My brain stuttered for a moment and a shocked gasp escaped me. The sight of him had me stumbling and rushing into the bathroom. “Maddox!”
No. No. Please, no.
I fell to my knees beside the overfilled tub. He sat inside, fully clothed with an empty bottle of…
God, no.
Maddox stunk of alcohol and cigarettes. I almost gagged at how heavy the smell was. His eyes were closed, his head barely staying above water. My heart fell to the pit of my stomach, cramped and twisting with nausea at the distraught look on his beautiful face. There were shadows under his eyes, as if he didn’t sleep the night before.
I cupped his cheek. “Hey, Maddox.” I gave him a gentle shake.
His bloodshot eyes fluttered open, and I could see the naked pain in his eyes. Maddox, strong and carefree Maddox, looked… beaten. Not physically. There were no injuries marking his body, but he looked wounded in spirit.
“Oh, baby. What happened?” He didn’t respond, not that I was expecting a reply.
“Go away,” he grumbled under his breath. God, he was pissed drunk. How many drinks did he have?
“And leave you in the tub like this?” I asked gently. “I can’t leave you now, Maddox.”
Maddox closed his eyes, his shoulders slumping further into the water. “Don’t… need a… lecture.”
There was a strain in his voice – a voice that used to be full of warmth – now so cold and… empty.
“We need to get you to bed. You can sleep this off, but you need a bed. Not a tub full of ice water.”
Maddox was stubborn, but so was I.
He gritted his teeth, a storm flashing across his face. “Fuck… off. Leave.”
“No.”
He let out an empty laugh. “Then how about… you shut the fuck up… and sit on my face instead? Be a nice… give me good… pussy and cheer me… up, why don’t you?”
That was drunk Maddox speaking, I reminded myself. He was barricading himself against me, trying to be hurtful and mean – to push me away.
I blew out a frustrated breath and reached under his armpits, pulling him up. He sat forward, and the water sluiced onto the sides. I turned off the running tap with one hand while supporting Maddox’s limp body against the crook of my arm. “I’m going to ignore what you just said. But still, you need to get out of this tub before you catch pneumonia,” I mumbled. “Don’t be a jerk.”
His clothes were soaked through, and I couldn’t get him in bed in this state. Shit.
His eyes closed, and his head slumped over my shoulders, with his nose buried in my neck. A shiver racked through my body because Maddox was practically freezing as I dragged him out of the tub.
“I’m sorry,” I said in a low voice. “But I’m going to have to get you out of these clothes.”
Maddox was going to catch a cold if I left him like this. He mumbled something under his breath as a response. He settled on the edge of the tub as I peeled his wet shirt over his head. It wasn’t my first-time seeing Maddox shirtless, but I still found myself pausing to stare.
Maddox was ripped, sculptured and…
No, stop! Don’t look.
I averted my gaze and worked efficiently, trying my hardest not to stare longer than I needed at his naked body. He slurred more profanities at me, but I chose to ignore all of them. Once he was clad in his grey sweatpants and a shirt I found lying on the floor in his room, I dragged Maddox out of the bathroom.
My knees almost buckled under his weight. “Jesus, you’re heavy.”
He snorted in response as his body shuddered violently.
I hated this.
I was angry, so goddamn furious, that nobody thought to check on him. His parents or Mr. Hokinson. Anyone, damn it! What if I hadn’t found him when I did? He could have accidentally drowned himself or… worse.
I was livid and fuck…
My heart ached.
How could Maddox be so careless? Didn’t he understand how precious life was… and how easily it could slip out of our grasp? In a blink of an eye… everything – gone.
Tears burnt the back of my eyes, and I sniffled. “Why, Maddox? God, why?”
“Stop being a bitch… come and sit on my dick if... you won’t stop yapping…” he slurred.
“I’m going to throw you on your ass if you throw one more insult at me, Maddox,” I warned him. He stumbled and jerked out of