Almost Perfect

by Doyle, Dawn

  I balked. “God, you’re impossible, you know that? That was one of my favorites, and now I don’t play it because of you.”

  He beamed, not in the least bit apologetic. “Come on, Kaia, it’s a good track. I can’t help if the beat takes over. I have to move with the rhythm, ya know? I just feel it.” He held his finger up, and glanced to me. “And, I’ve been told I’m a great dancer.” He circled his hips on his seat, demonstrating the moves I couldn’t get out of my mind.

  My eyes fell to that area, whipping back up because, as everybody knows, sweatpants show off certain appendages that I shouldn’t be staring at, and Maddoc’s was definitely on show. I’d tried so hard not to admire his physique, but I was losing.

  “Well…” I didn’t get to finish. Maddoc reached over and pressed play on the display, starting the song again. “Hey!”

  “Leave it,” he said, his commanding tone making my hand pause over my phone. “Seriously, Kaia, just leave this one on.”

  “Why?” I whispered.

  “Because I happen to like it.” His hands gripped the steering wheel tight, his reddened knuckles from fighting paling. That’s when I spotted a light scar on the center one, jagged, and with tiny marks where it looked to have been stitched before.

  The lyrics blasted through the cab, the sexy sounds of the band telling me they want everything, that they’ll do anything… All I could imagine was Maddoc in their place, wanting, needing, taking.

  Stop it, Kaia!

  The song came to a close, and I stopped the rest of my collection before a slow love song could play. Maddoc pressed a few things, a different track not on my list began to play, and when I looked, I saw his phone was connected again.

  We sat in silence for a few minutes, until my phone pinged with an incoming message.

  ‘Are you seriously getting a ride from Maddoc right now?’ Her text followed shocked faces and a laugh emoji.

  ‘Yes. Did Cash tell you what happened?’ I checked to see where Maddoc’s attention was focused, satisfied it was firmly on the road ahead.

  ‘Yeah. Can’t believe somebody would do that. So, how’s the journey so far?’

  That was a question I had trouble answering. It was nerve wrecking, anxiety inducing, and to top it off, the butterflies in my stomach had barely managed to stop their incessant fluttering.

  ‘I treated him to a BSB concert, and I might’ve been off key in more than a few places,’ I typed, adding a wink at the end.

  Cue a string of laughing emoji’s and a fist bump. ‘Haha! Did he get an encore?’

  ‘It’s all quiet right now. I think his ears might just be bleeding. A job well done.’

  ‘Be nice, babe. He’s a good guy, really.’

  Yeah, and hell did I know it.

  ‘He gets an extra point for today—he actually did help me out.’

  ‘See? You can be friends after all.’

  ‘Let’s not jump the gun, Dar. I still have to make the journey back, too, if he survives that long.’

  We texted our goodbye’s and I pocketed my phone, just as Maddoc turned off the highway and into my town. Kistonville was a big place, and where we’d called home for the past ten years. It wasn’t overly fancy, although it was home to many high-ranking business people and lawyers who preferred to live away from the hustle and bustle of the loud city.

  I loved this end of town, and I liked the people. The hiking trails were something else, too, and the second I saw the steep hills in the distance, I smiled.

  “Home sweet home, huh?” Maddoc asked.

  “Yeah,” I gushed. “For the weekend, anyway.”

  “Do you miss it?”

  I turned to him. “Of course. Don’t you miss home, too?”

  “Sometimes. I miss Willow a lot, naturally, but most of it I can live without.”

  My stomach sank all over again. I’d grown comfortable in the truck with him, and Willow had fallen to the back of my mind. That’s what Maddoc did to me. His closeness, his ability to charge the air around me, the inescapable effect he had on my body…

  “You’re happier on the ice,” I stated.

  “I am.”

  I checked the road as we approached my home, and I held my breath as we neared. “Could you stop away from the house?” I asked, and Maddoc narrowed his eyes in my direction.

  “Why?”

  There was no point in hiding it, so I spilled the only parts I needed to. “My brothers might be there already, and if they see me getting out of this truck, they’ll pry, and I’d rather they didn’t.”

