Page 81 of Cadence
That mouth that did sinfully pleasurable things to my body.
He knows what he’s doing, pushing my buttons on purpose while giving me that look like he’s trying to decide if he wants to fight me or fuck me.
Maybe both.
I cross my arms as a scowl spreads over my face. His gaze lowers, lingering for just a second before snapping back up to meet mine.
“You always think you know best, don’t you?” I bite, dropping my arms. “You never leave room for anyone else’s ideas.”
“And you think you can read a crowd better than I can this early on your first tour?” he goads.
“God, you’re such an arrogant—” I bite out, voice shaking.
His smirk fades, replaced by a hard edge I know all too well, the Maddox I’m used to, any semblance of his playfulness now gone.
“I’m the frontman, Paige,” he says flatly. “It’s my call. Don’t like it? Not my problem.”
It’s a low blow, a dick thing to say, and he knows it. Beau shifts behind me, and Eli lets out a low whistle as he turns around, looking anywhere but at us.
The vein in the side of my neck throbs in time with the pounding in my head as I back away.
“You know what? Forget it.”
Turning around, I storm out, boots echoing down the corridor as my blood boils. I don’t stop until I reach my dressing room, shoving the door open and kicking it behind me with a growl. It doesn’t even have time to click into place when a hand slams against it, pushing it open.
“I’m not in the mood,” I mutter, stripping off my leather jacket and tossing it on the couch.
“You walked off before sound check.”
“I walked off because you weren’t listening.”
Maddox exhales a frustrated breath. “Iamlistening. You just don’t like that I don’t agree with you.”
I spin on my heel, thrusting my finger into his face. “You didn’t disagree. You shut me down. And in front of the guys.”
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Then what did you mean?” I blink hot anger from my eyes.
“You don’t get to act like every creative decision I don’t agree with is a personal attack on you.”
“I don’t,” I say, teeth gritting together. “But you could at leasttryto be open to them.”
“Playing ‘It’s Not Over’ after ‘Always Attract’ makes it feel too much like the album,” he says, taking a small step forward.
“So? That’s a good thing. The first time I heard those two back-to-back, I got chills, Maddox. Fuckingchills. It hits.”
“Not everything that hits in headphones works on stage.”
“And not everything that works live has to be loud and fast,” I fire back. “You’re so obsessed with control, you can’t even hear when something feels right.”
“It’s not about control. It’s about knowing what lands.”
“And you think I don’t? You think because I’m new, I can’t feel what’s gonna hit a crowd in the chest?”
We’re standing close, barely a breath between us, our arguing pulling us together like magnets unable to resist one another.
“You want the set to mean something, and I respect the hell out of that,” he says, tone less sharp than before. “But not everything has to be a statement. Sometimes it just has to work.”
