Chapter 17

17

Ethan

I wake with blonde hair strewn across my face. And the sexiest woman I've ever known claiming almost every inch of the bed for herself. It's beyond me how someone so tiny manages to spread herself across a bed like Maddie has.

She stirs when I reach for my phone on the nightstand, uttering words that are completely indecipherable and repositioning herself so her body is now strewn across me.

I stare at her with a shake of my head. If she wasn't so damn cute, I'd push her off, but the truth of the matter is I fucking like her there.

My phone tells me it's just after eight a.m. It also alerts me to the fact my father has sent a text.

Dad: When will you be home? I have a proposal for you to consider.

"Fuck," I mutter as I scrub a hand down my face. Dad's proposals always involve me joining the family business. The last thing I'm interested in doing.

Maddie lifts her face when I swear. "Is everything okay?" She's groggy with sleep, disoriented.

I cup the back of her head. "Yeah. Sorry I woke you."

As she blinks herself awake, she puts her hands to my chest and rolls off me. I miss her warmth instantly. "God, sorry! Did I sleep on you all night?"

"No, but you are a bed hog, Miller."

Her eyes go wide. "Take that back."

I chuckle. "I never take back the truth."

"Ugh. You suck." She flings the bed covers off and leaves to go into the bathroom and I'm helpless but to stare at her naked ass until I can't see it anymore.

Sex with Maddie was the best sex of my life. And goddamn, I wish it wasn't because now I want a whole lot more of it, and I swore to myself that nothing would happen until she'd worked through her feelings over her breakup.

My phone vibrates with a text, interrupting my thoughts over Maddie, her ass, and the sex we had.

Callan: I just caught you on the news, Ethan. Looks like a rowdy road trip.

Gage: Fair warning, Dad's already called asking if I've heard anything from you about it.

Bradford: He called me too. You okay, Ethan?

Olivia: Please let me know if you guys need any PR advice. I'm sure Madeline is all across this, but just in case, I'm here for you.

I'm guessing those assholes from last night posted their videos of Maddie and me outside Dan's bar.

"You're looking at your phone like you want to murder it," Maddie says, coming back into the room, distracting the hell out of me thanks to the fact she's naked.

My eyes linger on her breasts, and I think about fucking her again while also fighting with myself over not deepening whatever this is with her yet.

"Don't look at me like that," she says in that sultry voice of hers that comes out when she's turned on. That voice could convince me to do almost anything.

"It's fucking hard not to," I rasp, moving to the other side of the bed so I can sit on the edge of it and pull her onto my lap.

She slides onto me with an easy smile and then moans when I cup her breast and pinch her nipple. All my good intentions not to start something with her fly out the window when her pussy rubs against my hard dick. Before I can stop myself, I'm pulling her in for a kiss.

"Ethan." She attempts to push me away. When I place a hand to her back to keep her close, she presses against my chest and says, "My morning breath is so bad. I'm not kissing you."

I don't ease my grip on her. "I don't give a fuck about morning breath."

She doesn't remove her hands from my chest, and I figure pretty quickly that we're gonna need to brush our teeth before she'll let me do what I want to her.

Letting her go, I jerk my chin at her. "Let's move this to the bathroom. We'll brush our teeth and then we'll get in the shower."

Heat fills her eyes. "So bossy."

I move in close like I'm going to kiss her. "Now, or else I'm taking what I want here in this bed."

Her phone rings and she glances at it briefly before shifting off me and ignoring the call.

She's halfway toward the bathroom when it starts up again.

"You gonna get that?" I ask, following her.

With a shake of her head, she says, "No, I want to brush my teeth so I can have your dick."

"You've got a filthy mouth, Miller." I hook my arm around her waist so I can pull her in close and growl against her ear, "I want it around my dick."

"What will I get out of that?"

"I seem to recall you've already received some orgasms. How about we call it even once you've blown me?"

She turns and loops her arms around my neck as her phone starts ringing again. Her eyes hold a sexy promise I want her to make good on. "So, just to get this straight, I owe you for those orgasms?"

My lips quirk. "You're the one who asked what you'd get out of a blowjob, so it seems I'm the one being asked for payment here."

Her body presses to mine, and I swear she almost kisses me. I fucking wish she would. "I like waking up with you," she murmurs.

I like many things about Madeline, but it might be her pure honesty that I like the most. Simple truths like the one she just gave mean a lot to me. The women I've dated never shared this kind of honesty so easily. I've always had to play a lot of games and jump through many hoops, and I'm damn tired of that shit.

"I like waking up to you sleeping on me."

Her smile is broad. And then, I receive a roll of her eyes. "Smart-ass."

I let her think I'm teasing and when her phone rings for the fourth time, I remember the texts I received about hitting the news with her. "I think you should take that call. We made the news overnight. It might be about that."

Her easy smile disappears but she doesn't let me go. "I wanted to stay in our bubble for a bit longer." She sighs and then removes her arms from around my neck before reaching for her phone.

"Hey, Leigh," she says, not an ounce of enthusiasm in her voice.

I let her take the call in peace and head into the bathroom to take a shower. Something tells me there's no blowjob in my future.

