Mad Love (Hearts Are Wild): Hearts Are Wild (15 page)

He’d agreed to keep their relationship quiet
but he wouldn’t lie about it if asked, and he didn’t think they’d
be able to keep it a secret for long. Even if Mad mastered the art
of a casual hello, the way Toby stripped her with his eyes whenever
he laid them on her was a dead giveaway.

***

Madison aimed a strained smile at Melanie
before darting to her desk and burying herself in grading papers.
Since starting at Huntington College, she hadn’t had more than a
handful of conversations with the other woman but she didn’t
believe for one second that Melanie would let Toby’s presence in
their staffroom go without comment.

“So…what did Toby want?”

“Hmm…” Madison pretended to be distracted by
what was on her desk. In truth, she couldn’t focus on a single
word. Glancing up, she tried to pull off a look of confusion and
probably only succeed in looking constipated. “Sorry?”

“Toby Moreland. What did he want your help
with?”

“Oh, a student.” Best to stick to simple
answers, less likely to get caught in a lie that way. Not that she
was an expert on subterfuge.

“Which student?” Melanie pressed.

“Ah, I forget the boy’s name, but it was
about an English essay.” Sounded plausible.

“Who’s the boy’s teacher? Shouldn’t Toby have
gone to the source for help?” Melanie continued to pepper her with
question.

Madison bit her tongue to stop the truth from
blurting out. Shaking her head, she looked down at the essay on her
desk. It was one from a year-twelve student and it was intended to
teach them how to apply for university. The perfect answer to
Melanie’s question formed in her head.

“It’s not a class essay but one for a
university application one of his player’s needs to complete,”
Madison explained with a triumphant smile.

“Oh.”

Madison could hear the disappointment in
Melanie’s voice. She had no idea what the other woman would be
despondent about and honestly she didn’t care, as long as the
inquisition stopped.

Keeping their relationship a secret was going
to be harder than Madison originally thought. She’d spent the last
five days avoiding any possible chance of running into Toby because
she couldn’t guarantee she wouldn’t smile at him in a way that
would broadcast to all that they were having blazing-hot sex.

She couldn’t stop the wanton thoughts from
flashing through her brain whenever she brought Toby to mind;
seeing
him turned those imaginings down-right salacious.
Add in her rapid pulse, shortened breath and dilated pupils, and
anyone within fifty feet would know she was having sex with Toby in
her head.

Madison wasn’t sure whether to be thrilled
that she appeared to be a normal red-blooded woman with a healthy
sexual appetite, or appalled. She’d heard the term late-bloomer
when referring to teenagers but what about a twenty-six-year-old
woman?

“Hey, are you going to the game this
afternoon?”

Madison’s head snapped up. She’d totally
forgotten Melanie was in the room with her. “The game?”

“Yeah, there’s a footy game on the back field
beginning fifth period. Some interschool thing. I don’t know all
the details but our guys are leading the comp, so Ted said if we
wanted, we could take our classes out to watch and cheer our team
on.”

“Oh, well, I’ve got year-seven history last
period…” Madison scrambled to remember what she’d planned for
today’s lesson. Research discussion. That could be put off until
next week. “It probably wouldn’t hurt for them to miss a lesson in
the curriculum. There’s plenty of time to make up the
component.”

“I’ve got year-eight English, and believe me,
we could
all
do with sitting outside for one lesson.”
Melanie smiled as she gathered her things. “I’ll see you
there.”

“Yes. See you then.”

Madison let her forced smile drop when the
door closed behind Melanie. If she were going to take her class to
the game, she’d be seeing Toby again. She wasn’t sure she could
survive two sightings in one school day. And after that kiss…

Too late to back out now. If she didn’t show
up, Melanie would ask more questions and Madison had barely made it
through this round. She’d have to try to seat her class as far away
from Toby as possible.

Three hours later, Madison came to the
conclusion that her luck had run out. Not only was the only space
available for her class right behind were Toby stood at the bench
for the school’s team but Melanie and her class of year-eight
students occupied the section next to her.