  “No problem.” He pulled up next to the curb, roughly twenty feet away from the beginning of the driveway, to the side of tall bushes that concealed us. “This okay?”

  I blew out a breath. “Yes, thank you.” I opened the door and jumped out of the truck, and damn near fell on my face.

  “Careful, it’s high up,” he said, chuckling.

  “No shit,” I grumbled. I moved to the back of the truck as Maddoc got out. I waited while he unlocked the roller. “I can get it.”

  “Sure thing.” He smirked, then held his hand out toward it. “Go right ahead, cupcake.”

  I stood on my tiptoes and could just about see the two black cases inside. I reached over, but I couldn’t get my arm in. “Fuck,” I hissed.

  “Struggling, there, shorty?”

  “Give me a sec.” I strained a little more, stretched to the ends of my limits, but it was no use.

  “Here, I got it.” Maddoc looked right at me, reached in, and lifted out my case, then extended the handle for me, all without breaking eye-contact. “There you go.”

  I scowled, then bit out, “Thank you.”

  Maddoc leaned forward, so much that he was eye level with me. My chest thumped inside, and heat flooded my cheeks. “You’re most welcome, cupcake.”

  “I swear, I’ll hurt you if you insist on calling me that.”

  He laughed, then got back in his truck and started the engine. I walked forward, ready to take a long, hot bath to release my wound muscles.

  Maddoc crawled alongside me, and powered down his window. “I need you to lose that attitude before I pick you back up,” he said with a wink.

  “Attitude?” I screeched.

  Maddoc nodded. “See you soon, Kaia, have a great weekend.” He kissed the air, then took off, gunning down the road while I watched his tail disappear.

  “Ass.”

  “I’m home!” I yelled when I walked through the door. I left my case, and headed down the yellow hallway and into the kitchen, the same as it had been for years. “Mom?” I dropped my keys on the oak counter, and moved to the glass doors, looking through to see my parents lazing on the floral covered loungers next to the oval pool, enjoying the sunshine. I turned the white handle and opened the door. “Hey.”

  My mom’s head whipped around, and she lifted her shades. “Kaia, darling, you’re back early!” she cooed as she got up. “Come on, Steve, our daughter’s home.

  My father snorted as he awoke from his nap. “Huh? Kaia’s back already?”

  My mom’s white dress billowed as she walked toward me, the pink and red flowers on the skirt flowing in the breeze. “Hi, sweetheart,” she said, pulling me into a warm embrace, her slender arms wrapping around me. “I missed you so much, honey.” She pulled back to check me over. “Are you okay? Would you like some food? Drink?”

  “I’m fine, Mom, I’m just a little tired and in need of a bubble bath.”

  “Didn’t hear your car, baby girl,” my dad said, then hugged me, too, his trimmed beard tickling my ear as he did. “That thing would wake the dead.”

  I smiled. “I had a bit of trouble, so a friend gave me a ride.” If I told him my car was purposely sabotaged, he’d hit the roof. I didn’t want to worry them any more than they already were. “It’s getting fixed as we speak.”

  “Well, if you took some of your own advice, sweetheart, you’d get rid of that thing and invest in something bigger and safer.”

&nb
sp; “Dad,” I groaned. “I love my car. and I am taking my advice.” I always did; they did, too. I’d helped them gain a substantial amount of interest by showing them how to invest their capital in high interest accounts, and switching to new ones when banks offered great deals. Even swapping their energy and service providers every fiscal year had saved them a ton of money over the years. “I’ve weighed up the extra costs for a new car versus keeping the one I have. Although running it would be about the same, I can’t bring myself to waste money on an item that’ll drop a significant amount in value the second it leaves the forecourt.” I shrugged. “My classic is worth around twenty-nine thousand dollars—more than double what I paid for it, which is a great return if I choose to sell it someday.”

  My dad pulled me back in. “Okay, okay, I’ll ease up,” he said with a laugh. “I’d just prefer you to be in something a little more sturdy, even if it’s a sound investment.” He winked.

  “It’s fine, I promise.”

  “Is Daria back, too?” my mom asked with a smile. “We should have a girls’ day at the spa.”

