27. Bristol

Chapter 27

Bristol

It might've only been a couple of weeks, but Maddox and I had fallen into a rhythm. We kept our relationship professional while at work, but the minute we were at home—usually his—a transformation occurred, and we fell into our domestic roles.

Maddox was an amazing cook. He insisted that he prepare meals for us to share and joked that from now on, he would hand-select our wine pairing each evening. I was happy to allow him to take care of me, even though it took a minute to get used to.

And boy, did he take care of me at night. It was a miracle I could walk straight when entering the arena most mornings. With how little sleep we were getting, you'd think I'd be dead on my feet, but instead, I was invigorated. The steady stream of orgasms had my skin glowing.

It was so noticeable that Alyssa hounded me daily, demanding to know my secret. Eventually, I was forced to tell her the truth. It was sex. Lots and lots of mind-blowing sex with a virile man who made my toes curl with only a look .

She'd muttered, "Lucky bitch," under her breath but said she was happy for me, and I knew she meant it. I'd disclosed my past during our early days of working together, so she knew I was due for a good guy to sweep me off my feet.

And that's precisely what Maddox had done. I was walking on air.

I'd just pressed send on my daily article to my editor when Maddox plopped down onto his oversized leather couch beside me, plucking the computer from my hands and placing it on the coffee table.

Laughing, I teased, "Guess it's a good thing I was done."

He eased me into his arms, and I inhaled his scent. "I knew you were. I was sitting on my hands in the kitchen, patiently waiting until it was my time."

I peeked up at him. "Your time, huh?"

Maddox smirked. "Best time of the day."

Yeah, I couldn't argue with that. I snuggled deeper into his hold, and he sighed in contentment.

"Bristol?"

"Hmm." My eyes had slid shut, and I was dangerously close to falling asleep.

"Have you given any thought to Christmas? I was thinking we could take a quick trip during the mini break the league gives us. A few days in Mexico, maybe? Or the Caribbean? I'm not picky, as long as it's warm. I know winter just started, but I'm sick of the cold already."

"Umm." I pushed off his chest to find panic in his eyes.

"Did I push too far? Is taking a trip too much? I just thought—"

I held up my hand, cutting him off. "It's not that. All those ideas sound amazing. But I already have plans."

"Oh." Maddox's mouth dropped open on that single syllable .

Intertwining our fingers, I gave a gentle squeeze. "I'm going home to Hartford. Apparently, my parents miss me or something and begged me to visit for the holidays. Plight of being the only child, I suppose." I huffed out a dramatic sigh.

His warm chuckle rolled over me. "I get it. I'm a part of that club too, but mine are used to me being so far away. Plus, they see me a good bit during the summer, so it evens out with the Speed only visiting Seattle once a year."

"Do you have a summer home there?"

"Sure do." He nodded in confirmation, and I watched as fondness filtered into his gaze at the memory of home. "You'd love it there. Right on the Sound. It's magical watching the sun set over the water. There's nothing like it."

I smiled, hopeful for the future. "Maybe you'll take me there someday."

"I'm counting on it, love."

That term of endearment meant so much more now than the first time I'd heard it fall from his kissable lips. Because I knew that he did love me. And that knowledge warmed me from the inside out.

"So, we're staying cold for Christmas then?" Maddox hedged.

"We?" I raised an eyebrow.

He stuck his lower lip out in a pout and gave me sad puppy-dog eyes. "You're going to leave me here? All alone? On Christmas?"

"Laying it on a little thick, aren't you?" I couldn't help but laugh at his antics.

"Is it working?"

Rolling my eyes, I admitted, "A little."

Maddox grinned wide at his triumph. "Great! Send me your flight details, and I'll see if I can snag a last-minute ticket."

When I cringed, he knew instantly that something was off. "What is it? "

Closing my eyes, I couldn't bear to see his face when I said the words. "I'm driving."

"Are you out of your mind?" His voice rose in volume.

"You know how I feel about flying," I sighed, daring to peek at his reaction. He wasn't so much mad as distraught.

He ran a hand through his thick hair, blowing out a heavy breath. "I get that. But you have to realize how much more dangerous it is to drive right now. You'd be going around Lake Erie in Ohio, so there's lake-effect snow to consider, and then you have to drive through the mountains in Pennsylvania. There are always pile-ups on the interstate in those areas in winter. I thought you were doing better. You haven't had a meltdown since that first trip."