When I emerge from the bathroom with a towel around my waist, Maddie's wearing her pajamas and is sitting on her bed reading something on her phone.

"How bad is it?" I ask, coming to stand in front of her.

She looks up at me and where I assume to see distress of some kind, I see only exhaustion. And not the kind from little sleep. Standing, she passes me her phone. "Take a read."

@thetea_gasp

Bestie, great news: @madelinemontana was not kidnapped by a serial killer! She showed up on socials last night and let's just say, girl made a statement of her own and we were here for every word. After we fell off our chair reading it, we gathered ourselves up and mentally prepared for the next shot to be fired in this saga. We seriously thought it would be from @tuckerbrandt but it came from OOMF who spotted our girl out in the wild. And bestie, we are shook! How did we not know that our girl Maddie is friends with @ethanblack #gasp They got themselves into a little altercation at a bar last night, and it has to be said that Ethan BMS when he went all OTT protective over our girl. We stan a protector king. And we're so ready for a new love story to follow. Tucker Who?

"BMS? OOMF? OTT?" I place her phone in her hand. "What the hell do all those letters mean and why the fuck can't people just use plain English?"

Amusement forces its way past her exhaustion. "Oh, grandpa, we need to get you educated so you can keep up with this century."

A series of text messages hit her phone, ending her moment of reprieve. The way her shoulders slump sparks regret in me.

"I'm sorry I caused this for you."

She shakes her head. "This isn't on you. And I have zero regrets about last night, so please don't think I do."

"But?" Because there is a but here. I'm just not seeing it yet.

She sighs. "It's time to face the music. Darren's been blowing up my phone this morning, making all kinds of threats on behalf of Tucker, and my label has requested a meeting."

"You're going home."

"Yes. Unfortunately."

The disappointment I feel over that is far greater than it should be after only knowing this woman for three days, but then I've never believed that the length of time knowing someone can predict the depth of feelings you have for them. Emotional connection is not a fucking scientific equation, as much as some people in my life would have me believe.

"I'll drive you."

"No, you've already done so much for me. I can't keep taking from you."

"It's a three-hour drive, Miller. That's hardly taking anything from me."

She moves into me, smiling gently. Putting her hands to my chest, she says, "You're such a giver, Ethan. I've never met anyone as generous and supportive as you." She brings one hand to my jaw. "And so selfless." Her lips brush over mine, lingering for nowhere near long enough. "I don't ever want to take advantage of you. Leigh has a car waiting downstairs for me."

I'm still processing the speed of all this as she showers, dresses, and packs her suitcase. I didn't fly home on Saturday intending on spending this week road-tripping with a woman I just met, but here I am, and now I have to rearrange my thoughts over what I imagined might happen.

"Okay, I think I have everything," she says, surveying the room, hand on her suitcase that sits next to her ready to go.

"If I find anything you forgot, I'll send it to you." Or drive it, her desire for me not to do that be damned.

Her gaze settles on me, calm in the storm of emotions I think she's probably feeling. "Thank you."

We turn silent for a beat, just watching the other. I wonder if her thoughts are as deafening as mine right now. We started something here and the abruptness of the ending is fucking with me.

The silence is broken when Maddie's phone rings. If I could throw that phone out the window, I would. Her expression says the same.

Pulling a face, she apologizes before answering the call. It's her assistant and I get the gist they've got a busy day of work to get through once Maddie arrives back in Nashville.

After ending the call, she releases a breath. "I have to go." She says this like it's the last thing she wants to do.

Not wanting to keep her from her work, I move into action, taking hold of her suitcase and bag. "I'll walk you down."

"You don't need to do that, Ethan."

My eyes bore into hers. "Let me do this one last thing for you, Miller. Besides, there could be fans downstairs now that they all know you're in Louisville."

She doesn't argue with me, and we ride the elevator down to the hotel lobby, silent, both lost in our thoughts. Thankfully, there are no fans or paparazzi to harass her, and we make our way out to her waiting car without any problems.

Once I've got her bags in the trunk, I meet her gaze. "Let me know when you're home safely."

Her eyes smile just as much as her mouth does and she moves into me, gripping my shirt. "I'm so glad you were stuck in that traffic on Saturday."

I try like hell not to put my hands on her but fail. I've got one hand in her hair and the other around her waist before I can stop myself. And as much as I try to keep things light, I fail at that too. "Last night was nowhere near enough for me, Maddie. I fucking hate one-night stands. I know you have to go and handle your business, but you need to know I'm not happy about it."

The smile in her eyes shifts into something more. Something intense and searing. She lets go of my shirt to bring her hands to my neck. Then, gripping me tightly, possessively, she pulls my mouth down to hers and shows me that she feels the same way.

She keeps hold of me after she drags her mouth from mine. "I've never had a one-night stand and I don't want to start now, Black."

"Thank fuck." The way I feel that in my gut is something new to me.

With one last kiss, I open her door and make sure she's settled in safely before saying goodbye. I then watch her drive away, wondering what the fuck we're getting ourselves into here. Maddie lives an entirely different life to mine. In Nashville. And she's in the middle of a shitstorm that will demand all her attention. But hell if I can even begin to bring myself around to not pursuing her. I've never wanted something more than this. I want to see what Maddie and I could have.