  I shook my head before she could make any more plans. “No, she’s still on campus with Cash.” Heat rose to my face against my will. “Uh, it was Cash’s friend, actually, that dropped me.” They eyed each other cautiously. “What?”

  “Nothing,” my mom said with another smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Anyway, you go and unpack, and I’ll make us all coffee.”

  “Good to have you back, sweetheart, even it’s only for a couple of days.”

  “Thanks, Dad.”

  My room looked the same as it always did. Beige carpet, plain wooden desk with matching chair, and my bed under the arched window. I fingered the thin, white drapes that were just for decoration, then held the stringed beads to lower the white blind to give me privacy.

  I lifted my case onto my bed, careful not to mark the fresh, light-blue covers with the wheels.

  “Time to relax in the tub.”

  “What. The. Hell?” I asked in disbelief.

  I gripped the towel around my chest as I stared down at the contents of the case that were obviously not mine. Jeans that went almost up to my chest, and shirts that were four sizes too big. I held the gray V-neck sweater to my face and took a deep breath, smelling the same fragrance I’d been confined in. His green hoodie was next, on top of a black polo and sweatpants.

  Maddoc’s things.

  I lifted some more, and found smaller items of different colors. Black, gray, and white. I pinched the elastic with my finger and thumb and gently eased it out of the case, holding it at arms’ length. A designer name was branded around the band—pricey, too. Fuck, seeing these things, there was no way I could look at Maddoc again without wondering if they matched what he was wearing.

  Yeah, because thinking about his underwear, and him in it, isn’t creepy as hell, right?

  God, yes, but I couldn’t help it.

  I picked up my phone from my desk, and selected the missed call, adding to my contacts, then let it ring. “Uh, hey, Maddoc?” I asked, staring at the boxers while heat flooded my face.

  “Hey, there, cupcake, leaving so soon?” he asked, humor lacing his tone.

  “No. Uh, you switched our cases,” I said, looking down on the pile of clothes folded neatly over his footwear.

  “I did? Shit, sorry, I guess I got them mixed up. They look the same.”

  “Uh, yeah, so I’m gonna need it back.” Luckily, I still had clothes in my closet, sure, but I would’ve preferred the newer ones in my case.

  “No problem. I’ll be right over.”

  “No,” I rushed out. “I’ll come to you. I’ll borrow my dad’s car and come get it.” There was no way I could have him come to me; I could hear the twins’ voices reverberating through the house. “Just let me know the address, and I’ll meet you outside.”

  “Are you sure? It’s no trouble.”

  “I’m sure,” I whispered when I heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. “I gotta go. Text me the address.” I hung up before Maddoc could respond. I rushed to place everything back where I’d found them, and zipped up the case, trying not to trap Maddoc’s clearly expensive clothes.

  I rushed into my closet to dress, finding denim colored leggings and a black, Hollister T-shirt with holes for my thumbs. I snatched my hair up onto the top of my head, the strands in disarray, and secured it with a black, hair tie.

  “Hey, baby sister!” my brothers said in unison the second I exited my room.

  I closed my door behind me, and took in their identical faces, their subtle differences standing out to me. “Hey, guys.” They pulled me in for a bone-crushing hug.

  Daryl looked at the case next to me, his eyebrows pulling together, making the scar through the left one more noticeable. “Going somewhere?”

  “Are you ditching us right after getting here?” Sean asked while brushing back his hair. The three of us shared the same color, the same as our mom. His blue eyes, that we all inherited from our dad, were full of suspicion.

  “No. I just have to run an errand. I’ll be at the game, I promise. My friend and I got our cases mixed up, and I’m just going to switch them back.”

  “What friend?” Daryl asked.

  “Where do they live?” Sean added.

  “Oh, nobody you know,” I replied to Daryl, then turned to answer Sean, “and a few towns over. I won’t be long—I promise.”

  Before they could question me further, I picked up the keys to my dad’s bright red Cherokee and rushed out of the house.

