by S. E. Brown
“Oh, buddy. I can handle whatever you wanna throw at me,” Madison responded with attitude.
Laughing, Declan nodded. “This is gonna be fun.”
They had finished their kick work when the instructor gave them a minute to catch their breaths and partner up.
Madison turned to look at Declan and winked. “You ready?” She quickly removed her gloves and tossed them to the floor, out of the way, and slid the pads over her hands. “Gimme what you got, Healy.”
Declan laughed at her use of his last name. “Alright. Let’s go, Quinn.” He got into his stance and slowly started to send jabs and hooks to the pads.
Madison sensed he was taking it easy, probably afraid of hurting her. “Come on. I know you’ve got more than that. You’re not going to break me.”
He looked at her for a brief moment then sent another jab into the pad, this one much harder than the previous.
“Better,” she coaxed.
The instructor called out combination after combination. They worked well together, and Madison was quick to react to which punch he was throwing.
“Alright, switch!” the instructor yelled over the music.
“You ready?” Madison grinned playfully.
“Bring it on, Babe.”
She tried to ignore the flutter she felt in her stomach at his use of “Babe.”
Madison shifted her feet and slowly built her intensity. She wasn’t pissed off this time, so there was no particular face on the pads.
“Come on, keep going. Move your feet,” Declan coached. “That’s it.”
As the instructor called the last combination, Madison put everything she had into it and punched out the last hook.
“Nice!” Declan exclaimed, ripping off the pads. “You’ve got a great left hook.”
“What can I say?” she answered while trying to catch her breath. “I’m a lefty.”
By the time class was over, they were both drenched and completely energized. Admittedly, Madison’s hands were a little sore. Not only were her palms red from the impact of Declan’s punches, but her knuckles were looking bruised. It felt great while she was doing it but her knuckles were going to be a light shade of purple by the next day.
“So, what’d you think? You like the class?” she asked as they walked back to the locker rooms.
“Yeh. I have a couple of things I want to talk to Michael about, but I think he ran the class really well.”
“Good,” she smiled. “Meet you at your office?”
“Okay,” he answered as he swatted her ass with a towel and turned to walk into the men’s locker room.
“Hey!” she turned and smiled at him.
Guys had it so easy sometimes. Declan walked in, shucked his clothes and made his way to the showers. Within ten minutes he was clean, smelled great, and was wearing dry clothes.
Madison, on the other hand, tried to wrangle her hair into some semblance of order, wipe off as much sweat as she could and rinse her face with water before meeting up with Declan again.
“Seriously? I look like a drowned rat and here you are, all fresh and bushy-tailed,” she commented upon seeing him.
“Bushy-tailed?” Declan asked with a chuckle. He thought she looked absolutely beautiful.
Madison looked down at herself and shook her head.
Oh well…
“I was thinking of going to shoot some pool tonight. Obviously I need to go home and shower first. You want to join me?” she asked, once again not realizing her mistake.
“First of all,” he said as he wrapped an arm around her and placed a kiss on her neck, “you look great. Second of all, I already took a shower.”
She slapped him playfully on the arm, rolling her eyes. “That wasn’t what I meant.”
“I’d love to shoot pool,” he smirked, changing the subject. “How much time to do you need?”
Madison pulled out her phone to check the time. It was just after six. “Want to pick me up at seven-thirty? That should be enough time to get home and hop in the shower.”
“Sure thing,” he smiled. “I’ll wrap up some things here and see you in a while.”
Madison smiled back at him and leaned in for a quick kiss before heading to her car.
Chapter 7
It was seven-thirty, right on the button, when Declan rang the doorbell to Madison’s house.
“Come on in. The door’s open.”
It was Madison’s voice, but it had come from above him. He walked back down the steps and looked up, just barely making out her face in the upstairs window. “Do you always leave your front door unlocked?”
“Only when I’m expecting company,” she answered with a smile in her voice and lowered the window with a thud.
Declan walked back up the porch steps and opened the door, letting himself in. As the door closed behind him, he looked up the stairs to find Madison hiding behind a wall.
“I’m really sorry. I got distracted when I got home.”
Noting her wet hair and the towel he could barely see but knew was wrapped around her body, he didn’t say anything. He just looked at her and drank in the sight.
“Help yourself to a beer,” Madison said with a grin. “I shouldn’t be more than fifteen minutes.” Then she disappeared around the wall.
Declan snapped out of the spell seeing Madison in a towel had put him in when he heard the hair dryer turn on from upstairs.
He walked through the living room and into the kitchen, grabbed a beer from the fridge and opened it. Having sat most of the day, he chose to walk around her living room, perusing the art on display. There were a couple of paintings that had wild colors and seemed abstract in nature and several pictures in frames. He noted pictures from Ryan and Cody’s wedding, including one with just the bride and groom, and one with Madison and Ryan. Next to it was the photo they had taken at the concert in Nashville when the guys crashed the girls’ party. Ryan and Cody, Mac and Riley (Cody’s brother and sister-in-law), Luke (Cody’s friend), Abby (Mac’s sister), Madison, Declan and Chase Rice were all in the picture.
