Chapter 12

Brrrrrrrrrrrring.

Maddie felt her warmth slipping away, like a blanket being pulled off. She cracked her eyelids, but the room was pitch black.

“Mmmmmppphhh,” growled the voice behind her.

She could hear a tinny sound – the voice on the other end of the phone. It sounded awake, chipper.

“Mmmmmmpppphhh,” from behind her again, then hanging up.

Warmth closed over her again. All along her back, over her shoulder, under her crooked arm. The difference was dizzying, she felt like she was slipping underwater.

“Morning,” Sidney whispered.

Maddie nuzzled backward against him in reply.

“That was Max. Everyone’s meeting downstairs in 30 minutes for brunch.” He lifted his head, set his chin into her neck and looked down. “Wanna go?”

“Not really,” she smiled. She rolled over to face him. Her exposed back was suddenly cold, till he wrapped her up again.

“It’s 10:30. I have to be at the show at 2. Everyone else has till 3.” He pulled back to look at her face. “Still want to go with me?”

She nodded her head yes.

“Then we should get up.”

She shook her hear no.

He laughed, she felt his body shake against hers. If I were a cat, she thought, I’d be purring.

Sidney kissed her forehead and unrolled himself from around her. He pulled the curtain aside an inch, stabbing a shaft of light into the room. He was wearing just his boxer briefs. The sunlight carved every angle of his body – defined abs, slope of bicep, twist of neck. He peered out the window.

“Looks hot outside,” he said turning around. Maddie lay curled on her side, still in her bra and panties. Her hair fanned out over the pillow. “Looks hot in here,” he said, walking across the bed on his knees. He leaned down over her.

“Good morning, gorgeous,” he kissed her earlobe, sending sparklers trailing down her body.

Maddie rolled onto her back and reached for him, pulling him down to her lips. Of course he doesn’t even have morning breath, she thought as he returned her kiss.

His hand trailed up her bare stomach and over her side. She flinched as he brushed against a ticklish spot. Slowly he pulled away.

“I won’t leave this room for a month if we stay here right now,” he laughed, moving off the bed.

“I am free till Christmas,” she offered.

Sid dug through a duffel bag. Maddie sat up on the edge of the bed. He turned, clothing stacked in his hand.

“Want to shower here?” he asked, a little too hopefully. “You could wear these to breakfast.”

Maddie barked a laugh. “Maddie appears at breakfast wearing gym clothes that look like they’d fit a 5’ 11”, 200 pound guy. Oh look, here comes one now. He looks kinda familiar…”

“I told you, I don’t care about that,” he said, only half-smiling.

Maddie walked right over and stood inches from him. He held the pile of clothes out to one side.

“You’ll ruin my big red carpet debut at the awards!”

Sid’s mouth dropped open. “You’ll go with me?!”

“On one condition,” Maddie held up a finger. “I want to meet Mario.” Sid was nodding like a bobble head. “AND, I want HIM to tell me it’s okay to be there with you.”

Sid kept right on nodding. Maddie narrowed her eyes at him.

“You seem pretty sure about that,” she said.

“You have no idea how sick Mario is of me and my sad sack behavior. I think he wants me to get a girl more than anyone!” He held the clothes out again. “Want to go change before we meet everyone?”

Maddie picked her dress up and held it out. It looked exactly like it had spent the night on someone’s bedroom floor.

“In this or that,” she looked from her dress to his clothes, “I could be doing the walk of shame home from any room in this tower,” she pointed out.

Sid tossed the clothes to her. “Not exactly…”

Maddie shook open the pile. She was holding a #87 t-shirt.