Madison had never watched a football game in
her life. She had no clue what was going on and took her cues from
her students and those around her, so she at least appeared to be
encouraging and congratulating the team at the appropriate
times.

At one point she even asked Mathew McKinney
why the referee had blown the whistle, giving the other team the
ball. After an extended, in-depth explanation, she was still none
the wiser. And she considered herself a quick learner.
Unfortunately, the rules of this game seemed beyond her.

The only thing she was sure of was the score.
Huntington led 24-12.

When her eyes weren’t glued to the game, they
were glued to Toby. She’s never seen him so serious. He called out
to the players on the field and conferred with the ones on the
bench, as well as the other teachers who appeared to hold positions
within the team.

She recognized a few of the players too. They
were all top students—and that thought brought her up short. She’d
believed athletes were not the best students and therefore played
sport. Madison had no idea how she’d drawn that conclusion when she
couldn’t recall ever learning the fact.

Had she done Toby a bigger injustice than
she’d first thought?

Had she held some misconceived prejudice
against him? Against all sportsmen?

The very thought shocked her. She’d
considered herself a nonjudgmental person, each to their own and
all that, but obviously she wasn’t.

A whistle blew and the crowd around her
erupted in cheers and applause. Glancing at the scoreboard, she
noted the score remained 24-12 and Huntington retained their top
position on the division ladder. Two minutes later, the
end-of-school bell rang and she dismissed her class from the field
instead of taking them back to the classroom.

Slipping her handbag strap over her shoulder,
she turned and came face-to-face with Toby.

“Hey.” He smiled down at her.

“H-hi.” Okay, not quite a normal greeting but
it was better than throwing her arms around his neck and crushing
her mouth to his like she wanted to.

“How’d you like the game?”

“Um…it was good. We won.”

Toby laughed. “And you have no clue what went
on, do you?”

Smiling sheepishly, Madison said, “No. Even a
detailed explanation from Mathew McKinney didn’t help me.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll teach you the rules
sometime.”

“Thanks. I’d like that. It was fun to watch
and cheer, even if I didn’t know what I was cheering for.”

“Good. I’m glad. I promised the boys pizza if
they won so I’ll be here for a few more hours. Alright if I swing
by your place later or do you want me to give you a key to mine?”
Toby asked.

Madison was stunned by the offer of a key.
She might not understand the full workings of a normal relationship
but she was fairly certain that offering someone a key to your
house was a significant step. “Ah…”

“And I see that I’ve thrown you completely
with that question.”

“No. It’s just…a key? That’s a big thing,
right?”

He smiled. “Yes, it is.”

“Right. Okay. Well, either option is
suitable.”

“Here.” Toby grabbed her hand and pressed
something into her palm before closing her fingers over it. “Do
whatever you want with that. I’ll text you when I leave here and we
can decide what to do then.”

“Okay.”

“I really want to kiss you, Mad, but I won’t.
Just know that I want to.” With a wink, he turned and walked
away.

Glancing down, Madison opened her hand and
saw the shiny silver key Toby had placed in her hand.

He’d given her a key to his house.

She’d been to the doctor’s at the beginning
of the week for the contraceptive pill and had already begun taking
it.

She might be walking on unfamiliar territory
but there was no denying they were treading on
Mount
Serious
.

Smiling, she curled her fingers around Toby’s
key once more.

She’d file this in the ‘new experience’ box
along with all the other things Toby had shown her in the last
week.

God. Was it only a week since they’d returned
from the history excursion? Seven days that felt like a lifetime.
Seven days and she’d gone from being single, with no social life to
speak of, to having a hot boyfriend who loved to indulge her in
nights of pleasure—and not all of it in the bedroom, either.

This last week with Toby had been the best of
her life. She couldn’t wait to see what happened in the next one.
Or the one after that. Or the one after. Or the one after…

Toby held tight to Mad’s hand. “It’ll be
fine. Stop worrying.”

“It’s a family dinner.”

“I’m allowed to bring a date to a family
dinner.” He grinned at her but it didn’t alleviate the frown lines
from her beautiful face. Tugging her hand, he pulled her closer.
“Come here.”