  Chapter 10

  Maddoc

  “Damn it, fuck!” I yelled when I’d hung up from talking to Cash. Coach had been ranting, yet again, about the game, saying that Trent was going to be filing a complaint against us for poor conduct on the ice. It was all bullshit. He threw the first punch, he was the one who threw insults around that had nothing to do with any of the players. If I could’ve gotten away with hurting him more than I had, I would’ve taken the fucking shot. I just hoped the Jets didn’t hold that against me. If they dropped me before I even graduated, my mom would be all over that shit.

  ‘You think hockey is going to give you a lucrative career? It’s not, Maddoc. Five, maybe ten years, then that’s it. Your music career has no end if you’re good, and you are. You just don’t have the dedication to achieve greatness because you’re wasting your hopes on a game.’

  I gripped my hair, close to pulling it out by the root. I had no idea what to do, but there was nothing I could until I got back to campus. I couldn’t leave now because I’d promised Willow I’d be here for the weekend, and I also had other things on my mind. That being Kaia Levine.

  I scrubbed my hand over my hair and down my face, then checked the clock. “Ten minutes.” That’s the time left it’d take for Kaia to reach me, and I didn’t know if I was ready to see her. My dick had been at a permanent half mast from the second I’d sat in my truck with her beside me, and even though I’d recently whacked off to thoughts of her, I still couldn’t get her out of my fucking head.

  “Are you okay?” Willow signed, her concern showing, even through her hands.

  “Yeah, I’m good,” I replied, signing back, trying not to worry her. “Kaia’s gonna be here any minute, though.” I surveyed the living room I spent most of my time in when I was at home, making sure there was no mess, or any sign anything was up. “And, just a head’s up, I’m not completely sure, but I have a suspicion she thinks you’re my girlfriend.”

  Willow laughed. “Why would she think that? Doesn’t she know who I am?”

  I shook my head and grinned mischievously. “I think she assumed it, and I didn’t correct her. That’s why I sent the text—she wanted to know you wouldn’t be angry I was with her.”

  She shoved my shoulder, making me grin. “You can be such an ass sometimes, Maddoc.”

  “I know, but I’m hilarious enough to get away with it.” I picked up the burgundy cushions on the black sofa, and fluf
fed them up.

  Willow’s hands moved quickly. “Not always. Not everything’s a joke, especially to those who aren’t aware there’s a punchline.”

  “I’m sure she’ll see the funny side when she gets here.” I moved the sports magazines to the shelves next to the flatscreen TV, and went to my room.

  Kaia’s case was still on my bed, open, her clothes and underwear right there, tempting me. A gray and black checkered shirt was on top, and denim shorts underneath.

  I suppose I could…

  I took them gently out of the case and placed them on my king-sized bed, careful not to ruffle them, and my eyes landed on some lacy items.

  Don’t do it, Maddoc. Don’t. Do. It.

  I must’ve been high, because I did the opposite of what my head was telling me. With my fingertips, I plucked them from where they’d been stuffed down the sides.

  “Holy shit,” I whispered in awe. Sexy as fuck panties with a tiny white bow on the front of swirly black fabric, and a bra to match. It wasn’t just any bra, though, it was bigger than anything I’d seen up close. “Jesus Christ.” I bit down on my lip and stifled a whimper.

  Great, now my dick was rising up again, thinking of Kaia wearing these and nothing else.

  I pushed them back in their place and when I did, my fingers met something solid. I pulled it out and held it up. “Interesting.” I chuckled to myself at the emergency clown nose I gave her, and wondered why she’d packed it.

  I looked up when Willow walked into my room.

  “I hope I didn’t catch you doing what I think you were doing.”

  “Depends,” I replied with a shrug. “What do you think I was doing?”

  Willow looked pointedly at me. “Going through her things.”

  “In that case, I wasn’t.” When she crossed her arms, I sighed. “Fine, just the top layer, but that’s it.”

  She narrowed her eyes and signed, “No wonder you infuriate the poor girl.”

  I placed my hand over my heart and gasped in shock, mocking her. “I do nothing of the sort.” I grinned, then signed. “Just, please, when she gets here, don’t mention her brothers, okay? I don’t want to scare her off.”