Those were excellent points, and I was forced to admit the real reason I'd elected to drive. "I'm afraid to die alone." My lower lip trembled at the thought.

"Oh, Bristol." Maddox wasted no time in gathering me into a hug so tight it threatened to suffocate me, but I didn't care. He understood when nobody else did, and that was enough to allow the floodgates to open, and I wept into his chest.

"It's okay, babe." He stroked my hair gently, providing comfort. "I'm right here."

Eventually, I managed to calm down to the point where only the occasional hiccup lingered.

"Sorry." I sniffled, wiping my nose with the back of my wrist. "I know it's silly."

"No, it's not," he countered. "Everyone is scared of something. Take me, for example. The idea of you driving cross-country alone in winter and something happening to you is paralyzing, to the point where I'll probably have nightmares tonight." He cupped my face. "I can't lose you, Bristol. It would kill me."

"Really?" It was one thing for him to confess his love, but this went beyond. He was implying that he couldn't live without me.

"What more can I do to show you how much I care?" He tapped my temple with a fingertip. "Words don't seem to be getting through to you up here, so what's it gonna take? You want action? How about a shiny diamond on your left hand?"

My eyes widened, and I slid to the other side of the couch. "That's not funny."

"I wasn't joking."

"How can you be so sure?" I was genuinely curious.

Maddox closed the gap between us. "Because when I'm with you, I'm whole." He grasped my hand, placing it over the center of his chest. "Do you feel that? That's my heart beating for you. Only you, Bristol."

It was a lot to take in, so I dialed it back. "How about we start with the ‘meet the parents' thing first?"

There was a flicker of disappointment in his green eyes, but he covered it quickly. "So, I can come?"

"Why not?" I shrugged. "Maybe I can get away with you being my dad's gift. I'm sure he'll forgive you for being a member of his hometown team's rival the second you set foot over the threshold."

His head dipped to kiss a path along my neck. "Should be easy. I got his daughter to switch allegiances."

"That's not exactly how I remember it happening."

He ignored me, slipping a hand up my shirt and cupping my breast while he thumbed the nipple until I moaned, my head falling back onto the couch cushions.

"Not sure I can use the same tactics, though. "

"You're ridiculous." I sighed as his body covered mine.

When Maddox Sterling wanted something, he got it. I was living proof of that.

We pulled up to my childhood home in a rental SUV on Christmas Eve after a short flight from Indy, seated in first class. Maddox had taken care of all the arrangements after I agreed to let him accompany me home for the holidays. I hadn't alerted my parents of the change of plans, only offering that I was bringing home a guest—a male guest. That meant they weren't expecting us for a couple of hours yet. I hoped the element of surprise would work in our favor and my dad would be forced to act chill.

Yeah, keep dreaming. You brought home a high-profile former player who was once on his most-hated list as a die-hard Comets fan.

"This is it?" Maddox asked from the driver's seat, surveying the modest two-story home.

"Yep." I popped the P.

"It's really close to the airport."

"I'm aware," I deadpanned, my muscles tensing at the reminder of why I hated to fly.

As if on cue, a plane flew overhead on its way to landing at the airport mere miles away, and I jumped.

Maddox gripped my hand, stroking my knuckles with his thumb—as he had the entire flight to Connecticut—to keep me calm. "Does that have something to do with— "

"Yes, and I don't want to rehash it when I have to get on a plane back to Indy in forty-eight hours." My words were clipped, and I realized it was the panic talking. "Sorry," I mumbled.

I heard the creak of leather as Maddox shifted in the driver's seat beside me. His free hand gripped my chin, turning my gaze away from the window until my eyes locked on his.

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked, knowing how much the topic upsets you." When I gave a slight nod to acknowledge his apology, his remorse slipped away, and a corner of his lips turned up. "I only mentioned it because I thought about how many times I've passed over this exact spot multiple times a year for the past decade and a half, never knowing the girl who would light up my world was right here."

Gripping his wrist, I turned my face to kiss the center of his palm. "That's the funny thing about people. Everyone's a stranger until the day your paths cross."

