Fighter

Ch. 31

Maddox carries me down the hall towards his room stopping at the door. "I'll be taking you against this door soon." He states, opening the door.

"Against the door?" I ask, not believing what he just said.

"Yeah, the door." He replies, smirking down at me.

I see that the bed is made and all of Maddox's clothes are off the floor. "Who cleans up after you and how do they know when to come here?" I inquire.

"Her name is Rosa and she comes four times a week from twelve to three, I let her pick her days."

"Why four times a week? You're not that messy."

"I like a clean house and I'm too lazy to wash a dish or make my bed and you can forget about me doing laundry. I won't do any of it."

"I feel bad for whoever you marry." I tease.

I feel Maddox tense up and he sets me down on the heated bathroom tiles.

"I was joking, Maddox, any girl would be lucky to have you. You really need to learn to take a joke and understand the word no." I add, as I turn the shower on.

I hop in under the spray. "You know the only reason I'm moving in with you is because of this shower."

He smirks as he gets in. "Why did you change your mind?"

"Well, you're pretty annoying when you want something. So, I figured for the sake of my sanity I could move in. If it's too much or not working out we need to be honest with each other about it." I tell him, strongly.

"It will be fine." He replies, sounding confident.

I hear Maddox's phone beeping but he ignores it and starts washing my back. He kisses my shoulder and his phone beeps again. "This better be good." He grumbles, getting out of the shower to check his phone. I finish washing then look at Maddox. Great, the blank face.

"What is it?" I ask.

He's still looking at his phone as if he's trying to figure something out. I wait then say, "Out with it all ready."

"I have a fight tonight." Maddox answers.

"A fight. You're leaving me here, going to go fight and then expect me to be here when you get back?"

"It won't take long."

"Maddox, I can't do this. I can't enable you to go fight illegally. I understand what moves you to fight but I don't want to be a part of that. Can you drop me off at home before you go?"

"I'll be back in an hour, two tops." Did he not hear me?

"Maddox, you fought four days ago. You've fought Jason and Logan, you don't need this shit in your life, it's not right. What is it? I'm not enough to keep you from feeling numb, but fighting is?"

"Hadley, I need this. I still want you."

"Okay, if this is what you need then you should do it." I tell him.

"Good. I'll be back soon."

"Don't rush on my account." I mutter, reaching for a towel."Can you please drop me off at home?"

"No. I'll be back soon. I'll make it fast." He says, again.

"I'm not staying here." I argue.

"Fine. I'll pick you back up when I'm done." He states.

"I don't need you to do that." This is going to hurt. "I'm so sorry." I say starting to cry. "I can't do this." I walk by a stunned Maddox and walk back to the dining room putting my clothes back on. I need to trust my gut on this. It doesn't feel right that he should need to fight like he does.