Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Five

Maddy

" Q uick," I hissed at Zak. "Get in."

He paused in the doorway, glancing up the stairs. "I'm not sure this is a good idea."

I shook my head. "I thought you were a man, not a mouse?"

Zak frowned. "I'm not a mouse, but your dad won't be happy."

"No, you're not a mouse, you're a chicken."

Zak gasped and then grinned at me, grabbing my hand and pulling against his chest. "Well, that's rude." His lips found mine and he gave me the softest of kisses.

I could have easily got lost in it, but the cold air from the open door brought me back to my senses. Pulling away, I pushed at his chest and closed the front door. "Get in the lounge before you wake him up."

His eyes darted towards the stairs again and then I zipped into the lounge after Zak who was standing in front of the fireplace. His hands were deep in the pockets of his sweatpants, and he was looking nervous.

"He's fast asleep, Zak."

"How do you know?" he asked, looking up at the ceiling.

"He's snoring. Plus, if he wasn't and had even an inkling that you were in the house, he'd be in here now."

"What about Maya? Is she still here?"

Nodding, I grabbed his hand and pulled him down to the sofa. "Yeah, they went to bed about an hour ago. Separately."

"And you haven't caught him sneaking into her bedroom?" He shrugged his denim jacket off and placed it on the arm of the sofa—folded neatly and placed precisely, making me grin.

"No, I'm pretty sure there was quite a lingering kiss on the landing, but they went to their own rooms and closed the doors firmly behind them. Dad's is next to mine, so I heard him tossing and turning for about half an hour, but now he's definitely snoring." I pointed upwards. "His floorboards squeak, so if he gets out of bed, I'll hear him."

When Zak had agreed to come over after we got back from dinner, I hadn't been sure that he was being serious. When I went to my room and called him, I'd half expected him to laugh and tell me it was a bad idea. He didn't, though. He'd sounded excited and said he would get there as soon as he could. As soon as he'd finished his homework. That excitement seemed to have been replaced with fear.

Zak blew out a breath and sat back against the sofa. He lifted his hand and tugged on the end of my hair plait.

"I like your hair like this."

The braid went from the front, around the side and then to the ends of my hair, with it hanging down my back. I often wore it like that for bed, especially if I wanted it to be wavy the next day.

Smiling, I flopped back next to him. "Finish your homework?"

"Of course, and if I don't get an A then there's something wrong with the world."

"Confident much."

"It's part of my natural charm." He pulled a little harder on my hair, making me topple towards him. I put out a hand to brace myself against the sofa so that I didn't smash my face into his.

"Hiya," he said. His lips were inches from mine and curled up into a cute grin.

"Hey," I said, aware that I sounded extremely breathy.

"How was your dinner?" His finger stroked down my cheek, along my jaw and then dragged slowly along my bottom lip. "Did you enjoy it? Do you like her?"

"Dinner was good, I had a burger. I really enjoyed it and yes, I like her a lot. She seems to really like Dad, and he definitely likes her. He might already be in love with her to be honest."

"Really?" he asked, raising a brow. "That was quick."

"She's gorgeous," I admitted. "Stylish and gorgeous. I think I might be a bit in love with her, too."

Zak chuckled, putting an arm around my waist and pulling me towards him. I knew exactly what he wanted, so I straddled him, aware that I was wearing a thin pair of leggings with a crop top and the fact there was a definite bulge in his sweatpants.

"I missed you today," he said, licking his lips and letting his tongue linger on his top one.

"You saw me in maths."

"Yeah, but we didn't really get chance to talk, seeing as Collard set us that shitty test. It was bloody hard."

As he cupped my cheek, his ring felt cool against my heated skin. The hardness in his trousers. His accent. His perfectly straight, perfectly white teeth. It all made me feel like the air had rushed from my lungs. Like I couldn't breathe unless I kissed him, so I smashed my lips against his.

Zak gripped my bum, pulling me towards him so my core was tight against his erection. I rolled my hips enjoying the sensation of the friction, going a little faster when it elicited a groan from the gorgeous boy beneath me.

As his tongue swept erotically against mine, I tasted mint with a tiny hint of cigarette, and I didn't think there was anything better. My hands went to his biceps as I used them to steady myself while I continued to thrust. They bulged beneath the short sleeves of his white t-shirt, my fingers gripping the hard muscle as I gained traction.

"Maddy," he urged, moving his hands to my hips. "Shit."

The way he groaned out the word told me that he was as heated as I was. It also told me that we needed to stop. As much as I knew Zak would be my first, I wasn't ready for it to be while my dad was sleeping upstairs. My dad and his new girlfriend.

Zak took control of the situation and lifted me from his lap, placing me onto the seat next to him. We were both panting, and I knew that my face was flushed.

"We need to calm down," he said, pulling my legs so that they were over his lap. He grinned at me and ran a hand down my calf. "I need to calm down."

