Page 57 of Cadence
This isn’t just a glimpse into his work. It’s a glimpse into who Maddox really is. And it terrifies me how badly I want to understand every word.
“Stopping in ten,” the driver calls out from the front, and Eli groans, stretching his arms over his head.
“Thank god, I’m starving,” Beau yawns and turns off the TV.
“If there aren’t fries, I’m flipping a table,” Eli mutters, grabbing his shoes.
The guys move around each other, slinging jackets over shoulders and pocketing wallets. Apparently, the idea of food makes them move quicker than they have all week.
“Paige, you coming?” Beau asks.
Glancing down at Maddox’s notebook in my hands, the weight of his words refuses to let me go just yet. But right on cue, my stomach rumbles, loudly, and I smack a hand on top of it.
“She sure is.” Eli laughs. “Did you just hear that?”
Closing the book, I slide from my booth, holding it protectively under my arm as I move through the narrow hallway, toward my bunk. Lifting the blanket, I tuck it under, my fingers brushing over the cover like I don’t want to leave it behind.
Reaching for my bag, I take a step back and slam right into solid, warm skin.
“Shit, sorry,” I mutter, turning just in time to see Maddox pulling a shirt over his head. But not before I get an eyeful of muscular pecs and chiseled abs. His hand flies out, catching my arm to steady me, somehow drawing me closer.
“Do you have to stand right there when you change?” I snap, the words out before I can stop them in a mixture of lust and embarrassment.
“Didn’t realize I needed to book the hallway in advance.” His eyebrows quirk upward, a coy smile forming on his lips.
I huff and tug out of his hold, but not before my arm drags against his bare stomach.
Jesus.
His gaze lowers, muscles flexing before he jerks his shirt the rest of the way down.
The bus lurches, the brakes hissing as the outside gravel crunches beneath the wheels. I stumble forward, nearly pressing into Maddox again, shifting at the last second. Heat floods my cheeks, my pulse hammering hard enough that I swear he canhear it. Steadying myself, I brush past him, but not without another graze of his arm with mine.
This goddamn bus is too small.
The last thing I hear as I head to the front, trying not to react to the way my skin still tingles where we touched, is, “Bet you wish you took the back room now.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Maddox
Theairhitshotterthan I expected as I shove my hands deep into my pockets. Standing between Beau and Eli, Paige bends over, smiling when she flourishes a penny from the ground, her lips mouthing,find a penny.
My chest twinges as I watch her slide it into her bag, drumsticks poking out of the front pocket like usual. She doesn’t look over when I join them, but she’s close, the scent of her shampoo still in my lungs from seconds ago.
We head down the sidewalk, passing neon signs flickering against the early evening sun low in the sky.
“Iwonthat thing,” Eli beams, genuine pride washing onto his face as he tells Paige about a chili dog contest he’d entered after a show years ago.
“You also threw up in our old van’s heater vent,” Beau deadpans.
“Worth it.”
“No plastic trophy was worth driving two and a half hours back home with that smell,” I mutter, grimacing at the memory.
Eli turns around, walking backward to stick out his lower lip, voice dropping into a mockingly gentle coo. “Aww, is someone still butthurt because he came in fifth?”
Paige laughs, light and effortless, like always, glancing at me over her shoulder. Her eyes crinkle at the sides as she holds mine for half a second before she looks away. Tucking her hair back, her teeth catch on her lower lip as she faces forward again.
