get him. I won’t let him walk away from this. I just won’t.”
“How sure are you though? Honestly?” I asked.
The chief looked at us both and sighed. “Honestly? I have no idea. He’s very influential. So, who knows what he has up his sleeve. He might have already planned for his release way before we caught him. He might be two steps ahead of us. Or maybe we’re two steps ahead of him. I’m not sure. Right now, all I can do is gather information. Tell me, Max, do you remember anything else?”
“Bits here and there but nothing too fluid.”
“I’d like to know. Even if you’re unsure. I think it’s important.”
I took the chief through my memories. They were disjointed, and many parts were hazy, but I decided it was better to tell him everything.
“So, do you have any idea when the court case is going to be?” Madison asked once I had finished talking. I was just about to ask the same thing. I wasn’t sure what he meant by wanting to fast-track the whole thing.
“I’m hoping it’s going to be next week, maybe Tuesday or Wednesday. I’m not sure. As far as I’m concerned, this is all going to be over with soon. I’ll let you know what happens but that’s the date I’m pushing for. Anyway, I just wanted to check up on the two of you and to see that you’re doing okay. You’re not driving each other crazy, are you?”
I laughed and tried not to look at Madison. If I looked at her, I wasn’t sure if we’d be able to hide what was happening between us. The chief knew us well and might suspect something. We didn’t really have anything to hide, but we still hadn’t figured out what was going on ourselves. The last thing we needed was to complicate matters by telling other people.
“We’re fine,” I said instead. “To be honest, we pretty much do our own thing. I’m getting through a stack of books while I’m here. I haven’t read this much in a very long time.”
The chief smiled. “Oh yeah? I’m glad that I put so many books out. I didn’t know you were such a big reader. That’s good to hear, Max. You deserve the rest. You went through a serious ordeal recently. Okay, I better get going. I still have lots to do today. Call me if you need anything, and I’ll call you if I find out anything more.”
The moment the chief left, I heard laughter coming from behind me, and turned to see Madison chuckling to herself.
“What’s so funny?” I asked her.
“You haven’t picked up one book since you’ve been here.”
“I have,” I said.
“Picking them up and actually reading them are two very different things.”
I laughed. “Well, I couldn’t very well tell him that I was fine being here with you because I’m constantly thinking of kissing you.”
“You are?”
I raised my eyebrows at her. “Oh, I am. And you know it. I mean, I’m always looking at you.”
“Yeah, but that’s because you’re a pervert,” she said and laughed.
“Only when it comes to you. You know, I have no idea what’s going to happen when we have to go back to reality. I thought I wanted out of here, but to be honest, I’m really enjoying myself. I like being around you. You calm me down.”
Madison smiled. “You calm me down too.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“Aren’t you also going to tell me that you’re constantly thinking of kissing me?”
She laughed. “I’m thinking about it right now.”