There was still a bulge showing in his sweatpants, and I could feel myself pulsing, desperate for him to touch me, knowing it would be like pressing a detonator button. Instead, I blew out a long breath and concentrated on bringing myself back down to earth.

"Seems like you missed me today, too," he said with a laugh.

"I might have been staring at your back instead of concentrating on my test." As Zak's hand moved up and down my leg it was hard not to jump him again. When I squeezed my thighs together, Zak must have seen the movement because his hand stopped moving and he gripped my leg instead. It was like he was hanging onto his temptation by his fingertips.

"Looking at my Oddballs undies again were you?"

"No," I scoffed. I absolutely was. Today's were blue and red stripes.

"Liar." He threaded his fingers with mine and sighed. "I really should go."

"You've only been here fifteen minutes."

He grinned. "But so worth it." I rolled my eyes. "I know it's been a flying visit, babe, but I just wanted to see you. Make sure you were okay."

My stomach swooped at him calling me babe. I'd always thought I'd hate for a boy to call me that. That it would be too icky, but Zak saying it was not icky at all.

"If only my dad had gone to bed earlier."

"Yeah, if only. It's almost half twelve and we've got to get up for school."

"Where do your mum and dad think you are by the way?" I asked, twisting the silver ring on his thumb.

"In bed, I suppose. They both go to bed about nine-thirty and get up at six every day."

"Would they worry, though, if they got up and you weren't in bed?"

"I left a note on my pillow to say I'd gone out for a drive."

I blinked. "And they won't worry about that?"

Zak cleared his throat as he shook his head. "Nope, they're used to me going out for a drive. I don't always sleep brilliantly."

I didn't know that about him, but then I wasn't sure how I would. Our sleeping patterns weren't something we'd discussed.

As if on cue, I yawned, and Zak smiled. "Bedtime, I think."

"I think you're right." I dropped my feet to the floor and sat forward, on the edge of the sofa.

Our eyes trained on each other we couldn't help but smile

"I should go," he said, with a hint of disappointment.

"I suppose you should." I was just as frustrated with the fact that he needed to leave. He was right, though, we had school in the morning, and the longer he stayed the more likely we'd get found out. "I'll see you out."

It was at that moment that I heard the floorboards move up above us. Instantly, both our heads swung back to look up.

"Ah fuck," Zak groaned. "He's awake."

Panic stricken, I stood up and pulled at his arm. "Go out through the kitchen. Quick." Snatching up his jacket, I thrust it at him and then pushed him towards the door into the hallway. As I opened it, a light came on at the top of the stairs from the bathroom, so I pushed Zak down the hall into the kitchen, rushing past him to the back door. The key wasn't in it.

"Shit. Where's the key?"

As my eyes scoured the kitchen counter, I heard a tread on the stairs. Dad was coming down.

"Here." Zak pushed past me and shoved a key in the lock, turning it and then yanking the door open.

"Quick."

He practically jumped out and then just as I was about to close the door on him, he leaned back in and kissed me hard on the lips.

"Night, gorgeous. Sleep tight. I'll message you when I get home."

The moment I turned the lock and threw the key on the side, Dad stepped inside the kitchen.

"What are you doing up?" he asked, rubbing at his chest and yawning.

"I just finished reading, so thought I'd get a drink before I go to sleep."

He peered at the clock on the cooker. "It twenty to one, Mads. You should have been asleep ages ago. I don't like you reading this late at night."

"Why are you up?"

"Same. Wanted a drink." He reached up into the cupboard for a glass and passed it to me and then took another one out for himself.

I ran the cold water tap and filled the glass, passed it to Dad and he handed me the other which I also filled. I turned, expecting Dad to be turning to go back upstairs to bed, but he was perched on the edge of the kitchen table.

"What?" I asked.

"Just wondering what you think of Maya."

"Straight to the point, Dad." I giggled and took a sip of the water that I really didn't want. I could still taste Zak and wasn't sure that I wanted to wash it away.

"You know me, sweetheart, I don't like beating around the bush. So?"

I rolled my eyes. "I like her. She's lovely, really lovely and I think she likes you, a lot."

His smile was optimistic. "You think?"

I patted his shoulder. "Yes, Dad, I do. So, stop worrying." He grinned broadly. "You can go back to bed now and sleep soundly."

He narrowed his eyes on me. "You're a little shit, you know that."

"Yep."

He pushed off the table, wrapped an arm around my neck, and kissed the top of my head. "Right, bed. And no more reading."

As he pushed me towards the hallway, I felt a little bit of guilt at having sneaked Zak into the house, but it had been worth it, even for just fifteen minutes.

As we reached the landing, I turned and kissed his cheek. "Night, Dad," I whispered, not wanting to wake Maya.

"Night, sweetheart." He padded towards his room, and I noticed that he paused for a split second outside the door where his girlfriend was sleeping. He gave his head a quick shake and then moved past.

It seemed that both the Newman's had it bad, and I didn't know who I was more excited for—me or Dad.