“Okay, who wants a beer?”
When everyone answers her affirmatively, I turn to the red head and offer to help. “Looks like you’re going to have your hands full. I’ll come with you.”
“Thanks.”
“I’m Declan. You must be Madison, right?”
“I am. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“You, too. Let’s go get those drinks.”
Madison nods and I follow her to the bar, making use of the time to check her out, and man, do I enjoy the view. Her ass looks killer in that faded denim.
I’ll have to give Cody shit later. He mentioned Madison would be here but forgot to say anything about the red curls and ocean blue eyes she had, never mind her long, athletic legs.
Why have I never met this girl before?
As we wait for a bartender, I turn to face her. “That was a really nice thing you did, having Cody at the concert with Ryan.”
“Anything for my girl. Although if you think that’s nice, wait until you see what I have planned a little later.”
“Oh, really?”
“Well, Ryan’s my best friend and we’re celebrating her last weekend as a single woman. And she loves, loves, loves Chase Rice. And … one of my friends from middle school is a songwriter in this town with a lot of connections. You do that math.”
“I’d say whatever you have planned could be just about anything.”
Madison grins and winks at me. “It’ll be fun, that’s for sure.”
The bartender arrives and I order the beers.
“Don’t worry though,” she adds. “I know Ryan pretty well. She’s not as … crazy as me.”
“Crazy, huh? Anything we should be concerned about?”
“Naw, there just isn’t much I won’t try. At least once, anyway.”
“Hmm…” I grin, liking the sound of that.
It was about halfway through the show when the singer called t
he happy couple to the stage to sing one of Ryan’s favorite songs. She was smiling from ear to ear as they danced. It was a perfect moment. And after the show, Chase came down to wish them congratulations again and get a picture with the group. This picture.
Smiling at the memory, Declan took another pull off his beer and turned to a part of the wall that seemed to be sectioned off. There was a piece of art with a picture next to it. The art piece had funky writing and bright colors, although it seemed to fit perfectly in the room. It read:
“Today you are you, that is truer than true.
There is no one alive who is youer than you.”
- Dr. Seuss
Next to it was a picture of Madison in a graduation cap and gown with a UNC sign on one side of her and an older woman on the other. Madison had a huge smile on her face, and the older woman, not looking at the camera but instead at the graduate, was smiling and beaming with pride.
Declan hadn’t gotten any warm fuzzy feelings when Madison talked about her family the couple times they were mentioned, so he was curious who the woman was. Her mother? Grandmother?
“That’s Ellie.”
Madison’s voice came from behind Declan. It was soft and warm, very different than when she had talked about her family.
He turned to face her and took in her outfit. “Hi.” She was wearing a pair of very worn jeans and a sweater, but it was the pair of Chucks on her feet he liked the most. “That was quick.”
Madison leaned forward and gave him a soft kiss hello. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“It’s not a problem. I was just enjoying the pictures you have around the room.”
Madison smiled as she looked at the art she had on display, but Declan noticed a change in her eyes when she got to the picture of Ellie.
“Everything okay?” Declan asked, genuinely concerned.
Shifting her eyes back to Declan seemed to take the sadness right out of her expression. “Yep. You want to go shoot some pool?”
“Yeh, let’s go.” He smiled as he raised the bottle to his mouth and finished what was left of his beer. He walked to the kitchen, set the bottle on the counter, and took her hand as they headed for the door. He cataloged “Ellie” as someone he wanted to ask her about later.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
After a short ride, they pulled up to a building that looked nothing like Madison had imagined. When Declan asked if she had a place in mind, she offered to let him choose, expecting another dive bar of sorts. Instead, it was a large, bright, and clean establishment with pool tables lining the walls on one side and a restaurant on the other.
“Well, this is not what I expected.” Madison looked around as she walked further inside.
“No?”
Madison shook her head. “No. I expected another dive, like the bar you took me to the other night.”
“Oh, I know a few of those places, too. Maybe I just wanted to show you off.” He winked at her as he started walking toward the tables
“Ha!” She grabbed the back of his hoodie and followed him.
As they walked, Madison saw Declan nod to a guy sitting behind a counter. Just like that, the guy stood, grabbed something, and started walking their way.
“Hey, Mark. How’s it going?” Declan addressed the guy as he joined them at the table with a rack of balls.
“Not too shabby. How are things with you?”
“Doing well. I’d like you to meet Madison. Mark, this is Madison. Madison, this is Mark. He owns the joint.”
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Madison.” Mark took a moment to give her a once over. He had to be in his late forties, early fifties, and seemed like a nice guy. Even him checking her out didn’t really bother her.
“You as well.”
“You want the table for a couple hours?” He finally moved his eyes from Madison and set the rack on the table.
“That would be great.”
“Sounds good. I’ll send a waitress over to get you some drinks.”
“Thanks, man. I appreciate that.”