Maddox leaned across the center console, his hand sliding to the back of my neck to haul me in for a kiss. I opened for him instantly, clutching the collar of his wool coat to try and bring him closer. In the back of my mind, I wondered if we could sneak away to a hotel for a few hours since my parents wouldn't be expecting us for a while.

He broke away first, pressing his forehead to mine as our ragged breathing mingled. "I thank God every day that our paths crossed."

I would be in big trouble if he kept talking to me like that. After years of mistreatment by men, I was an absolute sucker for the romantic words freely falling from Maddox's lips. I swear, some days, he put the heroes Dakota wrote to shame.

"We should probably head inside and see your folks."

Letting out a whine, I pouted, "Do we have to? "

Pulling back, he tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear before cupping my cheek. "Aw, come on. They miss their baby girl," he teased with a smile.

"Ugh." I groaned. "They should've had more kids. How did that become my problem?"

"They got it perfect the first time. Why tempt fate?"

I shoved at his face, turning it to the side. "That was probably the cheesiest thing you've ever said. Please go back to the sexy Maddox I love before we go inside."

"Say it again," he growled, green eyes darkening.

"That was cheesy?" I knew what he wanted me to repeat, but I enjoyed messing with him.

"Nuh-uh. The other part," he commanded.

"You're sexy?" I bit my lip hard, fighting back a smile.

"Getting warmer . . ."

"Oh!" I exclaimed dramatically, like a lightbulb had gone off. "I love you?"

"That's the one." Maddox's husky voice had my thighs clenching.

"Have I not said it before? I'm almost certain I have." I tapped my index over my lips in mock thought.

"If we weren't sitting outside your parents' house right now, I'd put you over my knee." There was a note of warning in his tone, and I knew he meant every word.

"That wouldn't stop Sexy Maddox." I winked.

A rumble worked its way up his chest. "Bristol . . ."

He was adorable when he was worked up, but since I'd had my fun, I decided to put him out of his misery.

Slipping from teasing to serious, I reached out to grasp his hand, saying softly, "I love you, Maddox. "

"Fuck." His eyes slid closed, and his head dropped onto the headrest of his seat. "Do you know how long I've waited to hear you say those words?"

"Can't have been more than a couple of months. Unless you've been stalking me, big guy."

Maddox cracked an eye open to glare at me. "Why do you have to go and ruin it?"

I sighed, letting the vulnerability leak through my words. "Because it scares me, okay? The last time I told a guy I loved him, he cast me aside."

His jaw tightened. "I'm not him."

"I know you're not." My gaze slid out the passenger side window, ashamed that my past was tainting our budding relationship.

Maddox's heavy exhale was loud in the small space. "I need you to look at me when I say this, Bristol."

Swallowing, I turned to face him.

"I never knew I could love another person as deeply as I love you. I gladly take on the responsibility of caring for your physical and mental well-being. Your fights are my fights, no questions asked. And I will take it as a personal challenge to make you feel so secure in my love that you never have to wonder if I'm going to choose you day in and day out—because, in my mind, there's no question about it; loving you is the only option."

A tear rolled down my cheek, and I swiped it away quickly, muttering, "I'm gonna look like a hot mess," as more flowed freely.

With a tender smile curving on his lips and pure love shining in his stunning green eyes, Maddox declared, "You've never looked more beautiful."

That statement was a testament to his love, and it set me over the top as a muffled sob sounded from my lips where I'd pressed a hand against them.

Maddox took action, unclipping my seatbelt and hauling me over the console and onto his lap. It was a tight squeeze, my hip jostling against the steering wheel, but I didn't care. He tucked my head into his shoulder and held me while I let the overwhelming force of his love wash over me, truly sinking in for the first time.

Sniffling into his coat, which I was surely ruining with my snot, I asked, "Can we go somewhere for a little while? I can't go in there like this."

"Of course. Whatever you need."

"Thank you," I whispered.

He stroked my hair. "You never need to thank me for taking care of you."

I crawled back to my side of the car, buckled, and we pulled away from my childhood home.

As we drove, I stared in wonder at the man filling out the driver's seat, his eyes darting to mine every few seconds to check on me.

Out of nowhere, it struck me.

What I felt for Nix was infatuation.

With Maddox, I was finally learning what true love was.