He scowls, but answers, “No, Emmy, I don’t. But that doesn’t mean I have to fucking like them.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, big boy.” With a smile, I run my hand over his hardened skin. He shivers, but I know he isn’t cold. “You’ll fucking like them, because your woman fucking loves them.”
“I should wash your mouth out with soap and then spank your ass.”
“I would enjoy that too much.”
He groans and drops his head back with a loud thump against the headboard. “I don’t hate it, okay? You are the only person who has ever even touched me like this besides someone medically responsible to. I’m working on the rest. I don’t hide it from you and you have to know that, months ago, I would still be keeping it covered whenever I knew your eyes could take sight of it.”
“I get that. But it’s time to stop playing in the dark, baby.”
“Meaning?” he barks.
“Ugh, you are so frustrating. Meaning that, tomorrow, when we go to family dinner, I want you in shorts.”
His eyes go from hard to shocked within seconds. “It’s fucking winter!” he snarls.
“I don’t give a crap if you’re headed to the North Pole. Shorts, Maddox. It’s time to toss that ridiculous fear that others will judge you out the damn window.”
“That damn sass,” he drones.
“You love that damn sass,” I retort.
“You’re damn fucking right I do.”
Then he shows me just how much he loves that damn sass. It isn’t until hours later, when our bodies are still covered with a light layer of sweat, that I allow myself one huge mental victory dance.
CHAPTER 32
Emmy
Greg and Melissa’s house is full-out chaos when we arrive. Babies are crying everywhere. Cohen and Sway are running around the lower level of their house with underwear on their heads and capes flapping behind them. Dee is lying on the loveseat because she hasn’t stopped throwing up for, what she calls ‘an eternity.’ Izzy rolls her eyes from the chair where she’s nursing Danielle, their month-old baby.
“Don’t you roll your eyes at me, Izzy Reid! Just give me a second to get up and I’m going to kick your ass.” Dee tries to stand but then holds her hand over her mouth with wide eyes.
“I’m guessing this means she’s about to blow chunks all over the place?” I laugh.
Her eyes water with the effort it takes her to push aside her sickness. And then she locks her hormonal-driven fury on me. “Emmy! Don’t even start with me. I can’t wait for you to be throwing up every two seconds!”
Maddox goes solid next to me as he helps me walk into the house. I look up and try to figure out what he’s thinking, but his face is completely void of emotion. Whatever. I’ll pick it out of him later.
“Don’t tell her that,” Chelcie scolds, walking into the room with Zac sleeping against her chest. “It isn’t that bad. Plus, it’s worth it.” She smiles at Zac and sits down next to Dee.
The movement is obviously not what her stomach needed because she jumps up and runs to the bathroom.
Once we stop laughing, I move to my side and drop down onto the couch. I wait for Maddox to sit next to me, but when I look over, he’s still standing where I left him. His eyes are darting around the room with worry.
“Why don’t you head out to the backyard, Mad?” Melissa asks from the doorway. “The guys doing that macho thing you all do when you stand around a grill and grunt.” She laughs and gives him a quick hug.
He looks around the room for a second before making his way past the girls and outside. I keep my eyes on them and wait to see when they notice. None of them watch as he walks by even though his shorts give him no way to hide the one thing he feels shame over. Well, this certainly is going better than I thought. I know he was worried there would be some big gasp and fanfare, but he should have known our friends a little better than that.
“Hey!” a small voice screams from the kitchen. “Look, Dilbert! Maddox Locke is a transformer! MOMMY! I wanna be a transformer just like Maddox Locke!” Cohen comes rushing into the room, crashing into the wall when his socks don’t let him stop. Then he jumps off the floor with a big, toothy grin. “Mommy, did you see?! It’s soooo cool!”
I don’t breathe, afraid of how this is going to play out. I want to rush to Maddox and make sure that he’s okay, but I know that wouldn’t help. He needs to learn to get past this one all on his own.
“Yeah, Co, I saw,” she laughs. “You can’t be a transformer though.” His little face falls and she rushes on. “Baby boy, you can’t just decide to be a transformer. Only special people get that honor and only God can pick them. But you know what? That means that Maddox is an even bigger superhero. He’s is a transformer because he saved people.”