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Hello?"

"Tiana," he started with a hard tone.

Immediately upon realizing who was calling her, Tiana's voice dropped an octave or two, becoming more breathless, and seductive.

"Maddox," she drawled out, "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Knowing her game, he knew what to say. She was an easy catch even if she liked to make the game hard. If you played the game long enough, she'd get confused and give in. She was fiery, but submissive and patient.

"I'm coming over," he murmured before cutting the call.

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pushed right past her as soon as she opened the door.

"Well aren't you a ray of sunshine," she pointed out with a hint of sarcasm.

He sent her a glare and then grumbled incoherently before falling down on her couch in a heap of a mess. Tiana watched him in wonder, confused as to why he seemed so out of it and frustrated.

"Get over here," he said with almost no room for argument and luckily Tiana was just the kind of girl who liked to be told what to do when it came to sex.

She smirked before making her way over and slinging one leg over Maddox's lap so she was straddling him. "Feel better?" she questioned in his ear as she trailed kisses down his neck in obvious want. Her hands raked over his arms before making their way to his oh-so-luscious hair. He moaned as she sucked on his skin and roughly gripped her head full of hair before yanking her head back so he could capture her lips.

This was what they did. This was who they were to each other.

Almost as soon as Maddox eased into her actions, he felt regret and guilt weigh down on his shoulders more than he'd ever felt before. He opened his eyes, feeling disgusted with himself for substituting Tiana for a girl who he felt much more towards. Tiana didn't have her brown eyes, Tiana's were a few shades lighter. She didn't fit right into Maddox, like Evelyn did. When he fell asleep with Evelyn pressed up to his side, it felt like she was the missing puzzle piece all along. Tiana felt awkward against him. She was taller, trumping Evelyn's 5'2 height by a few inches. Tiana wasn't Evelyn and that's all he needed to realize before he immediately shoved her off.

Tiana fell backwards off his lap (and the couch) as she tumbled to the floor, though not before hitting her head against the corner of the coffee table.

"Fucking hell!" she cursed as she instantly felt the searing pain. She cupped the back of her head as she glared up at Maddox, seething in silence.

He watched her for a second before his attention went back to the girl who he had just dropped back home to her son-of-a-bitch father. God what was he thinking? Why did he do what he did? Why did he come over to Tiana's? Why didn't he just kiss Evelyn when the opportunity was staring him dead in the face?

And why the fucking hell was he so goddamn stupid?

He'd never know why.

"Can we just talk," he mumbled angrily as he ran his hands across his face and closed his eyes to try and relax.

Tiana paused and looked over his disheveled appearance. He looked miserable. As he opened his eyes and found himself peering into her concerned eyes, asking him what was wrong, he felt exactly one tear fall down his cheek.

He never cried in front of anyone except Tiana and Reese. He had only ever cried once in front of Evelyn and he didn't know if he'd ever be strong enough to do it again.

Without hesitation, Tiana ran out of the room and Maddox didn't even have to ask where she was running off too. He sat patiently in his own sadness and within a few minutes, she dashed back in with multiple blankets draped over her body and a bunch of food, including a bowl of popcorn, in her arms.

She set everything down allowing Maddox to position the blankets and open the food as she went to the side of the room to turn the lights off— encasing the living room in as much darkness as it would allow in the middle of the afternoon. Coming back towards the couch, she quickly turned the one nearby lamp on and grabbed the remote to the tv to put something on for them to watch.

"Oh look!" she squealed out getting excited as she stared at the television screen, settling into the couch. She turned to Maddox and shook his arm really hard. "They just added all the Scream movies on Netflix! We have to watch Maddox!" she exclaimed as she hurriedly pressed play and increased the volume tremendously.

He chuckled at her antics, nodding along knowing that even if he didn't want to watch Scream, Tiana would still make him watch Scream. This was what she did. She always told Maddox that if they couldn't agree on something, they would just have to compromise and do what Tiana wanted to do.

He always laughed at her words, but that was the good thing about her. She allowed Maddox to sit back and relax. She never forced him to talk. She never forced him to be as social as most people. She always gave him time to himself to comprehend things before he could possibly spell his problems out for anyone else. She gave him enough space that he didn't feel suffocated but knew she was just an arms length away if he needed her. She understood him and he wasn't sure how she was able to. But she did it and succeeded all too well.

Maddox smiled at her actions, thankful that Tiana was Tiana. Because this was also what they did. This was also who they were to each other.

They were friends.

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