“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 probablyhave 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.
