CHAPTER ELEVEN

Maddie grinned as the loud music assaulted them when Matt opened the front door. She followed Sophie into the house, Ryan's hands on her hips as he bopped behind her. Instead of following the group towards the kitchen, he steered her towards the dance floor, calling out to Sophie on the way. "Save us a couple of drinks, babe? We're just gonna have a boogie first!"

"Wait! No…" Maddie protested as her cousin laughed and disappeared into the crowd.

She turned to glare at Ryan, but he simply grinned and pulled her flush against his body. She tried as hard as she could, but failed to keep the frown on her face as they moved to the beat. For such a big guy, Ryan was actually a good dancer and Maddie found it easy to sway against him. She loved dancing to this kind of music. Slow dancing, on the other hand, made her anxious.

They rocked their way through two songs before Maddie grabbed Ryan's hand and began to pull him through the crowd. He followed behind her, like an obedient puppy, high-fiving any friends that he passed along the way. The crowd had doubled in size while they had been dancing, and Maddie was hot and breathless by the time they reached the kitchen.

"Hey, there you are!" Sophie grinned as Maddie leaned against the counter beside her.

"God it's hot in here" Maddie exclaimed, shrugging out of her jacket before taking a long swallow of the drink Sophie handed to her. "Thanks," she smiled, before glancing at Tim, who was in a deep discussion with Matt and Jason Street. She couldn't help but stare at his back. The way his shirt clung to his wide shoulders, tapered into a 'V' at his waist, and would ride up slightly when he stood with his hand on his hip.

She didn't notice her cousin watching her until Sophie bumped her hip against hers and caused her to jump, a guilty look washing over her face. She pointedly ignored her cousin's knowing look, only to turn to Landry and find him with an identical look on his face.

"What?" she asked, her face a picture of innocence, as she pulled herself up to sit on the counter.

Landry grinned and moved to stand beside her, his arm behind her back and his mouth close to her ear. "Stop fighting how you feel and go for it! Tim's not going to knock you back, Maddie, I guarantee it..."

She shrugged, not yet ready to take the leap, and turned her attention to Ryan, who had moved to stand between her legs. "You guys talking about Maddie and Tim?" he asked, smirking as Maddie's jaw almost hit the floor. "Oh, come on, sweets! You really think you can hide your feelings from the people who know you better than you know yourself?!"

"Shhh!" Maddie hissed, sending a frantic glance in Tim's direction. Thankfully he was still engrossed in his conversation with the boys, and hadn't heard Ryan's less-than-quiet comments. "Fine! I like him, and who knows, maybe something's going to happen, but I swear, if all of you don't start easing up on me, I'm going home!"

"Ok, ok! We'll back off..." Sophie agreed softly, holding up a hand as Ryan began to protest. "No, she's right. If something's going to happen, we need to let it happen naturally."

Tim turned around at that moment, catching the silent thanks in Maddie's face as she looked at her cousin. "Hey," he smiled, clapping Ryan on the back before they shook hands.

"Hey Riggs," Ryan greeted him before pulling Sophie towards the dance floor.

Maddie watched them leave as Tim leaned towards her, placing a light kiss on her cheek. "Thought I saw you come in," he said, leaning against the counter beside her. "Enjoying your first party, Mads?" he asked with a grin, tilting his head as she laughed at his question.

"This isn't my first party, Tim... I come to most of them!" she replied laughing harder, as a confused look took up residence on his face.

"Not possible. How could I not have seen you?" he asked, crossing his hands across his chest.

She managed to reign her laughter into a few soft chuckles, and lay her hand on his shoulder. "Uh, maybe for the same reason you never noticed me in class either..."

As the reason dawned on him, he flushed, an embarrassed look flitting across his face briefly, before leaning towards her with a grin. "Well, I'm noticing you now," he began, and she found it impossible to drag her eyes away from his, "even if you're not blonde, wearing barely nothing and not throwing yourself at me..."

Maddie smiled, a little stunned that he remembered her exact words from their first meeting.

His glaze shifted to her mouth as her teeth pulled at her bottom lip, and her heart rate sped as he began to lean closer. She realised her hand was still on his shoulder, and moved so that it slid to his chest, feeling the muscles tense under her palm. He was so close that she could see the brown flecks in his green eyes and her breath caught as his hands pressed onto the counter on either side of her.

