AN: Thank you so much to Hapsgurl80 for their review! Thank you afdiaz77, and Brie Jameson for the follows! You guys rock. It makes me super happy to see reviews and follows, even more that after all these years of SOA being off air that people still absolutely love it and still read fanfiction. I had started this almost nine years ago and never thought I would be updating it now haha.
The bed felt comfortable, and Madison hated the idea of having to get up and leave what felt like the warmest cloud she could ever imagine. Even as an arm snaked around her waist and tugged her closer, she knew she would have to get up soon.
"We should probably get up soon. Your mom did say something about dinner when they sent me over." Madison groaned and turned to face him.
"You know, this is absolutely horrible, but I don't even know your name." Madison stroked her fingers across the stubble on his cheek. The man let out a chuckle.
"I was wondering if we were going to visit that at some point." Madison caught a hint of a southern accent. He turned his head and kissed her palm. "I'm Rhys and it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance Madison." He smiled into her palm.
"What a gentleman." She giggled. "Would you believe me if I said the pleasure was all mine?"
"I would have to disagree entirely." He shook his head and bumped her nose with his. Madison leaned in and kissed him softly.
"As much as I want to lay here and get to know you better, I should shower, and you should get dressed. If my mom finds us like this it won't be pretty." Madison turned and sat up, her toes touching the floor as stretched her arms above her head. She felt the bed shift behind her and Rhys's warm hand slid across her back.
"But it was well worth it." He kissed her temple and stood up, offering his hand to help her up. Madison slowly stood, taking up the small space between Rhys and the bed. His body felt so warm and tempting against hers as she kissed him one more time then gently pushed him away. If she didn't walk away now, they were going to end up right back in bed. She tossed a smirk over her shoulder as she entered the bathroom attached to her room.
'A hot shower was definitely the right choice.' Madison thought as she ran a brush through her damp hair. She heard bikes pulling up to the house and sighed. Her little bubble of happiness bursting as she straightened her t shirt and left the bathroom. Rhys stood at the top of the stairs waiting for her. She gave him a small smile and headed downstairs and made her way to the living room. She had just sat down when the front door opened, and voices drifted in. She turned the tv on and plopped herself on to the couch.
"What are ya watching?" Jax strode into the room and shoved Maddie's legs off the couch so he could sit next to her.
"Dude." Maddie repositioned herself. Her eyes touched on Rhys as he entered the room and sat down. "Just flipping through the channels." She mumbled. She tossed him the remote. She could feel Rhys's eyes flicker between her and her brother. Things felt tense and uncomfortable. Maddie knew it was her own problem and that she was likely the only one feeling this way. She felt unsure of how to act with her brother now.
"Hey baby." Gemma strolled into the living room and placed a hand on Rhys's shoulder. "I see you two are getting along. Wasn't sure what I was going to come home to." She smiled at Maddie then squeezed Rhys's shoulder. Maddie stifled a laugh.
"Yea ma, we are getting along just fine." Rhys started coughing and quickly excused himself. "The air is kind of dry in here." Maddie shrugged and tried not to laugh.
"If you say so." Gemma frowned but quickly replaced it with another smile. "Come on baby, come help me make some dinner. We have company." Jax remained silent, his focus on the tv. Maddie reluctantly stood up and followed her mom to the kitchen. Her father sat at the small table in the far corner with a few men, but a majority sat outside on the patio.
"Hey daddy." She came over and kissed him on the cheek before returning to her mother's side and leaving him to work. The one rule Maddie always followed was leaving him to his work. There had only been one time that she broke that rule and she had paid for it. She silently started chopping veggies for kabobs and the salad. Her mother flitted back and forth between giving the men drinks and prepping meat. Jax soon came in and took the meat to the grill and she could hear everyone laughing and having a good time outside. It unnerved her how normal this felt. She must have spaced out and been staring off in to no where because a gentle touch on her arm jerked her back to reality.
"You alright?" Maddie found Rhys staring at her, concern in his eyes. She smiled and nodded. She knew her mom was watching but in that moment she didn't care. She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. Rhys froze for a moment before smiling back. His eyes moved to her father for a brief moment, and he looked nervous for a moment but then he turned to Gemma and cleared his throat. "Ma'am. I would like to take your daughter on a date. A proper date." Madison dropped the knife she had been using and it clattered on the cutting board. Gemma's eyes swung to Madison's before coming back to Rhys's face.
"Okay…and why ask me? Why not the big man over there?" She nodded her chin towards her husband who sat still engrossed in whatever conversation was going on.
"Well ma'am, no offense to the president but you run things here. He runs things at the club. It is only right to ask the woman of the house." His hand tugged on his cut nervously and Gemma looked at her daughter.
"And what does my daughter say?" Madison's cheeks turned pink, and she nodded.
"I think I'd like that Rhys." Gemma smiled and looked back at the young man standing next to her.
"Well, there you have it." She cupped his cheek affectionately and turned back to the stove.
"Thank you, ma'am." Gemma scoffed.
"Stop calling me ma'am. I'm not that old." She joked. Rhys picked up the plate of meat pieces and began piecing together the kabobs quietly beside Madison.
Work went quick with three pairs of hands and Jax grilling everything. It wasn't long before Gemma had everything laid out on every surface in the kitchen before, she called out to the party of people to come eat. Madison and Rhys quietly piled food on to their plates side by side before stepping out to the patio. Using his free hand, he pulled a lounge chair closer to the other and motioned for her to sit down. They sat facing one another with their knees touching. Slowly, people filed out of the house with their food, most taking seats at the table or around the pool.
"I have to say, that took some guts to ask my mom to take me out on a date."
"Yea well I like you and I want to be respectful to your parents too. I didn't know what your mom was going to say honestly. I was really nervous."
"I would have been too. My ma can be a very scary woman." Madison laughed.
"I'm glad you said yes." Rhys confessed. "I don't want you to think this has to do with earlier. Not that I didn't enjoy it but I do like you. I want to do this right." He had stopped eating for a moment and focused on Madison. Maddie stopped moving her food around with her fork and reached up to brush her thumb across his bottom lip before leaning forward to give him a lingering kiss.
"I like you too Rhys." She smiled at him and nudged his knee with hers. A chorus of shouts brought her attention away from the young man sitting in front of her. A group of guys were walking through the patio door. Madison's eye met with dark brown ones and her stomach plummeted.
"You alright?" Rhys placed his plate next to him and reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind Madison's ear. She nodded and gave him a small smile, but he still looked over his shoulder to see Happy staring in their direction. "Oh. Look if you two still have a thing…."
"No, no." Madison placed her plate down too and reached out to grab Rhys's hands. "That's all done. It's been done for awhile and was never anything serious. It was just kind of a surprise to see him here. I thought he was still off on a run." Her fingers gripped his tightly.
"I just want you to be happy. I would never get between something that you want." Madison knew he was being sincere, and it touched her heart.
"Thank you." She whispered. She slowly leaned over halfway, allowing Rhys to close the space between them. His lips were firm against hers as one of his hands came to cup the back of her neck.
"What do you say we get out of here and go for a ride?" Maddie nodded and he reached over to grab her plate along with his. Together, they moved past the group of guys by the door and leave their plates on the counter. Without a word to anyone Rhys pulled away from the house and all it's noise with Madison gripping him tightly around his waist.