Before she could protest, he kissed her. He
breathed in her gasp and stroked his tongue over hers. She opened
wider for him, let him taste and tease, and melted in his arms.
Running his hands up and down her back, he soothed instead of
inflamed. No point getting either of them worked up when they had
to walk into his parents’ house.

Letting her up for air, he trailed his lips
to her ear. “New experience for today. We’re together. That means
we go to each other’s family events. It’s what couples do.”

She shivered. “Oh.”

God, he loved it when he kissed her and
slowed that brain of hers. Nuzzling his nose under her jawline, he
breathed her in. He could never get enough of her smell. Sweet and
fresh with a lingering trace of the coconut water she liked to
drink. “Hmm…you always smell like sugar…” He nipped at her chin.
“And I’ve got such a sweet tooth.”

“Get a room.”

Toby turned. “You’re just jealous I’ve got a
pretty girl to kiss and you don’t.”

“Definitely.”

Tucking Madison against his side, he faced
his brother. “Mad, you remember my brother Damian.”

“Ah, yes. Hi.” Her face was flushed red,
whether from embarrassment or arousal, he didn’t know—possibly
both.

“Hey there, pretty lady, when you’ve had
enough of this douchebag, give me a call.” Damian winked before
sauntering up to the house.

“Ignore him.” Toby tightened his arm around
her. “He’s a dick.”

“Um…”

Toby laughed. “Sorry. Damian’s a
shit-stirrer. He’s trying to get a rise out of me.”

“And I got one,” Damian called out.

“Damn.” Toby sighed. “He did.”

Before his brother could open the front door,
it swung wide to reveal their mother. “Are you three finished
playing in the yard?” she asked, her gaze bouncing between him and
Damian.

“Damian’s hitting on my girl,” Toby
complained.

“Damian Charles, find your own girl. And
you,” she pointed a finger at Toby, “keep your hands and lips to
yourself for the next few hours.”

If possible, Mad turned a shade redder and
shrank into his side. Toby laughed. “Seriously, Mom, have you seen
her? She’s too hard to resist.”

His mom smiled and went on her toes to kiss
his cheek. “At least keep it G-rated.”

Mad sucked in a breath and stiffened against
him.

“Mom…”

“Sorry.” She held out both her hands. “How
are you, Madison? It’s so good to see you again.”

“N-nice to see you too.”

Toby let his mother steal his date as they
entered his childhood home. He could hear the rest of the family in
the back of the house. They’d be congregated in the big room that
opened out to the yard. It was the place they always hung out
together. Now
and
when they were younger. Smiling, he
followed two of his favorite women into the melee that was a
Moreland family gathering.

“Hey, look who finally showed up,” Cassie
called from her seat where she nursed his nephew. “See there, baby
boy, that’s your uncle Damian and uncle Toby.”

Walking over, Toby crouched and ran his hand
over Bennett’s soft head. “Is he eating?”

“No. Just finished. You want to hold
him?”

“Yeah.” Toby slipped his hands beneath the
baby and pulled him against his chest. He couldn’t get over how
captivated he was by this little guy.

He’d been thinking about babies—kids—ever
since his sister had delivered Bennett. When Mad had told him they
were in the clear after their slip up, Toby had been disappointed
in a way he never would have expected. He knew it wasn’t the right
time to be thinking about a family, but he couldn’t help wondering
what Mad would look like, her belly swollen with their child.

Humming softly, he rocked on his feet and
snuggled the baby-powder-scented bundle against him. He could hear
chatter around him but right now, the only thing he could focus on
was Bennett.

Would he feel this much love with his own
child? More?

Toby glanced over at Mad. She was busy
talking to his mom and for once she didn’t look like a deer caught
in headlights. Laughing at something his mother said, she turned
his way and smiled. He wanted to go to her, pull her into his arms
and kiss her smiling mouth.

After her initial nervousness, she seemed to
have settled. He’d keep an eye on her but he wanted her to do this
on her own. She needed to know that she could talk to people
without his help.