She heard his soft intake of breath as her tongue darted out to wet her suddenly dry lips, but as his mouth dipped towards hers, they were interrupted by a loud noise, and two guys started fighting close to where they stood. Tim's head whipped around at the sound and Maddie flinched as one of the boys was flung into the counter, merely inches away from her. She gasped as Tim gripped her waist, hauling her off the bench and set her down behind Landry, before turning to help Ryan and Smash get the boys out of the house.

Maddie stood behind her brother, stunned, rubbing the hand that she had smacked against the cupboards as Tim pulled her from the counter.

Sophie rushed to her side, an astonished look on her face, and pulled her towards the other exit of the kitchen. "You ok?" she asked, looking worriedly at the hand Maddie was rubbing.

"Yeah," she replied absently, trying to see if the guys had succeeded in getting the boys out of the house. "I just banged my hand, that's all..."

Landry had overheard her comment, and grabbed a cold drink from the fridge, holding it against her hand. She tired to refuse, telling him that it was unnecessary, but he stood firm, holding the can in place, and eventually Maddie had to admit that it was helping. She glanced around, noting that the crowd had followed the excitement into the yard, and thankfully the kitchen was all but deserted. They were examining her hand, a deep bruise already beginning to form, when Ryan and Tim returned. Tim frowned as he realised that she had been hurt, tensing when she flinched as Landry poked his finger on the sore spot.

"Ow!" she exclaimed, smacking him with her free hand, before looking up into Tim's angry face. "Did you get them out ok?" She asked, silently searching for any hint of damage on them.

"Yeah, wasn't too hard," Ryan replied as Tim just frowned down at her hand, " couple of juniors fighting over a girl... God, I remember those days..." Sophie, Landry and Maddie laughed at his wistful tone.

"C'mon," Landry piped up, herding them towards the back door, "let's get out of here, and into the wide-open where there are more places to take cover!"

They laughingly descended the stairs leading down from the porch, and made their way to a series of old couches thrown around a fire. Matt and Julie were already there, smiling a little guiltily as the group made their way towards them.

"Hope we're not interrupting anything," Sophie grinned unconvincingly, and plopped down on the empty sofa next to Ryan. Tim took the end of the couch, pulling Maddie down between he and Sophie, while Landry threw himself down on Matt and Julie's couch. They were joined by more and more people until there were no spare seats left, and conversation was buzzing. Maddie realised that Tim still hadn't said a word, and twisted a little in his arm to see that he was frowning down at her hand again.

"Are you ok?" she asked softly, her teeth gnawing worriedly at her bottom lip.

"Did I do that?" he asked, his voice husky with an emotion she couldn't place, and when his gaze landed on hers, she realised that he was angry with himself!

"God no, Tim. I knocked it on a cupboard. You didn't do anything!" she said, her breath hitching as he took the injured hand in his big one.

"You sure?" he asked, inspecting the damage.

"Absolutely," she replied, a tingle racing down her back as Tim raised her hand to his mouth, his soft lips pressing against her tender, swollen flesh.

Maddie felt her heart begin to race as his eyes locked onto hers, and she decided then and there that she was tired of being afraid to take chances. She shifted her body again, turning completely towards him, and brought her hand up against his face. His eyes never wavered from hers as her fingers lightly traced his jaw line, before reaching around his neck and pulling his head towards hers. She felt his own hand slide over her shoulder to bury his hand in the hair at the nape of her neck as his lips met hers.

The kiss began gently. Small, light kisses testing the water, gradually building up to longer, more lingering exchanges. They tasted each other, running their tongue against the other's lips, sipping at their mouth like it was filled with honey. Maddie forgot about the people surrounding them, their long, drugging kisses blocking everything else out. Tim's hand tightened in her hair as their kisses heated up and became more demanding. Maddie was the one to pull away first, the need for air becoming too much to ignore. Tim grinned down at her flushed face, dropping light, lingering kisses on her now sensitive lips.

She slowly became aware of muffled giggles behind her, and groaned at the thought of the smug look on her cousin's face. So instead, she buried her head against Tim's shoulder, his musky scent wrapping itself around her. She felt his arm tighten around her back, while his free hand traced down her arm to lace his fingers with hers, and he felt his silent chuckle as she sighed contentedly.

She couldn't help but grin as she heard several of the group comment. "It's about damn time..."

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