Mark excused himself and headed back to the counter, making sure to let his wait staff know they had new folks playing that needed drinks.
“You weren’t kidding about showing me off, were you?”
Declan laughed. “Actually, I was. Don’t worry about Mark though. He’s harmless.”
For the next couple hours they played several games, ate some pretty decent bar food, had a few drinks and ribbed one another about the crappy shots they made. Neither was particularly great at pool, but they seemed evenly matched.
Declan held up the cue ball. “You want to play one more? Winner takes all?” In truth, the winner would be taking nothing more than bragging rights.
“Sure. I’m in. Rack ‘em up.” Madison smiled while thinking of ways she could distract him to ensure a win. She wasn’t above cheating, especially if it meant she got to be close to him.
She grabbed the small square of chalk and rubbed it over the end of the stick. If she was going to play for all the marbles, the last thing she wanted to do was scratch.
“All set. You ready?” Declan had a gleam in his eye.
“Just watch and learn.” Madison gave him a wink as she walked to the end of the table so she could break.
Declan laughed. Having seen her most recent play, he knew she was worth watching, but there definitely wasn’t much to learn. “You need the cue ball to break. The white one, over there.” He grinned while pointing to the other side of the table.
Madison looked at him with squinted eyes as she grabbed the ball and placed it in position for her break. “Yes, thank you.”
“Just trying to help.”
Madison ignored him as she lined up her shot and took it. Comparatively speaking, it was a pretty damn good break. Two balls of the same variety actually fell into pockets.
“Nice.”
“Thanks. Looks like I’ll be stripes.”
Declan nodded and stretched his arm in front of him, indicating the space was all hers.
Madison studied the table a moment and decided on a shot. She walked to the side of the table opposite Declan and bent to line it up. Taking her eyes off the ball for a split second, she looked up at him and noted just how incredibly sexy he looked in his jeans and well-worn hoodie.
Concentrate, Madison.
Her little pep talk didn’t work as she missed the shot.
“Aww…” Declan teased.
Madison looked up and stuck her tongue out at him.
“Oh yeh?”
Madison nodded quickly in return.
Declan stalked to Madison’s side and quickly wrapped an arm around her, pulling her front to his side. She looked up with a gasp as his lips found hers, tongue and all.
“That’ll teach you to stick your tongue out at me.”
“Promise?”
Declan answered her with a wink then turned to the table to find his own shot. It just happened to be right in front of her.
She was already feeling riled up just being around him all night, and that kiss hadn’t helped. But when he bent over to the take the shot, she couldn’t resist sliding up behind him, her hand on his ass and her breast at his side. “You sure about that one?” she whispered in his ear.
Just as she whispered the words, he took the shot and scratched.
Without moving his body, he turned his head to look at her. There was heat in his eyes.
“Oh … this is war,” he nodded confidently.
Madison grinned, covering her face as though she were being coy. “Uh oh …”
“I believe it’s now your turn.”
As she again studied the table for her own shot, she had one eye on the pool balls and the other on Declan. She wasn’t sure what he would do in retaliation. And of course, the best shot for her to take was right in front of him.
Well that just figures…
She hesitantly got into position but more than once quickly peeked over her shoulder to watch him.
“What? Think I’m going to do something so you miss the shot?”
Madison chuckled quietly. “The thought had crossed my mind.”
While still in conversation, she quickly took the shot, sinking her ball. “Yes!”
She maneuvered to the other side for her next shot and noticed she had a shadow. Her eyebrows shot up quickly.
“What? I’m just getting a drink.”
Of course, that drink put him right beside her.
Feeling a bit more confident that he would remain in his space, she got ready to take the shot. But just as she pulled the cue back, he bent down and sucked her earlobe between his lips. She heard his chuckle as the ball hit nothing but felt.
For the next several turns it was a game of cat and mouse, depending upon whose shot it was. In the end, it was Madison who sunk the eight ball and won ultimate bragging rights for the evening.
“Good game,” Declan offered with a sincere smile. “Even though you did break a rule or two.”
“I did? I seem to remember those lips on my ear more than once,” she replied, mocking annoyance.
Grinning, he pulled her close to him again. “You didn’t seem to mind.”
Madison shook her head slightly. “Not at all.”
She lifted up onto her toes and lightly brushed her lips to his.
Smiling at each other, they both heard Declan’s phone ring.
Madison couldn’t help but think they were about to have a repeat of what happened under the pier. They were having too good of a time, and it would be just her luck that someone would call and Declan would slip away again.
“I’d better check it.” Since he was managing the gym while Erin was out, he was on call twenty-four-seven.
He frowned as he looked at the screen. “One sec, okay? It’s Erin. I just want to make sure everything’s okay.”
Madison nodded.
It wasn’t that it was all that late, but Erin didn’t usually call him at this time unless something was wrong.
Declan unlocked the screen and called her back. “Hey sis, what’s up?”
“Hey. Sorry to bug you, but I just got a call from the security company. The alarm for the front door just went off and the cops have been called,” Erin explained.
