Last To Know

6

The ride to Maddox's home wasn't nearly as bad as the first time. In fact, I kind of enjoyed it.

Despite that by the time we arrived at his house I was ready to get off the thing.

Removing the helmet I gaped at the massive house. "Holy crap, you live here?"

He chuckled. "Yes. Mathias and I actually live in the guesthouse out back, but we have rooms in the house as well. We just prefer our privacy."

"Guesthouse? You have a freaking guesthouse?" I gasped. Due to the large size of the home I should have suspected as much, but still...

Maddox chuckled and removed the leather jacket he wore. Heading towards the back of the house he nodded for me to follow him. "The guesthouse is actually where we're headed." He pushed open a wrought iron gate and we stepped into a nice backyard. It was flat with bright green grass and a shimmery blue pool. I'd only ever seen homes like this in a magazine. It definitely didn't compare to the shabby ranch-style home I lived in.

"I'd say for foster kids you and Mathias really lucked out with Karen," I commented, still looking around at the palatial house. It really was gorgeous. While it was large it wasn't overly intimidating. In fact, there was something rather homey to it, and I thought that was thanks to the cape cod style. It looked like a home you'd see by a lake somewhere. "This place is beautiful."

"Yeah, we did get lucky." Maddox's smile was small and his eyes darkened. "But after all the shit we went through as kids with our parents, I think we deserve every little bit of happiness that's thrown our way."

I nodded. I knew Maddox didn't know me well enough to spill the secrets of what life was like with his biological parents, and the details behind his foster parents, but I was curious. Normally I didn't care to get to know anyone. I was happy to bury my nose in a book and forget the real world existed, but I felt connected to Maddox. I wanted to get to know him. I wanted to spend time with him. I was drawn to him in a way that even at seventeen years old I knew it was different. He was different.

"Emma?"

I stumbled and realized I'd been completely lost in my thoughts. Maddox stood by the door of the two-story guesthouse. It looked like a small version of the main house.

"Are you coming?" He prompted.

"Oh, uh, yeah." I scurried over to his side.

He smiled down at me before swinging the door open. "Home sweet home."

Inside the downstairs area was decorated sparsely, a small kitchenette lay to my right, and a rug was scattered over the wood floors. The back and sidewalls were painted white and brick. I didn't think I'd ever seen brick used inside a room before.

"This is what I wanted you to see." Maddox swept his arm to the side and his smile was almost shy.

In the living room, the only pieces of furniture were a futon laid flat like a bed covered in random pillows and blankets and a desk covered in scattered papers.

I knew the futon wasn't what he was talking about though.

"Wow," I gasped at the full instrument set up. There was a mic, drum kit, guitar, bass, and a piano.

Maddox ducked his head. "You said you liked music and could play the piano...so I was hoping you might want to do a song with me."

I stood in shock. I couldn't get over how unsure Maddox seemed all of a sudden, since he was always so cocky. This was a side to him that was very much boyish.